Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
The NCAA Ice Hockey Championship Committee met Tuesday morning via conference call (seems like a lot of conference calls these days) to talk about additional issues affected by Vermont’s cancellation of the remainder of the 1999-2000 season. The most significant decision reached was that Vermont will continue to count towards the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) … Read more
The 12 ECAC athletic directors got together Monday morning to decide what would happen as a result of the University of Vermont’s decision to cancel the remainder of its 1999-2000 season. With Vermont having played seven league games already, there were questions to be answered. This morning, the athletic directors came to a decision. But … Read more
Friday night’s stunning announcement, that Vermont is canceling the rest of its season, sent shock waves through college hockey. But what does it all mean? There are as many questions as answers: How does this affect the remainder of the schedule? Does Vermont forfeit the rest of its games, giving all scheduled opponents an automatic … Read more
I received a lot of response, as expected, from our last installment of Between the Lines, which featured a story on the NCAA’s proposed deregulation of amateurism. It’s still not a topic that’s being talked about at all in the national media, perhaps because hockey is the sport most impacted, and the national media mostly … Read more
Often, this column will be the place for a lot of random musings. But this month, there’s a lot of meat here, as we delve into hot-button topics like new NCAA regulations, the upcoming World Junior Championships, and coaching shifts. Hopefully it’s not too much to digest at once. A lot of people wrote over … Read more
Welcome to our first “Between the Lines” column. The goal is to give a different take on the issues than you may see elsewhere, or cover topics that don’t get covered anywhere else. College hockey has a lot of interesting stories, but ESPN isn’t knocking down the door to cover them all. If you disagree … Read more
California — knows how to partyCalifornia — knows how to partyIn the city of LA— “California Love”/2Pac Saturday, April 3, 1999 “Go west,” they all said. “Go west and find the promised land,” they said. Right now the only promised land is a comfortable bed and some extra sleep, as the idea of getting up … Read more
Come out to the coastWe’ll get togetherHave a few laughs.— Bruce Willis, “Die Hard” Friday, April 2, 1999 It’s a gorgeous day in southern California. The sun is out, but the temperature could be a little higher for my liking. Still, things are going to be busy today. There are no games to be played, … Read more
All the leaves are brownAnd the sky is greyI’ve been for a walkOn a winter’s dayI’d be safe and warmIf I was in L.A.California dreamin’On such a winter’s day— The Mamas and the Papas, “California Dreamin’” Thursday, April 1, 1999 9:00 am PST I have to get up. I don’t want to, but I have … Read more
Down in the crowded bars, out for a good timeCan’t wait to tell you all what it’s like out thereThey call it paradise, I don’t know whySomebody laid the mountains low, while the town got highThey call it paradise, the place to beThey watched the hazy sun sinking in the seaThey call it paradise, I … Read more
As usual, interesting stories abound at the NCAA championship. First off, at the regionals, Hockey East backed up its claim as the nation’s toughest conference this year, placing three teams at the newly-nicknamed Frozen Four. Tourney champion Boston College, regular-season champion New Hampshire and returning power Maine make up the HEA contingent, joined by CCHA … Read more
Not that anyone asked, but here are a few things that put a smile on my face, along with some random ruminations. • For starters, how about Jill Martin singing the national anthem? The seventh-grader took her knock-’em-dead renditions from Merrimack to the FleetCenter for the Hockey East championships and won over the crowd in … Read more
If this year’s East Regional is the place for streaking teams — Clarkson, Denver, Michigan et al. — the West Regional might be deemed the home of the recently-disappointed. The top two seeds, North Dakota and Michigan State, won their conference regular seasons but lost playoff tournaments. Michigan State bowed out in the CCHA semifinals, … Read more
The NCAA championship tournament opens up in Worcester, Mass., this year. The Centrum Centre hosts the East Regional, which features several intriguing matchups — as well as the intriguing nonappearance of one Eastern power. Boston College fans made their discontentment known on the Internet and elsewhere last weekend, as the Eagles were shipped West despite … Read more
It’s Monday, two days after Andre Signoretti’s overtime goal sent Ohio State to college hockey’s Frozen Four, and the Buckeyes are back in Columbus, where it’s 85 degrees. It’s the first day of Spring Quarter classes. After Buckeye hockey practice, the players linger a little. There are a couple of reporters, a couple fans. Everyone … Read more
Complete rosters for the ECAC all-league and all-rookie teams, and voting results for league awards: First Team All-ECAC Player School YrF Jeff Hamilton Yale SoF Eric Healey Rensselaer SrF Damian Prescott Brown SrD Ray Giroux Yale SrD Steve Shirreffs Princeton JrG Alex Westlund Yale Jr Second Team All-ECAC Player School YrF Chris Clark Clarkson SrF … Read more
Joe Bertagna believes it when he says he works for all of college hockey. He believed that when the ECAC was signing his paychecks, and he believes it now that he is the commissioner of Hockey East. People who believe that ECAC hockey is a glorious conglomerate of 12 teams — worthy of praise over … Read more
Who says the hockey offseason is boring? It certainly wasn’t that way in the ECAC, where upheaval has been the buzzword and a complicated labyrinth of movement had the wheels spinning and everybody talking. But with the season finally in full swing, it’s time to reflect upon those changes. It wasn’t just the usual array … Read more
“Five Guys In Milwaukee,” which appears daily on USCHO during the NCAA championships, is Scott Brown’s travelog of a weekend at the Final Four. Friday, March 28 7:59 a.m. Today’s a relatively free day — no games, just the Hobey Baker presentation in the afternoon. We are taking full advantage of this fact to get … Read more
“Five Guys In Milwaukee,” which appears daily on USCHO during the NCAA championships, is Scott Brown’s travelog of a weekend at the Final Four. Thursday, March 27 8:03 a.m. It’s awful early to be up, as far as I’m concerned. Dave doesn’t seem to have a problem with it, though — I suspect he’s the … Read more