Revised and Updated College Hockey Television Schedule

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine. 

Previously, I posted a national television schedule for NCAA Division I college hockey.  As with most sports, television schedules are fluid and change a lot, so I added a few dates to the television schedule that I posted back in October.

According to recent information that was announced last weekend during the nonconference series between BU and UND; NESN out of Boston, Massachusetts is picking up game two  of the UND and SCSU series in Saint Cloud, Minnesota. That is good news for college hockey and NHL fans that are looking for something to fill the void left by the NHL Lockout.  Also, Boston College travels across town to play their heated rival the Boston University Terriers on Sunday November 11th, 2012 at 5:00 p.m. central on NESN.

Apparently NESN is picking up Saturday's UND vs. SCSU game next weekend (available on DirecTV and Dish).
— Schlossman (@SchlossmanGF) November 2, 2012

If you have been scanning twitter and the various NHL webpages on the Internet you will realize that the NHL owners and NHL Players Association are still really no closer to signing a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. Sure they’re going to meet tomorrow (6th of November, 2012) but will they actually get to work and try to save the 2012-13 season?

Fri. Nov. 9 Boston University at Merrimack FOX College 7:30 p.m. TBD
Sat. Nov. 10 North Dakota at Saint Cloud State NESN 7:00 p.m. 628/434
Sun Nov 11 Boston College at Boston University NESN 5:00 p.m. 628/434
Thu. Nov. 15 Notre Dame at Michigan CBS Sports Net. 7:30 p.m. 613 / 158 (C)
Fri. Nov. 15 UMD at UND FCS/Midco 7:37pm TBD
 Fri Nov. 16 UMD at UND FCS/Midco 7:07pm TBD

Updated College Hockey Television Schedule

CBS Sports I.D. From 1990 (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

Orginally posted at the Hockey Writers - Combine

One of the themes I have been hitting on this fall is – College Hockey can fill the void left by the NHL Lockout – there is a very good chance that there will not be any NHL Hockey this season.

From every thing that I have read - it doesn't appear that the two sides aren't very close to solving their differences nor do they seem to be in any hurry to settle the labor dispute.

Keep hope alive - the two sides are meeting but that's about it.

From the average fans perspective, it doesn't appear that the two sides are making very much progress. 

According to TSN's Bob McKenzie, the NHL is close to announcing that they're going to cancel some regular season games on the schedule - that announcement could come in the very  near future.

I have posted television schedules for college hockey in couple of previous posts and today I got my hands on the updated national television college hockey schedule. If my math is correct, there are going to be over 125 college hockey games to choose from this season.

Starting this Saturday, you will be able to watch a Division I college hockey exhibition game between the University of North Dakota and University of Manitoba Bison on Fox College Sports.

You can check your local listing but FCS is on the following DirecTV channels 617, 623, 626. As of right now, Dish Network does not include Fox College Sports. Games with a (C) are also available in Canada.

