Season previews for teams
Sacred Heart won 21 games for the second straight season, and the result was the same as well — coming up short in the postseason. Still, you have to be pleased with a season like the Pioneers had. Coach Shaun Hannah has mixed feelings. “We played as hard and as well as we could,” he … Read more
Last year, the preseason coaches’ poll put the Huskies in fourth, surprising some people. But lo and behold, that’s where UConn did indeed finish, earning home ice in the playoffs and a trip to Rochester. “We’d had a tough season (in 2005-06) and lost 12 games in a row at the end,” said coach Bruce … Read more
Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin was surprised when his team was picked to finish first in the 2006-07 preseason poll. But while he didn’t necessarily think he had the best team in Atlantic Hockey, he didn’t foresee a team that had won 22 games the year before chalk up just nine victories last season. “I’m not … Read more
Expectations were low for Army coming into last season. All-star goaltender Brad Roberts was gone and the Black Knights, never known as an offensive powerhouse, were expected to finish ninth in a 10-team league. Instead, Army found a more-than capable replacement between the pipes in Josh Kassel (2.38 GAA) and some firepower from Luke Flicek … Read more
Niagara has won the College Hockey America regular-season championship the past two years, but faltered in the league tournament. The Purple Eagles want to change their fortunes this season. “We don’t want to downplay the regular season,” NU head coach Dave Burkholder said. “We haven’t played our best come playoff time lately and we obviously … Read more
The Tigers surprised everyone last year, possibly including themselves. “We knew we could compete; we didn’t know if we could win right away, and I guess that was answered,” said coach Wayne Wilson. “Not just Atlantic Hockey. We knew we could compete with anybody.” After a 6-22-2 season as an independent when they lost ten … Read more
This isn’t a rebuilding year or a transition year or even a year Wayne State is favored to win the College Hockey America championship. It is, however, the Warriors’ final year as the university announced in late September that financing the team is a losing effort and the team will fold effective the end of … Read more
The Crusaders came crashing back to earth after a storybook 20005-06 season, dropping from 27 wins and an epic NCAA victory over Minnesota to just 10 victories and an early playoff exit last season. Picked to finish sixth this season, after a sixth-place season last year, on paper the Crusaders may be hard-pressed to finish … Read more
The Falcons had a wild ride last season, their first in Atlantic Hockey. Coach Frank Serratore’s squad was never able to string together more than two wins in a row until February, playing musical goaltenders to try to the shore up a defense to support the high flying line of Mike Phillipich, Andrew Ramsey and … Read more
Things are headed in the right direction for AIC, but not fast enough for coach Gary Wright. The team got off to a horrendous 2-14 start before finishing the season 6-11-1 and taking points in all but two of its last eight league series. The Yellow Jackets won a first-round playoff game at Canisius before … Read more
After making it to the league championship game in 2005-06, a seventh-place finish was a disappointment for Bentley coach Ryan Soderquist and crew. The Falcons won just 12 games last season and their longest winning streak was a pair of games. Bentley was last in the league in team defense — rarely getting blown out … Read more
There are more questions than answers for College Hockey America as the conference’s ninth season is about to get under way. The majority of the questions center around Wayne State’s departure after this season and what that means for the future of the CHA. There don’t seem to be any answers — and if there … Read more
It may be a trying season for Bemidji State, as the Beavers may struggle to score goals. If they had a weak defense coming back, that would be a recipe for catastrophe, but BSU has a stellar back end returning and three goalies who present a good problem for head coach Tom Serratore. Senior Matt … Read more
As far as Robert Morris is concerned, last year is in the rear-view mirror and the focus is on the upcoming season. The Colonials lost the College Hockey America title game to Alabama-Huntsville after going into the contest as the favorite. “We’re not bringing that up,” said senior forward Ryan Cruthers. “We have 14 seniors … Read more
Alabama-Huntsville had a Cinderella run last season in winning its first College Hockey America championship. But the new-look Chargers will be hard-pressed to retain their title this year and have a new head coach with a tall order ahead. Danton Cole takes over for Doug Ross, who retired at the end of last season. He … Read more
There are two ways to define the 2007-08 Northern Michigan Wildcats: 1. Young. This is a roster that includes 17 sophomores and freshmen. 2. Really young. Not only will the Wildcats play as many as 15 underclassmen per game, but the average age of the NMU team is just over 20 years. Five of the … Read more
What can anyone say about the Miami RedHawks? Two things, for sure: 1. They’re loaded and experienced in every position. In 2006-07, Miami finished second in the CCHA with an offense that scored more than three per game, two of the most consistent goaltenders in the league, and name-brand players everywhere on the ice — … Read more
What can you say about a team that emerged from relative obscurity to capture both the regular and postseason 2006-07 CCHA championships? Two things: 1. How can Notre Dame survive without goaltender David Brown? Brown had the best goals-against average (1.58),second-best save percentage (.931) and top win percentage (.808) in the nation last year. 2. … Read more
What is the measure of a good program? The Mavericks have two answers to that question. 1. You produce coaches that other people want. Nebraska-Omaha said goodbye to assistant Doc DelCastillo, who is the new head coach for Alaska. Also, UNO welcomes back Nick Fohr, whom the Mavericks had already sent out into the world … Read more
If statistics can be trusted, two things are true of last year’s Alaska Nanooks: 1. The Nanooks didn’t shoot the puck enough. Alaska’s shot percentage was just .089 last season, the Nanooks were tied for eighth in goals per game in league play, and their power play was eighth in conversions. 2. The Nanooks didn’t … Read more