College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

Here’s a funny story from “Sixty Minutes, No Alibis,” a Badgers fan blog.

Paul Kelly of College Hockey Inc. sits down for an interview.

Here’s a fan blog’s season preview for the Gophers. And another fan blog’s season preview for Anchorage. If you’re wondering The Gazette’s  CC and Air Force season previews will be out late next week.

Here’s some reaction from Omaha on the preeason WCHA polls and Penn State.

The USHL regular season gets underway this weekend so here is some info on CC signees and other players of local interest.

Former Tiger Eric Rud, left, took over the Green Bay coaching reigns this summer for a team that includes 2011 CC signee defenseman Aaron Harstad.

The defending champs have a good nucleus judging from the story by the Green Bay newspaper.

CC 2011 signee Scott Wamsganz is on the Dubuque roster along with Colorado Springs’ Colton Saucerman. Here’s a season preview for the Saints.

Defenseman Ian Young, also a 2011 Tigers signee, is pictured on the Chicago Steel’s web site. 2011 blue-liner Peter Stoykewych is with Des Moines.

Colorado Springs goalie Cody Campbellwill battle former Minnesota-Duluth goalie Brady Hjelle for ice time in Cedar Rapids, which won the annual preseason tournament.

Here’s this weekend’s schedule. I will post USHL division previews once available.

Former Tiger Lee Sweatt continues to get noticed for the right reasons. About Wednesday’s 6-2 preseason loss to San Jose from nhl.com …

Unlikely fighters and former teammates Christian Ehrhoff and Joe Pavelski dropped the gloves in the second period, yet nothing came of it; the Canucks had just 22 seconds of power play time on the night; defenceman Lee Sweatt had three times as many hits as any other Canuck with six on the night.

According to the stats, Bill Sweatt finished minus-1 in 14:51 of ice time. Lee Sweatt was minus-1 in 17:01.

39-year-old Bill Guerin’s efforts to make the Flyers’ roster look to have a direct effect on whether former Tiger Mike Testwuide or Colorado Springs’ Ben Holmstrom make the NHL squad this fall or head to the AHL. 

From CSNPhilly via Bleacher Report: 

CSNPhilly.com writer Tim Panaccio reported that (GM Paul) Holmgren and the rest of the Flyers‘ brass have been relatively unimpressed with Guerin thus far.

“Holmgren’s public evaluation of Guerin? “He’s played OK.”

Supposedly, the team is still debating whether Guerin, playing on a tryout contract, deserves a spot over three candidates: Mike Testwuide and Ben Holmstrom, both free agent signings fresh out of college, and Andreas Nodl, a second-round pick who has played a total of 48 games with the big club.

Holmgren’s public comments may be mere posturing, intended to motivate Guerin or to force him to take a less lucrative contract in order to sign with the team.”

Here’s my update: Nodl did not register a point in 15:28 of ice time on Wednesday. The other three did not play in Wednesday’s 3-1 loss to the Islanders.

Former Tiger defenseman Jack Hillen finished minus-1 in 22:46 with two shots including one dangerous one during a power play that could have led to an assist if the forward had handled the rebound.

Here’s training camp news on another former Tiger, Colin Stuart, pictured left.

BUFFALO, N.Y. (AP) — The Buffalo Sabres have reduced their preseason roster to 35 after demoting 12 players to the minors and returning two others to their Canadian Junior Hockey teams.Sent to Portland, Maine, the Sabres’ American Hockey League affiliate were forwards Jacob Lagace, Maxime Legault, Dennis McCauley, Brian Roloff, Felix Schutz, Corey Tropp and Travis Turnbull; and defensemen Alex Biega and Nick Crawford. Forwards Colin Stuart and Derek Whitmore, and defenseman Tim Conboy were also demoted, but must first clear waivers.

This caught me by surprise. Everything out of Pittsburgh indicated former Tiger Brett Sterling was doing quite well. Here’s hoping its a short stay in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Here’s the press release:

The Pittsburgh Penguins reduced their training camp roster by 11 players, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Ray Shero.

Forwards Chris Conner, Nick Johnson, Brett Sterling, Joe Vitale and Tim Wallace, defensemen Robert Bortuzzo, Corey Potter, Brian Strait and Steve Wagner and goaltenders John Curry and Brad Thiessen were assigned to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton.

Conner, Curry, Potter, Sterling, Wagner and Wallace will have to clear waivers by Thursday at noon before joining WBS.

The transaction leaves 30 players on the Penguins’ roster: 18 forwards; 10 defensemen; and two goaltenders.

This wasn’t as big a surprise, but it’s still too bad for Trevor Frischmon.

