Men’s D-I in general
This weekend, three CCHA teams lived life on the bubble–and one was hoping that its hadn’t burst. The only team heading into the CCHA semifinals with a guaranteed NCAA berth was the Michigan State University Spartans, winner of the regular-season CCHA championship. Michigan, Ohio State, and Northern Michigan were the undecided cusp teams. Northern Michigan … 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
Those five teams are left to battle it out for the Scotty Whitelaw Trophy on the Olympic ice sheet at the 1980 Arena this Thursday through Saturday. Here’s to fun, and especially to the crowning of the 1999 ECAC champions! ECAC Preliminary Game No. 6 Colgate Red Raiders (19-11-4) vs No. 4 Princeton Tigers (19-10- … Read more
The top four seeds — Quinnipiac, Holy Cross, Connecticut and Canisius — have all advanced to the MAAC Final Four, to be played this weekend at the Hart Center on the campus of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Each of the four seeds advanced in their own unique ways. There were blowout and nail-biters, hard-fought … 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
But then again, how many of you thought, "No way!" almost immediately thereafter? Somehow you knew North Dakota wasn’t going to go out like that. Still, it was interesting to see the Fighting Sioux taken to the limit by Mankato, and proves the Mavericks should be more-than-ready to enter the Western Collegiate Hockey Association next … Read more
At The Joe this weekend, Michigan State is the number-one seed, Michigan is second, Ohio State is third, and Northern Michigan is fourth. A year ago, Michigan State was first, Michigan was second, Ohio State was third, and Northern Michigan was fourth. This is the first time the same four teams have appeared in back-to-back … 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
On Mar. 6, Bowling Green led Ohio State 2-0 late in the third period of each team’s last regular-season game. When the Buckeyes pulled Jeff Maund in favor of the extra skater, they left more than an empty net; they left the puck close to the boards, near the OSU blue line, and near the … Read more
Members of the North Dakota Fighting Sioux, the WCHA regular-season champions and the nation’s No. 1 team, took home three major individual awards, and the Sioux placed six players on the first two all-WCHA teams in awards announced Thursday. UND senior Jason Blake, who led the conference in scoring with 20 goals and 49 points, … 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
St. Lawrence, a surprise second-place finisher in the ECAC regular season, led the way at the annual ECAC awards banquet by dominating the major awards — winning four, including Eric Heffler’s double as Player of the Year and as the Dryden Award winner, for Goaltender of the Year. Saints forward Brandon Dietrich was named ECAC … Read more
The MAAC announced its end-of-year awards at its banquet Thursday night here. Iona freshman forward Ryan Carter was named Offensive Player of the Year, as well as Offensive Rookie of the Year. Carter finished the season with 62 points (32 goals, 30 assists) and leads all Division I players in goals per game (1.0). Quinnipiac … Read more
Michigan State, the top team in the CCHA, claimed four of the six honors announced at the annual CCHA awards banquet Thursday. Mike York was named Player of the Year and Best Defensive Forward, while Ron Mason was named Coach of the Year, and Mike Weaver was the league’s Best Defensive Defenseman. Bowling Green’s Mike … Read more
Their schedule has been called “insular.” They get about as much respect as Rodney Dangerfield, if that much. And in the general college hockey community, they’re given as much of a chance as the tortoise was against the hare. But the Quinnipiac Braves are currently in a position to cause not only some rumblings in … 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
Ironically, North Dakota probably has Michigan to thank for it all. Yes, the No. 1 Fighting Sioux have been tearing up the Western Collegiate Hockey Association in 1998-99, taking a 27-3-2 overall record into the last weekend of the regular season. But the team’s motivation may actually stem back to last year. The Sioux had … Read more
What do you call a team that, in the midst of a good year, learns it has lost its number-one goalie for the rest of the season? A team whose senior backup can count his career games played on one hand? If that team is Holy Cross, you’d call it a contender. That’s the exact … Read more
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the ECAC is, as usual, a jumbled mess. Or is it? Hopefully we can try to clear things up for you. With that in mind, we will dispense with the regular "style" of the preview and bring you something that might put things in a little … Read more
If points were awarded for locker-room speeches, Alaska-Anchorage coach Dean Talafous would be near the top of the country. And it’s not because of screaming or throwing things. It’s due to his message. Recently, Talafous revealed a bit of what he would say to his Seawolves as they prepared to face Colorado College in their … Read more