Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
Sports’ Lessons Sports is a great way to learn many of life’s lessons. That was evident in Potsdam’s topsy-turvy weekend. Potsdam forward Mitch West played in 18 games in his freshman year. He did not score a single point. Not a goal. Not an assist. In his first 13 games this year, he still had … Read more
It took a bit for Rick Comley to really settle in at Michigan State, but now the Spartans’ bench boss is focused on a repeat NCAA championship, Dave Starman finds.
It’s time once again to do what we like to call Bracketology — College Hockey Style. It’s our weekly look at how the NCAA tournament would look if the season ended today. It’s a look into what are the possible thought processes behind selecting and seeding the NCAA tournament teams. This is the first installment … Read more
Scott Brown’s back on duty, so he and Jim Connelly take on the rise of Michigan’s Billy Sauer, Hockey East’s new contenders, video troubles in Denver and the “Vote for Hobey” fan poll.
For the third consecutive poll, the St. Norbert Green Knights are the top team in college hockey. Their hold on that honor, however, is more tenuous after it took overtime in each game to defeat St. Mary’s and fourth ranked St. Thomas. Despite their unbeaten streak reaching 14, their first place tallies were pared to … Read more
Happy New Year! Can’t you just see the confetti, the ball, er puck, dropping at the stroke of midnight over and over again in a scene reminiscent of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? Over and over again in flashbacks, the league coaches have had various amounts of time during the holiday break to think about … Read more
Midterms With the second semester of the 2007-08 college hockey season underway, it’s a good time to take a look at the first semester for surprises, disappointments, and meeting expectations. Perhaps the two biggest surprises sit on top of the league. One for good reason, the other due to disappointment. A few weeks back, I … Read more
MIAC teams have a full slate of non-conference games against NCHA squads this week before returning to conference next week as each MIAC member faces difficult opponents. With all but two teams within three points of the MIAC leaders, next week’s games are extremely significant. However, we should not overlook this week’s tilts as just … Read more
Hat, Hat, Hat, Hat, Hat Trick Over the holidays, Neumann junior Mike Hedden completed one of the most amazing feats in hockey amidst very little fan fare. It started on November 30 as Neumann defeated Lebanon Valley 8-2. Hedden tallied three goals and an assist that night, and began a streak of scoring hat-tricks that … Read more
While it may be human nature to always look at the top of the standings when scanning Web sites or even newspapers, this week we focus on the Golden Bears of Western New England College, a team still in search of its first victory of the season. Chris Bernard, now in his second year as … Read more
There is no doubt many of us are working to drop some of the weight we put on over the holidays. The same can be said for the NCHA and MCHA teams as they gear up for the second half of the season. In fact, many have already gotten action in since we last visited, … Read more
After so much inter-conference action during the holiday tournaments, Jim Connelly and Theresa Spisak have a lot to back-and-forth about this week. While neither the ECAC nor Hockey East set the college hockey world on fire at midseason, two WCHA squads had to settle for third-place in their own traditional holiday happenings. Has No. 1 Michigan been tested? What’s up with the U-18 program? It certainly is a brand new year.
Lightning Strikes For UMass Several Hockey East teams are having a little happier new year than they might otherwise in the wake of last weekend’s holiday tournaments. Seven of the league’s teams competed in six different tournaments. When the ice chips had settled, Hockey East teams emerged with four championships. Unexpectedly, Boston College didn’t have … Read more
The Good Congratulations Ferris State, Miami and Michigan for midseason championship titles! And thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you. The CCHA had much on the line at midseason, even if no one wanted to admit it. Many people still think that Michigan State somehow stole the national championship from far superior competitors; these … Read more
Make that two former CHA skaters to don NHL colors. On Dec. 26, the Columbus Blue Jackets added ex-Bemidji State forward Andrew Murray to the roster on emergency recall from the Syracuse Crunch, Columbus’ American Hockey League affiliate, and Murray made his NHL debut the next night, finishing minus-1 with 12 shifts in a 4-3 … Read more
Look, I’m back. I’ll make this short and say my holiday was good and I hope yours was too. Of course, you all got the gift of not having to read me for about a month, so you know. Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: … Read more
Penman Looking to Write Up Stellar Season When heading into the holiday break last year, Southern New Hampshire University had six wins and four losses. This year, the Penmen celebrated Christmas sitting atop the Northeast 10 with a record of 6-1-1, and as 2007 turned into 2008, they were 7-2-1. Rookie coach Ken Hutchins was … Read more
Postcard from Mariucci I had the trip from hell getting back from Minnesota on Monday/Tuesday — I imagine that the eighth level of Hades must be very similar to O’Hare Airport at 1:00 a.m. Not a cool way to spend New Year’s Eve. But it was worth it. I saw some wonderful hockey. A major … Read more
First and foremost, happy new year! Now let’s hope we never hear any of this crap ever again. Gag. Speaking of Gags… It has always been asserted, with all justification, that the best way to improve the league’s standing on the national stage is to win the big games. And by “big games,†we mean … Read more
Site: Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum, Storrs, Conn. Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 29-30, 2007 Participants: Brown, Ferris State, Army, Connecticut Game 1: Ferris State vs. Brown, 4:05 p.m. ET Ferris State Bulldogs (7-8-1, 6-6-0 CCHA) Head coach: Bob Daniels Leading scorers: So. Cody Chupp (4-8 — 12), Jr. Brendan Connolly (5-6 — 11) Leading netminders: Jr. Mitch … Read more