Paula C. WestonDave Caruso recorded his fifth career shutout and Bryce Anderson had the game-winner as Ohio State beat Northern Michigan, 2-0, in the Wildcats’ first trip to Columbus since 2001. “The guys in front of me played extremely well,” said Caruso. “I don’t want to say it was my cleanest game ever, but — they helped … Read more
CCHA teams get out the brooms — and CCHA fans get out their hats; Bowling Green pulls together to overcome a potential trauma; and Northern Michigan takes on Ohio State in the Games of the Week, says Paula C. Weston.
Dan Knapp earned his second career hat trick in Ohio State’s 7-1 win over Sacred heart, and Buckeye fans have Knapp’s nine-year-old cousin to thank for it. “My little cousin called me and told me the other day, ‘You’ve got to score. Shave your head again,’” said Knapp. “That’s how I got the idea. As … Read more
In a 5-1 win over the Sacred Heart Pioneers, it was the youthful enthusiasm of one Buckeye line that did most of the damage. The rookie line of Domenic Maiani, John Dingle, and Tom Fritsche was responsible for three of OSU’s five goals — Maiani’s second and third of the season, Dingle’s second, and assists … Read more
With the presidential race finally out of the way, Paula C. Weston turns to what’s really important — the election’s historical impact on college hockey. Also: Michigan State welcomes back an alum, temporarily, and nationally-ranked Cinderella Nebraska-Omaha visits Alaska-Fairbanks for the late-night Games of the Week.
Don’t put too much stock in the early results, but a few CCHA teams are going in unexpected directions; Bowling Green has a powder keg of a story coming to light; and Paula C. Weston’s beloved Red Sox reverse the curse.
After clubbing the No. 6 Miami RedHawks 9-3 in their home opener Thursday night, the Ohio State Buckeyes were looking for a more competitive game on the road in Goggin Arena Friday. They got it, and also got a 2-1 win, sweeping the RedHawks, snapping Miami’s 14-game home unbeaten streak and extending their own win … Read more
Eric LeMarque Sometimes there are events that touch the college hockey community that help us put sport in perspective. In February of this year, former Northern Michigan Wildcat and U.S. Olympian Eric LeMarque lost both of his legs below the knees after surviving seven days in California’s High Sierras without shelter, food, or fire. LeMarque … Read more
Ohio State surprised Miami 1:30 into the first and continued to control on its way to a 9-3 home-opening win, dealing the RedHawks their first loss of the year and moving, for the moment, into sole possession of first place in the CCHA standings. Domenic Maiani and Matt Waddell each had two goals and in … Read more
At Last Congratulations to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, who have finally won the Maverick Stampede. “For us, it’s big,” said UNO head coach Mike Kemp. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. We’ve been close so many times, for us to get over the hump is so very important.” The Mavs beat Connecticut 4-1 in … Read more
Quick! Name six members of the 2003-04 Northern Michigan team. Tuomas Tarkki, Darin Olver, and Nathan Oystrick don’t count. Gotcha. If the Wildcats weren’t voted so high in the CCHA coaches and media preseason polls, they might seem like a league darkhorse. NMU returns just one double-digit conference goal scorer from a year ago, and … Read more
Editor’s note: this is the second half of USCHO.com’s CCHA season preview, including team previews for Michigan, Michigan State, Northern Michigan, Notre Dame, Ohio State and Miami. Included in Part I are a league overview and previews for the remaining six teams. The air is crisper but the debate is still hot, and isn’t it … Read more
“When I look at our team this year, we could have a good team.” So says the master of understatement, Michigan head coach Red Berenson. Good? Try great. Try if-we-don’t-win-a-national-title-we-haven’t-reached-our-potential great. As scary-good as they are on paper, the Wolverines backed into the CCHA regular-season title last year, relying on — children, cover your ears … Read more
Something interesting happened in Detroit in March of this year. Someone, somehow, lit a fire in the collective bellies of the Ohio State Buckeyes, and they played up to their potential — finally. Given that OSU graduated the guys responsible for six of the 14 goals the Bucks scored in the Super Six en route … Read more
One of the most endearing things about sixth-year Miami head coach Enrico Blasi is his belief in the CCHA. “This is a tough league,” says Blasi. “We got five teams in the NCAA tournament last year because of the strength of our league, night in and night out.” Blasi and the RedHawks found out just … Read more
The Fighting Irish ended the 2003-04 season with a 5-2 loss to Minnesota in the NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal, marking Notre Dame’s first NCAA tournament appearance and the last game for six sensational Irish players. “Five of them you know very well,” says Poulin. “One of them you don’t know very well.” T.J. Mathieson was … Read more
Finally, this team belongs to Rick Comley. With the departure of Brock Radunske (7-6-13) and Lee Falardeau (2-4-6) and the return of the league’s genuine superstar, Jim Slater (10-21-31), Comley can feel pretty confident that the Spartans are all on the same page. “Our hockey team will be a pretty good team,” says Comley, a … Read more
The Falcons tied opponents nine times last season, including six CCHA one-pointers. The near-misses — against opponents as diverse as Lake Superior State, Cornell, Union and Northern Michigan — would be enough to frustrate any team, but BGSU head coach Scott Paluch takes them as signs of improvement. He also takes encouragement for the Falcons’ … Read more
In a league that graduated a large class at the end of the 2003-04 season, the Mavericks are an anomaly with 20 veterans on the roster for the upcoming campaign. While that can be a positive — experience, maturity — these are the same Mavericks responsible for last year’s last-place finish. The kindest way to … Read more
“Youth is the strength of our hockey program.” So says first-year head coach Tavis MacMillan, and he’d better be right. The Nanooks welcome 11 rookies this season — almost half the team — after saying goodbye to a senior class that twice engineered home ice in the first round of the CCHA playoffs and brought … Read more