Feature stories
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
As the 1995-96 season got started, Denver was expected to be one of the heavies in the WCHA. After all, the team had 14 of its top 17 scorers, along with the arguably-better half of a sterling two-man goalie rotation, returning from a team that finished third in the conference last year. With graduation decimating … Read more
The dumb jock. Chiseled physique meets bovine stupidity. Few stereotypes appear more consistently in our culture. Four Hockey East players — Maine’s Dan Shermerhorn, UMass-Lowell’s Craig Lindsay, and Merrimack’s Rob Beck and Tom Johnson — are the league’s prime examples that athletes need not be morons and top students don’t all wear pocket protectors. Those … Read more
Scott Borek has definite ideas, ideas on how he’d like to see his players perceived by residents of Sault Ste. Marie, Mich. “I guess I would really like to see us have a family, wholesome image. Hockey players have to fight for that. They’re seen as wild — the kind of guys who work hard … Read more
Doing something again, especially when expected, is one of the hardest things to do. Just ask Tim Thomas. Vermont’s All-American is a microcosm of the team, which only makes sense considering he’s the goalie. Thomas, a 1994 ninth-round draft pick of the Quebec Nordiques (now the Colorado Avalanche), helped lead Vermont to the NCAA Final … Read more
detonator (de’ to na’ ter) n. something that explodes— Random House College Dictionary No team in the East explodes to a win like New Hampshire. The Wildcats, second only to Michigan with 5.29 goals a game, have mastered the destructive art of blowing teams away; not just with two or three goals in a period, … Read more
Shawn Walsh, no stranger to enemies, returned to Maine hockey on Dec. 24 after serving a one-year suspension. Some welcomed him with open arms; of course, others did not. “Shawn Walsh is the reason I came to Maine,” said assistant captain Dan Shermerhorn. “The players know they’re getting the best,” said athletic director Suzanne Tyler. … Read more
“Last July when I was entertaining some other opportunities, people were trying to keep me at Maine,” said Greg Cronin, who served a year as Maine’s interim head coach before recently taking a position with USA Hockey. “They were very disappointed that I might leave. Now a lot of people have opened the door and … Read more
University of Alaska-Fairbanks hockey coach Dave Laurion sighs. “The first five games of the year, soon after Erik got hurt, we weren’t very good. All of our returning players who knew Erik didn’t play well. Right away, we’re oh-and-seven at home against good teams, when we’re not playing our best hockey.” He pauses. In his … Read more
“I told my wife we’d try it for five years, and if nothing came of it I’d get a real job.” JERRY YORK Twenty-five years later, Boston College coach Jerry York has yet to hold a “real job,” but has earned numerous coaching awards, led a team to a national championship, and won 500 games. … Read more
“We have very, very strong leadership.” According to Miami of Ohio head coach Mark Mazzoleni, that’s one reason why his team is undefeated in CCHA play and flirting atop the standings with the likes of Michigan State and the national champion Michigan Wolverines. Miami has only three senior players to lead its squad, but Mazzoleni … Read more
Hockey East can recognize a star when it sees one. Greg Koehler starred in Ken Dryden’s Home Game documentary eight years ago. Earlier this month Hockey East named Koehler the season’s first Rookie of the Week. The road from video fame to collegiate success, however, proved a rocky one for the UMass-Lowell freshman. At 13, … Read more