Commissioners from the nation’s six Division I ice hockey conferences have announced a 33-game series to be played among the conferences throughout the 2006-2007 season. The third annual Commissioners’ Cup Series faces off with the Denver visiting Miami on Friday, Oct. 6, in the opening round of the Ice Breaker Tournament. Miami will open its … Read more
St. Cloud State head coach Bob Motzko is not shy about admitting that the success of his team lies mainly on the shoulders of senior goalie Bobby Goepfert. After all, with a 2.20 GAA and a .924 save percentage — which earned him first-team All-WCHA honors — he was already carrying the team on his … Read more
Even though the Michigan Tech Huskies were one of the few teams which escaped the wrath of early departures, they will be hurting for goal-scoring just as much as any other team. Gone are three key veterans in Brandon Schwartz, Taggart Desmet and Nick Anderson. But more importantly, so is Chris Conner, who was one … Read more
There sure are some young teams in the WCHA, but as far as the youngest, you have to look at North Dakota. So what is the focus this year? In a word, development. “We’re a very young team with a theme of development and overall improvement from week to week throughout the year,” head coach … Read more
Second-year head coach Dave Shyiak knows where the Seawolves have to improve to move up in the WCHA ranks; it’s just a matter of getting them there. Alaska-Anchorage has a capable goaltender in Nathan Lawson, but got absolutely no help last year as his teammates were last in the league in scoring and second-to-last in … Read more
If Troy Jutting’s Minnesota State team has shown anything over the past few years, it is that the Mavericks have a knack for playing their hearts out and using that energy to grab league points. It has to be a good sign for him, then, that despite the fact that his team is like most … Read more
Every year there is a team that surprises in the WCHA. This year’s top candidate to fill that role is Minnesota-Duluth. Sure, the Bulldogs finished a dismal ninth a year ago, but it was a rebuilding season and one that should springboard UMD into a successful 2006-07 campaign. Head coach Scott Sandelin will look to … Read more
It is becoming a tradition that the Minnesota Gophers lose an abundance of key players every year. Equally traditional, however, is that they bring in talent capable of filling those voids, and this year is seemingly no different. The Gophers lost four of their top five scorers, and defenseman Alex Goligoski is their leading returner. … Read more
There’s nowhere to hide for Wisconsin, which starts out the year as the defending NCAA champion and atop the national polls.
Numbers don’t lie. It is no secret that NCAA men’s hockey lost a bevy of talent with the long list of players leaving college early and forgoing their last years of eligibility. But if one league was hit the most, it was the Western Collegiate Hockey Association. Try these numbers on for size: In the … Read more
Minnesota, which suffered considerable losses during the offseason as players departed early for the pro ranks, lost another player Tuesday, this time to injury. Defenseman Nate Hagemo, a promising element of the Gophers’ blueline, will not return to the ice in the wake of a shoulder injury he suffered in 2004-05. Hagemo, a native of … Read more
Wisconsin, the preseason co-No. 1 with USCHO.com poll voters, is also the co-favorite of league coaches, according to the 36th annual Grand Forks (N.D.) Herald‘s preseason poll, released Tuesday. The Badgers shared that honor with rival Minnesota; the Golden Gophers received five of 10 first-place votes from league bench bosses and a total of 74 … Read more
University of North Dakota President Charles Kupchella said a lawsuit against the NCAA regarding the university’s Fighting Sioux nickname and logo could be filed late this week or next week. Last April, the NCAA Executive Committee turned down UND’s final appeal of a policy that penalizes some member schools for using American Indian nicknames, imagery … Read more
The Minnesota Golden Gophers losts another player to the NHL as sophomore Phil Kessel signed a multi-year contract with the Boston Bruins. “Phil is a player with world-class speed and gifted offensive talents,” said Bruins General Manager Peter Chiarelli. “We feel he is ready to begin his professional development and we are looking forward to … Read more
Brian Salcido, a junior from Colorado College gave up his senior year of eligibility to sign with the Anaheim Ducks. He scored 70 points (15g,55a)the last two seasons combined. He was a second-team All-WCHA selection as a junior in 2005-06, when he finished second in scoring among the league’s defensemen, Salcido is the third Tiger … Read more
North Dakota, already facing an outflux of talent to the pros this season, will also be without a key member of its coaching staff for 2006-07. Associate head coach Brad Berry will depart UND to take an assistant coaching position in the National Hockey League’s Vancouver Canucks organization, head coach Dave Hakstol announced. Berry, a … Read more
Minnesota State’s Kyle Peto, the team’s top-scoring defenseman a year ago, has opted to forego his final year of collegiate eligibility to sign with a European professional team. The Mankato (Minn.) Free Press reported Peto’s departure, with Mavericks head coach Troy Jutting confirming that Peto had signed a contract with a team in the Finnish … Read more
For Nicholas Jon Wood, Wisconsin’s sixth national title was a watershed event — and he was on hand for the whole shooting match.
Denver junior Paul Stastny will forego his final two seasons of collegiate eligibility after signing a multi-year contract with the National Hockey League’s Colorado Avalanche today. Stastny was the club’s second round selection (No. 44 overall) in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft. He begins his NHL career with the same franchise that his hockey hall-of-fame … Read more
Minnesota-Duluth head coach Scott Sandelin has signed a three-year contract extension that will keep him behind the Bulldog bench through the 2009-10 season, UMD Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Bob Nielson announced. “We very pleased with the leadership Scott has provided to our men’s hockey program and are encouraged about what lies ahead for the Bulldogs,” … Read more