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College Hockey Season Kicks Off

Oct 13

Posted by Eddie in News, Season Previews | No Comments

Just like the National Hockey League last season, the NCAA kicked off their hockey season last weekend. Teams are set to play 35+ games as they traverse through the season on the road to the NCAA Frozen Four in sunny Tampa, Florida in April 2012. Entering the season, Notre Dame was the top team in the USCHO.com poll. The Fighting Irish split their opening weekend series against defending champion Minnesota-Duluth to fall to No. 2 in this weeks poll. Taking the top spot is Boston College as they won both contests in the Icebreaker Tournament against Michigan State and North Dakota. Boston College, as well as a couple others could be dangerous teams to play against when it comes to tournament time. Here are my three teams to watch over the course of the season.

CCHA: Miami

Take your pick between Michigan, Notre Dame and Miami. All three teams have reached the Frozen Four in the last five seasons but have yet to take the title home. Don’t be surprised if any of the three will be making travel arrangements to Tampa the final week of March. If I were to pick a team, I would pick the Miami Redhawks. This group of seniors reached the national title game in 2009 and the Frozen Four in 2010. After steamrolling the competition en route to the CCHA tournament title in 2011, they fell flat in the first round of the NCAA tournament. Head coach Enrico Blasi will have some big shoes to fill as 45 percent of their goal production is lost due to the graduation of Andy Miele, Carter Camper, Justin Vaive and Pat Cannone. Miele also won the Hobey Baker Award last season.

Just like they have done over the last few years, they will look to reload with experienced veteran players to make up the lost goal production. There seems to be a different player stepping up every year, and it shouldn’t be any different this year. And you can’t forget they are solid in goal with the tandem of Connor Knapp and Cody Reichard.

Hockey East: Boston College

One thing I can count on is a team with Boston in its name playing for a national title. Last year was the first year since 2005 that Boston College or Boston University failed to appear in the national championship game. In that span, Boston College was 2-2 while Boston University was 1-0. The B.C. Eagles are among the top teams in the nation, as they are currently the top team in the nation in the USA Today and USCHO.com polls.

Last season, the Eagles swept the Hockey East regular season and tournament championships, but were upset in the first round of the NCAA tournament when they lost to Colorado College. Legendary bench boss Jerry York still has high expectations for his squad, but they will have to do it with a new No. 1 between the pipes. Junior Parker Milner is the new guy in goal, having the fill the shoes of the graduated (and two-time national champion) John Muse. Miler did win 13 games in his first two seasons as a backup, so he has the experience and confidence necessary for the role. There are two rookies behind him so it’s all-or-nothing should he succeed or struggle. The Eagles won 30 games last season, and it will be quite the feat should they return to the 30-win plateau this season.

2010 first round pick (14th overall) Jaden Schwartz of Colorado College/St. Louis Blues.

WCHA: Colorado College

Just like the CCHA, the WCHA is stacked deep with talented teams. The standings will become a game of musical chairs and the music won’t stop until the final night of the regular season. I have the feeling that North Dakota, Colorado College, and Minnesota could contend for the national championship. As well as Denver looks on paper, I can’t overlook the fact their top goalie Sam Brittain won’t be back until January due to knee surgery.  Despite North Dakota having one of the best goalies in the nation in 30-game winner Aaron Dell , they have to find a way to replace 128 of 177 goals scored last season. For those keeping score at home, that’s 72 percent. Despite finishing sixth in the conference last season, look for the WCHA champion to come from Colorado Springs.

While everyone but Wisconsin is returning their starting goalie, the most complete team on paper is Colorado College. The Tigers should have a healthy Jaden Schartz, who was putting up Sidney Crosby-type numbers (47 points in 30 games) before suffering an ankle injury while playing for Canada in the World Junior Championships. He missed all of January and returned mid-February. Should the sophomore and St. Louis draftee continue on the same tear, he has to be a contender for the Hobey Baker Award. His linemate and brother Rylan, isn’t too bad himself as he had 10 goals and 28 assists in 41 games.

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Frozen Four Championship Drops Tonight

Apr 10

Posted by Eddie in News | No Comments

Will Boston College or Wisconsin hold the trophy tonight? Tune to ESPN2 and watch the Frozen Four Championship

Will Boston College or Wisconsin hold the trophy tonight? Tune to ESPN2 and watch the Frozen Four Championship

The point of the year that players have been looking forward to since the beginning of the season is tonight as Boston College and Wisconsin face-off in the national championship game. The puck will drop at 7:00 at Ford Field in Detroit. Thursday was the semifinals and some surprising things happened while I was there.

1. The ice was in better shape than I thought. I’ve attended outdoor games and played outdoor hockey myself. Setting up the ice in a non-traditional hockey venue has a lot of challenges. One differences I did see between the Camp Randall Classic and the Frozen Four is that the ice didn’t have to be worked on as frequent as it did during the Wisconsin-Michigan outdoor game. If you recall, the net where Bryan Hogan had to defend for two periods caused a lot of stoppages to apply dry ice as it appeared to constantly break loose and crack. At the Frozen Four, I believed only one stoppage occurred to repair the ice and that was late in the Miami-Boston College game. Another fact, is the rink used in the NHL Winter Classic is the same one used at the Frozen Four as I seen the refrigeration truck in the loading dock outside Ford Field.

2. The letdown that was both semifinals. I had a hunch that RIT would be a little over matched against Wisconsin. Wisconsin didn’t let RIT in the game at all as they scored quickly and often. Wisconsin did what Denver didn’t do and that was come out scoring from the start. I was hoping Miami-Boston College would be a good game, but a span of 4 minutes between the end of the first and beginning of the second periods is what turned this game around. BC scored late in the first and twice more in the first three minutes of the second period to take a 3-0 lead. Desperate times called for desperate measures and Miami tried to attack and press on offense which backfired as BC scored three more times in a 1:35 span in the third period to take a 6-1 lead with 8 minutes left in the game.

