Showing posts with label college hockey. Show all posts
Showing posts with label college hockey. Show all posts

Wednesday, August 13, 2014

WCHA, Must-See Non-Conference Series

Part four of a six part series that were originally posted at the Hockey Writers.

Series one: North Dakota vs. Bemidji State University Date: October 10-11, 2014.
 Game one location: Ralph Engelstad Arena, Grand Forks, North Dakota.
Game two location: Sanford Center, Bemidji, Minnesota.

The Highway Two series, both teams are a short 2-hour bus trip away. Former WCHA foes BSU and UND will square off in a two-game home-and-home non-conference series. Last season, BSU lost and tied to UND (2-4 L, 1-1 T). One should expect a lot of UND fans to make the trip to the Sanford Center on Saturday night, due to the proximity of the schools.

All-time, Bemidji State is (2-26-2 .116) against North Dakota.

You can see all of the three by clicking on the links.

Big Ten Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

ECAC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

NCHC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series.

UND Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference.

Thursday, August 07, 2014

NCAA Hockey: Must-See games

ECAC Hockey

This summer,  I have been working on a series of must-see games. So far, I have the NCHC, UND and the ECAC done. As the different schedules come out, I will post some more of these.

Looking at the East Coast Athletic Conference schedule, I previewed five must-see non-conference games. In my opinion, these are some of the more “attractive” non-conference series on the ECAC schedule. Feel free to chime in with your favorite must-see ECAC non-conference series.

The ECAC once regarded as the EZAC by other conference fans, is now the home to the last two NCAA Champions. The ECAC is quickly becoming the country’s power conference for division I college hockey. (ECAC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series).

UND Hockey

As we make our way through a very slow off-season, you can start to see the light at the end of the tunnel. The college hockey season is just around the corner. There’s roughly 60 days until North Dakota kicks off the 2014-15 season with an exhibition game against Manitoba Bison.

Looking at the University of North Dakota’s 2014-15 schedule, here’s my five must-see hockey series. Feel free to chime in with your thoughts. (UND Hockey: Five Must-See Games).

NCHC Hockey

In my humble opinion, there are five must-see non-conference series on the NCHC composite schedule. Last season, the NCHC had a mediocre non-conference record. Moving forward, these non-conference games will be very important to the final Pairwise Rankings. Having a strong non-conference record means the NCHC will get more teams in the NCAA tourney. (NCHC Hockey: Five Must-See Non-Conference Series)

Tuesday, July 15, 2014

Drake Caggiula attending Sabres Development Camp



University of North Dakota forward Drake Caggiula is currently attending the Buffalo Sabres Development camp, he's a free agent. Here’s some of the other college hockey players that are attending the Sabres development camp.

BUFFALO SABRES 2014-15 DEVELOPMENT CAMP ROSTER (College Players)

FORWARD

Caggiula, Drake C/LW 5’9” 180 L Pickering, Ontario June 20, 1994 North Dakota
Compher, J.T. LW 5’10” 182 L Northbrook, Illinois Oct. 12, 1993 U. of Michigan (Big 10)
Fasching, Hudson RW 6’2” 213 R Burnsville, Minnesota July 28, 1995 U. of Minnesota (Big 10) 40
Malone, Sean C 5’11” 186 L Buffalo, New York April 30, 1995 Harvard (ECAC)
Samuels-Thomas, Jordan LW 6’3” 195 L Hartford, Connecticut May 28, 1990 Quinnipiac (ECAC)

DEFENSE

Florentino, Anthony D 6’1” 226 R Boston, Massachusetts Jan. 30, 1995 Providence (H-East)
McCabe, Jake D 6’1” 210 L Eau Claire, Wisconsin Oct. 12, 1993 U. of Wisconsin (Big 10) Buffalo (NHL)
Prochno, Andrew D 5’11” 185 L Edina, Minnesota Nov. 3, 1991 St. Cloud State (NCHC)

College Hockey in Arizona?



Here's an interesting story, it could be noting more than conjecture at this point. I suppose the NCHC would be a logical location for the Arizona State Sun Devils.
Justin Emerson, House of Sparky -- "He said ‘Mr. Anderson, if you provided varsity-level hockey at ASU ... you would be able to attract so many students from the East and from the North and even from Canada to want to come to Tempe, Arizona to play the sport at a high level,'" Anderson said. "He said ‘I guarantee you, there would be so many prospects for you.' And you know what, I believe that."

Arizona State hockey and coach Greg Powers have done a superb job bringing in high-level talent. Six players next year will be alumni of the United States Hockey League, one of the top junior hockey leagues in North America. That number is by far the highest in the ACHA.