Here’s the press release:

The Columbus Blue Jackets trimmed their training camp roster by to 10 players September 29, Executive Vice President and General Manager Scott Howson announced. The current training camp roster consists of 38 players.

Forwards Matt Calvert and Chad Kolarik, defensemen Steven Delisle, Cody Goloubef, Brent Regner and Theo Ruth, and goaltender Daren Machesney were each assigned to the Springfield Falcons, Columbus’s American Hockey League affiliate, while forward Trevor Frischmon and defenseman Jonathan Sigalet were placed on waivers for the purpose of being assigned to Springfield.

North Dakota signed a 6-foot-3 defenseman who had considered CC among other schools.

CBS College Sports’ TV schedule was released with the two CC games and the AF-Army game confirmed. Lots of good nonconference match-ups available early, including North Dakota versus Maine, which has senior captain and defenseman Jeff Dimmen of Colorado Springs in the lineup.

Here’s the schedule (all times Mountain):

Oct. 8 (Fri.) New Hampshire at Miami 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 15 (Fri.) Maine at Michigan State 5:30 p.m.
Oct. 22 (Fri.) North Dakota at Maine 5:30 p.m.
Nov. 19 (Fri.) Yale at Cornell 5:30 p.m.
Dec. 3 (Fri.) Boston College at Boston University 5:30 p.m.
Dec.4 (Sat.) Boston University at Boston College 6 p.m.
Dec. 10 (Fri.) New Hampshire at Maine 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 7 (Fri.) Miami at Ohio State 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 9 (Sun.) Boston University at Vermont 5 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Fri.) Ferris State at Michigan 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 14 (Fri.) Army at Air Force 8 p.m.
Jan. 16 (Sun.) Boston College at Maine 5 p.m.
Jan. 21 (Fri.) Miami at Michigan State 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 28 (Fri.) Miami at Notre Dame 5:30 p.m.
Jan. 28 (Fri.) North Dakota at Colorado College 8 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Fri.) Michigan at Miami 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 4 (Fri.) Denver at Colorado College 8 p.m.
Feb. 11 (Fri.) Boston University at UMASS 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 18 (Fri.) New Hampshire at Vermont 5:30 p.m.
Feb. 25 (Fri.) Niagara at RIT 5:30 p.m.
TBD CCHA First Round Game TBD
March 18 (Fri.) ECAC Semifinal #1 2:30 p.m.
March 18 (Fri.) ECAC Semifinal #2 5:30 p.m.
March 19 (Sat.) ECAC Championship 5:30 p.m.

Wisconsin announced its TV schedule too.

The CCHA released its polls. Michigan is favored by the coaches while Miami gets the nod from the media.

Not to be outdone, Hockey East made its poll announcements too.

Update: I added some more details after finishing my stories for the day. Enjoy. especially one of Frank’s jokes. He was in mid-season form.

Air Force coach Frank Serratore and Colorado College coach Scott Owens had the 400-plus folks laughing at the Colorado Springs Sports Corp. annual faceoff luncheon at the Antlers Hilton Wednesday. Along the way, a few tidbits of information could be gleaned.

Owens made fun of his new goatee, which according to childhood friends, makes him look like the late Burl Ives. And Frank was his usual funny self.

Here’s his best joke:  He admitted he dreams about hockey. 

When he has a troubled sleep he tells his wife it was due to bad goaltending
When he slept well, she asked if the goaltender played well.  He said no. It was an off night so I was out recruiting and having a few beers

When one fan asked about expanding the AF-CC series to more than one game a year, Owens said the two coaches had talked personally but logistics and conference scheduling made it difficult. Owens doesn’t like the idea.

Owens did say the 2011-12 season date is Dec. 31, 2011.  I hope it is an early start.

CC will look to add to its 11 game TV broadcasts with the Great Lakes Invitational, which is usually broadcast by FS Detroit. While at the luncheon, a blogger reported that the Jan. 14 home game against Army will be broadcast on CBS College Sports.

CC will play 38 regular-season games, the most ever thanks to adding two games for the GLI in December.

Also, Minnesota coach Don Lucia’s son, Mario, will play against CC Sunday as part of the U.S. U-18 national team, according to Owens. His older son, Tony, was cut by the San Jose Sharks earlier this week and is headed to the AHL’s Worcester Sharks training camp.

I included the media poll so you can compare the two. We all know that preseason polls mean little, but I do think the coaches may have guessed better. We’ll find out by April. I’ll publish team preview capsules next week.

