Jack Hittinger

Don’t count out Northern Michigan just yet. Sure, the Wildcats struggled mightily to start the 2024-25 season, but that was to be expected. The coaching change at the end of the spring — Grant Potulny left to coach in the AHL and Dave Shyiak was hired to take his place in June — also caused … Read more

After a trying end to 2024, the new year has been kind to St. Thomas. The Tommies–who were picked by many observers to be one of the main contenders for the CCHA’s MacNaughton Cup this season–never seemed to find their footing in the first half of this season. They went 4-10-4 overall and just 3-6-3 … Read more

The holiday break is a strange time for college hockey. Some CCHA teams have played four official games since this column was last published about three weeks ago. Michigan Tech, for example, played in not one but two separate tournaments (the Huskies finished third in both the Great Lakes Invitational and the Coachella Valley Cactus … Read more

As the holiday break descends upon us, there is one thing that has stood out above all others: Minnesota State is the real deal. This isn’t a particularly “hot take,” in fact, one might argue that it’s the most obvious observation one could make. But sometimes, as a columnist, I’m supposed to take risks, and … Read more

During his weekly media session, Minnesota State coach Luke Strand was asked about the significance of this weekend’s matchup in Mankato, Minn., between his Mavericks and Lake Superior State. It’s a big matchup. After all, the Mavericks are in first place in the CCHA standings and riding high in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten … Read more

When Derek Mullahy arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for his first year of USHL junior hockey in 2019, he knew the Roughriders were going to be looking for a goaltender. Their previous netminder had just been a workhorse for them in the previous, playing in 47 games and leading them to a Clark Cup playoff … Read more

Up until two weeks ago, Kirklan Irey would have described his season as inconsistent. The Bemidji State junior winger had only scored one goal in nine games coming into BSU’s nonconference series against third-ranked Minnesota. In game one of that series, Irey found himself playing as the extra skater instead. That was something of a … Read more

The fraternity of college hockey coaches is small. And the sub-fraternity of men’s college hockey coaches with 500 career victories is even smaller (17, to be exact). Even smaller yet? The number of active coaches with at least 500 career wins. Coming into the season just four active coaches were in the 500 club — … Read more

Two weeks ago, Lake Superior State came back from their trip to Columbus, Ohio, in something of a daze. The Lakers were swept by Ohio State and took both games on the chin, losing 9-3 and 6-2. That caused a little soul searching for everyone involved with the program. “We talked about it that Ohio … Read more

Nobody can accuse Minnesota State of taking the easy way out to start the 2024-25 season. In their first five weeks of play, the Mavericks have skated every weekend without a bye, and their opponents have included: two top-10-ranked nonconference opponents (Michigan and North Dakota), one team that was ranked before the series (Omaha), one … Read more

For Northern Michigan, this season is about the process, not results. Maybe that sounds like a tired sports cliche, but considering this team had to refresh basically its entire coaching staff and roster in the span of five months, it’s a reasonable expectation. Last weekend’s series against Arizona State is a case in point: The … Read more

It’s hard to get too excited about exhibition results, but when Augustana knocked off North Dakota in one earlier this month it certainly got the college hockey world talking. “Wait, AUGUSTANA? The second-year team? Beat NORTH DAKOTA? In HOCKEY?” The Vikings’ 4-1 win over the Fighting Hawks ultimately doesn’t count for either team’s record or … Read more

During the CCHA’s annual preseason video conference, Minnesota State head coach Luke Strand had stressed how important it would be for the Mavericks to go and challenge themselves in their nonconference schedule this season. “Our out of conference play, it’s a tough schedule. It’s supposed to be that way. I made it that way for … Read more