Feature stories
There’s a nip in the air and some hot apple cider on the stove. Unraked leaves cover the lawn. The Red Sox have missed another World Series. It’s time to select a preseason all-rookie team. Although half the teams have played a real game or two, these picks were made before the first “W” or … Read more
Hockey in Minnesota just took a step forward. Oct. 13, 1997, marked the first day of official practice for the new Minnesota women’s hockey team. Women have been playing hockey on the East coast for years, and with the sudden growth spurt in girls’ hockey in Minnesota area high schools, the time seemed right to … Read more
This weekend sees the debut of college hockey’s new season-opening tourney, the Ice Breaker Invitational, at the Dane County Coliseum in Madison, Wis. The tourney, originally announced at the NCAA championships last March, brings together one team each from the CCHA, WCHA, ECAC and Hockey East for a two-day event. This year, the invitees are … Read more
In many ways, Joe Bertagna was ECAC hockey. Over the course of 15 years, he ran the full gamut of positions in the conference, going from tournament director to public relations coordinator to sports information director to its first hockey commissioner. His footprints surrounded everything from the ECAC television packages to its corporate sponsorships to … Read more
(In the first installment, new Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna talked about the league’s SportsChannel contract and a potential national TV package.) The ECAC vs. Hockey East As ECAC commissioner, Bertagna oversaw not just the 12 Division I schools under the ECAC umbrella, but all the Division II and III programs competing in ECAC-sponsored leagues. … Read more
For Bob Gaudet, going “home” again just felt like the right thing to do. On Apr. 2 Gaudet, the 1995 ECAC Coach of the Year, was named the next head coach at Dartmouth, his alma mater. He leaves behind a Brown program that he helped raise from the dead during his nine years, and returns … Read more
When you feel you’ve wasted two years of your life, what tack do you take? If you’re ever going to be the Most Outstanding Player of a national championship tournament, you have to change course and make up for lost time. That’s the exact approach taken by North Dakota junior forward Matt Henderson. In the … Read more
According to the Hobey Baker selection committee, a Hobey Baker Award winner should “exhibit strength of character” and possess “oustanding skills in all aspects of the game.” According to Michigan head coach Red Berenson, this year’s Hobey Baker winner is “an excellent person” who “shares his success with his teammates.” And this year’s winner is … Read more
It’s been 50 years since Dartmouth and Michigan met in the first NCAA Championship game. Fifty years since Spif Kerivan, member of the Dartmouth squad, lost his front teeth. “My memories of the game are somewhat personal,” he says. “I also remember the game as a controversial game in terms of some of the calls,” … Read more
When North Dakota, Colorado College, Boston University and Michigan converged on Milwaukee for this years championship tournament, carloads and planeloads of Sioux, Tigers, Terriers and Wolverines came along to cheer. So did the Falcons, the Black Bears, the Golden Gophers, the Spartans, the Wildcats and the Lakers. The NCAA Championship Tournament attracts hockey fans from … Read more
The first full season of the Referee-Assistant Referee concept of officiating college hockey nationally is one game shy of completion. As most frequently explained, the Assistant Refs (ARs) are to call penalties the Referee doesn’t see. It’s an explanation that may not be completely accurate, but short of getting a court order for the NCAA … Read more
I’ve had the pleasure of living in both Milwaukee and Cincinnati during my radio/TV career. I was the play-by-play radio mouth for the Milwaukee Admirals of the IHL, and the Cincinnati Tigers of the then-formidable CHL. The two locales are the reigning and most recent NCAA Frozen Four sites — two distinctly different cities and … Read more
This is it: the whole season in a nutshell. Of the forty-odd teams which began the season vying for the NCAA Division I championship, only four still have a shot. Those four — Boston University, North Dakota, Colorado College and defending champ Michigan — meet this Thursday in the semifinals at the Bradley Center in … Read more
“It’s just too much fun to play hockey.” Christmas trees had just been dragged out to the corner for trash pickup; credit card statements had yet to show the fallout of holiday excess; New Year’s Eve memories were still fresh. Tommi Degerman was having fun. The Boston University Terriers had entered January with little to … Read more
Scarcely had the NCAA tournament selection committee announced its seedings before the hue-and-cry began — especially in the West Regional, where the Minnesota Golden Gophers, fourth in the nation in the Pairwise Rankings, ended up the number-four seed. That puts the Gophers up against two Michigan teams: first Michigan State, and then the defending national … Read more
Over 100 letters have already passed through the desk of St. Lawrence coach Joe Marsh. And in various ways, they all say the same thing: how lousy a job Marsh did as chairman of the NCAA Division I men’s ice hockey tournament committee. Many have come from Minnesota, and most haven’t been quite that diplomatic. … Read more
Despite losing the ECAC tournament final to Cornell, the regular-season champion Clarkson Golden Knights earned the top seed in the East, and the consequent bye. Cornell, though, was sent out West, leaving room for two WCHA teams to join the action in Massachusetts. Colorado College and Denver will take on New Hampshire and Vermont, respectively. … Read more
Over 50 years ago, Bud Abbott and Lou Costello created arguably the most famous comedy routine in history, “Who’s on First.” It is with great pleasure that we welcome them to the Hockey East stage. LOU: Heeyyy, Abbott! You’ll never guess what happened. I saw my first college hockey game and, boy, was it terrific! … Read more
It’s a long time since St. Lawrence reached the 1988 NCAA final, and seems just as long since its last ECAC tournament title, in 1992. From 1986-1992, St. Lawrence won 20 games or more every season except 1989-90, including back-to-back 29-win seasons. In that span, St. Lawrence won three ECAC Tournaments and was runner-up in … Read more
He broke in on the goaltender. Mano a mano. He dipped one shoulder. The goalie reacted in kind. His head and shoulders moved the other way. The goalie fought to recover. The dekes came in layers. The puck danced. The hands moved like a pickpocket’s. Head and shoulders dipped first one way and then the … Read more