This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota transfer Berg finding niche with team, filling needed role with Fighting Hawks

North Dakota coach Brad Berry knows the importance of doing due diligence on recruits from the NCAA transfer portal, but junior forward Cameron Berg’s commitment may have been secured easier than most. A West Fargo native with family elsewhere in North Dakota, including a grandmother living three hours west in the Bottineau area, Berg spent … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: ‘What an experience’ for longtime Omaha broadcaster Leahy, approaching 1,000 games with Mavericks

Omaha hockey radio color analyst Terry Leahy never thought he would reach 1,000 broadcasts covering the same team. On Friday night, when the Mavericks host Augustana, he’ll be there. Quite literally, in fact, in much the same capacity he has held since UNO’s hockey program first hit the ice in 1997. There have only ever … Read more

Monday 10: Michigan State sweeps No. 1 Wisconsin, Quinnipiac keeps winning, Niagara coach Lammers hits 100 wins, Penn State earns win No. 200

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Down goes Wisconsin, twice There will almost certainly be a new No. 1 team in the country this week, after top-ranked Wisconsin lost both games of a weekend series against No. 11 Michigan State. Wisconsin had … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College showing marked improvement, moving toward becoming ‘the program we talk about being’

Ten games into this season, Colorado College’s average of four goals scored per game means the 7-3 Tigers have had the joint fourth-best scoring offense in the country. Bagging goals at such a high clip, including CC’s 5-1 road win Friday at Miami and a 4-1 victory Saturday over the RedHawks, has been a happy … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Confidence booming for Omaha blueliner Mancini after first NCAA goal as Mavericks ‘trending in the right direction’

Two seasons and five games into his third campaign with Omaha, junior defenseman Victor Mancini was well aware that he had still yet to score his first collegiate goal. He finally ticked that box Saturday in the Mavericks’ 3-2 overtime win at home to Western Michigan and did so with a move that looked as … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Remembering former Minnesota Duluth standout Johnson, who ‘was fun to be around, sometimes the life of the party’

Former Minnesota Duluth forward Adam Johnson played two seasons with the Bulldogs, and earlier this week, UMD coach Scott Sandelin explained why Johnson would’ve gone on to captain the team if he hadn’t left early for pro hockey. Johnson’s intangibles on and off the ice helped make him a coveted prospect out of Minnesota high … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Denver goalie Davis going through ‘a growth curve and a learning curve’ as Pioneers off to fast start

It can be a very unenviable task, being the guy who takes over for the guy. That’s the hand Denver junior goaltender Matt Davis was dealt entering this season, holding the most prior experience among the Pioneers’ three goalies who were looking to take over for the since-graduated Magnus Chrona. The Swede now plying his … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: ‘Two big wins’ over Niagara have Omaha prepared to keep finding success moving forward

Whether it had been Omaha’s first series of the season or the Mavericks’ 15th, they were always going to have last weekend’s home set against Niagara circled on the calendar. Atlantic Hockey’s Purple Eagles were UNO’s curtain-raising opponent for a second consecutive year, and regular attendees at Baxter Arena probably won’t want to remember Niagara’s … Read more

2023-24 NCHC Season Preview: Coming off no Frozen Four appearances in 2023, conference teams aiming to ‘maximize their chances’ this year

Many people in and around the college hockey world will tell you that the 2022-23 season was a down one for the NCHC. On the surface, at least, it’s not hard to see why someone would think that. The NCHC is 10 years old now, and aside from the 2020 NCAA tournament that never was … Read more

Hockey Humanitarian Award Finalist Feature: Albertus Magnus’ Herpy finding new appreciation for life, relishing giving back to local community

Since the start of his time in college, Albertus Magnus senior defenseman Ryan Herpy has liked a challenge. The Chagrin Falls, Ohio native committed to a Falcons program that was being built from scratch. Herpy was among a group of all freshmen on the NCAA Division III school’s first men’s hockey team in 2019-20, and … Read more

Previewing the 2023 NCAA hockey tournament, Fargo Regional: Minnesota, St. Cloud State, Minnesota State, Canisius

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

Previewing the 2023 NCAA hockey tournament, Manchester Regional: Denver, Boston University, Western Michigan, Cornell

MANCHESTER REGIONAL When: Thursday, March 23 & Saturday, March 25 Where: SNHU Arena, Manchester, N.H. Matchups (all times Eastern): Boston University vs. Western Michigan, March 23, 2 p.m., ESPN2; Denver vs. Cornell, March 23, 5:30 p.m., ESPNews; championship, March 25, 4 p.m., ESPNU 1. DENVER How they got here: At-large bid Overall season record: 30-9-0 … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After eliminating Western Michigan from conference tournament, Colorado College oozing with confidence heading to NCHC Frozen Faceoff

Late in his second season at Colorado College, Tigers coach Kris Mayotte just saw his team make a good kind of program history out of what had been a potentially bad situation. Seventh-seeded CC’s wins Friday and Saturday in the first round of the NCHC playoffs at No. 2 Western Michigan marked the first time … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Minnesota Duluth preparing for playoff series with St. Cloud State knowing ‘every game is life and death’

Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, who has led the Bulldogs for longer than many of his current players have been alive, has been at it long enough to know the opportunity in front of his team this weekend is a rare one. The first round of this season’s NCHC playoffs will see UMD travel to … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After knocking off Western Michigan, Denver readying for Gold Pan games against Colorado College

Denver’s two national championships in the NCHC era came in 2017 and 2022, when the Pioneers also won their conference’s regular-season championship trophy, the Penrose Cup. They clinched that again last weekend at eighth-ranked Western Michigan. Third-ranked Denver will feel its job this season is only a third of the way done — there’s still … Read more

Monday 10: Denver repeats as NCHC Penrose Cup champs, Minnesota State collects MacNaughton Cup again, Alaska on brink of NCAA tournament berth

Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. No. 1 Gophers end regular season with big sweep Minnesota’s five unanswered goals Saturday saw the top-ranked Golden Gophers come from behind to beat visiting No. 8 Ohio State 5-2 to close out a series sweep. … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Late Omaha assistant coach Jerrard ‘just a person you want to be around’ as Mavericks mourn loss of ‘PJ’

Omaha’s players unexpectedly had Tuesday afternoon free. That wasn’t Mavericks coach Mike Gabinet’s idea, but one of his assistants might have had something to do with it. “A puck hit the sprinkler system when guys were just shooting around, so we couldn’t practice,” Gabinet said. “A guy hit the crossbar and the puck went up … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College depth boosting players’ confidence, ‘belief in what they can help us do’

The longer a hockey season goes on, the less that coaches of teams in the bottom halves of their leagues look for perfection on game day. If something’s working, pretty or not, let it work. Such was the case Saturday for Colorado College in its shootout win at No. 16 Omaha, following a 2-2 tie … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Omaha’s Miller called ‘a great person’ jumping into action at youth practice after roof collapses

Hockey players keep their heads on a swivel while out on the ice, and not just before their own benefit. On Jan. 30, Omaha junior forward Matt Miller wasn’t just looking out for his own safety, but for that of around 50 five- and six-year-olds. Since last summer, Miller has been involved with hockey training … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Recent Colorado College-Denver game at Ball Arena ‘really a great story of everybody pulling together to make a special event happen in a short period of time’

Last Friday’s Gold Pan rivalry game between Denver and Colorado College at Ball Arena, home of the NHL’s Colorado Avalanche, didn’t mark the first time that Denver had played there. But there was a huge difference between the in-state rivals’ latest meeting and DU’s last game downtown, back in 2012. On Oct. 7 of that … Read more