Current USHL veterans include current NHL players like St. Louis forward Paul Stasny, Montreal forward Max Pacioretty, San Jose forward Joe Pavelski, and Olympic hero T.J. Oshie of St. Louis.

There are 11 members of next year's Sun Devil hockey team chose Arizona State over NCAA Division I schools, and one- defenseman Connor Schmidt- played NCAA last season.
I will believe it when I see it. Also, it’s not as easy to start a Division I Hockey team as the author suggests. That being said, it w would be a nice road trip for fans during the cold winter months. Allegiant Air flies from Grand Forks, ND to Phoenix.

Monday, July 14, 2014

Miami RedHawks: Riley Barber Returning, Lot of Unfinished Business



Miami RedHawk forward Riley Barber is returning to Miami for his Junior Season.
“There’s a lot of unfinished business that I have at Miami that I definitely want to take care of,” he said. “That’s the main thing that brought me back.” (CSNWashington)

Last season, there was a rumbling that a lot of the top players at Miami were going to sign with their professional teams, after the season was over. Then a funny thing happened. The RedHawks went on a run and almost qualified for the NCAA  tourney, but fell just one game short, losing in the NCHC Championship Game. Maybe that had a hand in their decisions?

Friday, July 11, 2014

Wisconsin Student Hockey tickets, a bargin


This picture came across my twitter feed today, and there should be no reason that the Kohl Center Student section isn't full when UND comes to town on November 7-8, 2014. I don't think that $100.00 for a student season ticket is that outrageous.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Perusing the NCHC Inaugural Season: Year in Review



Reading the NCHC Inaugural Season in review, something caught my eye. You can read the whole report here at this link. It will be interesting to see how this plays out going forward. In my opinion, I thought it was a pretty successful first season in the NCHC.
2. Exposure/Branding

a. Television – We want to augment the CBS Sports Network partnership with new distribution opportunities, particularly regionally and locally for our member schools.

Tuesday, April 15, 2014

2014 NCAA Early Departures

Jaycob Megna, defense, UNO, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Josh Manson,
defense, NE, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Ryan Faragher, goalie, SCSU, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Nic Kerdiles, forward, UW, sophomore, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Gustav Olofsson,
defense, C.C., freshman, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Kevin Czuczman,
defense, LSSU, junior, NY Islanders (NHL)
Caleb Herbert,
forward, UMD, junior, Washington Capitals (NHL)
Phil Di Giuseppe,
forward, UM, junior, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Alex Guptill,
forward, UM, junior, Dallas Stars (NHL)
Ryan Dzingel,
forward, OSU, junior, Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Bryce Van Brabant,
forward, QU, Junior, Calgary Flames (NHL)
Ryan Haggerty,
forward, RPI, Jr. NY Rangers (NHL)
Mike Zalewski,
forward, RPI, sophomore, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Matt Carey,
forward, SLU, freshman, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Trevor van Riemdsyk,
defense, UNH, junior, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Josh Archibald
forward, UNO, junior, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Christian Folin,
defense, UML, sophomore, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Connor Hellebuyck,
goalie, UML, sophomore, Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Scott Wilson,
forward, UML, junior, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Pheonix Copley,
goalie, MTU, sophomore, Washington capitals (NHL)
Jake McCabe,
defense, UW, junior, Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Jordan Oesterl,
defense, WMU, junior, Edmonton Oilers (NHL)
Ryan Carpenter,
forward, BGSU, junior, Worcester Sharks (AHL)
Brian Ferlin, forward, CU, junior, Boston Bruins (NHL)
Johnny Gaudreau, forward, B.C., junior, Calgary Flames (NHL)
 

Saturday, April 05, 2014

NCAA Hockey: Early Departures

Jaycob Megna, defense, UNO, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Josh Manson, defense, NE, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Ryan Faragher, goalie, SCSU, junior, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Nic Kerdiles, forward, UW, sophomore, Anaheim Ducks (NHL)
Gustav Olofsson, defense, C.C., freshman, Minnesota Wild (NHL)

Kevin Czuczman, defense, LSSU, junior, NY Islanders (NHL)
Caleb Herbert, forward, UMD, junior, Washington Capitals (NHL)
Phil Di Giuseppe, forward, UM, junior, Carolina Hurricanes (NHL)
Alex Guptill, forward, UM, junior, Dallas Stars (NHL)

Ryan Dzingel, forward, OSU, junior, Ottawa Senators (NHL)
Bryce Van Brabant, forward, QU, Junior, Calgary Flames (NHL)

Ryan Haggerty, forward, RPI, Jr. NY Rangers (NHL)
Mike Zalewski, forward, RPI, sophomore, Vancouver Canucks (NHL)
Matt Carey, forward, SLU, freshman, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)
Trevor van Riemdsyk, defense, UNH, junior, Chicago Blackhawks (NHL)

