Matthew Semisch
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).
Our fourth and final Frozen Four preview spotlights defending champion Minnesota Duluth. Can the champs retain the national title? (photo: Omar Phillips).
Organizing an annual fundraising event over the last three years has been right up Fredonia senior and business management major Luke Rivera’s alley. Honoring his mother keeps him driven (photo: Fredonia Athletics).
Each week during the season, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature (photo: Omar Phillips).
Western Michigan’s hockey facility for the last 45 years has become known as a difficult place to play thanks in part to the Lawson Lunatics student section (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Miami is in an unenviable spot entering the final two weekends of the regular season, sitting in seventh place in the NCHC standings and knowing the RedHawks won’t play at home in the postseason (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Omaha coach Mike Gabinet believes his Mavericks can peak at the right time, but doing so will require increased efficiency (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
To say Western Michigan got back on the bike last weekend after getting swept two weeks ago at St. Cloud State is oversimplifying the situation (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
Western Michigan coach Andy Murray doesn’t want to talk about the roll his Broncos have been on lately if it means piling pressure on his players (photo: Bradley K. Olson).
More and more, Mason Morelli is making up for lost time with Omaha (photo: Michelle Bishop).