Michigan head coach Red Berenson has something he wants you to know. “Even though our team finished in first place and we won the CCHA championship and we got to the Frozen Four, we still have something to prove this season,” says Berenson. “We won everything but the national championship.” Ah. That little piece of … Read more
There’s nothing complicated about the Ferris State Bulldogs. They play hard. They win games. They have depth and good special teams. They’re well coached. It’s just that a Chris Kunitz doesn’t come along very often for a team like Ferris State. At the CCHA media day this year, head coach Bob Daniels was keenly aware … Read more
It’s a fact that hockey players don’t like to be referred to as elfin. It’s a theory that’s been tested on several players from Parma, Ohio, and word that was bandied about among the local reporters in the press room at the 2006 Frozen Four in St. Louis. Still, if you play for Rick Comley, … Read more
“As far as our club,” says Bowling Green head coach Scott Paluch, “we’re going to get going.” Paluch, now entering his seventh season behind the BG bench, is a sincere and genuinely optimistic guy. It’s hard not to respond to the earnestness of his voice when he talks about his team’s future — and last … Read more
Michigan State senior goaltender Jeff Lerg and Notre Dame senior forward Erik Condra each garnered nine first-place votes to tie for the lead in balloting with 51 points apiece in the 2007-08 CCHA preseason all-conference teams, as selected by league coaches. Lerg, who this year becomes just the second goalie in team history to captain … Read more
For the third straight year, the coaches and media disagreed over who should hold down the No. 1 position in the CCHA’s annual preseason polls. The conference’s 12 head coaches ranked Notre Dame first while the media voted for defending regular-season and playoff champion Michigan. In the coaches poll, the Irish took eight of a … Read more
The NCAA Ice Hockey Committee has set the sites for the NCAA Championships all the way through 2011 with the announcement of the West and Midwest Regionals for 2010 and 2011. In 2010, Notre Dame will host the Midwest regional from March 27-28 at the Allen County War Memorial Coliseum in Fort Wayne, Ind. and … Read more
Tie games will not be in the standings for the CCHA this season. The league has adopted an NHL-style three-player shootout to determine a winner for all of the 168 regular-season conference games tied after 60 minutes of regulation play and five minutes of overtime. “The shootout has proved to be an exciting addition to … Read more
For his efforts in leading the Wolverines of the University of Michigan to both the CCHA regular season and tournament titles, Gordon “Red†Berenson has been chosen winner of the 2008 Spencer Penrose Award as Division I Men’s Coach of the Year. Michigan went 33-6-4, ending the regular season at No. 1 in the USCHO.com/CSTV … Read more
The Frozen Four may be in the books for another year, but the most controversial play of the tournament, a Notre Dame goal in the third period of the championship game that was overturned by video replay, is still being debated throughout college hockey. They play, which occurred at 4:56 of the third period with … Read more
Three is Nice When Boston College beat North Dakota to advance to their third consecutive national championship game, it set up an interesting symmetry with the second game. The last team to advance to three consecutive national championships was Lake Superior, when Notre Dame coach Jeff Jackson was at the helm. Shootouts This is the … Read more
Not Your Local Hero Swedish native, freshman Calle Ridderwall, had two goals in Notre Dame’s 5-4 win over Michigan in the semifinal, the opening goal for the Irish and the game-winner in overtime. In 37 previous games, Ridderall had netted just two and was playing on the fourth line in Thursday’s game. After the win, … Read more
Can you blame them for not wanting to leave? The scoreboard overhead shows Irish 5, Wolverines 4. There they are, the fans in Section 120 of the Pepsi Center — the Notre Dame cheering section — the last ones in the seating bowl until the ushers come to shoo them out into the hallway. “They’re … Read more
When Jeff Jackson joined the Fighting Irish staff three years ago, he had hopes of someday getting the hockey tradition at Notre Dame mentioned in the same breath as the football program. “I just love the storied tradition. I’ve always been a huge Knute Rockne fan and obviously some of the great football coaches,” he … Read more
This season’s Michigan squad took a different path to success, courtesy of the blending of young and old. Paula C. Weston reports.
Goaltender Jeff Zatkoff will forgo his final season at Miami after agreeing to terms on a contract with the Los Angeles Kings, the NHL team announced. The Kings’ third-round draft pick (No. 74 overall) in 2006, Zatkoff led the CCHA in goals against average (1.72) and save percentage (.933) this season. Zatkoff helped the RedHawks … Read more
Doc DelCastillo will officially resign Thursday as head coach at the University of Alaska. “With my wife pregnant and expecting our sixth child in August, we felt as a family that the best place for us to be was back in the Midwest where both of our families are,” said DelCastillo Friday morning from his … Read more
Possibly the story of the weekend at the Frozen Four will be Notre Dame making its first appearance in school history on college hockey’s ultimate stage. No team has made its Frozen Four debut since 1998, which Ohio State reach the pinnacle for the first time. One thing that will help the Fighting Irish, though, … Read more
Possibly the story of the weekend at the Frozen Four will be Notre Dame making its first appearance in school history on college hockey’s ultimate stage. No team has made its Frozen Four debut since 1998, which Ohio State reach the pinnacle for the first time. One thing that will help the Fighting Irish, though, … Read more
Notre Dame has reached new heights since Jeff Jackson’s arrival as head coach, and the Fighting Irish owe much to an old hand on the bench in Andy Slaggert. Paula C. Weston reports.