Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
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
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