Paula C. WestonTwo things, CCHA fans: 1. A big apology to Ryan Dzingel, who is clearly not Danny Dzingel, as I originally wrote in today’s column. Dzingel is a freshman forward for Ohio State. I am a middle-aged columnist-slash-teacher living in Flint. I hope that clears things up. 2. There’s a game tonight, so there must be … Read more
Two things, CCHA fans: 1. A big apology to Ryan Dzingel, who is clearly not Danny Dzingel, as I originally wrote in today’s column. Dzingel is a freshman forward for Ohio State. I am a middle-aged columnist-slash-teacher living in Flint. I hope that clears things up. 2. There’s a game tonight, so there must be … Read more
You know, I just never thought that it would come to this. I envisioned a day when I would no longer be covering CCHA hockey — a day that I know many of you have also envisioned, with much longing — but I never thought that the end of my CCHA coverage would come because … Read more
Well, that was interesting. With 18 nonconference games featuring CCHA teams, we were given a good early look at the league, top to bottom. Three things stand out. 1. No one is invincible. No. 1 Notre Dame opened its season with a 4-3 loss to Minnesota-Duluth … which is the same way the Irish ended … Read more
Well, that was interesting. With 18 nonconference games featuring CCHA teams, we were given a good early look at the league, top to bottom. Three things stand out. 1. No one is invincible. No. 1 Notre Dame opened its season with a 4-3 loss to Minnesota-Duluth … which is the same way the Irish ended … Read more
It was a good week for the CCHA, with three nonconference wins and a bunch of exhibition victories (and one notable exception — congratulations, Ontario IT) but this week really kicks off the regular season. Last week: 3-0 Season to date: 3-0 Hey, that was easy! Click on any team’s name to see its season … Read more
It was a good week for the CCHA, with three nonconference wins and a bunch of exhibition victories (and one notable exception — congratulations, Ontario IT) but this week really kicks off the regular season. Last week: 3-0 Season to date: 3-0 Hey, that was easy! Click on any team’s name to see its season … Read more
According to people who have time to claim an expertise in such things, the ancient Mayan civilization predicted that 2012 will bring a giant shift for humanity. Some claim that Armageddon is approaching, that when our sun aligns with the center of the Milky Way on the solstice in December 2012, civilization will cease to … Read more
Past predictors At the start of the 2009-10 season, Notre Dame was picked second in both the CCHA coaches and media preseason polls. After all, the Fighting Irish had gone to the Frozen Four the previous April. Expectations should have been high, right? Well, that season ended unceremoniously with a sweep at the hands of … Read more
Past predictors To say that Michigan State had a disappointing season in 2010-11 would not capture fully the sentiments of those in and around East Lansing. The Spartans, picked third by the media last season and fourth by the coaches, never seemed to get off the ground in any meaningful way. It took them until … Read more
Past predictors Ferris State tends to run in the middle of the pack, and last season was no exception. In spite of first-team All-American goaltender Pat Nagle, the Bulldogs finished in fifth place — just one step above where the media picked them and two steps ahead of what the CCHA coaches predicted. It is … Read more
Past predictors After back-to-back Frozen Four appearances in 2009 and 2010, Miami was eliminated in the first game of the 2011 NCAA Northeast Regional after looking unstoppable in the second half of the season. The RedHawks had captured their first CCHA tournament title a week earlier by demolishing Western Michigan, another team that was rolling. … Read more
Past predictors “In all my years at Michigan,” said coach Red Berenson, “I’ve never proclaimed to be an expert on goalies.” At the start of the season, in his usual fashion, the CCHA’s master of understatement hit upon what few people dared question openly. For the first half of the 2008-09 season, the Wolverines were … Read more
Past predictors Things did not go as planned for Chris Bergeron last season in his first year as Bowling Green’s coach. “I think I made too many assumptions last year, personally,” said Bergeron. “I need to do a better job of developing relationships with these young guys where you can develop them through recruiting and … Read more
Past predictors Alaska finished the 2010-11 season with a weak second-half record that contained as many lopsided games as close ones. Goal-scoring inconsistency was certainly the issue with an otherwise strong team. The Nanooks were outscored 91-89 on the season with the 50th-best offense (2.34 goals per game) and the 48th-best power play in the … Read more
Past predictors When Mark Osiecki took over as head coach at Ohio State last season, he was brutally honest about what he had inherited from the John Markell era. “I think on the big picture of our program, we’re able to move out 11 seniors and bring in new culture and bring these kids in … Read more
Past predictors Lake Superior State limped into the CCHA playoffs last season with a three-game run of lopsided contests in which it was outscored 17-4. That capped a second half during which the Lakers registered five ties — one more than their total of second-half wins. Yet they went on to sweep Ohio State at … Read more
Past predictors The 2010-11 season ended in an uncharacteristic way for Northern Michigan — in Marquette, after losing two of three to Bowling Green in the first round of the CCHA playoffs. It was just the second time in nine years under coach Walt Kyle that NMU had failed to advance to the CCHA championship … Read more
Past predictors In one year, Jeff Blashill — the kid who grew up in Sault Ste. Marie, played in Big Rapids and coached in Oxford — pulled Western Michigan from last place to fourth, and none of it seemed like smoke and mirrors. Somehow, Blashill managed to transform the program’s culture in just one little … Read more
How was your summer? Quiet? So much to talk about in the world of college hockey in the coming weeks and months, including the impending — and sad — demise of the CCHA. In the meantime, however, there is hockey to be played and within the next five days, two CCHA teams are playing hockey … Read more