Paula C. Weston“It’s one louder, isn’t it?” asks Nigel Tufnel in “This Is Spinal Tap.” “It’s not 10.” Perhaps it’s just a personal perversion, but every time I think of the CCHA as an 11-team entity, I think of Nigel Tufnel’s magic amp, the one that is one louder. Michigan’s Louie Caporusso scored 10 of his 21 … Read more
Western Michigan’s Jeff Blashill is one of three new head coaches in the CCHA, but he’s familiar to everyone in the league. He may have spent the last two seasons coaching the USHL’s Indiana Ice — where he won the Clark Cup as a rookie head coach in 2009 — but he was an assistant … Read more
Bob Daniels is beginning the 2010-11 season with the same question he had a year ago: Who’s going to score for Ferris State? He and the Bulldogs hope that the answer this year is as satisfying as it was last season. When 2009-10 began for the Bulldogs, they had just completed a year in which … Read more
In this millennium, Bowling Green has finished above ninth place twice — a fifth-place finish in 2004-05 and seventh in 2007-08. Given that four of the last five seasons have seen the Falcons at or next to the bottom of the CCHA standings, new coach Chris Bergeron understands the need to change things, wholesale, at … Read more
Of the three CCHA teams led by new coaches this season, Ohio State has arguably been the biggest disappointment for far too long a time. After all, this is a school with huge resources, a high profile and matching expectations. New coach Mark Osiecki, an assistant at Wisconsin for six seasons — and therefore wise … Read more
“We’re coming off a second-place finish and a team that obviously did not perform well in the playoffs,” Michigan State coach Rick Comley said. “That was a disappointment.” That was an understatement. After a hugely disappointing, next-to-last-place finish in 2008-09, Michigan State rebounded last year, earning a bye for the first round of the CCHA … Read more
Wisconsin high-powered offense couldn’t generate much against Boston College in the national championship game. Paula C. Weston reports.
Wisconsin pressured early, made the most of second-period power plays and spread the goals around in an 8-1 win over RIT in Thursday’s first Frozen Four semifinal game at Ford Field, giving the Badgers the chance to play for their seventh NCAA championship on Saturday night. “It was one of our emphasis to get off … Read more
Miami has lived by its physical play all season. Against Boston College Saturday, it proved its undoing.
After their first practices on the Ford Field ice, the four teams playing at the Frozen Four react to their environment. Paula C. Weston reports.
By now, everyone knows the personal tragedy that Miami hockey endured this year. In early February, team manager Brendan Burke, the 21-year-old son of Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Brian Burke, was killed in an auto accident on an icy road near the Indiana-Ohio border. It’s the reason the RedHawks wear the shamrock patch on … Read more
For Miami, the second time against Michigan this post-season was the charm, and the one that means that the RedHawks continue to play. One week after losing a CCHA semifinal game to the eventual Mason Cup-winning Wolverines, the RedHawks earned their first-ever playoff victory over Michigan when Alden Hirschfeld scored 1:54 into the second overtime … Read more
Two goals by Carl Hagelin — one a quick back-breaker to answer Bemidji State’s lone tally — helped Michigan advance past the Beavers, 5-1, to face CCHA rival Miami in Sunday’s Midwest Regional final. “I don’t think that was a 5-1 game,” Michigan coach Red Berenson said. “They were always in the game, when you … Read more
Alabama-Huntsville had a strong penalty kill and Miami was struggling on the power play, but things flipped in the Midwest Regional semifinals. Paula C. Weston reports.
For Michigan, winning the CCHA playoff championship isn’t something new. For this Wolverines team, however, doing so after a seventh-place finish in the league — with a junior goaltender making his seventh career start — is something of a novelty. “It’s not where we are now,” said coach Red Berenson, “but how we got here.” … Read more
The teams in the CCHA’s third-place game had bigger hopes coming into the weekend.
They weren’t playing with desperation, said Red Berenson, but they were playing with urgency. With two goals from Kevin Lynch and a smothering defensive effort that limited the Miami offense to 22 shots, the Michigan Wolverines upset No. 2 Miami to play their way into the CCHA championship game — and their only chance to … Read more
The Name of the Game Quick, what’s the bigger surprise? Michigan sweeping Michigan State in Munn last weekend, or ABBA being inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame before Patsy Cline? Before KISS? Before Heart, for the love of all that’s holy? Let me make this clear: I am not anti-ABBA. In fact, … Read more
They played like they couldn’t lose. Even after they watched their early two-goal lead evaporate at the end of the first, the Wolverines were relentless in this 5-3 win over Michigan State, guaranteeing Michigan’s advancement to the CCHA championship tournament, UM’s only shot at sustaining an NCAA tournament appearance streak that now spans 19 years. … Read more
The Wolverines came into their biggest rival’s rink and made themselves right at home, scoring three statement-making, first period goals en route to a 5-1 win over Michigan State to take the first game of this best-of-three series. “We made some breaks and we put our chances in,” said Michigan head coach Red Berenson. “I … Read more