Solid Statesmen

Let’s play word association. Go up to a college sports fan and mention Hobart. Most likely, the response will be “lacrosse”. That would be very logical. After all, Hobart lacrosse has been insanely successful. They have won 16 national championships (one USILA title before the NCAA awarded the trophy, two in Division II, and 13 … Read more

From The Devil You Know
To The Devil You Don’t

Since playing Brown on Nov. 13, Minnesota’s competition has been exclusively WCHA rivals. Over the last two weekends, the Gophers have played their fifth and sixth games against with Minnesota State, followed by their fifth each against both Minnesota-Duluth and Wisconsin. So when the brackets for the NCAA tournament were announced, the Gophers welcomed the … Read more

Men’s D-III NCAA Hockey Bids Announced

Bids were announced Sunday night for the 2006 NCAA Division III men’s ice hockey championship. This season marks the expansion of the tournament to a 10-team field. For the first time, three at-large bids were awarded to teams from the ECAC West. The Pool B berth was awarded to Manhattanville, which lost in the ECAC … Read more

Bina Focusing Forward

Letting bygones be bygones. That’s Robbie Bina’s approach this weekend, as he roots on his teammates in the NCAA Frozen Four. The North Dakota sophomore defenseman saw his season come to an end last month when he was hit from behind by Denver freshman Geoff Paukovich during the WCHA Final Five semifinals. Robbie Bina watches … Read more

Frozen Four: Wednesday Notebook

It’s been more than two decades coming, but the Frozen Four finally has gone back to school. This weekend’s tournament will be the first since 1983 to be played on a college campus, as Ohio State hosts the annual event at Value City Arena. Don’t, though, go blaming your local college or university for not … Read more

A Guide to Columbus, My Adopted Hometown

At first glance, Columbus, Ohio, doesn’t appear to be the 15th largest city in the United States. Well, at second glance, it doesn’t either — unless you know where to look. In the 15 years that I have lived here, Columbus has become a very livable city, a mix of small-town and cosmopolitan, where you … Read more

New Team, New Time

A very different team produced a familiar result for Denver, which has a shot at a second straight NCAA title this weekend.

2005 Frozen Four Preview

There’s an intriguing backstory accompanying each of the teams in this season’s historic Frozen Four. One team certainly wasn’t expected to get here. North Dakota, a team coming off extensive losses on offense, had to fight its way past Boston University and top overall seed Boston College in games played just a couple of hours … Read more

Manning The Nets

The Fighting Sioux are in the Frozen Four thanks in large part to their goaltending. Patrick C. Miller takes a look at the goaltending team that has led North Dakota to Columbus.

Piecing The Puzzle Together

Barry Tallackson has shouldered the weight of expectations for four years at Minnesota. Will he repeat his regional heroics at the Frozen Four?

Best … Weekend … Ever

Are you as tired as I am hearing about how great this past weekend’s college basketball regional finals were? Yeah, three games went to overtime; yeah, maybe it was the best weekend ever of college basketball. But you know what? This was also the best weekend of college hockey ever. Yes, you heard that right. … Read more

Lying In Wait

Minnesota’s season began auspiciously. Despite the loss of several of its top players, including the early departures of Thomas Vanek and Keith Ballard to the pro ranks, the Gophers cruised through the first half of the season, racking up a 15-4-0 record and the nation’s No. 1 ranking at the Christmas break. Not bad for … Read more

The Last One Bites The Dust

There wasn’t much doubt that at least one of them would be going to Columbus, Ohio. The only questions were how many and which ones? Several Hockey East coaches expressed the hope that the four league teams selected to the NCAA tournament — Boston College, New Hampshire, Boston University and Maine — would be placed … Read more

First-Year Phenom

When North Dakota forwards Brandon Bochenski and Zach Parise went pro early after last season, fans of the Sioux had to wonder if the team’s offensive punch would leave town with them. After all, the two scored 50 of the team’s 182 goals last season. Throw in graduating senior David Lundbohm, who added 15 lamplighters, … Read more

Notebook: Northeast Regional Final

Moving Up The Ladder With Gabe Gauthier’s hat trick Sunday, he moved up to 111 points in his career, good for No. 59 in the Denver scoring list, leaving behind Anders Bjork, Paul Josephson, Marc Rousseau, Njorn Engstrom, Kelly Popadynetz, Cliff Koroll, Rich Preston, Mike Busniuk, Ken Williamson and Brian Konowalchuk at 109. Gauthier now … Read more

Something From Nothing

It’s a coach’s worst nightmare. You execute your game plan perfectly. You dominate your opponent at the game’s opening. And what do you have to show for it? Nada. Zilch. Zip. After a sluggish start Saturday for defending national champion Denver that resulted in the Pioneers needing overtime to get past underdog Bemidji State, the … Read more

Familiar Faces

Legend has it that longtime Maine head coach Shawn Walsh pointed to a 16-2 drubbing at the hands of Minnesota as the turning point in the Black Bears program. It was January 4, 1986, and Minnesota had already thumped Maine 8-3 the night before. It was Walsh’s second year at the helm of the Black … Read more