Men’s D-I in general
Welcome to U.S. College Hockey Online’s roundtable discussion. Each week, various members of our staff take on a hockey topic. Sometimes serious, sometimes silly — but either way, watch the feathers fly: no punches will be pulled, and no quarter given, when these people face off. Of the Four Major Conferences, Which is the Strongest … Read more
Feel like traveling with your team as they move towards a berth at Lake Placid? Don’t know what to do while you travel? Don’t know what to look at in the arenas you visit? Don’t know what to do to kill time before the game starts? Don’t know where to eat? I’ll answer those questions … Read more
According to Ohio State coach John Markell, sophomore defenseman Dan Harrison has left the OSU hockey program due to personal reasons. Harrison, who received Honorable Mention for last season’s CCHA All-Rookie Team, has left school and returned to his home in Newmarket, Ont. Harrison was third in scoring for the Buckeyes last year, with 19 … Read more
Allegations of wrongdoing centered around Minnesota head coach Doug Woog intensified over the weekend. The Minneapolis Star Tribune reported Sunday that Woog concealed an illegal payment to a former player from officials in Minnesota’s athletic department, and that then-assistant coach Bill Butters knew about the payment, and hinted at that knowledge to his superiors, but … Read more
The 1980 Olympic Ice Arena seems a long ways away at this point in time, but this weekend, the first massive action takes place on the ECAC stage. Cornell begins defense of their ECAC Championship on the road in Providence and Cambridge, and Vermont looks for a second straight regular season title with home games … Read more
Bowling Green got a wake-up call after snoozing against both Michigan State and Notre Dame, and Ohio State limped home wounded from two tough games against Western Michigan. Michigan State presented its case to rivals Bowling Green and Michigan at home, while Ferris State struggled against Mankato. Michigan handled Notre Dame 6-3 Friday, in about … Read more
Providence College provided the big surprise last week, dropping games to both Colgate and Union. The two teams, picked to finish fifth and eleventh in the ECAC respectively, have proven tougher than expected competition for Hockey East teams. This week could easily see sweeps in all four of the home-and-home series, although the rule of … Read more
This year’s WCHA race, if it stays on the same course, will need a photo finish to determine not only a winner but a last-place team as well. North Dakota is the exception this year; the Fighting Sioux have started strong and lead the league after three weekends of action. But after UND the race … Read more
While the ECAC nonconference schedule continues, the regular season starts this weekend as teams begin the road to Lake Placid. The ECAC went 3-2 against the Hockey East and 0-2 against the WCHA, as St. Cloud swept a pair from St. Lawrence. There’s interaction with the other three leagues this weekend, as well as with … Read more
As a kid he dreamed of playing like Gretzky. At prep school they called him the next Craig Janney. Now he’s making a name for himself at Boston College. Marty Reasoner ran away with the Hockey East Rookie of the Year award last year after being named Rookie of the Week nine times and Rookie … Read more
After a couple of wild weekends of WCHA play, only one team remains undefeated; it looks like the race for the MacNaughton Cup will take the entire year to decide. And that’s great for fans, because each weekend of play will be important. So players, coaches and teams will have to be at the top … Read more
Rumors of the demise of Hockey East have been greatly exaggerated. The league won two of three games against top ten teams last week while splitting four other nonconference clashes. Boston University holds down the number four spot in the rankings while Providence moves up to 10th. This week features three home-and-home series, Providence and … Read more
Last week demonstrated several of the things which make consistent winning difficult in the CCHA. Again, vital early-season points were taken from Alaska by the visiting Wolverines, who didn’t take Fairbanks too lightly. Miami sought to distance itself from the bottom half of the league by taking hard-fought games from Notre Dame and Ferris State, … Read more
For the record, let me say this: I am a hockey purist. Now, the word “purist” means a lot of things. When a baseball fan says it, he means that he hates the DH and Astroturf. A football purist hates the forward pass, or something like that. There aren’t any basketball purists (apologies to Michael … Read more
Hockey East took it on the chin last week, dropping four of its six games against the other three conferences. CCHA power Michigan State and four ECAC teams prepare for battle with Hockey East this week. Providence and Merrimack, as well as UMass-Amherst and UMass-Lowell, open league play with home-and-home series. One of the top … Read more
The second weekend of WCHA play is here, and if there’s as much excitement as last week, fans are in for some memorable moments at the rink. Last weekend North Dakota topped Denver twice at their home rink, serving notice of their talent. Colorado College and Minnesota split, as expected; Minnesota dominated play at times … Read more
Last weekend the CCHA got under way with a number of interesting matches. Miami got off to a solid start, sweeping Alaska-Fairbanks three straight games on the road. Michigan overpowered perennial Hockey East foe Maine 3-0 at the Joe, only to watch as Maine trounced Lake Superior the following day 7-4. Maine forward Dan Shermerhorn … Read more
The past weekend kicked off action for three of the 12 ECAC teams; now the other nine take to the ice for the first time this season. The ECAC started off the season with a 3-1 record in non-conference play. Clarkson swept a pair from Ohio State, and Vermont defeated New Hampshire. The lone blemish … Read more
The ECAC has its share of great forwards: Mike Harder at Colgate, Martin St. Louis and Eric Perrin at Vermont, Todd White at Clarkson, Paul DiFrancesco at St. Lawrence, Ryan Smart at Cornell, Henry Higdon at Harvard, and others. There are also a number of quality defensemen: Mikko Ollila at Clarkson, Jeremiah McCarthy at Harvard, … Read more
Challenges. Some people run, while others choose to ignore them. But still others grab hold and work to overcome them. Those folks may conquer, or they may fall short. For Tim Watters and Dean Talafous, the latest challenge is as head coach of a WCHA team — working to get to the top of one … Read more