This Week in CCHA Hockey: After lopsided Tuesday win over Northern Michigan, Michigan Tech preparing for weekend set with Bowling Green

This weekend, Michigan Tech can accomplish something most CCHA teams haven’t able to do much of this season — gain on Minnesota State. In fairness, it’s only because the top-ranked Mavericks are idle this weekend. But the Huskies (17-8-2) have a huge home series with Bowling Green this weekend, and thanks to their big 8-1 … Read more

Monday 10: Colgate upsets Cornell in weekend series, Alaska runs winning streak to three games, Denver takes both from St. Cloud State

Each week during the season, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Milestones for Bobcats Quinnipiac set a record in a milestone game. The second-ranked Bobcats (23-2-3) beat Union 1-0 behind 16 saves by Yaniv Perets to earn a shutout victory. That shutout was Quinnipiac’s … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Which conference teams are gearing up for a run? Which conference teams are planning for ’22-23 season?

It’s already February, which I understand seems strange to everyone (if there’s anything the pandemic has taught us, it’s that time is essentially meaningless). But it’s true. It’s February, which means there’s just one month of CCHA regular season left until the playoffs. And because it’s almost the postseason, it’s about time that we start … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Ferris State making move up conference standings, ‘we just have to get wins now’

Don’t sleep on Ferris State. Following a disastrous one-win 2020-21 season and a shaky start to this one, the Bulldogs are finally finding their stride. They’ve won five of their last 10 games and, aside from a rough weekend on the road at Minnesota State in which they gave up 14 goals, have managed to … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: After split with former No. 1 Minnesota State, Northern Michigan hoping ‘that’s a sign of things to come’

There’s been a lot of talk about the “curse” of the top-ranked team this college hockey season, but after this past weekend, I’m thinking we should amend this “curse” to something else: If you’re the No. 1 team in the country, you might not want to play Northern Michigan. The Wildcats, who beat Minnesota State … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: With Minnesota State coach Hastings off to Olympics, is Mavericks’ top scorer Smith far behind?

In the midst of one of their most dominant seasons in recent memory, the Minnesota State Mavericks last week found out they were going to be without their head coach for a fortnight in February. Under the circumstances, though, the Mavericks are just fine with this. MSU’s Mike Hastings was recently named an assistant coach … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: After decent first half, Bowling Green wants ‘to build on how we’ve been playing’ during second half of season

Ah, the New Year. A time to make resolutions that you may or may not keep. For most of us, these resolutions are merely suggestions at self-betterment that might not even have any outwardly tangible signs of change. Luckily for a college hockey coach who decides to make some resolutions for their team, there should … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: With first half coming to conclusion, revamped conference showcasing parity with middle of pack anyone’s game

As the first season of the new-look CCHA hits its halfway point, I can’t help but notice that things in the league are, so far, going about as expected. Sure, maybe there have been a few surprises – I don’t think anyone had Northern Michigan sweeping Minnesota Duluth on their bingo card – but for … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bemidji State, top-ranked Minnesota State square off this weekend with first place in conference standings at stake

For the past few weeks, the top-ranked team in the country has lost at least once. There’s no telling if this is because there’s extra pressure on the team at the top, or if teams playing No. 1 are especially excited at the chance to earn a marquee win, but one thing is certain: Those … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Lethargic early season in rear view mirror, Northern Michigan picking up offense as ‘buy-in on some of the small details has really gone up’

When the season started, Northern Michigan had something of a defensive crisis. The Wildcats barely had enough healthy bodies to field a full defensive unit. At one point, they had just four regular blueliners. Adding to that, the team’s No. 1 goalie, Rico DiMatteo, wasn’t 100 percent after recovering from surgery. “We played a series … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bowling Green on pace for another solid season as Falcons aiming to ‘maintain that standard and play to that standard’

Before the season started, outsiders weren’t quite sure what to make of Bowling Green. After all, the Falcons had lost 11 players to either graduation or the transfer portal. It would have understandably been hard to predict how losing so many key contributors would affect a program that has won 20-plus games for seven straight … Read more

Monday 10: Top teams falter, splits, sweeps aplenty over wild weekend of action in NCAA men’s college hockey

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. No. 14 Notre Dame knocks off No. 1 Michigan twice in OT Top-ranked Michigan came close both nights, but the Wolverines weren’t able to keep their hot streak going this weekend. Notre Dame beat Michigan 3-2 … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bemidji State mixing youth, experience to perfection early in 2021-22 season

A quick look up and down Bemidji State’s roster would reveal a lot of familiar names: Ethan Somoza. Owen Sillinger. Alex Ierullo. Tyler Kirkup. All have been contributing to the BSU program consistently since their freshmen seasons, and their presence in the lineup this year — a few back for an extra year of eligibility … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: After ‘rough’ 2020-21 season, Ferris State ‘a superior team from what we were a year ago’

Losing isn’t usually the norm for a Bob Daniels-coached team. The Ferris State head coach has been behind the bench for 29 seasons. He’s guided his Bulldogs teams to three conference titles, four NCAA tournament appearances and one Frozen Four in that time frame. The usual expectation for the Bulldogs is to be competitive at … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: With experienced lineup, Michigan Tech ‘can compete with most anybody in the country’

When members of the media were looking at the teams in the newly-reconstituted CCHA this fall as we started to do our preseason picks and previews, one team made it easiest on everybody. And maybe it wasn’t the team you think. Have your guesses in? It might shock you to know that it was Michigan … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Dealing with key player departures, Lake Superior State finding new players stepping up to fill roles

It might have been reasonable to assume at the start of the 2021-22 season that Lake Superior State might have some issues scoring goals this year. After all, the Lakers lost four of their top five scorers (Ashton Calder, Pete Veillette, Hampus Eriksson and Will Reidell) either to graduation or the NCAA transfer portal (in … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Blasi ‘extremely happy with the progress we’ve made’ at St. Thomas in first weeks on ice as D-I program

After some time away, there’s one thing Rico Blasi noticed about the familiar rinks of the CCHA. “The smell is still the same,” the first-year St. Thomas coach joked in a phone interview Tuesday, reflecting on his team’s recent road trips to Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State. Blasi, who played at Miami in the … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams

During this season’s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six consecutive games against top-ranked teams to start the new season. Hastings joked that he wanted to throw former assistant coach Darren Blue under the bus but couldn’t because he also … Read more

CCHA 2021-22 Season Preview: New-look conference looking to make impact with eye on NCAA tournament

For the casual fan watching on a Friday or Saturday, chances are high that the inaugural season of the new CCHA won’t look much different than the final season of the WCHA. Seven of the eight teams were together in the WCHA, so the matchups, coaches and arenas are largely the same. And the league’s … Read more

Frozen Four College Hockey Team Preview: Minnesota State proving Mavericks belong in upper echelon of college hockey’s elite programs

This is the third of four team previews for the teams that have reached the Frozen Four this week in Pittsburgh. MINNESOTA STATE Season record: 22-4-1 How they got to Pittsburgh: Beat Quinnipiac 4-3 in overtime in the West Regional semifinal, beat Minnesota 4-0 in West Regional final Top players: junior forward Julian Napravnik (10-17-27), … Read more