New Hampshire won the first-ever American Women’s College Hockey Alliance tournament final Saturday at Boston’s FleetCenter, and with it the title of unofficial Division I champion. The Wildcats topped the Brown Bears 4-1, avenging a defeat in the ECAC playoff championship. Melissa Renison scored first for Brown just over two minutes into the game, but … Read more
Top-ranked North Dakota was sluggish in its defeat of non-conference Mankato State, while streaking Colorado College failed to put away pesky Denver by more than two goals in either game. Only Wisconsin was a convincing winner, dominating Alaska-Anchorage on consecutive nights. So who’s going to skate out of Milwaukee’s Bradley Center with the Broadmoor Trophy? … Read more
In a mind-boggling upset that has rivaled the Beanpot in the mass media attention it has garnered, the Warriors pulled off the biggest David-over-Goliath upset since, well, they beat Northeastern in the NCAA Division I tournament 10 years ago. Although a number-eight seed has knocked off number one before — Northeastern over Boston College in … Read more
Baseball can have summer–and every bit of the glorious, pastoral mythology that goes along with it. But hockey has faith. What’s stronger than faith? Where were you in 1980? Where were you last weekend? When you watch four teams take the ice for the CCHA semifinals Friday night at fabled Joe Louis Arena, you’ll see … Read more
In the ECAC, five rings bring the survivors of the first round together, though the colors of the ECAC rings differ from those of their Olympic counterparts. Blue – Yale Green – Clarkson Crimson – Harvard Orange – Princeton Red – Cornell There is a new format for this year’s ECAC playoff championship, one that … Read more
Ten finalists for the 1998 Hobey Baker Memorial Award, presented annually to college hockey’s top player, were announced Friday afternoon by foundation officials at the Decathlon Hotel & Athletic Club in Bloomington, Minn. The ten, selected in balloting by Division I coaches, are (in alphabetical order): Chad Alban, Sr. G Michigan StateDan Boyle, Sr. D … Read more
They’re the little waterbugs that drive an opposing defenseman nuts, darting elusively this way and that, always staying out of arm’s reach, posing the ultimate threat to his dignity. You let that midget beat you? Put a puck on their sticks and you can hear the extra buzz of anticipation in the crowd. Something exciting … 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
Thursday night at the league’s annual awards banquet, Michigan State goaltender Chad Alban was honored as the CCHA’s Player of the Year. Alban, who led the conference in league goals-against average (1.63) and save percentage (.922), played 1,622 league minutes in net for the regular-season champion Spartans en route to becoming the CCHA’s all-time leader … Read more
Yale captain Ray Giroux was named the ECAC Player of the Year today at the annual ECAC Awards banquet. Giroux, who was also voted Best Defenseman, finished 12 points ahead of the runner-up, Rensselaer’s Eric Healey, in balloting by league coaches. Giroux is the first defenseman to win the award since Daniel LaPerriere of St. … Read more
The ECAC Women’s League’s Player of the Year, Brandy Fisher, a senior forward from New Hampshire, has already set the ECAC single-season scoring record with 77 points this season, and needs just one more goal to reach the 40-goal plateau and set another ECAC mark. Providence’s Jessica Tabb, named Rookie of the Year, led the … Read more
Members of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux dominated the year-end awards announced today by the WCHA, as UND players won four major awards and occupied three spots on both of the first-team all-conference and all-rookie teams. Sioux defenseman Curtis Murphy took home Player of the Year honors after leading conference blueliners in league and overall … Read more
Boston University senior captain Chris Drury, who was named the Koho Player of the Year and Best Defensive Forward, highlighted the 1997-98 Hockey East Awards Banquet, held tonight at the Royal Sonesta Hotel. The Terrier captain led his team in scoring with 24 goals and 26 assists as he won the league’s top award for … Read more
The CCHA has named Tom Anastos the conference’s new commissioner. Anastos, currently president of the junior-hockey North American Hockey League, will officially succeed outgoing commissioner Bill Beagan on May 1. A native of Dearborn, Mich., Anastos, 34, played collegiately at Michigan State from 1981-85, and professionally in the Montreal Canadiens’ organization. Following his playing career, … Read more
The University of Minnesota-Duluth’s athletic program has had to endure a lot of negative publicity in recent years, from turmoil surrounding former athletic director and current WCHA commissioner Bruce McLeod right on through to the success — or lack thereof — of the Bulldog hockey program. Although UMD won the MacNaughton Cup as the WCHA’s … Read more
Alabama-Huntsville broke open the game in the second period Saturday en route to a 5-2 victory over Bemidji State University, giving the Chargers their second NCAA Division II championship. Wingers Ryan Stewart and Colin Schmidt scored late in the middle stanza to put UAH in control, and Cedrick Billequey made 30 stops in the Charger … Read more
Sunday, four teams — New Hampshire, Brown, Northeastern and Minnesota — received invitations to the first American Women’s College Hockey Alliance tournament, which will decide an unofficial national champion for women’s NCAA Division I hockey. Three of the four invitees are ECAC members. New Hampshire (29-5-3) and Brown (21-6-4) received bids after meeting in the … Read more
For Notre Dame captain Steve Noble, the impulse to help other people is something he learned from his own family. “My uncle has Down’s syndrome, so my grandma — his mother — actually helped co-found a school to teach mentally challenged people. It’s been in the family, and I’ve been exposed to people who are … Read more
Eight ECAC teams gayest under heav’n, One went to sleep and then there were seven; Seven ECAC teams cutting up their tricks, One broke its neck and then there were six. Six ECAC teams kickin’ all alive, One kick’d the bucket and then there were five; Five ECAC teams on an Olympic floor, One tumbled … Read more
In this space three weeks ago, I promised Wildcat followers an unconditional trip to the Final Four in April. Since then, the team that seemingly had everything has appeared hexed. UNH now has lost four of its last five games. Like a character with special powers in a Stephen King novel, I should have known … Read more