Season previews for teams
Amidst all the preseason focus on expected wins and losses, the one W the entire league hopes for is in coach Chris Serino’s battle with throat cancer. If Serino defeats the disease, it will be a successful season no matter what the standings say. That said, Merrimack fans can hope for a huge victory off … Read more
The biggest change in Lowell, of course, isn’t the usual departure of graduating players and influx of freshmen, but rather the arrival last spring of new coach Blaise MacDonald. Arguably, former coach Tim Whitehead should have been treated better and still be at the River Hawk helm. He was, after all, a finalist for national … Read more
BC coach Jerry York had planned on trying to replace Brian Gionta, Bobby Allen and the rest of the graduated senior class, but what he hadn’t counted on was also losing Brooks Orpik, Chuck Kobasew and Krys Kolanos to either the pros or junior leagues. Nonetheless, the Eagles have hardly gone from the penthouse to … Read more
Northeastern finished a disappointing 13-19-4 last year, making it three straight losing seasons on Huntington Avenue. The Huskies defeated NCAA tournament-bound St. Lawrence and Wisconsin, not to mention New Hampshire, BU, Rensselaer and Harvard, but overall the wins were too few and far between. The Huskies then lost their top scorer and two key defensemen … Read more
The Friars broke through last season to finish higher than ever before in Hockey East, a tie for second. The expected rebuilding year instead turned into what might become a steppingstone to PC’s first-ever regular season title. That’s what the Hockey East preseason coaches’ poll predicted… sort of… in its first-place-but-no-first-place result. “In the past … Read more
I Among ten stationary players,The only moving thingWas the eye of the Ryan Miller. You’ve heard the noise. Ryan Miller didn’t deserve the Hobey because of the defense in front of him. Michigan State doesn’t score enough goals. The Spartans play boring hockey. Blah, blah, blah. Sure, they’re ranked No. 1, but Michigan State — … Read more
VII O speculative fans of the CCHA,Why do you imagine a last-place finish?Do you not see how the NanooksPersevere among the playersIn the rink where you worship? The Nanooks were picked last by the media in the CCHA preseason poll — by everyone but me, that is. The third of the league’s teams that fielded … Read more
V I do not know which to prefer,The beauty of inflectionsOr the beauty of innuendoes,Jason Deskins scoringOr just after. The RedHawks finished the 2000-01 season with a second-half record of 10-6-0, and still managed a slice of second place in the regular-season final standings. After securing home ice in the first round of the playoffs, … Read more
XII The season is beginning.The Bulldogs must be barking. Ferris State finished eighth last season, taking three of four games from cluster-mate Alaska-Fairbanks late in the campaign, but struggling down the stretch with Notre Dame, Lake Superior, and Bowling Green. The Bulldogs ended their season with two first-round playoff losses in Yost Arena. I Know … Read more
VIII I know noble accentsAnd lucid, inescapable rhythms;And I know, too,That the falcon is involvedIn what I know. Ice hockey is a game of irresistible beauty, combining the athletic with the aesthetic, power with form, brown with orange. Ay, Ziggy Zoomba. As one of the CCHA’s two resident enigmas, the Bowling Green Falcons have yet … Read more
II. I was of three minds,Like a rinkIn which there are three Mavericks. Two consecutive trips to the CCHA championship tourney in their first two years of league membership — do you think anyone is underestimating these Mavericks now? While UNO graduated a large senior class that included the last of the “original Mavericks,” the … Read more
IV The blade and the puckAre one.The blade and the puck and R.J. UmbergerAre one. The Buckeyes finished the 2000-01 season with a gritty, three-game, first-round CCHA playoff series against Nebraska-Omaha, losing by the width of two pucks in the very hostile Omaha Civic Center. The memory of those losses — games many Buckeye players … Read more
For most teams, a myriad of unknown variables will decide their fate this upcoming season. Although that’s also true for New Hampshire, a single unknown dominates all others. Hobey Baker finalist, All-American and First-Team All-Hockey East goaltender Ty Conklin was The Man who kept Wildcat hopes alive even during prolonged scoring droughts last season. His … Read more
XI They rode from South BendIn their custom coach.Once, a fear pierced them,In that they mistookThe shadow of their equipageFor the foreshadowing of potential victory. Do the Notre Dame Fighting Irish fear success? How else can you explain a team that looks so darned good on paper never living up to its potential? This second … Read more
Some things change (the conference playoffs, for instance), while others remain the same — such as defending CCHA champion Michigan State, Paula C. Weston’s pick to top the conference again. But don’t count out ever-renewing Michigan, or no-longer-surprising upstart Nebraska-Omaha.
III Mike Cammalleri flew threw the autumn night.He was a large part of the pantomime. How do the Wolverines do it? Back in 1998, one year after graduating the fabled Michigan Nine, Michigan was a rookie-heavy team with an experienced goaltender, expected to have a respectable rebuilding season. Instead, Michigan won the NCAA championship in … Read more
VI Icicles filled the long windowWith barbaric glass.The shadow of the WildcatCrossed it, to and fro.The moodTraced in the shadowAn unpredictable cause. Rick Comley has commented in the past about his recruiting disadvantages. As the most remote team within the state of Michigan, Comley knows that he’s not likely to lure someone away from Michigan … Read more
IX When the Bronco skated into the box,He marked the edgeOf one of many circles. What to say about a team that flew out of the gate last season, only to stumble through January and limp through February and March? When 2001 began, the Broncos were 14-3-2, and seemed to be riding the hot sticks … Read more
X At the sight of LakersFlying across their home ice,Would the bawds of euphonyCry out sharply? Too esoteric for you? Try this: Who will fear the Lakers? The Scott Borek era is over, and so returns to Sault Ste. Marie the legendary Frank Anzalone, who will attempt to resurrect the Laker days of old. Here’s … Read more
One of the most successful programs in the MAAC’s brief history faces a challenge this year, as graduation has hit Rand Pecknold’s Quinnipiac Braves hard.