Jack Hittinger
After all the changes that happened in Mankato during the offseason, one nearly expected to tune in to their game against St. Cloud State on Friday night and see something truly wild. Like maybe the Mavericks ditched purple from their color scheme in favor of teal and moved their home arena from Mankato to Sleepy … Read more
It was an unusually active offseason, at least by CCHA standards. A coaching change at Minnesota State kicked off the summer, with Mike Hastings leaving for Wisconsin and taking four players and most of his coaching staff with him. Then the summer ended with the situation in Bowling Green that saw head coach Ty Eigner … Read more
ALLENTOWN REGIONAL When: Friday, March 24 & Sunday, March 26 Where: PPL Center, Allentown, Penn. Matchups (all times Eastern): Penn State vs. Michigan Tech, March 24, 5 p.m., ESPNU; Michigan vs. Colgate, March 24, 8:30 p.m., ESPNU; championship, March 26, 6:30 p.m., ESPN2 1. MICHIGAN How they got here: Won the Big Ten tournament Overall … Read more
FARGO REGIONAL When: Thursday, March 23 & Saturday, March 25 Where: Scheels Arena, Fargo, N.D. Matchups (all times Eastern): St. Cloud State vs. Minnesota State, March 23, 5 p.m., ESPNU; Minnesota vs. Canisius, March 23, 9 p.m., ESPN2; championship, March 25, 6:30 p.m., ESPNU 1. MINNESOTA How they got here: At-large bid Overall season record: … Read more
MANKATO, Minn. – It wouldn’t be a conference title game in Mankato without some drama. At the end of the regular season, Minnesota State and Michigan Tech played an eventful final five minutes for the MacNaughton Cup that featured a penalty shot and a controversial goal review. Minnesota State won that game 3-2 and took … Read more
Since Grant Potulny’s first season in Marquette in 2017-18, Northern Michigan has twice played in a conference championship game. In 2018, the second-place Wildcats hosted Upper Peninsula archrivals Michigan Tech in the WCHA championship game. A sold-out crowd at the Berry Events Center saw the Huskies shut out the Wildcats 2-0. NMU returned to the … Read more
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. ‘Cats top ‘Dogs Northern Michigan’s recent record against Upper Peninsula archrivals Michigan Tech has not been great – especially in the playoffs. Since conference realignment, Tech is 3-0 against the Wildcats in both of their postseason … Read more
As tight as the CCHA standings were this season, it is perhaps surprising that there was only one upset in the first round of the Mason Cup quarterfinals. And, even more shocking to this reporter, is that none of the four series needed to go to a decisive third game. You have Ferris State to … Read more
After a CCHA campaign unlike any other came down to, quite literally, the final minute and a half of the regular season, it’s almost hard to believe the playoffs are starting this weekend. Minnesota State ended up winning the MacNaughton Cup – their sixth in a row – with just a tiny bit of drama … Read more
Head-to-head, winner-takes-all matchups between the top two teams in the conference in the regular season’s final weekend don’t happen all the time. But when they do, they should be savored. In the past decade, we’ve seen this happen once before in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. The last time it happened – the 2019-20 … Read more
It always feels like this. In the 10 years I’ve spent covering the old WCHA, then the new WCHA, and now finally the new CCHA, it can often feel like I’m writing the same story every year at the season’s end: Nothing is decided, and everyone is pretty close. Michigan Tech leads Minnesota State by … Read more
Fans can (and do!) argue endlessly about which team has the country’s toughest schedule. And while the Pairwise, RPI and KRACH have largely rendered these discussions moot (there’s math involved!) what’s not up for dispute of this: No team in college hockey has it tougher travel-wise than the Alaska Nanooks. Just take a gander at … Read more
Matt Slick didn’t know a ton about the CCHA before he arrived at Ferris State this summer, but it didn’t take the Bulldogs long to school their new teammate about the ins and outs of their conference rivalries. And now the defenseman has been in Big Rapids, Mich., for long enough to know exactly what … Read more
By most measures, it’s been a tough winter in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. A team that was predicted to be in the mix for home ice advantage and potentially competing for a CCHA title before the season started, Lake Superior State has found itself in a place it never would have expected: In the basement. … Read more
What a whirlwind of a week it was for St. Thomas and its men’s hockey program. On Jan. 14, the Tommies earned their first-ever victory against a ranked team in the Division I era when they beat Michigan Tech 3-2 in Houghton, Mich., to earn a road split – one of the toughest arenas to … Read more
If you’ve ever followed Bowling Green’s hockey social media account, you’ll notice an odd tradition. They call it “The Diamond Cutter:” Every time the Falcons complete a weekend series sweep, longtime BGSU equipment manager Scott “Scooter” Jess leaps off a cooler in the locker room and does a wrestling move inspired by former WWE and … Read more
The knot in his stomach when Brenden MacLaren initially took the ice as a defenseman in a real college game is something that he won’t easily forget. “I remember my first couple games there were a couple times where I’m like, ‘Holy crap, there’s a forward on Mankato ripping full speed down the ice at … Read more
Tom Serratore had a bit of a sly smile on his face on Tuesday afternoon as he compared his team to another well-known Minnesota team. “Our team exceeded our expectations,” Bemidji State’s head coach said in his weekly Zoom press conference. “We’re still trying to figure out a lot about our team. We were 9-5-4 … Read more
It’s that time of year again. I’m not talking about the holidays. I’m talking about the end of the first half of the college hockey season, when my editors generously let me write a thousand or so words where I get to pretend like I’m Nostradamus. And, if you’ve been following the CCHA at all … Read more
It’s a holiday tradition unlike any other: Minnesota State versus Bemidji State in mid-December for a chance at first place in the conference at the break. If this scenario sounds familiar, it’s because it’s happened before. It’s unclear if it’s some kind of grand design or just how the schedule has happened to play out, … Read more