Paula C. WestonIn March, after winning the CCHA 2002-03 regular-season title, the surprising Ferris State Bulldogs lost the Super Six Championship game to the Michigan Wolverines in a 5-3 decision. Assured of an NCAA berth with 31 wins, the Bulldogs were miserable. “We really wanted this,” said FSU head coach Bob Daniels. “For us, the NCAA tournament … Read more
“We are all in a situation where we control our own fates. The answer is simple: win.” So says Walt Kyle, NMU head coach and believer in the league title. In a time when many coaches begin checking their Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and PairWise Rankings midseason to determine whether or not they may be … Read more
In 2002-03, Bob Daniels took the Ferris State Bulldogs to a place they’d only dreamed about — the top of the CCHA standings. The first 30-win coach in FSU history, Daniels says that things have changed a bit in Big Rapids, Mich., since April. There’s been “a little bit of a raise,” says Daniels, who … Read more
Entering the third season of his second stint as Lake Superior’s head coach, Frank Anzalone is enthusiastic, sincere, and intense. His Lakers, picked last in both the preseason coaches and media polls, are more stable, he says, and that may lead to improvement in this season’s performance. “I think that right now for the first … Read more
The 2002-03 season was something of a disappointment for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Picked to finish fifth in both the coaches and media preseason CCHA polls, the Mavs finished 10th and ended their season with two quick losses to Ohio State in the opening round of league playoffs. “Certainly, we underachieved last year tremendously,” says head … Read more
“It’s a huge, huge part of our game, probably a bigger part of hockey than any other sport, that chemistry in the locker room. This is a sport that if you have the right mix of people, you can compete at any level.” Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin knows this as well as any … Read more
Two seasons ago, Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Guy Gadowsky publicly thanked two beat writers for being the only members of the media not to pick the Nanooks last in the CCHA preseason media poll. This year, UAF is picked ninth by the press, eighth by the coaches, and Gadowsky knows that this represents real progress. “We … Read more
It’s impossible to think of Rick Comley as a sophomore coach. After 26 years behind the bench as Northern Michigan’s first head coach, Comley is seventh on the NCAA’s all-time win list. As he follows in the footsteps of his mentor, the legendary Ron Mason, Comley is poised to add to his own legend at … Read more
With their 5-1 win over the New Hampshire Wildcats, the Minnesota Golden Gophers became the first team to claim back-to-back national titles since the 1972 Boston University Terriers. In a sport where dynasties are scarce — the NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey title has been captured by 14 different teams in its 55-year history, with seven … Read more
In beating Michigan to advance to Saturday’s NCAA championship game against New Hampshire, Minnesota copied a page from last year’s Frozen Four book while forcing the Wolverines to repeat some history that Michigan would rather have forgotten. For the second straight year, the Golden Gophers eliminated the Wolverines in a Frozen Four semifinal game en … Read more
Michigan has reached the Frozen Four again, but the route is unfamiliar.
Wayne State’s long-term future is bright.
The team that scored by committee all season did it again Sunday. Finding offense from unlikely sources, the Michigan Wolverines upended the Colorado College Tigers, 5-3, to secure the final spot for this year’s Frozen Four in Buffalo. CC’s lethal power play and extraordinary forwards gave the Tigers the edge heading into this quarterfinal game, … Read more
If Colorado College fans thought the Tigers had the easy draw at the Midwest Regional, they were misled. Yes, the Tigers beat Wayne State 4-2 to advance to Sunday’s quarterfinal game, where they’ll face the winner of the Michigan-Maine game, but CC had to work to get past a tenacious team from Detroit that had … Read more
Michigan head coach Red Berenson summed up his Wolverines’ 2-1 win over Maine with one phrase. “It [was] goalkeeping and special teams.” After 46 minutes of shutout hockey, Eric Nystrom put Michigan on the board 1-0 at 6:47 in the third. Colin Shields tied it up 10 minutes later. Al Montoya stops Ben Murphy (photo: … Read more
Going into the title game of the CCHA Super Six as underdogs may have been unfamiliar territory for the Michigan Wolverines, but the rest of the scenario was nothing but déjà vu for the defending Mason Cup champions. Senior Jed Ortmeyer netted two goals, fellow senior John Shouneyia had two helpers, Rookie of the Year … Read more
After two days of high-intensity hockey, the CCHA Super Six consolation game was an uninspired letdown. Interrupted repeatedly by minor penalties called against each team, Northern Michigan’s 4-1 win over Ohio State had all the intensity of an ether-filled room, but with half the excitement. In the end, though, it wasn’t the entertainment value that … Read more
Dwight Helminen’s natural hat trick spurred Michigan past Ohio State, 3-0, to advance to Saturday’s CCHA title game against Ferris State. Helminen scored twice in the second and added a shorthanded goal midway through the third for his first career hat trick. Al Montoya made 31 saves in his fourth career shutout. And that was, … Read more
From the demeanor of the team and its coaching staff, you would never know that with a 4-2 win over Northern Michigan the Ferris State Bulldogs secured their first appearance in the CCHA title game and hit 30 wins for the first time in school history. “We feel pretty fortunate that we got a couple … Read more
It was, in the words of Northern Michigan head coach Walt Kyle, a wild one. The lead changed hands five times, but that fifth time proved to be the only one that mattered in the end, when No. 5 seed Northern Michigan edged No. 4 seed Michigan State 7-5 in the second Super Six quarterfinal … Read more