Paula C. Weston

After Notre Dame lost to Michigan, 5-3, Saturday night, ND head coach Jeff Jackson said, “They scored three goals that must have bounced off 15 things.” That got me thinking about all the little things that make a difference — or don’t — in college hockey. Keep in mind that small is a relative term. … Read more

I’ve checked the planets and can’t find anything to explain this. All I can do is believe Rick Comley, who told me Saturday that there is parity in the CCHA. Who knew? Going into last weekend’s play, the top five CCHA teams were as follows, points totals in parentheses: Notre Dame (14) Michigan (13) Miami … Read more

After taking a two-goal lead into the third period and losing 4-3 in overtime Friday, Michigan State rebounded with a 4-0 shutout to split the weekend series against visiting Ohio State. MSU captain Torey Krug, who scored his second goal of the season at 9:00 in the first period, said that tonight’s game was a … Read more

After Notre Dame and Michigan exchanged goals nine seconds apart in the first period, the Fighting Irish added two more in the third to beat the Wolverines, 3-1. Three different players scored for Notre Dame, and freshman Kevin Lind’s first career goal was the game-winner at 1:35 in the third. “It was a weird game,” … Read more

I knew last weekend’s play — and my picks — would kill me. It wasn’t as bad as I thought. Last week’s picks: 6-3-1 Season: 32-11-7 Straight wins, that’s .640 so far for the season. Factoring in ties, it’s .710 and not completely honest, as I haven’t called any. This weekend, there’s a full slate … Read more

The games of this past weekend were very interesting, in many ways. Not surprisingly, the quotes that came in the aftermath were, too. I find the distinction between expectations of winning and overlooking one’s opponent to be very interesting — and a theme common to some recent series. “We were focused and intense, but last … Read more

What’s the bigger story, that Miami left Big Rapids with one point to its credit — or that the Bulldogs took five from the No. 1 team in the country? Michigan State left Kalamazoo empty-handed, or the unranked (and formerly lowly) Broncos swept a ranked (and formerly undefeated) team? Notre Dame emerges at the top … Read more

No preamble, just picks. I will say this, though: I can’t believe it’s November already. Last week’s picks: 7-1-4 Season: 26-8-6 Straight wins, that’s .583. Factoring in ties (and I’d love to), it’s .750. Any way I look at it, I see a better start to the season than I’ve had in years — and, … Read more

This week, I noticed two players who contributed noteworthy performances in losing efforts. That got me thinking about other such performances this season. Here’s what I found. Chase Balisy, Oct. 30 vs. Notre Dame. Balisy, a freshman forward, scored the only two goals in regulation in WMU’s 2-2 tie to cap a one-point weekend for … Read more

The Runaway RedHawks? There’s some chatter around the league that Miami is poised to run away with the regular-season championship again this year as the RedHawks did last season, and it sure looked that way Friday night when Miami beat Lake Superior State 6-2. That was the RedHawks’ third consecutive CCHA win to begin league … Read more