Coaches Poll via Grand Forks Herald:

1. UND (10) 120
2. St. Cloud State (2) 105
3. Minnesota-Duluth 100
4. Denver 88
5. Minnesota 82
6. Colorado College 67
7. Wisconsin 64
8. Nebraska-Omaha 55
9. Bemidji State 46
10. MSU-Mankato 41
11. Alaska-Anchorage 19
12. Michigan Tech 15

Player of the year: Jack Connolly, Duluth (5), Chay Genoway, UND (4), Garrett Roe, SCSU (3)
Rookie of the year: Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (9), Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota (1), Tyler Barnes, Wisconsin (1), Matt White, Omaha (1)

Media Poll:

 My WCHA media ballot

1. North Dakota

2. Minnesota-Duluth

3. St. Cloud State

4. Colorado College

5. Wisconsin

6. Denver

7. Minnesota

8. Bemidji State

9. Nebraska-Omaha

10. MSU-Mankato

11. Michigan Tech

12. Alaska-Anchorage

 POY:  Jack Connolly, Minnesota-Duluth

ROY: Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College

Colorado College freshman forward Jaden Schwartz was chosen as the Western Collegiate Hockey Association’s preseason Rookie of the Year by league media, it was announced Wednesday morning.

The Tigers were picked to finish seventh. North Dakota was the top pick to win the league’s 2010-11 regular season championship, according to the WCHA media poll compiled by Bruce Ciskie of 94X/Red Rock radio of Duluth, Minn.

North Dakota senior defenseman Chay Genoway, returning after getting a medical redshirt for the 2009-10 season, was the league’s preseason Player of the Year in voting from 29 media members who cover the league.

North Dakota received 28 of a possible 29 first-place votes for 347 points to finish ahead of second-place Minnesota Duluth (300 points). St. Cloud State received a first-place vote but finished five points behind Duluth.

Denver is a distant fourth (242) followed by Wisconsin (218) and Minnesota (203).

After seventh-place Colorado College, the league’s two newcomers, Bemidji State and Nebraska-Omaha, were eighth and ninth, respectively. Minnesota State-Mankato, Alaska-Anchorage, and Michigan Tech round out the bottom three.

The coaches poll will be announced on Wednesday.

WCHA MEDIA POLL

Predicted Order of Finish

1. North Dakota (28 first-place votes) 347 points

2. Minnesota Duluth 300

3. St. Cloud State (1) 295

4. Denver 242

5. Wisconsin 218

6. Minnesota 203

7. Colorado College 182

8. Bemidji State 156

9. Nebraska-Omaha 125

10. Minnesota State 97

11. Alaska-Anchorage 51

12. Michigan Tech 46

Preseason WCHA Player of the Year

Chay Genoway, North Dakota (10); Garrett Roe, St. Cloud State (5); Justin Fontaine, Minnesota Duluth (4); Jack Connolly, Minnesota Duluth (3); Jason Gregoire, North Dakota (2); Mike Connolly, Minnesota Duluth (1); Matt Read, Bemidji State (1); Evan Trupp, North Dakota (1)

Preseason WCHA Rookie of the Year

Jaden Schwartz, Colorado College (10); Derek Forbort, North Dakota (6); Beau Bennett, Denver (4); Nick Bjugstad, Minnesota (2); Tyler Barnes, Wisconsin (1); J.T. Brown, Minnesota Duluth (1); Rob Gunderson, Alaska-Anchorage (1); Radoslav Illo, Bemidji State (1); Jason Zucker, Denver (1)

Voting panel

Dave Ahlers, KKAR/University of Nebraska-Omaha; Roman Augustoviz, Minneapolis Star Tribune; Andy Baggot, Wisconsin State Journal; Mike Chambers, Denver Post; Bruce Ciskie, 94X/Red Rock Radio; Chris Dilks, Western College Hockey; Shane Frederick, Mankato Free Press; John Gilbert, WCHA.com; Kurt Haider, KENI Radio; Mick Hatten, St. Cloud Times; Dirk Hembroff, WKMJ Radio; Tim Hennessy, KQHT Radio; Ken Landau, 103.9 FM The Eagle; Don Lyons, KNSI Radio; Todd Milewski, USCHO.com; Dan Myers, College Hockey News; Jess Myers, Inside College Hockey; Joe Paisley, Colorado Springs Gazette; Kevin Pates, Duluth News Tribune; Brian Posick, WIBA/WTSO Radio; Chad Purcell, Omaha World Herald; Brad Elliott Schlossman, Grand Forks Herald; Brian Schultz, KKBJ Radio; Theresa Spisak, USCHO.com; Jay Stickney, 87.7 The Ticket; Eric Stromgren, Bemidji Pioneer; Mike Sullivan, KTOE Radio; Brandon Veale, Daily Mining Gazette; Doyle Woody, Anchorage Daily News