Paula C. WestonIt takes three facts to make a truth. — Eugene Manlove Rhodes. One. The Northern Michigan Wildcats return one of the toughest defenses in college hockey. Two. The Wildcats were collectively born under a star lucky enough to award Andrew Contois, their 2004-05 leading goal scorer, a fifth year of NCAA eligibility. Three. NMU’s cluster … Read more
The only true knowledge of things is the knowledge of their causes. — Archbishop Leighton All those who think that Michigan State will emerge a top-tier CCHA team this season, say, “Aye!” Come on. A little enthusiasm here. “I feel good about our hockey team,” says head coach Rick Comley. That’s a big statement from … Read more
History repeats itself because no one was listening the first time. — Anonymous Have you heard the one about the team that can score from nearly anywhere on the ice but allows goals from nearly anywhere as well? Of course you have. It’s the recent history of the Western Michigan Broncos. Anyone following Bronco hockey … Read more
History is not melodrama, even if it usually reads like that. — Robert Penn Warren Ah, Frank. Why did you have to go? We hardly knew ye. So it took a few years for CCHA fans to adjust to the unique coaching and public speaking style of Frank Anzalone. It certainly took this writer more … Read more
We cannot escape history. — Abraham Lincoln Talk about a change in the wind. Michigan captured just one first-place vote in this year’s CCHA preseason coaches’ poll, presumably only because Ohio State head coach John Markell couldn’t vote for his own team to give the Buckeyes the unanimous nod. Sure, OSU returns a killer team … Read more
After 43 games, it’s hard to call a freshman a freshman, especially when he’s the game-winning goalie for a national champion, and the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. In two games, Denver goaltender Peter Mannino made 85 saves on 88 shots in a performance that earned him 2005 Frozen Four MOP honors and made him the … Read more
If this were a story about the 2005 Hobey Baker winner, Marty Sertich of the Colorado College Tigers, you’d have all the ingredients of great cinema, all the potential of a legend in the making. Sure, Sertich’s numbers are impressive — 64 points with 27 goals and 37 assists in 43 games — but hardly … Read more
Sometimes, someone just has your number. For the 2004-2005 Colorado College Tigers, the team that held all the right numbers at the right times was the Denver Pioneers. Thursday’s 6-2 Pioneers win was the third straight decision in Denver’s favor against CC, and that streak represented three of the biggest games of the season for … Read more
At first glance, Columbus, Ohio, doesn’t appear to be the 15th largest city in the United States. Well, at second glance, it doesn’t either — unless you know where to look. In the 15 years that I have lived here, Columbus has become a very livable city, a mix of small-town and cosmopolitan, where you … Read more
Down three goals just after the start of the second period, the Colorado College Tigers turned Saturday’s game around with special teams and goals from unexpected sources, beating the Michigan Wolverines, 4-3, to advance to the 2005 Frozen Four in Columbus, Ohio. And with the nation’s four leading scorers on the ice — CC’s Marty … Read more
The distance between Rochester, Minn., and Colorado Springs, Colo., is 729 miles as the crow flies, but to get from the one city to the other, ice is a more convenient medium than air. Colorado College’s captain, junior Mark Stuart, and sophomores John Brunkhorst and Scott Thauwald are all Rochester natives, and are among seven … Read more
In single-elimination hockey, any team that plays hungry from the first drop of the puck gives itself a chance to win. Friday, the Wolverines gave themselves a chance to do more than that, making a statement in their 4-1 schooling of Wisconsin by outshooting the Badgers 18-4 in the first period, capitalizing on their first … Read more
With a 4-2 win over the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Michigan Wolverines captured their seventh CCHA postseason championship and the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid. The Wolverines (30-7-3) welcome the Mason Cup back to Ann Arbor for the third time in the last four seasons, the only hiatus being last year’s OSU championship at the … Read more
Ah, to be young in the springtime — in Detroit! Half of this year’s Super Six field is comprised of the three CCHA teams with the largest freshman classes. Two of those teams, Nebraska-Omaha and Ohio State, hosted a first-round playoff series, while Alaska-Fairbanks traveled to Joe Louis Arena by way of Bowling Green, Ohio. … Read more
With a 4-1 win over Michigan State in CCHA semifinal action, the Ohio State Buckeyes advanced to Saturday’s championship game against Michigan, setting up a rematch of last year’s title contest. The Buckeyes beat the Spartans with the same tools they’ve used all season — a fast and young offense, solid goaltending, and a lethal … Read more
With the CCHA Super Six here, Paula C. Weston rounds up the teams involved, then looks back on the good — and bad — of another season gone by.
The Spartans capitalized on their first two power-play opportunities in this Super Six quarterfinal game to jump out to an early lead before rolling to a 5-0 victory over the No. 4 seed Mavericks of Nebraska-Omaha. Michigan State, the No. 5 seed in the Super Six field, saw five different Spartans score on the night, … Read more
After battling from behind three times in the game, the No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes finally pulled ahead when it counted, beating No. 11 Ferris State, 5-4, in overtime to advance to the CCHA Super Six championship series in Detroit’s Joe Louis Arena next weekend. Freshman John Dingle had the game-winner at 4:40 in … Read more
With Zac Pearson’s breakaway goal at 1:09 in overtime, No. 11 seed Ferris State Bulldogs stunned No. 2 Ohio State with a 1-0 victory in Columbus to force a deciding third game Sunday night in this best-of-3 first-round CCHA playoff series. FSU goaltender Mike Brown, a senior, made 36 saves in his second shutout of … Read more
Matt Beaudoin scored twice as the No. 2 seed Ohio State Buckeyes downed 11th-seeded Ferris State, 4-2, to take the first game of this best-of-3 CCHA playoff series. “We had a lot of young kids out there who were nervous … but I think we did well enough to win that hockey game,” said OSU … Read more