After serving this past season as the associate head coach of the Wentworth hockey team, R.J. Tolan today was named the fifth head coach in the program’s varsity (1992-present) history. Tolan replaces Jonathan Deptula, who stepped aside at the conclusion of the 2005-06 season to pursue opportunities outside of coaching. In making the announcement, director … Read more
The outflow of players from Grand Forks, N.D., continued as Rastislav Spirko became the fourth North Dakota player to leave school after the end of the 2005-06 season. Spirko, a 5-9, 175-pound native of Slovakia, confirmed that he will play professionally in Europe next season, joining Travis Zajac, Matt Smaby and Drew Stafford as Sioux … Read more
Lawrence head coach Dave Ruhly will not be offered a new contract after his current contract expires in June at the end of the 2005-06 academic year. The announcement was made today by Lawrence athletics director Robert Beeman. A 1998 graduate of Providence College, Ruhly served as Lawrence’s head coach for seven seasons. Ruhly was … Read more
Alaska-Anchorage assistant coaches Jack Kowal and Keith Morris resigned this week after UAA head coach Dave Shyiak called them into his office this past week and told them that their contracts were not going to be renewed per a report in the Anchorage Daily News. Shyiak just completed his first season as the head coach … Read more
The CHA may survive as a five-team venture, but the league isn’t saying much just yet, Matt Mackinde reports.
The House of Representatives is getting involved in the dispute between the NCAA and member institutions over the use of Native American names, logos and mascots. Speaker of the House Dennis Hastert and Rep. Timothy Johnson, both Illinois Republicans, introduced legislation on Thursday that they say will limit the authority of the NCAA “in the … Read more
The site of the ECACHL playoffs and NCAA East Regionals in 2008 and 2010 is getting a new name. Albany, N.Y., County Executive Mike Breslin and Mark Aldam, Publisher of the Albany Times Union, announced Thursday that the newspaper has purchased the naming rights to the Pepsi Arena, effective Jan. 1, 2007. The agreement for … Read more
The late Ralph “Cooney” Weiland, the coach of the Harvard men’s hockey team for 21 seasons, has been announced as the 2006 recipient of the Hobey Baker Legend of College Hockey Award and will be honored Thursday, May 11, at the Hobey Baker Award Banquet in St. Paul, Minn. A 1971 inductee to the Hockey … Read more
Michigan State hockey captain Drew Miller has signed a professional contract with Anaheim of the NHL. Miller, who was drafted by the Mighty Ducks in the sixth round (186th overall) of the 2003 NHL Entry Draft, will forego his senior season of eligibility and leaves after three seasons at Michigan State. Terms of the contract … Read more
Buffalo Sabres General Manager Darcy Regier today announced that the team has signed North Dakota junior Drew Stafford to a three-year contract. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. Stafford is currently on the United States roster and playing in the World Hockey Championships in Riga, Latvia. “I’m looking forward to starting my professional career,” … Read more
According to a report in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, six former or current Minnesota State Mavericks are currently under investigation for sexual assault after an incident that happened in late February. A young woman stated in a search warrant affadavit that on the night of February 21, she said that a hockey player and another … Read more
The battle between the University of North Dakota and the NCAA over UND’s “Fighting Sioux” nickname and imagery continued Friday with the NCAA’s decision to deny North Dakota’s final appeal, keeping the school on the list of institutions subject to restrictions from NCAA championship events. The NCAA’s Friday release said, in part: In denying the … Read more
Chris Bernard was named the first full-time head coach of the Western New England College men’s hockey program. Bernard, who played goalie at Clarkson from 1994-98, succeeds Karl Enroth who held the position on a part-time basis the last five seasons. Last season the Golden Bears were 4-16-3. “The search committee was impressed with Chris’ … Read more
Despite a published report to the contrary, USA Hockey’s Junior Officiating Development Program (JODP) is not taking over Hockey East or the ECAC Hockey League any time soon. Last week, the website HockeyRefs.com reported that the two conferences are looking for someone new to head their respective officiating staffs after recent shakeups, and that the … Read more
There are new rules governing NHL draft choices and contracts. The new National Hockey League collective bargaining agreement, finalized in July, had some major new wrinkles to it — wrinkles that garnered a lot of attention.
First it was Ryan Potulny, then Danny Irmen. Now it’s Kris Chucko who will depart Minnesota’s men’s hockey team early. Chucko said he signed a three year, $900,000 contract with the Calgary Flames. He also said he will stay and finish the semester at Minnesota before going to Calgary in September to try out for … Read more
Nebraska-Omaha has had just one head coach in its Division I history, and it looks like things will stay that way for a while after Mike Kemp signed a four-year contract extension. UNO athletic director David Herbster made the announcement Friday; Kemp’s new deal runs through 2010. “I am happy to announce that Coach Kemp … Read more
The annual exodus of underclassmen to the professional ranks continued to hit Minnesota hard over the weekend, as sophomore Kris Chucko became the latest Golden Gopher to hang up his college jersey for an NHL contract. Chucko, a first-round draft pick (24th overall) by Calgary in 2004, signed a contract with the NHL’s Flames and … Read more
Add Robert Morris to the list of schools hanging onto their head coaches, as RMU director of athletics Dr. Craig Coleman announced Thursday that Derek Schooley has signed a contract extension through 2011. “We are thrilled to have Coach Schooley committed to us for the next five years,” Coleman said. “He’s running a first-class program … Read more
There was a time when ice hockey and the South mixed about as well as oil and water. It was as if there was a great dividing line (much like the Mason-Dixon) that separated the good hockey regions from the sub-par, or where hockey flat-out barely existed. Massachusetts, New York, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Vermont, basically anywhere in the northeast and Midwest, hockey thrived and was played on streets or patches of ice wherever an ample surface could be found. There was simply no room for hockey in the southern regions of the United States.