Relativity, Or Why Size Doesn’t Matter Popular sentiment about size is fairly split. Bigger is better. Good things come in small packages. When the Buffalo Bills benched Doug Flutie in favor of Rob Johnson for their playoff game against the Tennessee Titans (titan: one that is gigantic in size or power), the pro-Flutie contingency claimed … Read more
After experimenting with a two-referee, two-linesman officiating system for the first half of the season, the CCHA has decided to suspend the four-man configuration for the remainder of the year. The league made the decision after a discussion with the CCHA’s head coaches. “We have gathered excellent feedback and have had valuable discussions regarding the … Read more
Checking the Calendar So, midnight 2000 arrived and you found yourself Y2K-compliant, and your computer didn’t explode, and the world didn’t end in some fiery mess, and the aliens were benign after all, and your debit card still provided the means with which to purchase gas and cold beer, and the center held, and the … Read more
Happy holidays, CCHA fans! In college hockey, the only way to celebrate the end of the calendar year is with tournament action. And to many Central Collegiate Hockey Association fans, there’s only one tournament worth mentioning. The Lake Effect, 35 Times Michigan Tech originally brought us the Great Lakes Invitational 35 years ago, a moot … Read more
As you might expect, Tyler Harlton’s college career was filled with highlights and disappointments. But the environment he found at Michigan State, he knows, is something that may never be recaptured. And when Harlton looks around pro hockey, he sees many of his old friends enjoying great success. He uses that as inspiration to improve … Read more
Gifts of the Season You have to wonder about a weekend where so many CCHA fans got to see their teams win at home. Every single home team won this weekend, with the exception of the Wildcats and Lakers, who swapped a pair of road wins in a home-and-home series. The week before Thanksgiving, nearly … Read more
College Hockey? Never Heard Of It. Q: What’s the best-kept secret in Kalamazoo? A: The Western Michigan Broncos, of course. "We’ve got the league’s second-leading scorer, the leading freshman, and the leading goal-scorer on the power play, and no one here knows about us," laments Bronco head coach Jim Culhane. In a city where Culhane … Read more
Stock Options With a third of the season behind us, now is as good a time as any to take stock and make some less-than-bold statements. Who’s the best the league has to offer? Who’s the worst? And where in this league can you get what passes for a decent meal, anyway? Best Player: Hands … Read more
Keep Those Cards and Letters Coming Did you know that I’m a slut? Did you know that I’m a slut for Michigan State? Well, you did if you were one of the two people who recently felt compelled to email me, anonymously, to tell me that he or she sees me for what I really … Read more
The Bottom Look Like Up So, Michigan State tops the conference, followed by Western Michigan, Northern Michigan, and Bowling Green. Western Michigan? Bowling Green? While Notre Dame and Ohio State linger near the bottom of the standings, other programs more familiar with the cellar in recent years are seeing some daylight, and the team with … Read more
Reversal of Fortune Western Michigan’s in second place, and Alaska-Fairbanks is tied for fifth with #10 Northern Michigan. Ohio State has one win to its credit, and shares ninth place with Lake Superior. Notre Dame–with no league wins in four games–anchors the basement along with Nebraska-Omaha. A hole in the space-time continuum? A witch’s curse? … Read more
The NCAA and major juniors Hey kid–you wanna play hockey? You already play major junior? Not a problem. Just come south of the border and sign this letter of intent… The NCAA is considering passing legislation that will allow professional athletes to pursue careers at U.S. colleges. The sport this would affect most in Canada … Read more
Calling Dr. Kildare… Stop the presses! Hold all tickets! With one week of official play on the books, the CCHA looks a bit different than it did just ten days ago. When Josh Blackburn slipped on a Buckeye–at least according to the Michigan daily student paper–and tore ligaments in his left foot, Michigan’s defense took … Read more
Archrivals Michigan and Michigan State split the favorite’s role in the CCHA’s preseason polls, announced Tuesday. League coaches favored the Wolverines, while the media anointed the Spartans as the league’s best coming into the year. In the coaches’ poll, Michigan received 10 of 12 first-place votes and 140 points to edge Michigan State, which garnered … Read more
The Michigan Wolverines will be short another defender for at least part of the 1999-2000 season after rookie Matt Bannon was declared academically ineligible by the NCAA. The ruling came one day after junior-to-be Mike Van Ryn announced his plans to leave Michigan for the Canadian national team. The Wolverines also lost blueliner Scott Crawford, … Read more
Michigan defenseman Mike Van Ryn announced Tuesday that he will forego his final two years of collegiate eligibility to join the Canadian national team this fall. “I am disappointed in his decision,” said head coach Red Berenson, “but hope he does well in his hockey future. I am also disappointed academically, since he will not … Read more
Bowling Green coach Buddy Powers announced Tuesday that Eric Hoffberg, former head coach at RIT, has accepted an assistant coaching position with the Falcon hockey program. Hoffberg’s move reunites him with Powers, under whom he served as an assistant coach when Powers was head man at RIT. Ironically, Hoffberg replaces Wayne Wilson, who left to … Read more
Junior forward Alex Kim and freshman netminder David Bowen will take a year off from hockey with the Miami RedHawks, assistant coach Dave Smith announced. Fullerton, Calif., native Kim, a former CCHA all-rookie honorable mention and the team’s fourth-leading scorer a year ago with 11-9–20, cited personal reasons for his absence, after which a decision … Read more
Denver assistant coach Enrico Blasi will return to his alma mater as the fifth head coach of the Miami RedHawks. Blasi is a 1994 graduate of Miami, where he was a two-time captain. As a junior, the former center (55-68-123) captained the team to its first-ever NCAA tournament appearance. After his career at Miami, he … Read more