Hockey East’s Pedro vs. Clemens Matchups Last Saturday, major league baseball featured one of the most exciting pitching clashes in a long, long time when Pedro Martinez faced Roger Clemens in Fenway Park. (A partisan note: Pedro is our hero while Clemens is a Benedict Arnold who nearly flattened the tires on the New York … Read more
A No-Win Situation Do you pitch to Nomar Garciaparra and let him hit a first-inning home run, or do you walk him intentionally in the third and seventh innings and let Troy O’Leary follow him with a grand slam and then a three-run homer? Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove faced just such a no-win situation … Read more
In a series of coaching moves, Northeastern University extended the contract of head coach Bruce Crowder through the 2002-2003 season, promoted Paul Cannata to primary assistant and recruiting coordinator and hired Jamie Rice as an assistant. Crowder earned Hockey East Coach of the Year honors in 1993-94 and 1995-96, leading UMass-Lowell to second-place finishes in … Read more
Merrimack College has announced a three-phase, $7 million renovation of its S. Peter Volpe Physical Education Center, originally constructed in 1972. The project, slated for completion in late 2001, includes a major overhaul of the rink portion of the facility. Describing the renovation as part of a $40 million expenditure to improve and construct buildings … Read more
Providence College assistant vice president for athletics John Marinatto has announced the appointment of Bob Deraney as head coach for the women’s ice hockey team. Deraney replaces Tom Sheehan, who had served as interim coach since January. Deraney, a 1987 graduate of Boston University, played hockey for four seasons at BU, helping the Terriers capture … Read more
Top Scholar Sean MacDonald of Northeastern leads this year’s Hockey East All-Academic team, composed of 48 student-athletes from the conference’s nine institutions. MacDonald posted a 3.92 GPA during the two semesters he was in school while playing hockey. It was the second consecutive year in which he received the honor. Graduating seniors Mark Kane (Providence), … Read more
New Hampshire defenseman Jayme Filipowicz and Maine goaltender Alfie Michaud signed NHL contracts today with the Nashville Predators and Vancouver Canucks, respectively. Both players would have been seniors next season. Michaud’s Black Bears won the 1999 NCAA Division I Championship, 3-2 in overtime, over Filipowicz’s Wildcats. Michaud, 23, was chosen as the tournament’s Most Valuable … Read more
Criminal charges against three New Hampshire hockey players were dismissed Thursday after the prosecuting attorney unsuccessfully attempted to reduce the charges after closing arguments. New Hampshire District Court Judge Gerald Taube agreed with the defense that the law prohibited such a late reclassification of the charges against Jayme Filipowicz, Dan Enders and Corey-Joe Ficek. The … Read more
Dick Umile, who led New Hampshire to the Hockey East regular-season championship and its first-ever appearance in the NCAA national title game, is the recipient of the 1999 Spencer Penrose Award, given by the American Hockey Coaches Association to the men’s Division I coach of the year. Umile’s Wildcats went 31-7-3 on the season, setting … Read more
Paul Kariya … Brett Hull … Chris Chelios. College hockey fans can point with pride to alums such as these who have made their mark in the National Hockey League. The success of these players is obvious to anyone with a TV or a newspaper box score. But for every college hockey alum in The … Read more
For Jason Krog, the road to the Hobey Baker Award and an appearance in the NCAA title game was a long one, literally as well as figuratively. Born in Fernie, British Columbia, the senior co-captain for the New Hampshire Wildcats and this year’s recipient of college hockey’s highest honor, was cut twice from junior teams … Read more
If you asked coaches what it takes to win a championship, many would tell you good goaltending, great special teams, and plenty of experience. For the University of Maine Black Bears, goaltending and special teams are part of their year-in and year-out plan. But this year’s club possesses only one player with NCAA tournament experience … Read more
Teams that reach the NCAA tournament almost always have their game-breaking stars: the top scorers, the all-league selections, perhaps even All-Americans. But sometimes in the march to a national title, the game-breakers get stymied and the unsung players get their chances to be heroes. While Maine’s stars were hardly stymied in its 4-2 win over … Read more
Perhaps it’s a good thing that no player on the Boston College roster describes himself as a history major in the team’s media guide. In Saturday night’s Hockey East championship game, BC faced its third big overtime game at the FleetCenter in the last two years, and the Eagles had lost the previous two. In … Read more
No Case of Senioritis for UNH Ah, mid-March. That time of year when seniors at most universities go on spring break and then begin to stagger toward the finish line of their collegiate careers. A point at which the work ethic of many top-performing upperclassmen becomes abysmal. It’s called “senioritis.” But somehow the UNH hockey … Read more
Fans at the FleetCenter should get their money’s worth this weekend. Maine vs. Boston College looks like a photo finish, and anyone who watched Providence’s domination of BU on Sunday had to conclude that the Friars have a shot against New Hampshire. I may have gone 9-0 in my picks last week — no applause, … Read more
Hockey East regular-season champion New Hampshire took the league’s top three 1998-99 individual awards, announced on Thursday at the Hockey East Awards Banquet at the Royal Sonesta Hotel in Cambridge, Mass. Jason Krog, Darren Haydar and Richard Umile were all unanimous choices as the league’s Player, Rookie and Coach of the Year, respectively. The Hockey … Read more
One skates with extraordinary grace and agility; the other came into the league looking like a powerskating dropout. One had already left his hometown by grade 10 in the search for stronger competition; the other played for his small-town Midget team throughout high school, his game not yet ready for the big time. One led … Read more
The playoff picture has become a lot clearer now with two weeks left in the regular season. New Hampshire, Maine, Boston College and Providence have all wrapped up tournament home-ice berths. While it’ll go down to the final weekend between UNH and Maine for the top spot, BC and PC are all but mathematically locked … Read more
My apologies for a skeleton preview this week. I’m on the road with minimal Internet access and no hope of contacting coaches. The usual verbosity will return next week. Hockey East Standings Record in picks last week: 6-3 Season’s record in picks: 105-56, .652 Game of the Week No. 4 New Hampshire (22-5-2, 14-3-2 HEA, … Read more