Jim ConnellyA year after posting an 8-23-3 record and missing the MAAC playoffs for the first time ever, Connecticut head coach Bruce Marshall knew it was time for a change. The Huskies mentor did what he called an “evaluation,” but what most call “housecleaning.” The result: 12 of the 24 players scheduled to return to the … Read more
Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl, who last week announced that he would leave his alma mater to become director of admissions at a local prep school, today says that he’s had a change of heart. The eight-year veteran head coach of the Crusaders has decided to stay on as head coach at Holy Cross … Read more
This past year’s MAAC Hockey championship tournament at West Point, N.Y., was the league’s most successful. If your ear was to the ground, though, that tournament weekend, you might have left with a strong impression that it would be the league’s last. In confirmation of the rumblings that existed three months earlier, the league’s nine … Read more
The MAAC Hockey League is no more, though the nine member schools will continue to compete together.
The nine MAAC schools claimed their independence. Two former chairs of the Men’s Ice Hockey Committee lead the way.
Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl has resigned to become director of admissions and head hockey coach at Milton (Mass.) Academy, a top-tier prep school. Pearl was the head coach at Holy Cross for eight years, guiding his team to a 116-114-19 record. His brightest moment came in 1998 when Holy Cross captured the inaugural MAAC … Read more
A season filled with great highs, and some amazing lows for BC freshman Pat Eaves. But looking back, he says it was all worth it.
Minnesota’s Thomas Vanek did a lot more than win a championship last April in Buffalo. He also swayed the hometown scouts. Vanek, who scored the game-winning goals in the national semifinal and championship games at Buffalo’s HSBC Arena, became the first college player taken in the 2003 NHL Draft when the Buffalo Sabres selected him … Read more
You can look through every Central Scouting Service (CSS) ranking. You can study for weeks, even months. But the reality in hockey is that the NHL Entry Draft could be one of the toughest events in sports to handicap. The NHL is absent of names like LeBron James. The league takes players before and during … Read more
Minnesota rookie Thomas Vanek made his mark early in his first year in college hockey, proving before the holiday break that he was one of the nation’s top freshmen. But it wasn’t until the Frozen Four when Vanek scored game-winning goals against Michigan and New Hampshire to give Minnesota its second consecutive national title that … Read more
If there’s one common theme that will run through the early rounds of this year’s NHL Entry Draft, it is family impact on the collegiate draftees. In a year that could easily see a record number of collegiate first rounders, almost all of the top college picks are second generation hockey players. The talk of … Read more
Jimmy Howard’s first season started well and went on to be great. And despite a disappointing finish, he can’t complain with his freshman year.
The MAAC Hockey League remains in limbo following a meeting of the members’ athletic directors last weekend. That meeting came amid the annual athletic director convention in Florida. Members of the MAAC Hockey League, which consists of just one all-sport MAAC member — Canisius — were set to vote on whether to leave the jurisdiction … Read more
College hockey’s grandest stage — the Frozen Four — won’t be heading to the world’s most famous arena, or at least not any time soon. Just months after Madison Square Garden announced to U.S. College Hockey Online that it was extremely interested in hosting the Frozen Four, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference — the intended … Read more
With back-to-back championships secured, the Gophers already have their eyes on No. 3.
In Thursday’s opening game of the 2003 Frozen Four, New Hampshire goaltender Michael Ayers was forced to make just 19 saves. One of them, though — with 25 seconds remaining in regulation on Cornell’s Stephen Bâby — will forever live in Big Red infamy. With the Wildcats leading 3-2 and Cornell goaltender David LeNeveu (18 … Read more
Déjà-bleeping-vu. The first and easiest words to come to mind after Thursday second semifinal at the Frozen Four were “déjà vu.” Two years, two losses for Michigan in the penultimate game. Two 3-2 losses, two 3-2 losses to the University of Minnesota. Once against Michigan was denied a shot at extending its NCAA record with … Read more
One year after close-but-no-cigar, Cornell returns to the Frozen Four.
UNH’s Lanny Gare has been a pleasant surprise, but the sparkplug may miss Thursday’s semifinal.
New fans might not remember Cornell’s dominant history, but new players do.