Day	Date	Game	Network	Time (ET)	DirecTV/Dish
Sat.	Oct. 6	Manitoba at North Dakota (Ex.)	FOX College	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Oct. 12	Ice Breaker: Notre Dame vs. Maine	NBC Sports Net.	7 pm	603 / 159
Fri.	Oct. 12	Michigan State at Minnesota	FS North	7 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Oct. 12	U.S. NTDP at North Dakota (Ex.)	FOX College	8:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Oct. 12	Ice Breaker: Army vs. Neb.-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	TBD	603 / 159
Sat.	Oct. 13	Ice Breaker Championship	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 pm	603 / 159
Sat.	Oct. 13	Michigan State at Minnesota	FS North +	9 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Oct. 19	Minnesota at Michigan Tech	FS North	7 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Oct. 20	Minnesota at Michigan Tech	FS North +	7 p.m.	TBD
Sun.	Oct. 28	Canisius at Minnesota	FS North	2 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Nov. 2	Minnesota State at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Nov. 3	Minnesota at Minnesota State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 9	Boston University at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Thu.	Nov. 15	Notre Dame at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 16	Harvard at Cornell	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 pm	603 / 159
Fri.	Nov. 16	Wisconsin at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 16	Denver at Colorado College	Altitude	9:30 p.m.	681 / 410
Sat.	Nov. 17	Colorado College at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Nov. 17	Wisconsin at Minnesota	BTN	9 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 23	Minnesota at Vermont	FS North +	7 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Nov. 23	Colgate at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Nov. 24	Minnesota at Vermont	FS North	7 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Nov. 30	Boston College at Boston University	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 pm	603 / 159
Fri.	Nov. 30	Ohio State at Michigan State	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 30	Vermont at Maine	CBS Sports Net.	8 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Nov. 30	Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 1	Boston University at Boston College	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Dec. 1	Nebraska-Omaha at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 7	Michigan State at Notre Dame	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Dec. 7	Harvard at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 7	Minnesota at Colorado College	FS North +	9:30 p.m.	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 8	Maine at Boston University	CBS Sports Net.	8 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Dec. 8	Minnesota at Colorado College	FS North +	9 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Dec. 14	Miami at Ohio State	BTN	7 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Dec. 14	Western Michigan at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Thu.	Dec. 27	Michigan State vs. Western Michigan	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Thu.	Dec. 27	Michigan vs. Michigan Tech	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28	GLI Third-Place Game	FS Detroit	3:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Dec. 28	GLI Championship Game	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Dec. 29	Air Force at Minnesota	FS North +	TBD	TBD
Sat.	Dec. 29	Boston University at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Dec. 30	Boston College at Minnesota	FS North +	TBD	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 4	Colorado College at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 4	Robert Morris at Army	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 4	Cornell at Denver	ROOT Sports	9:30 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Jan. 5	Merrimack at Vermont	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Tue.	Jan. 8	Bowling Green at Michigan	BTN	7:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Tue.	Jan. 8	Notre Dame at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Jan. 11	New Hampshire at Boston College	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 11	Union at Princeton	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 11	Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota	BTN	9 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 11	Nebraska-Omaha at Denver	NBC Sports Net.	10 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Jan. 12	Army at Air Force	CBS Sports Net.	6 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 12	Alaska at Michigan	FS Detroit +	7:30 p.m.	664 / TBD
