Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.) Alaska-Anchorage Graduates: Forwards: Chris Sikich, Reggie Simon; … Read more
(Note: The majority of the players mentioned here have signed official National Letters of Intent. There may be some players with only verbal commitments. The confirmation of these players has been culled from a variety of sources, including, but not limited to, information released by their current leagues.) Brown Graduates: Forwards: Matt Kohansky, John Petricig, … Read more
Reaction to the NCAA’s transfer rules; the fallout from the Colin Shields case in Maine; the NHL’s opt-in “option”; props to the CCHA; and the best college hockey game ever played. Adam Wodon‘s one-of-a-kind column returns.
A draft loophole beckons, NCAA tournament expansion and gender equity, Princeton’s coaching situation, the future of the MAAC and the Vermont hazing scandal. Adam Wodon‘s regular column debuts for the 2000-01 season.
With college players going an unprecedented 1-2 in this year’s NHL draft, and a record seven being selected in the first round, many fans of the game celebrated the moment. Is it parochial? Sure. Is it justified? Absolutely. Stand up college hockey fans, and be proud. The sport you love has just gained a measure … Read more
College hockey will get some additional notoriety in this year’s draft, thanks to the likely early selection of Wisconsin’s Dany Heatley and Boston University’s Rick DiPietro. Since its inception in 1969, Michigan State’s Joe Murphy (1986) is the only college player to be selected No. 1 overall in the NHL Draft. That fell near the … Read more
When handing out the assignments for championship weekend, U.S. College Hockey Online general manager Jayson Moy also said, “Mandatory staff meeting on Saturday morning at 10 a.m. sharp. Everyone must be there. Hangovers optional.” Wow. I guess we’re really a business now. Staff meetings and everything. But Jayson and Tim were smart. They knew that … Read more
Another year in college hockey is gone, and it’s time to look back on what has occurred. We saw the usual assortment of scandals, suspensions and coaching changes. We also saw another exciting year on the ice, culminating with North Dakota’s second national championship in four years. We saw the continued reemergence of ex-collegians making … Read more
Friday, April 7th I have no life during the college hockey season. My friends and family know that. My fellow U.S. College Hockey Online staffers know it (like they should talk). I write for USCHO and a couple other publications. But USCHO is my favorite. Really. I do radio for RIT, about 30 broadcasts a … Read more
Thursday, April 6th, Noon Thursday is my favorite day of National Championship week. Why? Twice as much hockey! The pressure is intense for these teams, which have come so far and are now just a win away from playing for the national championship. To get to Providence and then go home after just one game … Read more
Monday, April 3rd, 10:15 PM — Rochester, N.Y. I’m watching squeakball on the tube. Mateen Cleaves just hurt his poor wittle ankle. Woogums has to get taped up in the locker room, missing several minutes. If he were a hockey player, he would have tied his skate tighter and stayed on the bench so he … Read more
Welcome back, old friend! Haven’t seen you in five years. For the first time since 1995 and the seventh time overall, Providence, R.I., is the host for the NCAA Hockey Championships — the Frozen Four. And with all due respect to Colorado Springs, Detroit, Milwaukee and Albany, to name a few, there is no better … Read more
Sometimes games come down to Xs and Os. A brilliantly designed faceoff play. A game plan that strikes at an opponent’s Achilles’ heel. A power play that breaks down a penalty kill with the precision of a Swiss watch. Blake Bellefeuille rose to the occasion in the semifinal against St. Lawrence, sending the Eagles to … Read more
The fate of the longest game in NCAA tournament history was in their hands. Freshmen goaltenders Rick DiPietro (Boston University) and Derek Gustafson (St. Lawrence) combined for 149 saves — shattering the old NCAA tourney record of 99 set in the 1995 Maine-Michigan triple-overtime semifinal — before Robin Carruthers scored the game-winner at 3:53 of … Read more
“Hey, buddy, you’re outta here!” ECAC partisans were dying to say that after Saturday’s Michigan-Colgate clash. Passions run high in any postseason, but even more so in this CCHA-ECAC tilt. Michigan coach Red Berenson and his colleague at Michigan State, Ron Mason, created a stir this past week, complaining about their seeding in the NCAA … Read more
Once again this year, the NCAA used an objective selection process (the decision regarding Niagara notwithstanding) to pick the national tournament field. And once again, U.S. College Hockey Online’s Pairwise Rankings (PWR) correctly predicted the field that was selected, for the fourth straight year. Why is this so accurate? Well, it’s not because anyone at … Read more
In past seasons, the selection of teams for the NCAA tournament was absolutely straightforward. Last year, however, a new wrinkle created some ambiguity in the process when the selection committee added language that allowed it to reject a team based on conference strength. This was put into place primarily because of the insular nature of … Read more
As you could imagine, we received more mail, and more passionate mail, about the Vermont column from the last BTL than any other topic. I wanted to take the time to run some of these letters, and respond a bit. Most of what I received, even from those who vehemently disagreed, were very thoughtful and … Read more
Much of what there is to say about Vermont’s hazing situation was covered in the last BTL column. The recent report by Vermont’s Office of the Attorney General only confirmed what seemed obvious — that Vermont’s administration mishandled the self-investigation into the party that led to hazing charges and a lawsuit by former walk-on candidate … Read more
Much of what there is to say about Vermont’s hazing situation was covered in the last BTL column. The recent report by Vermont’s Office of the Attorney General only confirmed what seemed obvious — that Vermont’s administration mishandled the self-investigation into the party that led to hazing charges and a lawsuit by former walk-on candidate … Read more