Jack Hittinger
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
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Eagles honor York with wild win Perhaps it was fitting that on the night that Boston College honored coaching legend Jerry York, they beat their archrivals in one of the wildest ways possible. BC and Boston … Read more
There are some things a head coach at every college program knows he’s going to be doing, no matter if he or she are new to the job or have been there for 20 years: Running practice. Recruiting. Meeting donors and season ticket holders. These are all givens. But for Garrett Raboin, the list of … Read more
There comes a point in the life cycle of every college hockey program where something that was once considered a “milestone” stops being significant and simply becomes “routine.” This past weekend St. Thomas did two of those things – both of which head coach Rico Blasi would much prefer are soon just routine things his … Read more
In what their head coach called a “gutsy” effort, Michigan Tech’s victory over St. Thomas on Saturday night was as satisfying as they come. “Gutsy effort by our guys. You like every win, but you like some more than others,” MTU coach Joe Shawhan said in his postgame comments after Tech survived for a 4-3 … Read more
When the NCAA finally started letting Division I teams play against one another for in-season exhibition games last season, it was a big relief to coaches across the country. Now, no longer at the whims of whatever Canadian team was able to cross the border during the first few weeks of the season, coaches have … Read more
The way Northern Michigan has played this season had, until this past weekend at least, baffled Grant Potulny. The Wildcats’ underlying numbers have looked good, even great. They have a top-10 power play, a top-15 offense, one of the best faceoff percentages in the country, a player in AJ Vanderbeck who is among the nation’s … Read more
Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Another unbeaten falls Coming into the weekend, there were just two undefeated teams remaining in college hockey: No. 13 Penn State and No. 15 Harvard. The former was 8-0-0 going into their matchup with top-ranked Michigan, … Read more
After dropping both games to Penn State two weeks ago, St. Thomas coach Rico Blasi said he wasn’t much for “moral victories.” The Tommies had lost to the Nittany Lions 6-2 in their series opener before rallying in Friday’s finale and losing 3-2 in overtime. Clearly, Blasi is attempting to build the newly-promoted St. Thomas … Read more
Few teams lost quite as many impact players over the offseason as Bemidji State. Aside from the Sillinger brothers (Owen and Lukas) – the team’s joint leading goal scorers with 17 apiece – the Beavers also lost a big chunk of their leadership group. Fifth-year senior captain Ethan Somoza – an older, hard-working veteran who … Read more
Minnesota State did the CCHA double a year ago, winning both the regular season and tournament title. The Mavericks were also 20 minutes away from their first NCAA Division I title. While all three of those are certainly in MSU’s sights this season, there’s another, more unofficial title the Mavericks can win this season: Minnesota … Read more