Sat.	Jan. 12	Alaska Anchorage at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 12	Nebraska-Omaha at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Fri.	Jan. 18	Northeastern at Boston University	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 18	Harvard at Yale	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 18	Ferris State at Michigan State	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Jan. 18	North Dakota at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 19	North Dakota at Minnesota	FS North	6 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Jan. 19	Alaska at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net	7 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 25	Maine at Boston College	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Jan. 25	Yale at Cornell	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Jan. 25	Ferris State at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Jan. 25	Minnesota State at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 26	Penn State at Michigan State	BTN	6 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Jan. 26	Providence at Boston University	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Jan. 26	Michigan at Western Michigan	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Jan. 26	Minnesota at Minnesota State	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Fri.	Feb. 1	Michigan State at Michigan	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 1	UMass Lowell at Merrimack	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 1	Dartmouth at Union	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Feb. 2	Michigan vs. Michigan State (JLA)	FS Detroit	4 p.m.	663 / 430
Fri.	Feb. 8	North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 8	Michigan at Notre Dame	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 8	Minnesota at St. Cloud State	FS North +	8:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 8	Colorado College at Denver	ROOT Sports	9:30 p.m.	683 / 414
Sat.	Feb. 9	Massachusetts at Merrimack	NESN	3:30 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 9	Minnesota at St. Cloud State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Sun.	Feb. 10	Providence at New Hampshire	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15	Northern Michigan at Michigan State	BTN	6:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15	Boston University at Maine	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 15	Notre Dame at Miami	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 15	Minnesota at Wisconsin	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Feb. 16	Bowling Green at Ferris State	FS Detroit	5 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Feb. 16	Boston University at Maine	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Feb. 16	Northern Michigan at Michigan State	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sun.	Feb. 17	Minnesota vs. Wisconsin (Soldier Field)	BTN	4:30 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sun.	Feb. 17	Notre Dame vs. Miami (Soldier Field)	FS Detroit	TBD	663 / 430
Fri.	Feb. 22	New Hampshire at Vermont	NESN	7 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Feb. 22	Yale at Quinnipiac	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Feb. 22	Notre Dame at Western Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Feb. 22	Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Feb. 22	North Dakota at Denver	NBC Sports Net.	10 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Feb. 23	New Hampshire at Vermont	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23	Minnesota Duluth at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Feb. 23	North Dakota at Denver	ROOT Sports	9 p.m.	683 / 414
Sun.	Feb. 24	Boston College at Merrimack	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 1	Wisconsin at Nebraska-Omaha	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 1	Ferris State at Michigan	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 1	Denver at Minnesota	BTN	8 p.m.	610 / 439 (C)
Sat.	Mar. 2	Hockey East Game TBD	NESN	4 p.m.	628 / 434
Sat.	Mar. 2	Ferris State at Michigan	FS Detroit	7:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 2	Denver at Minnesota	FS North	8 p.m.	668 / 436
Sun.	Mar. 3	UMass Lowell at Merrimack	CBS Sports Net.	4 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 8	Maine at New Hampshire	NBC Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 8	Boston University at Northeastern	CBS Sports Net.	7:30 p.m.	613 / 158 (C)
Fri.	Mar. 8	Massachusetts at Merrimack	FOX College	7:30 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Mar. 8	Minnesota at Bemidji State	FS North	8:30 p.m.	668 / 436
Sat.	Mar. 9	Minnesota at Bemidji State	FS North +	8 p.m.	TBD
Fri.	Mar. 15	Hockey East Quarterfinal	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 15	CCHA Second Round	FS Detroit	7 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 16	Hockey East Quarterfinal	NESN	4 p.m.	628 / 434
Sun.	Mar. 17	Hockey East Quarterfinal	NESN	4:30 p.m.	628 / 434
Fri.	Mar. 22	Hockey East Semifinal	NBC Sports Net.	4 p.m.	603 / 159
Fri.	Mar. 22	Hockey East Semifinal	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	603 / 159
Sat.	Mar. 23	CCHA Semifinal	FS Detroit	1 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 23	CCHA Semifinal	FS Detroit	4:30 p.m.	663 / 430
Sat.	Mar. 23	Hockey East Championship	NBC Sports Net.	7 p.m.	603 / 159
Sun.	Mar. 24	CCHA Championship	FS Detroit	2 p.m.	663 / 430
Sun.	Mar. 24	NCAA Selection Show	ESPNU	9 p.m.	208 / 141
		NCAA Regional Coverage	ESPNU	TBD	208 / 141
Thu.	Apr. 11	NCAA Semifinal	TBD	4:30 p.m.
Thu.	Apr. 11	NCAA Semifinal	TBD	8 p.m.
Sat.	Apr. 13	NCAA Championship	TBD	7 p.m.

