Season previews for teams
When you mention RIT, most people think the Tigers are almost a shoe-in to get back to the NCAA Tournament and take another shot at the title — but things may not be quite that easy. The Tigers only lost four players during the off season, but those four players accounted for 154 points of … Read more
Last April, a lot of coaches and fans could probably have filled in Boston College as Hockey East’s favorite for 2001-2. But that was before massive losses of underclassmen added to the sting of graduation for the Eagles, leaving Maine and Providence as contenders on at least an equal footing.
Over the last 12 years, BU hockey has experienced only two losing seasons. Unfortunately, those have come in two of the last three years. Has the Terriers’ reign of dominance come to an end or only hit a couple bumps in the road? Or something in between? Most likely something in between. It’s hard to … Read more
When you finish in last place and then graduate your top goaltender, one of your top two scorers and four other forwards, you’d better have a vision for where the program is going because there may not be a lot of instant gratification in the offing. Fortunately for UMass-Amherst, second-year coach Don “Toot” Cahoon has … Read more
It’s anyone’s guess how well the Maine team will cope with the death of its long-time leader, Shawn Walsh. “It’s a huge impact,” says assistant coach Grant Standbrook. “We loved the guy. [Anyone who] saw the team at the funeral would know what I was referring to. They were all in tears and devastated by … Read more
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.