Men’s D-I: CCHA (Defunct)
CCHA’s final weekend should be anything but cold as ice
The temperatures may be balmier than usual this week in southeast Michigan and the first day of Spring arrives Monday, but the only season that matters in Detroit this weekend is hockey season. It’s the 30th anniversary of the CCHA championship tournament in Joe Louis Arena, and for the first time since the 2005-06 season, … Read more
Miami, Ferris State lead All-CCHA selections
A trio of Miami forwards and two seniors for Ferris State have been selected to the All-CCHA First Team. RedHawks senior forward Andy Miele, the nation’s leading scorer, was a unanimous selection to the First Team, marking the first time a player received only first-place votes since Michigan’s Kevin Porter in 2008. Michigan senior forward … Read more
Lessons from the first round of the CCHA playoffs
Three teams advanced from the first round of the CCHA playoffs last weekend. Congratulations to Alaska, Bowling Green and Lake Superior State. I was completely wrong in my predictions on the outcome of the first round, which surprises no one. That I picked as I did was as much a symptom of the real parity … Read more
CCHA scholar-athletes named
Eleven CCHA players have been designated as their team’s 2010-11 scholar-athlete of the year and the overall winner will be chosen from the group of nominees with the winner announced at the CCHA awards ceremony on March 17. 2010-11 CCHA Scholar-Athlete of the Year Nominees Bryant Molle, Sr, D, Alaska, Civil Engineering David Solway, Sr, F, … Read more
Two each from Broncos, Irish make CCHA All-Rookie Team
The CCHA announced its All-Rookie Team Monday and Western Michigan and Notre Dame each had two players selected. Forward Chase Balisy and defenseman Dan DeKeyser were the WMU players named, while forwards T.J. Tynan and Anders Lee earned the honors for Notre Dame. Michigan defenseman Jon Merrill and Lake Superior State goalie Kevin kapalka round … Read more
In the CCHA, home ice might not be such a great advantage
All Notre Dame needed to capture the regular-season title was a win at home. Heading into last weekend’s games, the Fighting Irish were a point ahead of Michigan in the CCHA standings. Friday night, Notre Dame beat Western Michigan in Kalamazoo while the Wolverines kept pace by beating Northern Michigan in Marquette. When the season … Read more
Some drama, some hardware as CCHA regular season wraps
There’s so much at stake this weekend that there promises to be drama that affects the standings in every rink this weekend. Even the battle for last place — between Bowling Green and Michigan State in East Lansing — sees the end of an era with MSU’s Rick Comley’s imminent retirement. One point separates first-place … Read more
Goaltending figures to help decide close CCHA race
There is one team in the CCHA that controls its destiny, and one whose destiny is now predetermined. If Notre Dame wins its last four games, no one else can capture first place. No one else can capture last place, either; that belongs to Bowling Green alone. The top three teams in the CCHA — … Read more
Back atop CCHA, Miami tryin’ to get the feeling again
This weekend is the closest of the season to Valentine’s Day, and every longtime reader of this column knows what that means: a bitter, divorced, middle-aged woman is doing the writing this week. Of course, that differs very little from any other week in the season, but at this time of year, the Ghosts of … Read more
The last meeting between two legendary coaches?
When Michigan and Michigan State faced off for their last regular-season battle last Saturday, two legendary coaches were facing off for perhaps the last time in their careers. MSU’s Rick Comley and UM’s Red Berenson are two of the best in the business and Comley’s hiring at MSU heightened what was already one of the … Read more
Comley is leaving and the game is changing
This isn’t the column I planned for this week. Not completely, anyway. By now you’ve heard that Michigan State coach Rick Comley announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2010-11 season. In his press conference Tuesday, Comley touched on a lot of things (some of which I’ve already mentioned in my CCHA blog), … Read more
CCHA hands LSSU coach Roque one-game ban
The CCHA announced this morning that Lake Superior State coach Jim Roque has been suspended for tonight’s game against Western Michigan. Roque was in violation of the league’s Good Conduct Regulations (Section VI – CCHA Code of Regulations) after an incident that occurred following the game with Michigan State on Jan. 15 which resulted in … Read more
Western Michigan and a thing more precious than gold
It’s the third week in January, which means that something’s stirring in the world of college hockey, something that moves people to speculate, to connive, to second-guess, to hope and dream, even to forget about the more immediate prize of a conference championship. I’m talking about a favorable PairWise Ranking, something that indicates that — … Read more
The gap has closed in the CCHA, but eyes are on goaltending
At the Great Lakes Invitational, I ran into John Markell for the first time since he was replaced as Ohio State’s head coach. I’ve known John for a long time; he became head coach when I began as USCHO’s CCHA columnist (known as a “correspondent” back in 1996). As I watched his career wax and … Read more
Dispelling the myth of the midseason hardware in the CCHA
It’s a familiar refrain. You can fill in the coach or player following in a press conference following a midseason tournament win. “Winning this year’s Fantastico Tournament will help us in the second half of the season. Our goal is the league championship, and this is a step in that direction.” But is it? After … Read more
Miami’s Mason gets one-game suspension
The CCHA announced today that sophomore Miami forward Steve Mason has been suspended for one game as the result of an incident that occurred in the game against Notre Dame on Dec. 4. The action was taken by the league after a review of an incident that occurred near the 6:34 mark of the third period … Read more
The things CCHA teams would love to pull from the past
As Christmas approaches and everything in the northern part of the country looks so much like it used to this time of year when I was a kid, when white Christmases and icy weather from November through March were routine, I’m also reminded of the dangers of looking at the past through misleading rosy glasses. … Read more
Miami back in first heading into showdown with Notre Dame
One year ago this week, the Miami RedHawks were sitting atop the CCHA standings, two points ahead of second-place Michigan State, three ahead of third-place Alaska. What difference does a year make? Very little, unless you’re looking at second and third place. Entering December 2009 and with 10 league games to their credit, the RedHawks … Read more
Not hard to find the best in Roque, Berenson
As I finish this column, it’s the day before Thanksgiving and just moments after my last class of the week has let out. In three days this week, I’ve taught six classes, provided feedback on more than 100 drafts of student work, been observed for evaluation purposes by two of my peers in two different … Read more