Paula C. WestonLast year, Northern Michigan’s season ended when Bowling Green took two of three games from the Wildcats in Marquette during the CCHA playoffs. It was deja vu for NMU, the second year in a row that the last-place Falcons had come into the Wildcats’ own rink and sent the home team packing in the playoffs. … Read more
Notre Dame has a lot to live up to. After finishing the 2011-12 season tied for eighth place, the Fighting Irish topped the CCHA preseason coaches poll and were second in the media balloting. “Like everyone,” coach Jeff Jackson said, “we have high expectations going into the year. For the last two years we have … Read more
A year after Tom Anastos took charge in East Lansing, there’s one thing that seems to remain constant for Michigan State: change. “We do continue to have a lot of change,” Anastos said. “We graduated a very large class last year and we lost Torey Krug to the pros after his junior year. We have … Read more
Michigan was picked second in the CCHA preseason coaches poll, first in the media poll, third in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll — with three first-place votes — and there’s a guarantee that someone brand new will start in net this season. “We lost all our captains,” coach Red Berenson said. “Luke Glendening, Greg … Read more
Miami welcomes a dozen rookies to its roster this season, including three goaltenders. What does that mean for RedHawks hockey? Perhaps two separate seasons, altogether in one. “I’m fairly confident that the team you’ll see in January and February will be very different from the team that you’ll see in October and November,” coach Enrico … Read more
In the CCHA last season, there was no shame in finishing in the middle of the standings. Yet sixth-place Lake Superior State — a team that finished just seven points out of home ice and a first-round bye in the CCHA playoffs — seems like a team that is always just one step away from … Read more
Ferris State may have ended last season with a 4-1 loss to Boston College, but the Bulldogs did play until the very last game of the season — and who would’ve thought it? Not coach Bob Daniels. “We felt that we were better than the preseason polls indicated a year ago, and we felt that … Read more
There are very few teams that finish in last place in a season that can also carry momentum into their next campaign, but Bowling Green is a team that knows it can build on what it accomplished in 2011-12, in spite of the Falcons’ five conference regular-season wins. After tallying four wins in the second … Read more
Alaska is looking to reverse a little polarity this season. “For our group coming off last season, there was a sense of disappointment,” coach Dallas Ferguson said. “We didn’t expect to be where we were with our record and we wanted to learn from it to make us better for this season.” Alaska ended the … Read more
How do you follow up a CCHA playoff championship in your first year as head coach? Said Western Michigan’s Andy Murray, “Our basic expectation is to be ready to play every night.” The two-year turnaround of Broncos hockey is nothing short of amazing. After Jeff Blashill provided the groundwork in 2010-11, Murray built an even … Read more
Ohio State is another CCHA team in transition, with a coach attempting to rebuild a program that hasn’t lived up to its potential in recent seasons. “We’re trying to obviously build up what we’ve done the last couple of years, certainly last year,” coach Mark Osiecki said. “We’ll be extremely young again this year, but … Read more
Well, looky here. It’s October … and it’s hockey season. There is one Division I game involving a CCHA team this weekend; there are eight exhibition games between CCHA teams and visiting Canadian college hockey teams, and Notre Dame plays the Under-18 team in exhibition. I don’t pick exhibition games, although I do believe that … Read more
Well, looky here. It’s October … and it’s hockey season. There is one Division I game involving a CCHA team this weekend; there are eight exhibition games between CCHA teams and visiting Canadian college hockey teams, and Notre Dame plays the Under-18 team in exhibition. I don’t pick exhibition games, although I do believe that … Read more
The Bulldogs trailed early but pulled back into the national championship game. Paula C. Weston reports from the Frozen Four.
It’s hard to believe that the college hockey season will be over in a matter of hours. The Frozen Four this year has been a fantastic event. Tampa has been an excellent host city — they really know what they’re doing here — and even though the Alabama-Huntsville presence hasn’t been very noticeable this week, … Read more
It’s hard to believe that the college hockey season will be over in a matter of hours. The Frozen Four this year has been a fantastic event. Tampa has been an excellent host city — they really know what they’re doing here — and even though the Alabama-Huntsville presence hasn’t been very noticeable this week, … Read more
Accompanied by unprecedented ceremony, Minnesota-Duluth forward Jack Connolly was named the 32nd recipient of the Hobey Baker Award on Friday. Upon hearing his name called, Connolly said he was “very emotional.” [scg_html_ff2012]”Kind of took my breath away,” said Connolly, a native of Duluth, Minn. “I thought I had an outside chance that my name would … Read more
TAMPA, Fla. — Speed kills. Boston College is fast. Therefore, Ferris State will die. That’s the prevailing logic, right? There’s no question that the Eagles play a far faster game than do the Bulldogs, and — seriously — that may be very bad for Ferris State come Saturday night. “We had an opportunity to watch … Read more
TAMPA, Fla. — Speed kills. Boston College is fast. Therefore, Ferris State will die. That’s the prevailing logic, right? There’s no question that the Eagles play a far faster game than do the Bulldogs, and — seriously — that may be very bad for Ferris State come Saturday night. “We had an opportunity to watch … Read more
TAMPA, Fla. — Through 42 games this season, Ferris State has blocked 498 shots. Taking one for the team? Try taking 79 for the team. That’s how many times senior defenseman Brett Wysopal has deliberately put himself into the line of fire this season, nearly 16 percent of the team’s total blocked shots. “The blocked … Read more