The distance between Rochester, Minn., and Colorado Springs, Colo., is 729 miles as the crow flies, but to get from the one city to the other, ice is a more convenient medium than air. Colorado College’s captain, junior Mark Stuart, and sophomores John Brunkhorst and Scott Thauwald are all Rochester natives, and are among seven … Read more
At the end of last season, Hobey Baker finalist Zach Parise decided that his goal-scorer’s touch better matched a New Jersey Devils uniform than North Dakota green. Immediately, Parise left his brother, goaltender Jordan, with a huge question — who would provide the offensive support that he needed? The Fighting Sioux had plenty of answers. … Read more
The North Dakota Fighting Sioux have endured a season that began with defections to the NHL and was followed by a plague of injuries, bad breaks and bad bounces. As difficult as the season has been, nobody was prepared for what happened last Friday during the WCHA Final Five in St. Paul. UND’s players and … Read more
Minnesota’s leading scorer, junior Tyler Hirsch, is back skating with the Gophers, less than a week after a “bizarre” post-game incident following his team’s WCHA semifinal loss. Whether he will play this weekend or not remains unclear. Hirsch After everyone cleared the ice following last Friday’s WCHA semifinal loss, and as fans were filing out, … Read more
North Dakota sophomore defenseman Robbie Bina underwent surgery Monday morning at Regions Medical Center in St. Paul to repair a shattered vertebra in his neck suffered last Friday during the WCHA Final Five. In a statement released through UND, the Bina family said Dr. Daryll Dykes performed the surgery, which lasted from 8:20 a.m. to … Read more
The selections are out and they differed from the brackets that we had projected on Saturday evening. We had all 16 teams picked correctly, but had some of them in the wrong spots. So what happened? Here was our bracket projected on Saturday evening with a .003-.002-.001 bonus: West Regional: 13 Maine vs. 4 Minnesota … Read more
In a score that should have been familiar to those who watched Denver’s NCAA title-game win over Maine in April, the Pioneers rolled into the 2005 national tournament on a crest of good feeling in the form of a 1-0 win over Colorado College in the WCHA championship Saturday. “The first two periods were kind … Read more
North Dakota forward Robbie Bina, who was injured on a check from behind in Friday’s WCHA Final Five semifinal game against Denver, has a broken neck that may end his hockey career, sources indicated Saturday. Bina’s neck injury is being monitored by neurosurgeons at Regions Hospital in St. Paul, his mother Rose said in a … Read more
With victories Friday, Denver and Colorado College not only set up a clash of the two top-ranked teams in the nation Saturday in the WCHA championship game, they arranged an historic clash: the first time the Rocky Mountain rivals have met for the Broadmoor Trophy. That fact is especially poignant for the Tigers, who have … Read more
It was quite a day for Colin Murphy. Not only did the Michigan Tech senior learn Thursday he was one of 10 finalists for the Hobey Baker Award and a member of the all-WCHA first team, he signed a professional deal with the Toronto Maple Leafs. Murphy said it’s a two-year contract but declined to … Read more
This time of year, intense focus is turned towards the PairWise Rankings, that mystic, sometimes incomprehensible, source of wisdom daring us to guess the NCAA tournament field in advance. Ofttimes, the results work out like a game of craps. Sometimes, you’re better off letting others roll the dice, while at other times, you want to … Read more
Having to play three games in three days isn’t exactly a recipe for success. That’s the task that faces one WCHA team every year, once the No. 4 and No. 5 seeds meet in Thursday’s play-in game at the Final Five. For the winner, a semifinal matchup follows the next day, and then a game … Read more
It was a Rocky Mountain-dominated WCHA awards ceremony Thursday. Co-MacNaughton Cup champions Denver and Colorado College claimed five of the six spots on the All-WCHA first team as well as awards for the coach of the year, defensive player of the year and rookie of the year. Colorado College forward Marty Sertich was named the … Read more
Home ice? Who cares about home ice? Apparently, WCHA teams do, as all five favorites advance to the Final Five this weekend. Todd D. Milewski previews all the competition from St. Paul, Minn.
Denver battled back to share the MacNaughton Cup, but now must focus on the task at hand: dangerous, if last-place, Michigan Tech. Also, Minnesota-Duluth gets hot at the right time, but Wisconsin can’t say the same; the WCHA’s final standings confound the pundits; and Todd D. Milewski previews all five first-round series.
The Gold Pan, symbol of the Denver-Colorado College rivalry, may be missing, but Todd D. Milewski says DU and CC have even bigger fish to fry, in the form of the MacNaughton Cup. Also: Minnesota coach Don Lucia shelves the carrot for the stick, and Minnesota-Duluth rookie Ryan Carter makes waves late.
Coming into the final two weeks, the WCHA race is tight at both ends, Todd D. Milewski notes. Also: Marty Sertich exhibits grace under pressure for CC, Alaska-Anchorage can still pull off home ice, and Wisconsin’s power play isn’t hitting on all cylinders these days.
Minnesota goaltender Kellen Briggs is out indefinitely with an unspecified hand injury, the school said today. Briggs, a sophomore, has started 30 games this season, posting a 19-10-0 record with a 2.46 goals-against average and .913 save percentage. Briggs is 26-11-0 in his last 37 starts, dating to last season. In the WCHA, he is … Read more
Coming off a stunning weekend at Minnesota, no one is liable to want Alaska-Anchorage in the playoffs, but someone’s going to get the Seawolves regardless. Also: North Dakota welcomes back Brady Murray, and St. Cloud State head coach Craig Dahl keeps his Huskies focused. Todd D. Milewski reports.
He doesn’t play for a national powerhouse, nor is he your typical collegian. But MTU’s Colin Murphy is making a push for NCAA honors.