The NCHC has announced its 2023-24 all-conference teams. Four teams are represented on the first team, led by two each from Colorado College and Denver. The Pioneers placed four players on the two all-conference squads to pace all teams. 2023-24 First Team All-NCHC F: Jackson Blake, So., North Dakota – 45 points (15 first-team votes) … Read more
Looking back through our 2023-24 NCHC season preview, I wrote the following about Minnesota Duluth, before picking the Bulldogs to finish fifth in the league: “There are only four freshmen, and I like the level of continuity this squad has now, only a year after there was a lot to replace. The issue is that, … Read more
Six standouts have been selected to the 2023-24 NCHC all-rookie team. Five teams are represented on the squad, led by a pair of Denver players who were unanimously chosen. 2023-2024 NCHC All-Rookie Team F: Miko Matikka, Denver – 45 points (15 first-team votes) – unanimous F: Alex Bump, Western Michigan – 43 (14) F: Tanner … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its national men’s players of the month for February. Boston College sophomore Cutter Gauthier is player of the month, BC freshman forward Ryan Leonard is rookie of the month, and Colorado College sophomore Kaidan Mbereko is the goaltender of the month. Gauthier led the NCAA goals (10), points (16), … Read more
Third-ranked North Dakota’s 3-0 home win Saturday over No. 12 Western Michigan saw the Fighting Hawks capture their fourth Penrose Cup title in five years, as the NCHC’s regular-season champion. That kind of regular success always looks a little bit different from one year to the next, and this season has been no exception. Seven … Read more
It’s been half his life since Omaha coach Mike Gabinet played for the Mavericks under current UNO executive associate athletic director Mike Kemp. The dynamics of their relationship have changed over the resulting couple of decades, but Gabinet’s respect for Kemp has only grown. This Tuesday, after it was announced last week that Kemp will … Read more
Omaha Hockey Hall of Fame coach and longtime administrator Mike Kemp has announced his retirement from the department effective this May. Kemp arrived at the University of Nebraska Omaha as its first head hockey coach on July 1, 1996. He was elevated to the position of associate athletic director in May 2009 after serving as … Read more
Colorado College this week jumped up five spots to No. 10 in the latest USCHO.com Division I Men’s Hockey Poll, the highest spot the Tigers have held in 12 years. Two blowout home wins last weekend against then-No. 2 North Dakota helped explain the Tigers’ big rise. More to the point, CC swept its four-game … Read more
Throughout his time in junior and high school-age hockey, North Dakota senior goaltender Ludvig Persson had never suited up against one of his former teams. So when he faced Miami last weekend on the road, the Swedish former RedHawk got maybe his biggest taste of culture shock since he began playing in the United States … Read more
A watch list of 33 first-year NCAA men’s hockey players was announced Thursday by the Hockey Commissioners Association. One of these talented rookies will likely receive the Tim Taylor Award as national rookie of the year as voted by the nation’s assistant coaches. At season’s end, a ballot consisting of each Division I conference’s Rookie … Read more
Colorado College’s Kaidan Mbereko was named Monday as the NCHC goaltender of the week, and it’s never a surprise when the Tigers sophomore receives that recognition. Sixty-one saves over two 2-1 overtime wins last weekend at then-No. 12 Western Michigan gave Mbereko the conference’s weekly goalie award for the fourth time this season. Also last … Read more
Minnesota Duluth athletic director Forrest Karr is set to become the next executive director of the American Hockey Coaches Association. Karr has been chosen to succeed Joe Bertagna, the AHCA’s first and only executive director, who ends his 32-year tenure on June 30. Karr, who is in his 19th year overall as a director of … Read more
We’re not saying polls and standings lie, but it’s hard not to notice that while St. Cloud State is tied for first place in the NCHC, the Huskies are listed 15th in the latest USCHO Men’s Division I Poll, behind three teams from their own conference. Huskies coach Brett Larson doesn’t believe his team came … Read more
Fresh off earning a road split against sixth-ranked North Dakota, Omaha this week re-entered the USCHO.com Men’s Division I Poll at No. 19. But for as competitive as the Mavericks were in Grand Forks, being ranked isn’t just about what you did over the previous week. This UNO team is as battle-tested as most anyone … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced a watch list of 32 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. The 32 goalies come from the United States (19), Canada (7), and Sweden (5) and Slovakia (1). Of the U.S. goalies, … Read more
Tenth-ranked Western Michigan’s road sweep last weekend against Lindenwood was a trip down memory lane of sorts for coach Pat Ferschweiler, while watching his Broncos start the second half of the season how they mean to continue. Friday’s come-from-behind 3-2 win and a relatively easy 6-1 victory Saturday at the Centene Community Ice Center saw … Read more
Last weekend’s exhibition games for No. 20 Colorado College and fifth-ranked Denver were looked forward to by many college hockey fans across the region, wanting to get their fix after the holiday break. I include myself among that number, but those games meant more to me than they probably did to most. Minot State, which … Read more
Minnesota Duluth sophomore forward Cole Spicer is academically ineligible and will not play for the Bulldogs the second half of the current 2023-24 season. Spicer can practice but cannot play in games. Minnesota Duluth coach Scott Sandelin told the Duluth News-Tribune that “we’ll figure it out.” “Guys are going to get a chance,” Sandelin said … Read more
Denver junior forward Massimo Rizzo has been named to Team Canada’s roster for the 2023 Spengler Cup. The Spengler Cup is an annual invitational tournament held every December in Davos, Switzerland. The tournament primarily features professional hockey teams in Europe, but Canada has sent a squad every year since 1984 (tournament wasn’t played in 2020 … Read more
Beginning with the 2026 conference tournament, the NCHC will be moving its playoffs entirely to campus sites. The decision was approved unanimously by the NCHC’s board of directors on Monday. The 2026 NCHC tournament and beyond will be played over three weeks. The biggest change sees the semifinals move to single elimination at two campus … Read more