Matthew Semisch

The NCHC playoffs officially begin this Friday, but Denver coach David Carle and his Pioneers must feel like they’ve already been there for weeks. Despite being 26-9-1 tied with Boston College and Western Michigan for the most wins in the country, defending national champion Denver had plenty to do in order to secure a favorable … Read more

Winning its first-ever regular-season conference title in program history last Friday wasn’t just satisfying for Western Michigan on a surface level. The Broncos were already well aware of what the Penrose Cup looked like ahead of WMU’s 6-4 win Friday against North Dakota, which saw Western lock up the NCHC regular season title with three … Read more

Sitting 32nd in the PairWise Rankings, Colorado College isn’t what you’d call a team on the bubble for a NCAA tournament berth this season. But with two regular-season games left, plus however far into the postseason the Tigers get, coach Kris Mayotte wants his squad to look the part. CC’s series split last weekend at … Read more

It’s these days, at the business end of the college hockey season, when coaches really bang the drum to get their players geed up for what’s left. On Tuesday, Arizona State coach Greg Powers used his weekly press conference as a soapbox. The Sun Devils are now firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, 15th in … Read more

It’s strange to think the hottest home form in the country, at this point in the season, belongs to a team on the outside looking in with regards to a NCAA tournament bid. But as paradoxical as that is for Omaha, 27th in the PairWise rankings with a month left in the regular season, it … Read more

There’s still more than a month left of regular-season hockey yet to be played, but as now, the NCHC is on course to have three of its teams play in this year’s NCAA tournament. That could certainly change, especially if a lower-seeded team goes on a tear at just the right time and wins the … Read more

You’ll often hear coaches and athletes say they learn more from losses than they do from wins. To hear Arizona State coach Greg Powers say it during his team’s press conference Tuesday, the Sun Devils took important lessons from the back end of a split last weekend. ASU had won five of its last six … Read more

Miami may be mired in a 14-game losing streak, but first-year RedHawks coach Anthony Noreen is keen to make his team one that nobody will want to face down the stretch. Better conditioning was evident both of the last two weekends for Miami, even if it didn’t show up on the scoreboard as the RedHawks … Read more

If you’re an Omaha fan, there was a lot to like about the Mavericks’ home sweep last weekend over 13th-ranked Colorado College. It was especially rewarding for some of UNO’s veteran players. That includes graduate student forwards Brady Risk and Harrison Israels, a pair of Alaska transfers who, on a line with Myles Hilman, combined … Read more

Much of fourth-ranked Western Michigan’s success through the first half of the season had to do with a changed operating dynamic between the pipes. Over the past two seasons, current WMU graduate student Cameron Rowe was the Broncos’ unquestioned starting goaltender. After playing his first two years of college hockey at Wisconsin, he played 38 … Read more

It’s no secret that North Dakota has some work to do if the Fighting Hawks are to make their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years. Sitting 22nd in the PairWise Rankings after an 11-7-1 start, more things will have to start going the right way. Kind of like they have in the last couple … Read more

It was never a secret that first-year Miami coach Anthony Noreen has a project on his hands in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks haven’t posted a winning record in nine years, and Noreen got straight to work once he was hired, a day before the NCAA’s transfer portal opened. Four veteran players soon arrived to work … Read more

Not that Denver coach David Carle isn’t a sentimental person, but he’s generally more interested in looking ahead than back. His Pioneers have had a week and a half to stew on their first two defeats of the season, at home to new NCHC member Arizona State. A last-minute ASU goal Nov. 22 snapped Denver’s … Read more

Arizona State coach Greg Powers didn’t mince words, about anything, during a Monday press conference after his Sun Devils made two signature wins last weekend at top-ranked Denver. Even when he was asked what he misses about the since-demolished Oceanside Ice Arena, ASU’s former home that sat fewer than 800 fans, Powers was deadpan in … Read more

A hockey scholarship funding pledge announced earlier this month by Omaha athletic officials stems from an idea hatched by some of the Mavericks’ original season ticket holders. The Yano and Cindy Mangiameli Goalie Scholarship, awarded to UNO’s starting goaltender, is a gift that was pledged this fall through the University of Nebraska Foundation. The intent … Read more

Heather Weems saw an example of how tight-knit the hockey community is when she attended a memorial service earlier this fall for former NCHC officiating supervisor Brent Rutherford. The NCHC’s commissioner had traveled from her home base in Minnesota to Madison Heights, Mich., a northern Detroit suburb, to help celebrate the life of Brendan “Brent” … Read more

Last June, Western Michigan coach Pat Ferschweiler attended the 2023 NHL Draft specifically to witness Broncos recruit Zach Nehring becoming the Winnipeg Jets’ third-round pick. Nehring had been on WMU’s radar for some time, stemming from his successful prep hockey career at Minnesota’s Shattuck-St. Mary’s School. And now, there’s no surprise in the Broncos’ camp … Read more

On the face of it, considering Miami hasn’t finished a season with a winning record since 2015, it would’ve been understandable for Anthony Noreen to want to make a big rebrand out of the RedHawks. New coach, new team, new us. But it quickly struck him, after being announced on April 1 as the program’s … Read more