2003-04 New Hampshire Season Preview

New Hampshire lost some big-time players from the squad that advanced to the national championship game last year — All-Americans Lanny Gare and Colin Hemingway are Exhibits A and B — but still returns plenty of talent for another serious run at it. The motherlode crouches between the pipes. Michael Ayers recorded seven shutouts last … Read more

2003-04 Merrimack Season Preview

Last year Merrimack was picked in the preseason coaches’ poll to finish in the cellar for the umpteenth time, but defied those expectations with a seventh-place performance that fell only two points short of sixth. The lion’s share of the credit, however, went to All-Hockey East goaltender Joe Exter, whose graduation leaves a significant hole … Read more

2003-04 Hockey East Season Preview

“BC is clearly the team to beat in our league.” — New Hampshire coach Dick Umile “BC, on paper, is far and above everyone else in the league.” — Boston University coach Jack Parker “BC is BC. They have everything coming back.” — Merrimack coach Chris Serino “There’s no question BC is the number one … Read more

2003-04 Boston College Season Preview

There’s a temptation to look at this loaded Boston College roster and start thinking ahead to the Frozen Four in Boston. Are all the pieces in place to make it two national championships in four years? Will the clanged crossbars and extra-skater goals go the Eagles’ way this time? Will they even need those breaks … Read more

2003-04 Northeastern Season Preview

After just missing playoff home ice the previous year, Northeastern fell to the Hockey East cellar last season. Coach Bruce Crowder minces no words in pointing to the solution. “What we really need is great years out of our juniors and seniors,” he says. “Our junior class as freshmen had okay years and I think … Read more

2003-04 Massachusetts Season Preview

There’s a reason coach Don “Toot” Cahoon earned Hockey East Coach of the Year honors last season. The Minutemen roster included only five juniors and seniors combined, yet he led the team to a midseason national ranking, its highest finish in the league standings, a Hockey East quarterfinal sweep of Maine at Alfond Arena, and … Read more

2003-04 Miami Season Preview

“It’s a competitive league,” says Miami head coach Enrico Blasi. “You have to be consistent on a daily basis. You can’t get too high, and you can’t get too low. You could throw all the teams up in the air and you never know who is going to finish first or 12th and that’s a … Read more

2003-04 Western Michigan Season Preview

The most interesting thing about the Broncos so far this year are the preseason remarks of head coach Jim Culhane. “It’s an exciting time at our university; it’s our centennial anniversary. We were founded in 1903, and it’s a very exciting time for us on campus.” Okay. “We have a new president, Dr. Judith Bailey, … Read more

2003-04 Bowling Green Season Preview

Scott Paluch has a daunting task. The second-year Falcon head coach has to rebuild a program that once defined a league. “This is an important year for Bowling Green hockey. We’re celebrating a 20-year anniversary of our first national championship for the CCHA. We know we have to bring that flavor back to the ice. … Read more

2003-04 Michigan Season Preview

Once again, Michigan tops the preseason coaches and media CCHA polls, and the Wolverines are right behind the defending national champion Minnesota Golden Gophers in the USCHO Men’s Division I preseason poll. Michigan’s 2003-04 senior class has never seen a season end prior to the Frozen Four, and even though Ferris State sneaked up the … Read more

2003-04 Ohio State Season Preview

Ohio State is one of two teams — Alaska-Fairbanks being the other — that returns this year loaded with upperclassmen. Nine seniors will return, and eight of them will play in nearly every game. It’s a position that head coach John Markell relishes. “You want them to lead both on and off the ice. I … Read more

2003-04 CCHA Season Preview

In March, after winning the CCHA 2002-03 regular-season title, the surprising Ferris State Bulldogs lost the Super Six Championship game to the Michigan Wolverines in a 5-3 decision. Assured of an NCAA berth with 31 wins, the Bulldogs were miserable. “We really wanted this,” said FSU head coach Bob Daniels. “For us, the NCAA tournament … Read more

2003-04 Northern Michigan Season Preview

“We are all in a situation where we control our own fates. The answer is simple: win.” So says Walt Kyle, NMU head coach and believer in the league title. In a time when many coaches begin checking their Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) and PairWise Rankings midseason to determine whether or not they may be … Read more

2003-04 Ferris State Season Preview

In 2002-03, Bob Daniels took the Ferris State Bulldogs to a place they’d only dreamed about — the top of the CCHA standings. The first 30-win coach in FSU history, Daniels says that things have changed a bit in Big Rapids, Mich., since April. There’s been “a little bit of a raise,” says Daniels, who … Read more

2003-04 Lake Superior State Season Preview

Entering the third season of his second stint as Lake Superior’s head coach, Frank Anzalone is enthusiastic, sincere, and intense. His Lakers, picked last in both the preseason coaches and media polls, are more stable, he says, and that may lead to improvement in this season’s performance. “I think that right now for the first … Read more

2003-04 Nebraska-Omaha Season Preview

The 2002-03 season was something of a disappointment for the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks. Picked to finish fifth in both the coaches and media preseason CCHA polls, the Mavs finished 10th and ended their season with two quick losses to Ohio State in the opening round of league playoffs. “Certainly, we underachieved last year tremendously,” says head … Read more

2003-04 Notre Dame Season Preview

“It’s a huge, huge part of our game, probably a bigger part of hockey than any other sport, that chemistry in the locker room. This is a sport that if you have the right mix of people, you can compete at any level.” Notre Dame head coach Dave Poulin knows this as well as any … Read more

2003-04 Alaska-Fairbanks Season Preview

Two seasons ago, Alaska-Fairbanks head coach Guy Gadowsky publicly thanked two beat writers for being the only members of the media not to pick the Nanooks last in the CCHA preseason media poll. This year, UAF is picked ninth by the press, eighth by the coaches, and Gadowsky knows that this represents real progress. “We … Read more

2003-04 Michigan State Season Preview

It’s impossible to think of Rick Comley as a sophomore coach. After 26 years behind the bench as Northern Michigan’s first head coach, Comley is seventh on the NCAA’s all-time win list. As he follows in the footsteps of his mentor, the legendary Ron Mason, Comley is poised to add to his own legend at … Read more

2003-04 Yale Season Preview

As much of a surprise as Yale was last season in finishing third in the ECAC, the Bulldogs remain one of the mysteries of the upcoming 2003-04 campaign. The biggest question is: How will they make up for the loss of Chris Higgins, who left to sign with the Montreal Canadiens? Higgins’ 20 goals and … Read more