Theresa SpisakLast night, Mercyhurst Lakers’ coach Rick Gotkin said that his Lakers needed to be great to be able to sweep the Air Force Academy Falcons. While his team started off on the right track, the Falcons had a five-goal third period to earn the split, winning 6-2. “We obviously had a complete meltdown,” said Gotkin … Read more
Mercyhurst College freshman Scott Pitt is not yet used to being the player of the game in his college career, smiling and apologizing for his lack of eloquence in his post-game remarks. Instead, he let his play during the Lakers 5-3 victory over the Air Force Academy Fighting Falcons Friday night speak for him. Pitt … Read more
Baby Steps If we’re going by factual errors, I only had one last week — I mistakenly had Kyle Turris as a potential first-round draft pick when, in fact, he already was drafted. Oops. If we want to get technical about things, I was half-right — he was a first-round pick as in a third-overall … Read more
Worst. Beginning. Ever. I first want to apologize for the mistakes in the last column, particularly those regarding Andrew Gordon of St. Cloud State and the mishap about Wisconsin in the sidebar. Paraphrasing the Guinness commercials: “Factual errors in a first column? BRILLIANT!” That being said, thank you for all the e-mails pointing out said … Read more
On a night raising banners celebrating their Atlantic Hockey Association championship and their NCAA tournament appearance from last year, the Air Force Academy Falcons accomplished one thing they were never able to do last year — beat a ranked opponent. In their season opener Friday night, the Falcons beat the No. 14 Quinnipiac Bobcats 4-1 … Read more
The Basics Hi, my name is Theresa and I’m a hockey dork. With that out of the way, I’d first like to thank the powers that be at USCHO.com for giving me the opportunity to cover the WCHA this season. If I can do half as well as those before me, I’ll count this season … Read more
As much as teams hate them, it seems like they’re going to have to get used to them. Early departures. “We lost another dozen players during the offseason to the National Hockey League,” said Doug Spencer, the WCHA’s associate commissioner for public relations. “Over the last two years, over 30 underclassmen have left early.” This … Read more
Besides losing at home in the playoffs last year to league upstart Michigan Tech, the Colorado College Tigers have another motivating factor this season to do well — the NCAA West Regional comes back to the World Arena. “We’re very excited and anxious for the season to get started,” said coach Scott Owens. “Losing last … Read more
Compared to most teams, the Bulldogs are old, with about an even number of upper- and underclassmen. However, the main question for Scott Sandelin’s crew will be offense. “We might not have that one big line or that one dynamic player,” he said, emphasizing that the team will have to hope for production from everyone … Read more
While the University of North Dakota lost a couple of key players in forward Jonathan Toews and defenseman Brian Lee, the story for the Fighting Sioux is more about who didn’t leave. “We probably had about four other guys who had the opportunity to go and each had their own individual reasons for staying, I’m … Read more
Last year was a bitter pill for the University of Denver Pioneers to swallow. Even after a first-round WCHA playoff exit at the hands of the University of Wisconsin Badgers, the Pioneers were on the cusp of an NCAA berth until the last conference playoff game was played. Due to the numbers, the Pioneers missed … Read more
The University of Minnesota Golden Gophers are once again coming off a successful season, winning the MacNaughton Cup in the NCAA and coming within a game of the Frozen Four. They are also once again coming off a summer filled with early departures, losing two players to the NHL and one to Canadian major juniors. … Read more
While a lot of the teams in the WCHA are young this year, most have at least a modicum of senior leadership. With the Minnesota State Mavericks, however, it barely feels like it, as Troy Jutting’s squad returns just three seniors from last season, the fewest in the league. As a result, Jutting will have … Read more
Coach Bob Motzko — and arguably goaltender Bobby Goepfert — brought back the St. Cloud State Huskies to the level of the Husky teams of the early 2000s last year, making the NCAA tournament for the first time in four years. However, the team still has the stigma of being unable to win an NCAA … Read more
Coach Jamie Russell guided Michigan Technological University to its first winning season in nearly 15 years last season, making it to St. Paul, Minn., and the WCHA Red Baron Final Five for the first time in a little over a decade — all in all, a breakout season. As a result, the team will enter … Read more
The Seawolves are one of those teams that you can feel getting better, but haven’t yet found those final few pieces. And, until they do, the team will continue to be picked to reside in the league’s basement. However, coach Dave Shyiak’s squad does have some bright spots to look forward to this year, considering … Read more
Though coach Mike Eaves doesn’t necessarily like to think of his squad as a defensive one, the University of Wisconsin Badgers will seemingly always have that reputation. However, with a scoring defense that has been in the nation’s top ten for the past four years, it’s easy to see why the reputation exists. Looking at … Read more
Although it was only an exhibition game, Hobey Baker finalist Eric Ehn played like he was in midseason form, scoring two goals and one assist in his Air Force Academy Falcons’ 4-1 victory over the visiting University of Calgary Dinos. “Ehner decided to get involved and does what Ehner does and zipped a couple in,” … Read more