Don Lucia has been announced as the 2024 Hobey Baker “Legend of College Hockey” recipient. In 31 seasons as a collegiate head coach, Lucia compiled a 736-403-102 record, and is Minnesota’s all-time winningest coach with 457 wins for the Gophers from 1999 to 2018. He is one of 10 coaches to record more than 600 … Read more
“Now it’s the second season. It’s win or go home. You’ve got to play your best hockey.” That’s how Michigan State coach Adam Nightingale described the Spartans’ task this weekend against Ohio State in Big Ten semifinal action, and it sums up nicely what’s at stake in the coming weeks. Win or go home. Play … Read more
Michigan State hockey coach Adam Nightingale has signed a new contract to stay with the Spartans program. Nightingale’s five-year rollover contract includes non-performance related compensation of $700,000 in year one. This includes a base salary of $600,000 and supplemental compensation of $100,000 in the first year. Beginning in year two, the supplemental compensation will increase … Read more
The fourth annual Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off men’s college hockey tournament returns to Milwaukee’s Fiserv Forum on Dec. 28-29, featuring No. 5 Wisconsin, UConn, Alaska and Ferris State. Single-day tickets at Ticketmaster.com. Semifinal play will take place on Saturday, Dec. 28, with the championship and third-place games on Sunday, Dec. 29. Matchups and times will … Read more
After a hotly contested regular season, the first round of the Big Ten playoffs begins this week and it’s nearly impossible to predict who will advance to the semifinals. Guess what? That’s exactly how I started this column heading into the Big Ten quarterfinals a year ago. While it’s easy to reclaim that intro, the … Read more
This weekend, history will be made when Michigan State travels to Wisconsin to decide the regular-season Big Ten championship. If the Spartans win, the title will be their first since the Big Ten formed. If the Badgers prevail it will be their second B1G regular-season title, marking the first time that any team other than … Read more
The Wisconsin State Building Commission has officially approved the reduction of the size of the Kohl Center ice sheet that will get underway this spring and be ready for the 2024-25 season. The original Olympic-sized rink was designed to be 200 feet long by 97 feet wide and will now undergo construction and be reduced … Read more
There are two weeks left before the Big Ten playoffs and there are only two teams contending for the regular-season title: Michigan State and Wisconsin. Last weekend, the Spartans were idle. Last weekend, the Badgers did themselves no favors. Second-place Wisconsin entered the weekend four points behind Michigan State with two games in hand. They … Read more
Omaha Hockey Hall of Fame coach and longtime administrator Mike Kemp has announced his retirement from the department effective this May. Kemp arrived at the University of Nebraska Omaha as its first head hockey coach on July 1, 1996. He was elevated to the position of associate athletic director in May 2009 after serving as … Read more
The Big Ten regular-season title is Michigan State’s to lose. What’s also true is that the Big Ten is Wisconsin’s to win. With three weeks remaining until conference playoffs, the Spartans remain at the top of the standings with 46 points after sweeping Michigan last weekend. The Badgers paced Michigan State with a sweep of … Read more
The Hockey Humanitarian Award Foundation announced five finalists for the 2024 Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented annually to college hockey’s “finest citizen” for leadership in community service. Hank Kempf, Junior, Defense, Cornell Kempf founded the “Big Red Blocks for Healing” campaign that is raising funds for Kesem, a national charitable organization that supports children who are … Read more
A marathon with potential for a photo finish, run on a treadmill. That’s what this Big Ten season feels like. With a month to go before conference playoffs begin, the standings seem to be nearly standing still. Michigan State remains at the top, Ohio State at the bottom, and any movement in between seems nearly … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its monthly men’s awards for January. Michigan sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty is the player of the month, Boston College freshman forward Will Smith is rookie of the month, and RIT junior Tommy Scarfone is goaltender of the month. McGroarty, who served as the United States World Junior team captain … Read more
A watch list of 33 first-year NCAA men’s hockey players was announced Thursday by the Hockey Commissioners Association. One of these talented rookies will likely receive the Tim Taylor Award as national rookie of the year as voted by the nation’s assistant coaches. At season’s end, a ballot consisting of each Division I conference’s Rookie … Read more
“We need Badger hockey to be good. You do in college hockey, but more importantly, we need Gopher hockey to be better.” That sums up Bob Motzko’s mindset as Minnesota travels to Wisconsin to face the Badgers, a team that swept the Golden Gophers in Minnesota at the end of October. Sharing his take on … Read more
With six weekends remaining in the Big Ten regular season, it would be foolish to say that the conference title is anyone’s to win. Michigan State tops the league standings with 34 points, Wisconsin is in second place with 30, and no one else is capable of catching the Spartans with a single-series sweep at … Read more
A year can make a big difference in college hockey. Some things change. Some things change a lot more. In the Big Ten, the perception that things have changed dramatically is both accurate and deceiving. A year ago this week – more or less – Minnesota was in the process of running away with the … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced a watch list of 32 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. The 32 goalies come from the United States (19), Canada (7), and Sweden (5) and Slovakia (1). Of the U.S. goalies, … Read more
January begins the big push in Big Ten play, with midseason nonconference matches slowing giving way to nothing-but-B1G league series as students return to campuses by the third week of the month and classes resume. Last week, Wisconsin swept Notre Dame in South Bend to open the second half of the Big Ten season. This … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its men’s monthly award winners for December. Maine junior forward Josh Nadeau is the player of the month, while American International freshman forward Alfred Lindberg is the rookie of the month and Wisconsin senior Kyle McClellan the goaltender of the month. Nadeau averaged two points per game with his … Read more