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UND 4th in first USCHO Poll

The first USCHO Poll is out and the Boston College Eagles are the number one pick. I know that some Gopher fans will be upset with the slight but according to Todd Milewski of USCHO, only one team since the 1997-98 season – the Minnesota Golden Gophers in 2002-03 – has went on to win an NCAA title. So being the number one team in the first USCHO poll of the preseason really doesn't matter all that much.

The 32 game National College Hockey Schedule - CBS sport announced 18 game schedule

CBS Sports Network (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

As the Lockout enters the tenth day with no end in sight – hockey fans have been given even more options to fill the void left by theNHL lockout.

Earlier, I posted a 24 game college hockey schedule for NBC Sports Network. Today, CBS Sports Network announced their 18 game schedule and starting on Thursday November 15, 2012 with a game between Notre Dame and Michigan in Ann Arbor Michigan.

I took the liberty of combining the two schedules and now between the CBS Sports Network and NBC Sports Network schedules hockey fans have 32 game national college hockey schedule that hockey fans can choose from. You can check your local cable companies listings for what channel these sports networks are on. For those fans that have DirecTV, NBCSN is on channel 603 and CBSSN is on channel 613.

Ice Breaker Tourney

Fri. Oct. 12 Notre Dame vs. Maine (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Fri. Oct. 12 Army vs. Nebraska (TBD.) – NBCSN

Sat. Oct. 13 Final (Teams TBD) (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 15 Notre Dame at Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Nov. 16 Harvard at Cornell (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 30 Boston College at Boston University (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Nov. 30 Vermont at Maine (8:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Nov. 30 Wisconsin at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 1 Boston University at Boston College (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 7 Michigan State at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Dec. 8 Maine at Boston University (8:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Dec. 14 Western Michigan at Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 4 Colorado College at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 4: Robert Morris at Army (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 5 Merrimack at Vermont (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 11 Union at Princeton (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 11 Nebraska-Omaha at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 12 Army at Air Force (6:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 18 Harvard at Yale (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Jan. 19: Alaska at Notre Dame (7:00 p.m. ET)  – CBSSN

Jan. 25 Ferris State at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Jan. 25 Yale at Cornell (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 1 Dartmouth at Union (7:30 p.m.ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 8   North Dakota at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 8 Michigan at Notre Dame (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 10 Providence at New Hampshire (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 15 Notre Dame at Miami (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 15 Boston University at Maine (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 Yale at Quinnipiac (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 North Dakota at Denver (10:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Feb. 22 Notre Dame at Western Michigan (7:30 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 23 New Hampshire at Vermont (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Feb. 24 Boston College at Merrimack (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

March 1 Wisconsin at Nebraska-Omaha (7:30 p.m.ET) – NBCSN

Mar. 1 Ferris State at Michigan (7:00 p.m. ET) – CBSSN

Mar. 3 UMass-Lowell at Merrimack (4:00 p.m. ET) – CBSS

March 8 Maine at New Hampshire (7:30 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Hockey East Tournament

March 15 Quarterfinals (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

March 22 Semifinals (4:00 p.m. ET) and (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

March 23 Final (7:00 p.m. ET) – NBCSN

Originally posted at The Hockey Writers - Combine  

Related articles

• CBS Sports Network 2012-13 college hockey schedule (timesunion.com)

UND 4th in USA Today poll.

USA TODAY PRESEASON POLL              Final record 2011-12                                             

1 Boston College, 476 (20)                    1                 33-10-1
1 Minnesota, 476 (12)                             4                  28-14-1
3 Michigan, 408 (2)                                  7                  24-13-4
4 University of North Dakota, 407         6                  26-13-3
5 Union College, 295                              3                  26-8-7
6 Cornell, 233                                         13                  19-9-7
7 UMass-Lowell, 221                               9                 24-13-1 1
8 University of Denver, 220                      8                 25-14-4 1
9 Miami University, 203                          10                 24-15-2 1
10 University of Notre Dame, 186       NR                19-18-3 1
11 Western Michigan University, 182   14                21-14-6 1
12 Minnesota Duluth, 176                        5                25-10-6 1
13 Boston University, 158                       11                23-15-1 1
14 Ferris State, 123                                   2                 26-12-5 1
15 Wisconsin, 99                                    NR                17-18-2 1

I got a chuckle out of Roman Augustoviz blog post today – apparently Chris Dilks struck a nerve with Roman and he took issue with what Chris said on his blog Western College Hockey.

I actually agree with both men – I agree that preseason polls are meaningless – hockey is settled on the ice and not on paper. The reason I say that is, rewind to last season when UND was ranked very high to start the season last year and UND was a very young team that struggled at first to find their identity and didn’t really play up to their rankings until probably about the middle half of the season and then they actually ascended back to the top half of the rankings at the end of the season.

Based on who Minnesota brings back – the Gophers “should” be pretty good. There is one major unknown facing the Gophers this season – the Gophers have no experience at the goalie position to start the season – that in my opinion is a major factor and that could play out many ways for the Gophers. That being said, their team is pretty decent and has some depth through the forward lines “if” they stay healthy and don't have any more of their players suffer season ending injuries.

Chris Dilks, who writes for the Western College Hockey Blog, is skeptical about the Gophers' high ratings: "I guess unlike me, pollsters didn't have to search through last year's Frozen Four photos for a good Minnesota pic, only to be reminded of how just badly BC obliterated them."