Josh Archibald, freshman, forward, UNO, junior, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL)
Christian Folin, defense, UML, sophomore, Minnesota Wild (NHL)
Connor Hellebuyck, goalie, UML, sophomore, Winnipeg Jets (NHL)
Scott Wilson, forward, UML, junior, Pittsburgh Penguins (NHL)
Pheonix Copley, goalie, MTU, sophomore, Washington capitals (NHL)

Jake McCabe, defense, UW, junior, Buffalo Sabres (NHL)
Jordan Oesterl, defense, WMU, junior, Edmonton Oilers (NHL)

Ryan Carpenter, forward, BGSU, junior, Worcester Sharks (AHL)

Breakdown of early Departures

UMD: 1
UW: 1
RPI: 2
UNO: 2
OSU: 1
UMICH: 2
BGSU: 1
NU: 1
WMU: 1
UNH: 1
C.C.: 1
SLU: 1
SCSU: 1
UML: 3
MTU: 1
QU: 1
LSSU:1

Saturday, March 29, 2014

Don Cherry uninformed when it comes to college hockey

This is a really good read. I know you're going to be shocked by this news. Apparently, xenophobe Don Cherry of the Coaches Corner stepped on it again this week blasting US division I college hockey. Cherry is not a  fan of an ex-college hockey player taking the ice over a player that played in the Canadian Hockey League. This article kind of piggy backs on this subject. See tweets below.
Stephen Whyno, The Canadian Press – "I think that if more Canadian families were exposed to what college can do -- as parents for your kid socially, athletically and academically ... I think more people would be doing it," said University of Denver coach Jim Montgomery, a Montreal native who went to Maine and ended up playing 122 NHL games.

One opportunity for exposure is the NCAA tournament, which begins Friday and includes 109 Canadian players. There are 35 players from Ontario, 35 from British Columbia, 18 from Alberta and seven each from Quebec, Manitoba and Saskatchewan.

Many of those players are trying to follow in the footsteps of several successful Canadian NHLers who went to college, including four members of the gold-medal-winning Sochi Olympic team: Jonathan Toews (North Dakota), Martin St. Louis (Vermont), Patrick Sharp (Vermont) and Chris Kunitz (Ferris State).

Among the 945 players to see NHL action this season, 100 were Canadians who played at a U.S. college.

Naturally, many went the more traditional road, through the QMJHL, OHL or WHL. But the NCAA is slowly becoming another acceptable way to get there.
Here's are the tweets in question from Don Cherry. I must say that Cherry is clueless when it comes to college hockey. Also, historically, the Toronto Marlies have had a fair number of college hockey players on their roster. Two years ago, when the Marlies made a run in the playoffs they had many ex-college hockey players, making a huge contribution for the Marlies on the ice. This season, if my math is correct, the Marlies have three players with college hockey experience.

Monday, March 17, 2014

College Hockey: Monday Pontifications (Links)

Well the NCHC is probably excited that at least one of their top seeds made the Frozen Face-off. UND is the highest seed to make it to the Target Center. We have the 1, 5, 6, 8 seeds advancing to the NCHC's Frozen Face-off.  C.C. UMD, UNO and SCSU will be staying home this season. No schools from Minnesota will be in the Frozen Face-off this season. I am not sure this is what the founding member schools of the NCHC envisioned when they formed the league.

According to Brad Schlossman, he thinks that UND might still need to win the Frozen Face-off to make the NCAA tourney. I guess we're  soon going to find out. UND just needs to keep winning or their season is going to be over anyways. The time for talking is over, it time for UND to make hay.  

 Jeff Cox from College Hockey SBN has UND going to Cincinnati. I think that many UND fans would take that bracket.

The Brackets are set for the Inaugural B1G tourney and the Big Ten (-4) Hockey Tourney starts on Thursday. Penn State will try to beat Michigan for a third time this season. But I don’t think that happens a third time, the Wolverines are going to be ready this time.

North Dakota Exhales after Pulling out game three against Colorado College...


Colorado College Defeats UND in O.T.

UND scores four unanswered goals, Takes game one...    

C.C.'s Season Ending Loss Much Like Others this Season...

Thursday, March 13, 2014

Weekend Match-Ups, 1st Round NCHC games (by Donn)

Here we are the regular season has come to an end in the inaugural NCHC season.  The race for the Penrose Cup is over with SCSU claiming the first ever NCHC regular season title.  Now we are at the first round of playoffs, so let’s get it started in here.


