Matthew Semisch
When former Omaha coach Mike Kemp became the school’s associate athletic director for events and facilities in March of 2019, he couldn’t have anticipated the kinds of hours he’s working these days. Under normal circumstances — remember those? — Kemp would keep regular weekday hours at his Baxter Arena office and show up a couple … Read more
It seems surreal. The last time I sat down at my computer to do a story on the NCHC, I had interviewed Denver coach David Carle about the abrupt end to the college hockey season. Carle, in a statement that seems prescient, said, “I think the lesson to be learned, or one of the many, … Read more
North Dakota finished the NCAA tournament-less season first in the PairWise Rankings. It was some season for the Hawks, recovering in a big way after missing back-to-back NCAA tournaments for the first time since the mid-1990s. Because of that turnaround, UND’s Brad Berry has been voted as USCHO Coach of the Year (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson knew last season that Cal Burke would be a captain for the Fighting Irish as a senior, but Burke’s leadership skills didn’t only come about in South Bend, Indiana.
Western Michigan’s 5-2 home win last Friday against Miami, combined with St. Cloud State’s loss that night against Minnesota Duluth, clinched a home-ice playoff spot for WMU. Another Bronco win Saturday kept Western in with a shot at qualifying for the NCAA tournament. The Broncos aren’t there yet, though (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
North Dakota remains first in the PairWise Rankings after getting a shootout loss and a regulation defeat last weekend at unranked St. Cloud State, and UND coach Brad Berry has a good feel for why that happened (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
This week, as much as it ever has, Westin Michaud suiting up in the green, white and black of North Dakota makes a lot of sense (photo: Russell Hons/UND Athletics).
Seldom do hockey people stop being hockey people. Somehow, the sport finds ways to keep its claws dug in. Noah Grant knows that all too well (photo: Noah Grant).
Good hockey teams know how to redeem themselves following a setback. Great teams don’t worry about having that happen too often. This season’s North Dakota team is comfortably somewhere on that line, with the Fighting Hawks looking at holding the No. 1 overall seed for the NCAA tournament if it began today (photo: Jim Rosvold).
With NCHC teams winning the last four national championships, it’s easy to look at the young league’s record of success and imagine how tough divisional games must be each weekend (photo: Jim Rosvold/USCHO.com).
A logjam in the middle of the NCHC standings promises to make for stressful situations as the season progresses, but it also gives several teams big opportunities. Miami is getting its fair share of those chances, but not everything is going the RedHawks’ way. They’re only two points out of a home-ice playoff spot, but they missed a chance last weekend to put added pressure on fourth-place Western Michigan (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
It might sound a little rich, but in the NCHC corners of the college hockey landscape, results from the first half of this season have produced a mixed bag. Some of what has happened always does: the cream of the crop is identifying itself, and there is some gulf between the top portion of the conference standings and the bottom. Dig deeper, though, and there are some surprises (photo: Jim Rosvold).
Not as much happens in college hockey over the holidays, or at least that’s the general idea. With that in mind, whereas the Monday 10 typically addresses the top talking points from the weekend just gone, I’d like to point out some of the things that have stood out to me from the first half of the season (photo: Rich Gagnon).
Having missed back-to-back NCAA tournaments for the first time since the mid-1990s, it’s understandable that North Dakota doesn’t want to get too far ahead of itself (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
First-year Miami coach Chris Bergeron’s initial season behind the bench at his alma mater didn’t start as he would’ve wanted, but things seem to be turning around in Oxford, Ohio (photo: Rachel Lewis).
Most Midco Sports Network intermission segments during North Dakota home games follow a familiar pattern: highlights, player and coach interviews plus pre-recorded features (photo courtesy Alex Heinert).
With 10 freshmen on its roster, St. Cloud State has had a lot of introductions to make early on this season (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Months of planning are bearing fruit with the NCHC’s Student-Athlete Well-Being Task Force that the conference unveiled Tuesday (photo: NCHC).
Denver’s first two weeks of the new season have involved getting creative with travel logistics. That stuff is old hat for Pioneers assistant coaches Dallas Ferguson and Tavis MacMillan (photos: DU Athletics).
Not since the early aughts when the WCHA produced two schools that won back-to-back championships, then added a fifth title with Wisconsin’s win in 2006, has a conference been this dominant (photo: Jim Rosvold).