That was then, this is now, Mr. Dilks. I didn't have a vote in the USA Today poll but, if I had, the Gophers would have gotten my vote for No. 1. Who has more returning talent than the Gophers, sir?

The only question mark with the 'U' is in goal. Otherwise, their defense is ridiculously deep, with two talented freshmen joining the mix, and coach Don Lucia should be able to put together two high-scoring lines.

Boston College will play the Gophers in one of the first-day games of the Mariucci Classic which is held during the holidays.

I also think that there are a few teams in this poll that won’t be there at the end of the season. If history repeats it’s self-there will be a couple of team in the season opening poll that will under achieve or not meet expectations and will end up having a season to forget. There will also be teams that no one expected to do well this season that will end up surprising the college hockey world. That's why they play the games.

Is the NCHC lacking name-recognition?

Chris Peters of the United States of Hockey has this little blurb on his blog today – it’s worth a look. I sure there will be NCHC fans will take issue with some of the things that he said. Or not!

In all honesty, the league didn’t have to do terribly much to seemingly come out ahead on realignment. By just letting things play out and adding Notre Dame, largely due to the league thanks to the National Collegiate Hockey Conference’s (seriously, that’s as hard to type as it is to say) lack of foresight and possibly arrogance, Hockey East took another significant step forward by attracting UConn.

Meanwhile the NCHC has very little name-recognition, and therefore a second-rate TV deal, a second-rate tournament venue, but a high level of on-ice competition. From a hockey standpoint, it’s a fantastic league, but that’s where it ends. That might be enough for you as a fan, but it’s not enough to lead me or anyone else to believe it’s going to be a great business long term.

The Big Ten Hockey Conference will have good exposure on the Big Ten Network, but it’s still merely a six-team league. Until a few more Big Ten schools step up for hockey, and there’s nothing to indicate that will happen anytime soon, the conference’s size doesn’t make for a lot of variety and excitement, though the rivalries should remain intense. Still, the exposure and brand recognition resonates with the casual fan.

First off, is Chris Right? For disclosure – Chris was not a big fan of the re-alignment that took place last summer, he isn’t alone there are a lot of people that weren’t fans of last summer's re-alignment plan as well. It's not like we had a choice in the matter, said schools pursued this venture without any input from the fans.

That being said, do you agree with what he said? Right now, I am more concerned with what NCHC fans think than the B1G fans. It's obvious that the B1G has name-recognition.

Does the new NCHC has very little name-recognition? In my opinion; no! I am also not so sure how you can say that there is little name recognition with the teams that make up the NCHC. Teams like UND, DU, C.C. UMD have all won NCAA titles and have storied histories.

Add to the mix up and coming teams like Miami University and Western Michigan from the soon to be defunct CCHA and UNO and SCSU and you have the making of a very well balanced hockey league. The NCHC brings to the table 16 NCAA titles, only the B1G will have more NCAA titles (20), so were not talking about a second rate bunch of pathetic cupcakes here. We already know the title counts of all three leagues involved.

Let's take a look at the financials. Historically, the NCHC teams have been successful on the ice as well as financially; if you look you will see that five of the future NCHC teams make about 3.2 million off of their Division I hockey programs as opposed to the reconfigured Hockey East which loses about $395,000 a year of their hockey programs. Only Denver and Western Michigan have lost money with their hockey programs.

I am not here to disrespect Hockey East or (Chris for that matter) because Hockey East is a very good hockey league and has piled up an impressive four NCAA titles during the 2000’s, however, it’s only been two teams that have won the NCAA titles during that time period ( BU and B.C.) – besides the three power schools currently in the Hockey East no other really stands out in that conference, except maybe the University of New Hampshire.

If anything I think that the two leagues are on equal footing as far as name recognition goes in college hockey.

I think historically speaking people are just as familiar with BU and B.C. as they are with DU, UND when it comes to college hockey.

Adding Notre Dame to the Hockey East was a good move but what exactly have they accomplished during their hockey existence? Yep! You will be able to watch your team play Notre Dame when they play their Hockey East foes, but the rest of the league is not going to benefit financially from that television deal.