The crowds at Ford Field was very exciting. It was cool to see college hockey jerseys from all over the country, as some of my favorites included Boston University and Maine.

The key for Boston College to win is for them to stay out of the penalty box. Wisconsin is a deadly team on the power play as they scored three power play goals in a nine minute span. Including two five-on-three goals as RIT took too many bad penalities including a game-misconduct for checking from behind.

The key for Wisconsin is to avoid the trap of Boston College’s scoring. The Eagles scored often against Miami but they were in bunches. The Badgers have to not get too down when the Eagles score because they can come right down the ice and score again. Wisconsin has to continue to use their defenseman to create scoring chances. They looked really good with traffic in front of the net and you never know what can happen with deflections of pucks in the slot.

This is a rematch of the 2006 championship, where the Badgers defeated the Eagles 2-1. That Frozen Four was played in their home state, only down the road from its home campus in Milwaukee. In this game, I like both teams. This should be an exciting game that could even go into overtime. I think I like Wisconsin a little more than I do Boston College.

In you cannot watch the game on ESPN2, be sure to follow Hockey World Blog on Twitter for live updates.

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Hockey Hodge-Podge: Minors, College, Juniors

Nov 13

Posted by Eddie in News | 1 Comment

It’s the time of the year when football is starting to wind down for the colleges, the professionals are mid-way through their season, and hockey is starting to find its way. Teams in the NHL and other leagues have played anywhere between 15-20 games. At this time of the season, teams are starting to figure out who they are and what they can do to improve.

Looking across the hockey landscape, here’s some interesting things I came across:

Minors:

  • Grand Rapids Griffins goalie Daniel Larsson is one step closer to playing for the Detroit Red Wings. The big club called up Larsson today to backup Jimmy Howard as Chris Osgood has missed the last two games with the flu. The Red Wings played Wednesday and Thursday night and the recall happened this morning. This could mean Osgood might be out for a while.
  • On February 20, the Syracuse Crunch and Binghamton Senators are playing an outdoor hockey game. It’s the first in the history of the AHL, and a politician is trying to make it an annual event to “bring luster to central New York”. Can we say a P.R. move to gather votes for 2010? Charles Schumer (D-NY) is up for re-election next November.
  •  Everybody and their brother has now seen the video of Louisiana Ice Gators head coach Brent Sapergia throw everything in sight on the ice in protest of a call. I think I would he just as angry if I found out I had to coach a hockey team in the Southern Professional Hockey League. I do give him credit, his team was down 5-1 at the time before a rally of goals resulted in a 5-4 loss.

 

College:

  • Defending national champion Boston College is 2-5 and 1-4 in conference play this season. That’s not good for the Eagles. Last season, they had six overall and five Hockey East losses all season.
  • Miami is showing why they are the no. 1 team in the nation as they swept Michigan last weekend. Wolverines head coach Red Berenson was so disgusted that he said  “I’m embarrassed.” “We played like a bunch of spoiled brats, and we’ve gotta suck it up.” When your team takes 51 penalty minutes in the third period of Saturday’s game, that’s what spoiled beats who need to suck it up play like.
  • My alma mater, Ferris State University, is off to its best start since the 2002-03 season. That year, Chris Kunitz was a Hobey Baker finalist when he led the Bulldogs to the CCHA regular reason championship and a first-round win in the NCAA tournament. The Bulldogs swept three straight home series for the first time in school history when they swept Bowling Green. The team is 7-3 overall and will play at Miami this weekend. Tonight’s game will be shown on the NHL Network at 7:30.
  • The second-largest college in the nation is letting its students in for free because they struggle to fill the seats at its over-sized arena. Ohio State plays in the 17,500 seat Value City Arena. The attendance so far has been averaging 1,604 fans. For those keeping score at home, that’s 9.2 percent. When the NHL franchise in the same town is in competition for the hockey dollar a fringe hockey market, you play second fiddle. Maybe the Buckeyes should play the first month or so on the road, so they will get people to come when football season ends and the Blue Jackets are in last place.

 

Juniors:

  • This year’s World Junior Championships will be held in Saskatoon and Regina, Alberta beginning December 26. For our friends in Saskatchewan, you will be able to enjoya ticket to the United States-Switzerland game December 27 in Saskatoon with purchase of a pre-tournament exhibition game between Switzerland and Austria in Prince Albert, Saskatchewan December 21.
  • In an effort to get women to hockey games in Saginaw, Michigan, the OHL’s Saginaw Spirit is hosting a “Ice Hot Girls Night Out” tomorrow night vs London. The event will feature a fashion show, prize packs, and display tables from local salons and spas.
  • The PEI Rocket of the QMJHL has to postpone gamesthis weekend vs Baie-Comeau Drakkar and Shawinigan Cataractes because a number of players showed symptoms of the H1N1 virus. Hockey fans might have to get used to this as the season progresses. While players and teams are trying their best to sanitize and keep the players as healthy as possible, once a player or team staff contracts H1N1, it will be a matter of time before it spreads due to the close quarters hockey players are in.
  • The holiday season is around the corner. Several junior and minor league teams will hold various charity drives and fundraisers to support the local community. One of my favorites is the Teddy Bear Toss, where when the home teams scores its first goal, fans get to throw a stuffed animal on the ice. The toys are then collected and donated to charity,usually a childrens hospital. Where else can you throw something on the ice during a game and not get kicked out? No where! I’m personally making a note to attend the Plymouth Whalers’ Teddy Bear Toss game vs Sault Ste. Marie on December 5.

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