Playing With Heart Don’t look now, but the hottest team in college hockey is the Sacred Heart Pioneers, who are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak. After a 3-9-2 start to the season and some time in the basement of the Atlantic Hockey standings, Sacred Heart has turned it around by improving on all fronts: offense, … Read more
The gap is expanding. 21 points separate first (Minnesota-Duluth, 25 points, by virtue of Denver’s bye week) and last (still Michigan Tech, still with four points). The gap is still close. Six points separate first from sixth place. Eighth place is six points down from that (for clarity’s sake, eighth-place Alaska-Anchorage is 10 points behind … Read more
Midseason Report Every team in the league has now played at least 10 games of the ECAC Hockey variety, with a few having already passed the 11-game halfway point of their conference schedule. It’s time for a look back at the first half of the 2009-10 campaign. Note: league stats are the focus, but overall … Read more
The WCHA Final Five moniker may hang around, even as the league expands to 12 teams next season, but a handful of changes to the WCHA’s tournament format appear to be in the making. League officials did not come up with any final decisions when they discussed the future of the two-week postseason last Thursday … Read more
Miami has rebounded, but what happened to Quinnipiac? Those are two of the topics up for debate this week with USCHO.com senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski.
Minnesota-Duluth’s rise up the rankings continues. The Bulldogs have jumped nine spots in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll over the last two weeks, placing a season-high fourth in the rankings released Monday. Related link: USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll: Jan. 18, 2010 Denver, Miami and Wisconsin stayed put as the top three teams for … Read more
Former Clarkson goaltender Chris Rogles has been named an assistant coach at the school. Rogles, who had been serving as a volunteer goaltending coach with Merrimack, replaces Jean Francois Houle, who left the program in December to become the coach with Lewiston in the QMJHL. “We are very excited and feel very fortunate to have … Read more
The league race is getting clearer at the same time it’s getting even more muddled. The gap between first and last (Denver, 23 points and Michigan Tech, four points) is as large as ever. However, the race for home ice is as tight as ever. Behold: Denver, 23 points Minnesota-Duluth, 21 points St. Cloud State, … Read more
Back on Track The top three teams in Atlantic Hockey returned to winning ways last weekend, as the the league left most of its non-conference games behind and got down to crunch time. The sight from the rear-view mirror isn’t pretty — the league has gone 8-43-5 out of conference this season, with just five … Read more
Sweeps Week Robert Morris. Robert Morris! Robert Morris!! Then there’s Ferris State and Ohio State. We’ll get to them later. Last weekend, the then-No. 1 Miami RedHawks played a home-and-home series with the unranked Robert Morris Colonials and lost both games. In their first action in nearly a month, the RedHawks dropped the opening game … Read more
Reliving Gold The events of Frozen Fenway last week, in which Boston University upset Boston College 3-2 in front of a massive capacity crowd at the old ball grounds, somewhat overshadowed on these pages one of the most remarkable international efforts in recent memory. The United States World Junior Championship victory may be nearly two … Read more
So have you heard about this Conan O’Brien/Jay Leno/NBC mess? Just kidding. Moving on … Genie in a Bottle While kicking back with your buddies at your favorite post-game establishment, a waitress you’ve never seen before sets a bottle of beer in front of you. Without saying a word, she turns around and disappears through … Read more
Maybe Pittsburgh should change its moniker from the Steel City to Upset City. Seriously. Just ask the Miami RedHawks, who waltzed into Mellon Arena last Friday night to play Robert Morris in the Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase as the No. 1 team in the country. Final score: Robert Morris 3, Miami 1. Seriously. But wait, … Read more
The CCHA has doubled the automatic one-game suspension issued to Ferris State center Travis Ouellette following a game disqualification for checking from behind last Sunday. Ouellette was punished for a check on Notre Dame defenseman Teddy Ruth, a play that ignited an incident that also resulted in a major penalty and DQ to Ruth for … Read more
USCHO senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski are back to talk about Miami’s off weekend, Union’s emergence and other issues in another edition of Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Amo Bessone, who coached Michigan State to the 1966 national championship as part of 28 years leading the Spartans, has died in New Mexico. He was 93. He coached 814 games behind the Michigan State bench, second only to Ron Mason’s 974. He started in 1951 and retired in 1979 with a 367-427-20 record at … Read more
For the first time since the first week of the season, Miami is not listed atop the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. Related link: USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll: Jan. 11 Denver supplanted the RedHawks in the No. 1 spot Monday, earning 45 of the 50 first-place votes after Miami lost twice to Robert Morris … Read more
Four current college players are ranked in NHL Central Scouting’s mid-term rankings for the 2010 entry draft. Notre Dame center Riley Sheahan heads the list, released Monday, at fifth among North American skaters. Minnesota State center Tyler Pitlick (21st), Harvard defenseman Danny Biega (31st) and Wisconsin defenseman John Ramage (187th) also appeared on the rankings. … Read more
Dave Hendrickson is probably writing a food column this week, based on his rhapsodizing on Facebook about key lime pie and angel hair carbonara in Key West. Jim Connelly is likely still unbundling after dressing for maximum warmth at Fenway Park last Friday. So feel free to start the “third-string sieve” chant as you read … Read more
Happy Golden New Year! What a week this has been for hockey in the United States, and what a way to kick off 2010. Congratulations to Team USA for a thrilling overtime gold-medal victory over Canada Jan. 5. What a game. What a tournament. What a bright glimpse into the future of American hockey. Congratulations … Read more