Breaking it down further – outside of the power schools Boston College, Boston University, Maine and UNH who else in the current Hockey East stands out and packs fans in the stands? Maybe Notre Dame when they get to Hockey East in 2013-14.

Are University of Connecticut hockey fans going to suddenly realize that they have a college hockey team and fill the XL center when it’s 30 miles from their campus? This isn’t the UCONN Men’s or Women’s Basketball teams.

This is a very different animal, the UCONN Huskies hockey team with very little history that is currently a member of the AHA conference, that’s not to say that they can’t evolve into a power house hockey team. Let’s call UCONN a work in progress.

Here is the part that I do agree with Chris with. If the Target Center which is exclusively a Basketball venue doesn’t improve after the 100-150 million dollars improvements Target Center is going to be a second rate tournament venue. That’s really not debatable; the Target Center has its work cut out for it.

The central location of the Target Center does make it an attractive venue and the majority of the fans that have the most rabid fan bases are all driving distance away.

Finally, I am not so sure we can call the deal with CBS Sports a second-rate TV deal, before we even see how it turns out.

Besides the Notre Dame TV deal with NBC Sports Net, how is the rest of Hockey East doing when it comes to games being televised? I have watched a few of the games on NESN via my DirecTV Satellite Dish but I don’t see a lot of UMASS Lowell or Amherst games on the dish.

There are a lot of unknowns going forward – no one knows how this deal is going to shake out – I would say at least give the NCHC a chance before we bury them and kick dirt on a conference that hasn’t even played a collegiate hockey game as of yet.

I also think that it’s too early to declare winners and losers – with college athletics none of this stuff stays static – things change constantly. Who knows, maybe there are more moves in the re-alignment phase before the 2013-14 season kicks off.

Lastly, I know there are a lot of unhappy people with the NCHC Television deal, I gathered this by reading the reactions of the fans over on Brad Schlossman’s blog. Due to the size of UND’s fan base there are a lot of fans that live outside of the Midco.net foot print and watch UND hockey on DirecTV or FTA Satellite dishes. After the upcoming season, many of them are worried that they will no longer be able to watch all of UND’s home games. I too wonder if I need to re-subscribe to Midco.net myself?

In conclusion, there is also no reason to panic just yet because there is a whole year left to work out the details. As we get closer to the kickoff of the NCHC more details will emerge and we will get a better idea what is going to transpire. I also don't think that the NCHC will lack name-recognition.

Comparing Brock Nelson and Chris Kreider's deals

Chris Kreider's Cap Geek page  

 I was perusing the Cap Geek numbers for former Fighting Sioux forward Brock Nelson and for former Boston College Eagles Chris Kreider and I was a bit shocked at the difference in numbers. It will be interesting to see how these two players’ careers play out.

 Brock Nelson's Cap Geek Page 

 

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A week after the onslaught

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After taking some time to let last weekend’s Frozen Four sink in; the first comment I want to make is that there is no shame in the Gophers or the Ferris State Bulldogs losing to the Boston College Eagles. The 2011-12 version of the Boston College Eagles is one of the best NCAA championship teams that I have seen for a very long time.

I was eviscerated by Gopher fans for my prediction that the Boston College Eagles would beat the Golden Gophers 5-1, I know I was off; the final score ended up being 6-1; silly me. 

Losing to the Boston College Eagles should never be looked at as a "chock job" either, I think we can put that to bed right now.

Let’s also not forget that Jerry York “will” be in the U.S. Hockey Hall of fame when he is done coaching, I would bet my next pay check on that.

Let’s break York’s impressive record down further.

Currently, coach York is the winingest active division I college hockey coach and he has been coaching for 40 seasons and started coaching during the 1972-73 season with the Clarkson Knights.

Coach York with 913 career wins and has a coaching record of 913-557-94 and an impressive record of 446-222-60 at Boston College.

York’s has led Boston College to ten Frozen Fours while he was the coach of the Eagles – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. York’s Eagles have four Frozen Fours at Boston College since the 2000-01 season.

Overall, York’s teams have also won an impressive 5 NCAA championships.

