St. Norbert forward Rob Smillie, who helped lead the Green Knights to their second straight NCHA regular-season championship, was named the league’s Player of the Year, the league announced Monday. The 5-11, 190-pound junior led the NCHA in both goals and points, with 19 goals and 14 assists for 33 points. Meanwhile, St. Norbert College … Read more
The PrimeLink Great Northern Shoot-Out, a new season-opening tournament featuring four top Division III hockey programs from New York and Vermont, will debut in November on the campus of Norwich University. Slated to appear are ECAC powerhouse and host Norwich, three-time defending Division III champion Middlebury, perennial NCAA contender and 1992 national champion Plattsburgh State … Read more
Maine junior winger Steve Kariya remained hospitalized Monday with a collapsed lung suffered early in Maine’s Feb. 28 game against Nebraska-Omaha. Kariya, the nation’s 11th-leading scorer with 23-23-46 in 30 games, was hit while holding his breath, resulting in the puncture. He is expected to be out for this week’s action, but is probable for … Read more
Michigan State’s Chad Alban became just the fourth netminder in collegiate history to tally a goal Saturday night, scoring into an empty net in the Spartans’ 6-3 win over Ferris State. On the play, Alban collected the puck in the corner to the right of Michigan State’s goal and fired a 180-foot shot which bounded … Read more
The SUNYAC has announced its postseason awards, including all-conference teams. Junior Tracey Belanger of Plattsburgh and senior Brian DeFeo of Oswego were honored as co-Players of the Year. The SUNYAC Coach of the Year is Oswego’s George Roll, and the league’s Rookie of the Year is Aaron Coleman of Geneseo. First- and second-team all-conference rosters: … Read more
Michigan State head coach Ron Mason, already the winningest coach in the history of the sport, earned the 800th victory of his career Friday night as the Spartans defeated archrival Michigan, 5-1. Hundreds of enthusiastic fans stormed the ice to honor Mason after the game. “I’ve never had that happen,” Mason said of the fans’ … Read more
Northeastern sophomore defenseman A.J. Toews, who has been out since sustaining an injury against New Hampshire on Jan. 30, has been diagnosed with a congenital spinal condition which has ended his collegiate career. The condition — which is not related to the injury — was discovered during treatment, at which point Toews was advised to … Read more
Merrimack College has announced that it will not renew the contract of head coach Ron Anderson, the winningest coach in the school’s history. Anderson will remain until the end of the season. Anderson’s teams recorded a 244-223-23 record in the 14 years prior to this season, with their greatest moments occurring while the Warriors were … Read more
UMass-Amherst co-captain Tim Lovell has been suspended indefinitely by head coach Joe Mallen, the Bangor (Maine) Daily News reported Friday. Lovell, the Minutemen’s leading scorer with 20 points in 22 games, was punished for an unspecified violation of team rules. “He violated a team policy,” said Mallen. “When I came here five years ago, I … Read more
The Sacred Heart men’s hockey program, like Fairfield and Quinnipiac before it, has been declared ineligible for the ECAC playoffs because it awarded athletic scholarships, the Associated Press reported Friday. According to ECAC officials, Sacred Heart’s games will not count towards the ECAC North/Central/South league standings. The penalties are identical to those levied against the … Read more
The New Haven (Conn.) Register reported today that Fairfield has been declared ineligible for the ECAC playoffs, due to its awarding of athletic scholarships in preparation for a move into the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. Fairfield, a Division I institution, currently is a member of the ECAC’s North/Central/South conference, which operates under Division III rules, … Read more
The NCAA announced Wednesday (Feb. 4) the television schedule for the 1998 Division I men’s ice hockey championship, which will be only the second ever to feature televised coverage of all games. As well as over-the-air network and cable distribution, regional games for the first time will be available nationally on pay-per-view. NCAA Productions will … Read more
Michigan Tech announced Friday its intention to remain a member of the WCHA, ending several months of speculation following the departure of in-state rival Northern Michigan to the neighboring CCHA. The decision to remain in the WCHA came along with an endorsement of the proposed Hockey Educational Center, which athletic director Rick Yeo said would … Read more
Squelching rumors surrounding the program, officials at the United States Military Academy stated that they have no desire to return to the ECAC or to ask for admission into Hockey East. The Cadet football team’s recent jump from independent status to Conference USA membership had sparked discussion that a similar move could be underway for … Read more
Bowling Green junior forward Dan Price will return to the Falcon lineup for the first time since being suspended on Dec. 23, the school announced. Price was suspended after he pleaded “no contest” on Dec. 16 to charges of aggravated vehicular homicide, a third-degree felony stemming from his involvement in a late-summer automobile accident in … Read more
Severely undermanned Villanova announced Tuesday evening that it would not participate in the second annual Quinnipiac Cup, dropping out of the tournament the night before the Wildcats’ scheduled game with host Quinnipiac. The tournament, held at the New Haven Coliseum, will feature Fairfield and Holy Cross in the opener at 4:00 p.m. ET Wednesday, Jan. … Read more
Five college hockey players have been named finalists for the 1998 Humanitarian Award, presented annually to college hockey’s finest citizen. The finalists are Casey Hankinson, senior forward and two-year captain at Minnesota; Tyler Harlton, senior defenseman and captain of the nation’s second-ranked Michigan State Spartans; Steve Noble, senior forward and the first three-year captain in … Read more
Bemidji State University, a Minnesota school which is a perennial power in NCAA Division II men’s ice hockey, is considering moving its program up to Division I play as soon as next season, the Minnapolis Star Tribune reported Tuesday. With few teams remaining in Division II hockey and a move down to Division III infeasible … Read more
Travis Roy, the Boston University player paralyzed on the first shift of his first collegiate game, has officially released his autobiography, Eleven Seconds. “The book is finally my chance to tell my story,” said Roy prior to a reading before a packed house of several hundred students at Boston University’s George Sherman Union. The book … Read more
The Penobscot County district attorney’s office announced Tuesday that it will not prosecute University of Maine hockey players Shawn Mansoff and Matt Oliver on charges of criminal threatening. Mansoff, a sophomore from Edmonton, Alb., and Oliver, a junior from Euclid, Oh., were accused with participating in a racial incident last month in which junior goaltender … Read more