The defending 1996 NCAA Champion Michigan Wolverines are the runaway favorite to win the Central Collegiate Hockey Association again in 1996-97. Michigan garnered all of the possible 9 first place votes in the coaches’ poll, while gaining 33 of 34 possible first place votes in the CCHA media poll. Michigan State was the consensus second-place … Read more
Vermont is the preseason number one team in the 1996-97 ECAC men’s ice hockey coaches poll, according to USA Today. Vermont returns virtually the same lineup that led it to a 27-7-4 record last season and a berth in the NCAA semifinals against Colorado College. The Catamounts received 11 of a possible 12 first place … Read more
In a direct about-face from previous comments that they were staying for their senior years at Maine, Blair Allison and Jeff Tory have now decided to try out for the Canadian National Team. Both players have been All-Hockey East selections the past two years. Tory was also a First Team East All-American in 1995-96. Both … Read more
Maine lost three players this week in the wake of NCAA sanctions against the program, but reportedly will keep two important All-Americans on the roster, according to the Bangor Daily News. Brad Mahoney and Tim Lovell, both seniors, transferred to rival Hockey East schools this week. Mahoney transferred to Northeastern to play for Bruce Crowder. … Read more
Bruce McLeod resigned his position as University of Minnesota-Duluth athletic director Wednesday, citing personal reasons, according to USA Today. Minnesota-Duluth officials named Dr. Patricia Merrier, Duluth’s faculty athletics representative, as interim athletic director for the remainder of the summer. An acting athletic director will be named this fall. “My decision to resign was all mine,” … Read more
Boston University’s Chris O’Sullivan has signed a pro contract with the Calgary Flames, forgoing his senior year. O’Sullivan was drafted as a defenseman on the second round in 1992, prior to his attending BU. In 1992-93 he redshirted after a neck injury felled him after only five games. The following year he was one of … Read more
The CCHA unanimously accepted Northern Michigan University’s application to return to the conference Monday. The Wildcats entered the CCHA in 1976-77, before leaving for the WCHA. “We are very pleased to be accepted back in the CCHA for the fall of 1997,” said NMU athletic director and head hockey coach Rick Comley. “We [our administration … Read more
The NCAA Executive Committee announced today that the University of Maine will retain their 1993 Ice Hockey National Championship. Amid numerous NCAA violations, the one pertaining to Dunham was his acceptance of a stipend when he was the U.S. Olympic tean. The goalie was a member of the 1993 national champions. The Executive Committee met … Read more
Michigan Tech named former Boston Bruins assistant coach Tim Watters to the vacant head coaching position Thursday. Watters, a 13-year National Hockey League veteran, replaces Bob Mancini, who accepted a job at USA Hockey on July 14 after four years behind the Huskies’ bench. “We’re very excited that Tim has chosen to move from the … Read more
It’s not over, yet. During a press conference on the campus of the University of Maine on Wednesday afternoon, school president Frederick Hutchinson and athletic director Suzanne Tyler made it clear that, while, in many cases, the NCAA’s penalties are fair and necessary, the added year of postseason sanction is “excessive.” “That punishment seems excessive, … Read more
The NCAA handed down one of the most “severe penalties in the last few years” to the University of Maine on Wednesday. The NCAA put Maine on four years probation, and banned the ice hockey team from competing in the 1997 NCAA Tournament. The NCAA also banned Maine from being on television for the 1996-97 … Read more
With 45 student-athletes named to its 1995-96 All-Academic Honor Roll, Hockey East established a new record for the most players named in a season. The Honor Roll was first instituted in 1989. Leading the way was Top Scholar-Athlete Tomas Persson of Northeastern, who compiled a 3.918 GPA for the year in International Business and Finance, … Read more
As first indicated here last Friday, Tim Whitehead has officially been hired as head coach at UMass-Lowell. Whitehead was strongly endorsed by outgoing coach Bruce Crowder, and also received support of many fans and media personalities. Whitehead, 35, was an assistant for five years at UMass-Lowell, and will fill the position vacated when Crowder jumped … Read more
Former Harvard player Michel Breistroff was reportedly aboard TWA Flight 800 when it crashed last week and is presumed dead. Breistroff, a native of Roubaix, France, scored four goals and 20 points in his 95-game career at Harvard, but was known more for his defense play. The anthropology major was returning to France when the … Read more
Western Michigan goaltender Marc Magliarditi and Maine forward Jamie Thompson have both recently decided to leave their college teams. Magliarditi, CCHA 1996 Rookie of the Year, has decided to go to Spokane, Wash., to play for the Chiefs of the Western Hockey League. “It leaves a big hole to fill,” said Western Michigan coach Bill … Read more
USA Hockey has named Bob Mancini and Larry Pedrie to assistant coaching positions for the National Elite Development Program on Tuesday, and also named Scott Monaghan Program Manager. Mancini resigned his head coaching position at Michigan Tech effective immediately to take the position at USA Hockey. While at Michigan Tech, Mancini compiled a 63-80-20 record, … Read more
UMass-Lowell has selected Tim Whitehead and Blaise MacDonalad as finalists for the vacant head coaching position, according to the Lowell Sun. Both Whitehead and MacDonald have ties to the program and to other Hockey East schools. Whitehead, 35, has been an assistant coach at UMass-Lowell for the past five seasons. He was also an assistant … Read more
Michigan forward Brendan Morrison has been named The Hockey News 1995-96 U.S. College Hockey Player of the Year. Morrison, a native of Pitt Meadows, B.C., tallied 28 goals and 44 assists for 72 points in 35 games with the Wolverines last season. Morrison will long be remembered by the Michigan faithful for his overtime goal … Read more
UMass-Lowell defenseman Ed Campbell has signed with the New York Rangers. The 6-foot-2, 202-pound Campbell, a native of Westboro, Mass., will thus give up his senior year at Lowell. He joins fellow Hockey East juniors Mike Grier of Boston University and Steve McKenna of Merrimack as seniors-to-be who have chosen to turn pro. Campbell’s 326 … Read more
The NCAA Men’s Ice Hockey Committees met recently and agreed on several plans of action, some of which could have a dramatic effect upon the way fans have become accustomed to viewing the postseason tournaments. SITES SELECTED FOR 2000 AND BEYOND At its June 9-12 meeting in Hilton Head, S.C., the Division I Men’s Ice … Read more