Men’s D-I in general
An Ugly Coincidence This is unreal. After beginning the season on a sobering note last week with news of the assault that Michigan junior defenseman Steve Kampfer suffered and the suspension by the Wolverine football team of player Mike Milano while the incident is being investigated, I thought we could return to the lighter side … Read more
A Wonderful Time Of The Year When last season every team but Merrimack lost its Friday night opener, the first column here boiled down to this: “Mayday! Mayday!” Not so this year. Last weekend, Hockey East went 7-2-1 to run its overall nonconference record to 15-4-2. Every team but Massachusetts-Lowell stands at least at .500 … Read more
Deja Vu Rand Pecknold is hoping he’s not an unwitting protagonist in a Groundhog Day sequel. The veteran coach will remember only too vividly how his vaunted offense went into the tank early last season, and the team defensive scheme didn’t gel to the necessary extent to win those games. To wit, he was quoted … Read more
Every game counts, but some games have extra significance — and there are a few of those this weekend around the nation, as Dave Starman points out.
Falcons Soar Last weekend was a good one for teams nicknamed “Falcons.” While the rest of Atlantic Hockey went 0-9 in non-conference matchups, Air Force swept Bemidji in resounding fashion, and Bentley earned a split with a pair of ECAC teams, including a 4-3 overtime win at Rensselaer. Senior Jeff Gumaer’s goal, his second of … Read more
Niagara enjoyed its last moment of last season’s championship glory last Friday night, but leave it to St. Lawrence to spoil it. The Purple Eagles unveiled two new banners at Dwyer Arena commemorating their CHA tournament win and NCAA tournament appearance only to then go out and get smoked, 5-1, in front of 1,805 fans, … Read more
After a rocky start to his career, goaltender Andrew Volkening has become the foundation for the Air Force Falcons, enabling them to play with confidence and advance to the NCAA Tournament the last two seasons. Now a junior, Volkening and the Falcons find themselves in an unfamiliar position: favorites.
Two weeks into the season, there’s already plenty to talk about — both on the ice and off. Jim Connelly and Scott Brown discuss the latest from around the nation.
Taking advantage of weekend losses by Boston College and Michigan, Colorado College took over the top position in the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I men’s poll, released Monday. The Tigers swept Michigan Tech to stay perfect on the season, and garnered 39 of 50 first-place votes to climb to No. 1 in the season’s third … Read more
Travel Hockey The Atlantic Hockey season opened with most teams traveling long distances to play their first games. Canisius was at Ferris State, RIT traveled to Bowling Green and Western Michigan, Mercyhurst was at St. Cloud, and Air Force flew to Sacred Heart for a pair to kick off the conference schedule. Connecticut earned the … Read more
Now a junior, offensive stalwart Rhett Rakhshani looks to lead the Denver Pioneers in more than scoring.
Four players were inducted into the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame on October 10, 2008, at Magness Arena in Denver. Cammi Granato, Brett Hull, Brian Leetch, and Mike Richter, who all played concurrently, acknowledged the role college hockey had in their development.
As much as we’d like to try and predict how the WCHA is going to turn out, we’re never accurate given how competitive the league is and about a million other factors. I’d like to think I have as good a shot as any with my names-out-of-a-hat method, but the season throws us all curveballs … Read more
The Beast of the East? Late afternoon this past Saturday, yours truly penned a short sidebar that appeared alongside the Massachusetts-North Dakota game story on USCHO.com. I asked the question, mostly tongue-in-cheek, whether we could judge a semi-domination for Hockey East over the WCHA. At that point, Boston College had beaten Wisconsin, and both Boston … Read more
There’s an old quip that can now be applied to each CHA school. Beer will not be served at any of the schools’ games this year because they all lost their openers. Groan. Heck, even a double groan with debris tossed in the direction of this writer. It would be well-deserved. Alabama-Huntsville and Bemidji State … Read more
Welcome back everybody to another season of utterly inept and pointless predictions, complemented by brutally misleading statistics and a smattering of predictable coach-speak and clichés. Oh, I guess there’s some skating-stick-ball thing going down, too. And just like the teams, I’m going to ease my way into the new year with a few pithy observations … Read more
An Unsettling Start Longtime readers and CCHA fans know that I like to start the season with a column that’s more on the lighthearted side. After all, we’re all happy that it’s hockey season again, and this early in the season there isn’t much of substance to explore. But there’s nothing light about the mood … Read more
With Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer seriously injured in an assault, Dave Starman considers the experience of Boston University’s Kevin Schaeffer, like Kampfer the victim of a senseless attack.
Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer, who was injured early Sunday morning in Ann Arbor, Mich., in an apparent assault, suffered serious injuries that will keep him off the ice for an extended period, multiple sources report. For Kampfer, 20, from Jackson, Mich., the season could be in jeopardy. Michigan defenseman Steve Kampfer (photo: Melissa Wade). As … Read more
Now more than ever, early departures from the college ranks are a fact of life. Dave Starman surveys both sides of a debate that’s unlikely to cool anytime soon.