Congratulations to Ferris State, your 2011-12 CCHA regular-season champions. This is the second title for the Bulldogs, who last won in 2002-03. Should this team go as far as it is capable of going, the Bulldogs may someday become icons of the kind of league that once upon a time existed in college hockey. So, … Read more
Winter has returned to Flint, Mich., and the snow is a definite improvement over the everlasting gray of these past several weeks. There are three CCHA games televised in my area Friday night: Ohio State at Miami and Michigan State at Notre Dame (CBS), and Ferris State at Western Michigan (Fox). Comcast is covering Saturday’s … Read more
A quick glance at the standings after this past weekend’s play shows us something we haven’t seen all season: nearly every team occupies a place of its own in the CCHA standings. Only Notre Dame and Northern Michigan share a spot — and what a surprise it is that those two teams are tied nearer … Read more
We are coming down to it. Theoretically, eight CCHA teams are in the hunt for the regular-season title. Theoretically. That’s everybody above 10th place except for the Buckeyes, who have two fewer regular-season games remaining than everyone else above 10th place. All the Bulldogs or Broncos have to do is win out to win it … Read more
Three things from the weekend: 1. Ferris State is taking care of business. I don’t know of any better way to put it. In a season when sweeps are rare, the Bulldogs are able to close that deal better than anyone else in the second half — and that simple fact may lead to a … Read more
Coming down to the last few weeks, there is so much uncertainty in the CCHA — and the standings are so very close — that it’s overwhelming to consider all the permutations. Here are a few interesting tidbits, though: Ferris State and Western Michigan are the only two teams near the top of the standings … Read more
With just three weekends of play remaining, nothing will be decided until the very end. Three things from this most recent weekend of play. 1. The Ferris State-Western Michigan series at the end of February will determine the regular-season champion, unless … 2. …the Wolverines have something to say about it. Okay, so this is … Read more
It’s the beginning of the end — of this season, anyway. Here’s how I’m doing: Last week: 6-3-1 Season to date: 95-63-23 (.588) Remember that adage about a broken clock and the frequency of its accuracy? Yeah. Like that. This week Everyone plays this weekend. All series are Friday-Saturday, single site. The games in Ann … Read more
Yet again, a weekend of play reminds us of how unpredictable this season is. Three quick things: 1. Ferris State may be the story of the year — or not. Raise your hand if you thought the Bulldogs would be in first place at any point this season. Okay, so if you’re a die-hard Bulldogs … Read more
What a strange season. In one of those if-the-season-were-to-end-today scenarios, seven CCHA teams would likely make the NCAA tournament; all seven of those teams are currently ranked. Lake Superior State just dropped out of the current rankings. To be honest, I don’t know what to think. In past years when the CCHA has appeared strong … Read more
Three quick things from the weekend. 1. You can’t fight city hall. At the beginning of the 2011-12 season, Miami and Michigan were picked to finish second and third, respectively, in both the coaches and media preseason CCHA polls. At the end of the first half of the 2011-12 season, Michigan was eighth in the … Read more
It’s impossible that we’re in the third week of January — with only six weekends of regular-season hockey remaining — but here we are. How have I done this season? Sigh. My picks percentage is as brutal as the temperature this morning in Flint. Last week: 5-3-2 Season to date: 82-58-20 (.575) I am grateful … Read more
This is the CCHA. The landscape changes quickly around here. Three things from this past weekend? We could pick a dozen or more. 1. Home-ice advantage? Not exactly. Friday night was brutal for the home teams. Three of them lost outright and two ended up tied after taking a lead into the third period — … Read more
It’s Friday the 13th. Could there be anything scarier than my picks percentage? Last week: 6-3-4 Season to date: 77-55-18 (.573) One of my better weeks. I’m beginning to think, though, that certain teams should pay me to pick against them. This week It’s a full slate of CCHA hockey, including Sunday’s Frozen Diamond game … Read more
I didn’t expect 2012 to be such a fascinating year. Sure, the Mayans have predicted some exciting things, but I certainly didn’t think that the scenery would move so quickly the first weekend in January. Here are three things that have changed my perspective a bit following the past weekend of hockey. 1. Six points … Read more
Oh, my friends, how poorly I fared for the holiday tournaments. Last week: 6-8-0 Season to date: 71-52-14 (.569) The week There is a lot of action this week, including games that pit ranked teams from a couple of different conferences against ranked CCHA teams. Days and times are noted in each series or game. … Read more
… Happy Second Half! I’m not sure how much the play of CCHA teams in holiday tournaments and other nonconference play taught us about the hockey yet to come, but it was an interesting few days. Here are three things that stay with me from the most recent games. The Great Lakes Invitational is a … Read more
Successful defense The Wolverines were the defending Great Lakes Invitational champs, having beaten Colorado College 6-5 in 2010. Including tonight’s win, Michigan has won the GLI title 16 times and these UM seniors have won all but one of their years with Michigan — 2009, the last time Michigan State was crowned GLI champs. He’s … Read more
This weekend is far more interesting than I originally thought it would be. Not only did I not expect to see Boston College in the GLI third-place game, but when the Eagles lost yesterday, I fully expected them to score more than they did in today’s consolation game against Michigan Tech. Today’s game was the … Read more
I won’t pretend that I’m not shocked that Michigan beat Boston College, and that the Wolverines looked to be in control for most of this game. I’ve seen UM play some passionless hockey in the first half of the season, but no one can accuse the Wolverines of anything but inspired play from the get-go … Read more