Men’s D-I: NCHC

This Week in NCHC Hockey: ‘Absolute rock star’ West, former national champion with Minnesota women’s team, fitting in as Colorado College’s director of hockey operations

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It was only a month ago when Colorado College coach Kris Mayotte found out that Emily West, the Tigers’ first-year director of hockey operations and video coach, had scored a NCAA national championship game-winning goal on a penalty shot. “No (way),” Mayotte said, shortly before seeing YouTube footage of West’s goal for Minnesota in the … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Inconsistent Miami squad maintaining positive mindset as RedHawks ‘have to do better’ rest of season

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The NCHC’s collective nonconference record so far this season has been nothing to sneeze at, winning at a .681 rate, second only to the Big Ten but having also played 15 more of those games. Miami has held up its end of the bargain in that regard, sitting at 5-2-1 in those games ahead of … Read more

Denver’s Buium, Lake Superior State’s Westcott, Penn State’s Fink, AIC’s Wallstrom take home November monthly honors from HCA

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The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced its national men’s monthly award winners for November. Denver freshman defenseman Zeev Buium and Lake Superior State senior forward Jared Westcott are co-players of the month, while Penn State forward Aiden Fink is the rookie of the month and AIC freshman goalie Nils Wallstrom is the goaltender of the … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota transfer Berg finding niche with team, filling needed role with Fighting Hawks

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North Dakota coach Brad Berry knows the importance of doing due diligence on recruits from the NCAA transfer portal, but junior forward Cameron Berg’s commitment may have been secured easier than most. A West Fargo native with family elsewhere in North Dakota, including a grandmother living three hours west in the Bottineau area, Berg spent … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: ‘What an experience’ for longtime Omaha broadcaster Leahy, approaching 1,000 games with Mavericks

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Omaha hockey radio color analyst Terry Leahy never thought he would reach 1,000 broadcasts covering the same team. On Friday night, when the Mavericks host Augustana, he’ll be there. Quite literally, in fact, in much the same capacity he has held since UNO’s hockey program first hit the ice in 1997. There have only ever … Read more

North Dakota takes over as No. 1 team in USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, garners 33 first-place votes to sit atop Nov. 20 rankings

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With 33 first-place votes this week, North Dakota moves up one spot to No. 1 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. Boston College earns six first-place nods and jumps two spots to No. 2, Quinnipiac gets eight first-place votes and vaults from seventh to third, Denver moves down one to No. 4, getting two … Read more

NCHC suspends Minnesota Duluth’s Loheit one game for major cross-checking penalty Nov. 17 against St. Cloud State

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The NCHC announced Saturday that the conference has issued a one-game suspension to Minnesota Duluth grad student forward Luke Loheit. The suspension stems from a stick infraction during the Bulldogs game against St. Cloud State Nov. 17 at the Herb Brooks National Hockey Center. At the end of Friday night’s game, Loheit was assessed a … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College showing marked improvement, moving toward becoming ‘the program we talk about being’

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Ten games into this season, Colorado College’s average of four goals scored per game means the 7-3 Tigers have had the joint fourth-best scoring offense in the country. Bagging goals at such a high clip, including CC’s 5-1 road win Friday at Miami and a 4-1 victory Saturday over the RedHawks, has been a happy … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Confidence booming for Omaha blueliner Mancini after first NCAA goal as Mavericks ‘trending in the right direction’

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Two seasons and five games into his third campaign with Omaha, junior defenseman Victor Mancini was well aware that he had still yet to score his first collegiate goal. He finally ticked that box Saturday in the Mavericks’ 3-2 overtime win at home to Western Michigan and did so with a move that looked as … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Remembering former Minnesota Duluth standout Johnson, who ‘was fun to be around, sometimes the life of the party’

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Former Minnesota Duluth forward Adam Johnson played two seasons with the Bulldogs, and earlier this week, UMD coach Scott Sandelin explained why Johnson would’ve gone on to captain the team if he hadn’t left early for pro hockey. Johnson’s intangibles on and off the ice helped make him a coveted prospect out of Minnesota high … Read more

Michigan’s McGroarty, Denver’s Rizzo, Boston University’s Celebrini, RIT’s Scarfone pick up October honors from HCA

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The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the men’s monthly honorees for Oct. 2023. The co-players of the month are Michigan sophomore forward Rutger McGroarty and Denver junior forward Massimo Rizzo, while Boston University freshman forward Macklin Celebrini is rookie of the month and RIT junior goalie Tommy Scarfone is the goaltender of the month. McGroarty … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Denver goalie Davis going through ‘a growth curve and a learning curve’ as Pioneers off to fast start

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It can be a very unenviable task, being the guy who takes over for the guy. That’s the hand Denver junior goaltender Matt Davis was dealt entering this season, holding the most prior experience among the Pioneers’ three goalies who were looking to take over for the since-graduated Magnus Chrona. The Swede now plying his … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: ‘Two big wins’ over Niagara have Omaha prepared to keep finding success moving forward

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Whether it had been Omaha’s first series of the season or the Mavericks’ 15th, they were always going to have last weekend’s home set against Niagara circled on the calendar. Atlantic Hockey’s Purple Eagles were UNO’s curtain-raising opponent for a second consecutive year, and regular attendees at Baxter Arena probably won’t want to remember Niagara’s … Read more

2023-24 NCHC Season Preview: Coming off no Frozen Four appearances in 2023, conference teams aiming to ‘maximize their chances’ this year

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Many people in and around the college hockey world will tell you that the 2022-23 season was a down one for the NCHC. On the surface, at least, it’s not hard to see why someone would think that. The NCHC is 10 years old now, and aside from the 2020 NCAA tournament that never was … Read more

As college hockey commissioners get on same page regarding philosophy of game, ‘it’s better for college hockey in general’

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When Joe Bertagna stepped down after 23 years as Hockey East commissioner at the end of the 2019-20 season, he had no idea that he was setting a trend. Two years after Bertagna’s departure, Josh Fenton left the NCHC after serving as that league’s only commissioner since its inception in 2013. At the end of … Read more

Air Force, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Omaha comprise field for 2024 Ice Breaker Tournament to be played in Las Vegas

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Minnesota will host the 2024 men’s Ice Breaker Tournament at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Air Force, Massachusetts and Omaha will also compete in the event, scheduled for Oct. 11-12, 2024. “Las Vegas hosting the 2024 Ice Breaker is another example of the impressive growth of hockey, and particularly college hockey, in our country,” said … Read more

College Hockey Realignment, Part 2: With men’s CHA, WCHA long gone, NCAA D-I hockey moving full-steam ahead with ‘opportunity for growth’

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College hockey’s tides are changing. The emergence of new programs and their alignment into new conferences are inserting new conversation pieces into the overall landscape, and the rising profiles of Arizona State and Augustana are two examples in a world that looks nothing like its historical decades. The transformation is sometimes hard to swallow, but … Read more

College Hockey Realignment, Part 1: With recent additions of several schools to men’s NCAA D-I hockey ranks, what will be future impact?

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Realignment is on everyone’s mind in college sports these days. Things are changing, and the majority of sports won’t resemble anything like their present state by this time next year. The ACC, the Big Ten, the Big 12, the SEC – they’re all going to be different, and the dominant news in the sports cycle … Read more