As a fan of team that has been beaten by the Eagles, let me just say I seen this act before and I really didn’t enjoy it very much. I am sure the Ferris State and Minnesota fans felt the same way a week later.

Let me just say that, the Boston College Eagles are a very good hockey team that plays well in all three zones on the ice and we need to give credit where credit. There is no shame losing to the Eagles.

This season’s version of the Boston College Eagles won an unprecedented 19 games in a row and during that winning streak the Eagles didn’t give up more than three goals in any game. That’s impressive in any hockey league.

The last game the Eagles lost was when they were swept by the Maine Black Bears back on January 27-28 when the Eagles lost both games of a weekend series in Orono, Maine (3-4 L, 4-7 L).  Since the late January display of mediocrity the Eagles were flawless.

After being swept by the Black Bears, the Eagles record stood at 14-10-1 and looked like they were an average bubble team and they were in the Pairwise Rankings. We all know how that turned out. 

My question is, will team’s finally change the way they recruit (fast forwards, some of them under sized and a very mobile defense corps, that play both ends of the ice well) based on the way the Eagles have steamrolled the opposition when they get to the Frozen Four?

Just for the record, Boston College only had 9 NHL draft choices on their team as opposed to the Minnesota Gophers who had 17.

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2011-12 AHCA/CCM Hockey Men’s Division 1

Here are the 2011-12 East and West All Americans teams.

All-American Teams

All-American West First Team

Goalie: Taylor Nelson, Sr., Ferris State University (Regina, SK)

Defense: Torey Krug, Jr., Michigan State University (Livonia, MI)

Defense: Justin Schultz, Jr., University of Wisconsin* (West Kelowna, BC)

Forward: Jack Connolly, Sr., University of Minnesota Duluth*# (Duluth, MN)

Forward: Jaden Schwartz, So., Colorado College (Wilcox, SK)

Forward: Reilly Smith, Jr., Miami University (Mimico, ON)

All-American East First Team

Goalie: Troy Grosenick, So., Union College (Brookfield, WI)

Defense: Danny Biega, Jr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC)

Defense: Brian Dumoulin, Jr., Boston College* (Biddeford, ME)

Forward: Spencer Abbott, Sr., University of Maine (Hamilton, ON)

Forward: Alex Killorn, Sr., Harvard University (Montreal, QC)

Forward: Austin Smith, Sr., Colgate University (Dallas, TX)

All-American West Second Team

Goalie: Kent Patterson, Sr., University of Minnesota (Plymouth, MN)

Defense: Chad Billins, Sr., Ferris State University (Marysville, MI)

Defense: Dan DeKeyser, So., Western Michigan University (Clay Township, MI)

Forward: Nick Bjugstad, So., University of Minnesota (Blaine, MN)

Forward: J.T. Brown, So., University of Minnesota Duluth (Burnsville, MN)

Forward: Jason Zucker, So., University of Denver (Las Vegas, NV)

All-American East Second Team

Goalie: Joe Cannata, Sr., Merrimack College (Wakefield, MA)

Defense: Mat Bodie, So., Union College (East St. Paul, MB)

Defense: Tim Kirby, Sr., U.S. Air Force Academy (Austin, MN)

Forward: Barry Almeida, Sr., Boston College (Springfield, MA)

Forward: Brian O’Neill, Sr., Yale University (Yardley, PA)

Forward: Jeremy Welsh, Jr., Union College (Bayfield, ON)

* First Team in 2010-11; # Second Team in 2009-10

University of Denver defenseman Joey LaLeggia was named the sixth annual HCA National Division I Rookie of the Year award.

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Goon's Frozen Four review

Much like Sioux7 my brackets for the NCAA Hockey Tourney were totally busted as I got only one out of four brackets right, usually I am able to pick two of the four correctly.

Just for the record, my Frozen Four brackets included Michigan, Miami, Boston College and North Dakota.

I confess as a college hockey fan I am not all that excited with this season’s Frozen Four field, to be honest with you it bores me. This Frozen Four could end up being as bad as the 2010 Frozen Four that was at Four Field where Boston College ran through the field like a hot knife through butter. I could see the same thing happening again this season.

