No Excuses

You know things are going awry when even your pep band bites the dust. Not just the tuba player. Not just the trombonist. The whole stinking band. With players dropping like flies prior to Boston College’s Hockey East championship game against New Hampshire, the band was merely the latest subtraction from the Eagles lineup. The … Read more

D-III Consolation Notebook

Saying Goodbye Is Hard To Do As the National Anthem was about to be played, the Plattsburgh players all moved together on the blueline and wrapped their arms around each other, knowing that for many it was their last game together. The Plattsburgh players unite during the National Anthem. (Photos: Angelo Lisuzzo) The spur of … Read more

Funk To Fantastic: BC’s Boyle Turns Season Around

There was a moment during the Hockey East semifinal between Boston College and Maine that ignored all but two of the nearly 18,000 people in the building. Halfway through the second period, wide-open BC sophomore Brian Boyle collected a pass in front of the Black Bear net. Maine netminder Jimmy Howard slid post-to-post and out … Read more

Lost and Found

Going into Saturday’s Hockey East final, New Hampshire was in an unlikely situation. Even though the Wildcats were the third seed playing the top seed and the No. 5 team in the nation, many signs pointed to a UNH victory. With Boston College losing players to injury and illness, UNH didn’t have to contend with … Read more

ECAC Saturday Notebook

A Change of Fortunes Fortunes can change quickly in college hockey, and the shift that occurred in the minutes following the holding call on the Big Red’s Daniel Pegoraro during the second period provided a stark illustration of that fact. With Harvard leading 1-0, Cornell asserted itself more aggressively at the start of the second … Read more

Final Piece In The Puzzle

No. 4 Michigan’s seniors class of 10 has now won three CCHA Super Six championships to go with their three regular-season CCHA titles and two Frozen Four appearances. But there is one thing missing from their collective mantle: a national championship. “[The NCAA championship] has been elusive to us,” senior captain Eric Nystrom said. “We’ve … Read more

Bracketology: Final

This is the final Bracketology of the season — the one that you’ve been waiting for, in which all the weeks of reading culminates in our projected brackets for the NCAA Division I men’s tournament. Before we get to the picks, we remind you of the NCAA’s guidelines on the matter, per a meeting of … Read more

‘Cats Pounce

Boston University surrendered three goals in a span of less than three minutes during the second period Friday, losing to New Hampshire in Hockey East’s late semifinal, 5-2. Such is life when you’re playing the Wildcats these days — particularly when you’re offering a “sad” effort, as BU coach Jack Parker felt his Terriers had. … Read more

Championship Notebook: Middlebury 5, St. Thomas 0

Freshman Phenom With Middlebury freshman Mickey Gilchrist scoring his twenty-first goal of the season in the first period tonight, he has exceeded all-rookie goal scorers at Middlebury going back to records kept from the 64-65 season. The twenty-one goals beats the previous mark of twenty held by Marc Alcindor in 1989 in his rookie campaign … Read more

Trail Of The Pioneers

In a score that should have been familiar to those who watched Denver’s NCAA title-game win over Maine in April, the Pioneers rolled into the 2005 national tournament on a crest of good feeling in the form of a 1-0 win over Colorado College in the WCHA championship Saturday. “The first two periods were kind … Read more

Back On The Big Stage

It’s easy to get overlooked on a team that has eight 10-goal scorers, but there is one place Michigan’s Brandon Kaleniecki seems to score big goals to distinguish himself: Joe Louis Arena. “Growing up, I always wanted to play here,” Kaleniecki said of the Joe. “I’m from [nearby] Livonia, so I know I’ve watched so … Read more

Big Red Seniors Lead The Way

Mike Knoepfli, Mike Iggulden, Paul Varteressian, Charlie Cook, and Jeremy Downs — not exactly college hockey household names. However, these five Cornell seniors have kept their teammates focused and determined all season long and have led the way to the Big Red’s 11th ECACHL championship. In the title game, the seniors were responsible for all … Read more

The Battle Of The Goalies

It was one of the most anticipated match-ups of the ECAHL year and what a disappointment. Not the contest for the Cleary Cup. The game between Harvard and Cornell looked like a real David versus Goliath — except this time the oddsmakers got it right. Another trophy may have hinged on last night’s game, the … Read more

The Voice of the Panthers

For fifteen years he has been the voice of Middlebury hockey, first in the old Duke Nelson Arena and now in the spacious confines of the Chip Kenyon ’85 Arena. Yet for many, who have enjoyed the smooth delivery and timely information delivered over the PA system to excite the partisan home crowd, the voice … Read more

Championship Game: Middlebury 5, St. Thomas 0

Middlebury won its second straight national title and seventh in 11 seasons with a 5-0 victory over St. Thomas in the 2005 Division III national championship game. In a penalty-filled first stanza, the Panthers got their first goal at 9:25. After a scramble behind the Tommie net, Eric LaFreniere won a battle for the loose … Read more

ECACHL Friday Notebook

The Goalie Call it the Martin Brodeur syndrome. When a goaltender plays for as good a defensive team as Cornell, it is easy to dismiss his statistics as merely a product of the team’s system, not his own play. Big Red goaltender David McKee set yet another record at Friday afternoon with his ninth conference … Read more

First Time For Everything

With victories Friday, Denver and Colorado College not only set up a clash of the two top-ranked teams in the nation Saturday in the WCHA championship game, they arranged an historic clash: the first time the Rocky Mountain rivals have met for the Broadmoor Trophy. That fact is especially poignant for the Tigers, who have … Read more

The Heart Of The Raiders

After struggling with a vast assortment of injuries during his junior year, Colgate senior defenseman Joey Mormina has rebounded this season, both as a player and as a team leader, on and off the ice. “He wasn’t able to do a whole lot last summer,” recalled Colgate head coach Don Vaughan. “He was dealing with … Read more

The Vet And The Rook

When Boston College coach Jerry York announced that freshman goaltender Cory Schneider would be starting the most important game of the season, it raised some eyebrows. Since injuring his knee in the Beanpot on Feb. 14, Schneider hadn’t played until last Saturday’s Hockey East quarterfinal clincher against Massachusetts. The alternative was senior Matti Kaltiainen, a … Read more