Some thoughts after the fourth weekend of the season: * I know many do have a real problem with the CCHA using shootouts to decide how points are allocated after tie games. I share some of those concerns, but I am in favor of the shootout as a way to inject some life into what … Read more
Trying out a new weekly installment of the blog — some random (and not-so-random) thoughts on the week prior. * I’ve never seen this before. And neither have you, unless you were a Minnesota hockey follower in 1930 and were around for those momentous games against the Tulsa Athletic Club and Wisconsin. Denver blanked the … Read more
The USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I preseason men’s poll is out today, and I’ll be the first one to tell you that it doesn’t mean a whole heck of a lot. Really, what do we have to go on? Last season and a lot of conjecture, neither of which tends to amount to anything definitive … Read more
Nice to see you again. Good summer? Ours was fine, thanks. The offseason is just about over — in case you missed it, college hockey won’t look quite the same after this season because of what took place over the last few months — and soon enough, USCHO will be getting back to full speed. … Read more
One of Bowling Green’s prominent hockey alumni is involved in an effort to make sure the program stays alive in tough times for the athletic department. Washington Capitals general manager George McPhee said in a meeting with reporters in the second intermission of Saturday’s national championship game that he hosted a meeting Friday with Bowling … Read more
Miami coach Enrico Blasi threw out a one-liner today when talking about his relationship with Boston University coach Jack Parker, his counterpart in Saturday’s national championship game. Blasi was talking about Parker’s legacy and how he takes time to initiate conversation with young coaches. Then he added this: “A few years ago in Florida, he … Read more
This is making its way through college hockey tonight, including over on our message board, but I thought it deserved to be mentioned here. The D.C. Sports Bog, a production of the Washington Post’s Web site, is reporting that George Mason’s pep band, known as the Green Machine, will be standing in for the Bemidji … Read more
If you’re headed to the Frozen Four a day early and want to check out the Verizon Center and the four competing teams, check out the free practice sessions. Not only do you get the chance to see how the hockey-covering media lives (note the tongue planted firmly in cheek there), but teams usually make … Read more
If you have no particular rooting interest in this year’s NCAA tournament (or even if you do but can separate that from an overall view of things), answer this question: Is this year’s tournament the best in recent memory, or maybe just the one with the most parity? How else does the Frozen Four feature … Read more
I wanted to get this post up Friday, but then the games started and, well, there went the rest of the night at Mariucci Arena. With 37 entries in an informal NCAA tournament poll I conducted, some interesting things developed: ** Only 8 percent did not have either Boston University or Notre Dame winning it … Read more
By this time, we’re all looking ahead to the NCAA regionals next weekend, but there were some amazing things that took place in the conference tournaments this weekend that need to be revisited. ** Of the 19 games played, eight were shutouts. Four of those came in Saturday’s championship games, with Minnesota-Duluth, Yale, Boston University … Read more
Denver’s line chart for today’s semifinal game against Wisconsin at the WCHA Final Five is a little thin down the middle. With Tyler Bozak and Tyler Ruegsegger out injured, the Pioneers have only three centers listed, and one of them is hurting, too. Jesse Martin, who’s listed on the top line between Rhett Rakhshani and … Read more
A quick update on the WCHA awards: Wisconsin defenseman Jamie McBain is the league’s player of the year, and North Dakota’s Dave Hakstol is the coach of the year. The first team includes McBain and North Dakota’s Chay Genoway on defense; Minnesota’s Ryan Stoa, Colorado College’s Chad Rau and St. Cloud State’s Ryan Lasch at … Read more
This is a great time of the year for college hockey, with conference playoffs, NCAA regionals and the men’s Frozen Four dotting the landscape. But this coming weekend is my favorite of them all, and here’s why: ** Men’s conference tournaments and all the PairWise banter that comes with them. I’ve only ever been to … Read more
No overtimes in the first round of the WCHA playoffs? It seems like a rarity, but it happens. No Game 3s? Same deal. Until this season, however, those two things have never happened together since the league went to best-of-three series in 1988. The five first-round series this weekend combined for no overtimes and no … Read more
The voting process for the WCHA awards was a little more rushed than usual — I didn’t know I was going to be voting until last Friday night, and the ballots were due less than 48 hours later — but I managed to pull together all of my statistical research in good time. This year, … Read more
You should always remember and learn from your failures. And in terms of picking the WCHA standings, I’ve had plenty of failures. The good thing (for me, anyway) is that I’m usually not alone. In the media poll I organized before this season for The Capital Times, I was one of 22 voters to pick … Read more
The top two spots and the bottom two spots in the WCHA standings are locked in, so we know two of next weekend’s first-round playoff matchups. Four of the five home-ice spots are locked up, so that leaves three teams with a chance at the last one on the last day of the regular season. … Read more
So we’ve got nine games this weekend to decide eight spots in the WCHA standings. I was going to try to figure out tiebreakers in this space, but that seems like something more suited for after Friday night’s games, after the possibilities are a little better defined. So here’s my best guess as to how … Read more
Why? Why do I let North Dakota do this to me every season? Somewhere around the middle of the season, I start to look past UND when thinking about the race for the WCHA’s MacNaughton Cup and which teams will be best equipped to make a run in the NCAA tournament. Then the Sioux go … Read more