Unfortunately, the two best teams are in the same bracket and the attractive match-up is Minnesota and Boston College; other than that, nothing really jumps out at me in this season’s Frozen Four. In one bracket we have what I would consider a snooze feast between Union College and Ferris State, and there are others that agree with me.

 

Game time for the first game between Union College (26-7-7) and Ferris State (25-11-5) is 3:30 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday.  The game is on ESPNU (DirecTV208 and Dish Network148) 

My prediction is that the Ferris State University Bulldogs, who are lead by head hockey coach Bob Daniels, who incidentally was awarded the 2012 Spencer Penrose Award, will end Union’s magical season in a boring non-eventful game if you’re still awake by the end of the game you will see Ferris State win in a trap feast 2-1 game.

Both teams Union and Ferris State have never been in the Frozen Four so one of these two teams is going to make the championship game of the Frozen Four for the first time in their team’s history. 

Fun and interesting facts about Ferris State and Union: The Bulldogs and Dutchman's rosters contain  NO NHL Draft picks, there is not a single one on either team, that is almost unheard of in today’s college hockey world. Just for the record, Union college has , Boston College has 9 and Minnesota has 17 NHL draft Choices.  

In the evening title it’s the Boston College Eagles (31-10-1) vs. the Minnesota Golden Gophers (28-13-1) at 7:00 p.m. Central Standard Time Thursday. The game is on ESPN2 ( DirecTV and 209 Dish Network 144)

This season’s Frozen Four prohibitive favorite, Boston College is a team that has three solid forward lines that could be most teams first line on any team. The Gophers are also loaded through the forward lines as well. Here are the lines that both teams used in their last games.

Boston College Forward Lines 

Barry Almeida (22g-16—38pts) – Bill Arnold (17g-17a—34pts) – Steven Whitney (13g-22a—35pts)

Chris Kreider (22g-21a—41pts) – Kevin Hayes 6g-20a—26tps) – Destry Straight (3g-6a—9pts)

Johnn Gaudreau (20g-21a—41pts) – Pat Mullane (10g-26a—36pts) – Paul Carey (15g-12a—27pts) 

Minnesota Gophers Forward Lines

Kyle Rau (18g-25a—43pts) – Nick Bjugstad 25g-17a—42pts) – Zach Budish  (12g-23a—35)

Sam Warning (6g-9a—15pts) – Erik Haula (20g-28a—48pts) – Jake Hansen (15g-22a—37pts) 

Nate Condon (11g-19a—30tps) – Travis Boyd (1g-8-a—9pts) – Taylor Matson (8g-15a—23pts) 

Goalies

Boston College goalie Parker Milner, 27-5-0, 1.70 goals against average and a .935 save percentage. It would be an understatement to say that Milner has been on fire as of late, during the Eagles' current 17-game winning streak, Milner has been flawless and sports a 17-0-0 record and an impressive 1.11 goals-against average with a mind popping .960 save percentage.

Minnesota goalie Kent Patterson, 28-13-1, 2.23 goals against average and a .911 save percentage. I have seen Gopher fans make the argument that Patterson has been the has been the MVP for the Golden Gophers.

As Sioux7 laid out in his blog post, both teams are similar statistically and I do expect that special teams will have a major factor in this game’s outcome.

Minnesota ranks
1st in team offense with a 3.67 avg/gm
8th in team defense with a 2.21 avg/gam
5th on the Power Play at 23.24% (43/185)
36th on the Penalty Kill at 81.0% (149/184)

Boston College ranks
6th in team offense with a 3.50 avg/gm
2nd in team defense with a 2.07 avg/gam
11th on the Power Play at 21.55% (39/181)
3rd on the Penalty Kill at 88.0% (162/184)

That being said, I am going to stick with my earlier prediction that made a week ago, I do expect to eat a little crow if my prediction is wrong.  That being said, I have seen a lot of good teams get absolutely steam rolled by the Boston College Eagles during the NCAA tourney.

 I also predict that the Boston College Eagles will win their programs fifth NCAA Title by a 6-3 score against the Ferris State Bulldogs.

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