FINAL NCHC STANDINGS 2013-2014

Team………………………W-L-T-SW………Points
St. Cloud St……………….15-6-3-0…………...48
North Dakota……………..15-9-0-0…..…….….45
Nebraska-Omaha………..13-9-2-1…..………..42
Minnesota-Duluth………..11-11-2-2….….……37
Western Michigan………..11-11-2-2…….……37
Denver……………………..10-11-3-2……….…35
Colorado College……….. ..6-13-5-1…….….…24
Miami………………………..6-17-1-1….…….….20

NCHC 1st Round Playoff Series

#21 Western Michigan @ #18 Minnesota-Duluth
Last weekend the Broncos split with NoDak (2-0L, 2-1W) in Grand Forks and the Bulldogs split with UNO (8-2W, 4-1L) in Duluth.

Season series – UMD wins 3-1-0 – split in Duluth swept in Kalamazoo

Well with the teams tying in the standing, with identical records too, it make sense to predict a three game series.  These teams are evenly matched on paper, and similar on the ice. I’m giving my nod to the home team.  BULLDOGS IN 3


#27 Denver @ #26 Nebraska-Omaha (Thurs/Fri/Sun)
Last weekend the Pioneers split with the RedHawks (5-2W, 2-1L) in Denver and the Mavericks split with the Bulldogs (8-2L, 4-1W) in Duluth.

Season series – UNO wins 3-1-0 – swept in Denver and split in Omaha

This is short week for both teams with the series starting on Thursday.  DU was one win away from hosting a first round game, but could pull it off on Saturday night.  Can the Pioneers put last weekend behind them and focus on the Mavericks?  The Pioneers are 6-6-5 on the road, doesn’t get much more even than that, the Mavericks are 9-9-0 at home and 7-7-2 on the road… someone is going to end up with a losing there five hundred record.  MAVERICKS IN 3


#40 Miami @ #5 SCSU
Last weekend the RedHawks split with the Pioneers (5-2L, 2-1W) in Denver and the Huskies split swept CC (7-4, 4-1) in Colorado Springs.

Season series – tied 2-2-0 – splits in both Oxford and St. Cloud  

The RedHawks started the season the number one team in land, now they are 40th in the pairwise rankings, and the Huskies are 5th in the PWR.  The Huskies have only 8 loses all season, 6 in the NCHC and 2 are to Miami.  I think the Huskies will be ready when MU comes calling this weekend, but it wouldn’t surprise me if MU forced a three game series.  HUSKIES IN 2


#51 Colorado College @ #10 North Dakota
Last weekend NoDak split with the Broncos (2-0W, 2-1L) in Grand Forks and the Tigers were swept by SCSU (7-4, 4-1) in Colorado Springs.

Season series – UND wins 2-0-0 – UND swept in Grand Forks

The Tigers have been abysmal on the road this season, going 1-13-2 away from Colorado Springs.  CC is currently on a four game skid, after winning the previous three, they have given up 19 goals in those last four loses.  Look for UND to bring the pressure and score early and often, to keep the Tigers in their cage, so to speak.  NODAK IN 2
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Tuesday, March 11, 2014

Miami vs. SCSU; so you say there's a chance? Not hardly...

Immediately after SCSU won the Penrose Trophy, my twitter feed had a few tweets from fellow UND fans saying SCSU is going to get beat by Miami.

Personally, I don’t see it happening. There’s a reason they only won 12 games this season, they're not very good. No offense to Miami, this season has been a train wreck. Breaking it down even further, I don't see the RedHawks beating SCSU again this season. Miami is 3-12-1 since January 10, 2014.
Mick Hatten, Saint Cloud Times -- On Feb. 21-22, the RedHawks beat the Huskies 4-3 in the first game before St. Cloud State earned the split with a 3-0 win in Ohio.

“They’re a really good team, well-coached,” Huskies co-captain Nic Dowd said. “They beat us two games (this season) and they know what they have to do to get back to where they want to be.”

(snip)

In the four games against St. Cloud State, sophomore Sean Kuraly and junior Austin Czarnik had one goal and two assists apiece, Riley Barber had a goal and an assist and junior Blake Coleman had two goals for the RedHawks.)

Sophomore goalies Ryan McKay and Jay Williams split the four games against St. Cloud State. McKay earned the split at the Brooks Center, stopping 64 of 66 shots (.969 save percentage) and had a shutout in the series. McKay played both games over the weekend at Denver. Williams earned the split in Ohio, stopping 50 of 56 shots (.893).

For St. Cloud State, David Morley had two goals, Jimmy Murray had a goal and two assists and Jonny Brodzinski had a goal and three assists against the RedHawks.
Since returning from injury on February 21, 2014, Miami junior forward Blake Coleman is smoking hot. In the last six games, Blake Coleman has scored (8g-0a—8tps). Last weekend, the Plano, Texas product scored (4g-0a-4—pts) against the Denver Pioneers. Coleman scored both of Miami’s goals as the RedHawks beat the University of Denver 2-1.