College Hockey   CC Tigers and USAFA Falcons Hockey

The final Western Collegiate Hockey Association meetings this past weekend in Florida were a bittersweet occasion for Colorado College coach Scott Owens.

It served as the transition for the WCHA-founding Tigers as CC enters the new National Collegiate Hockey Conference it helped form last summer.

”It was not awkward but it was a little sad and a little more business-like (than usual),” Owen said. “The league was already meeting with the new members and the NCHC metearlier in the week.”

The transition affects the WCHA as well. Longtime commissioner Bruce McLeod, who has led the league for 20 years, said this coming season will ‘”probably” be his last, multiple sources have reported.

The NCHC met with all eight schools fully presented – athletic directors, coaches, faculty representatives – on hand for the first time and gave an update on the league office’s progress.

“You can’t believe all the things that need to be done to set up a new league,” Owens said.

The officiating program grabbed plenty of attention on a full slate. The deadline to apply to hockey operations head Joe Novak and supervisors of officials Don Adam to become a league official is May 15.  A system that would hold officials accountable and get them better training si expected.

“I think the fans will be pleased with the changes,” CC athletic director Ken Ralph said.

The league bylaws, postseason tournament and the 18-game TV package with CBS Sports Network also drew praise.

“I could not be more pleased with our first meetings in Naples,” NCHC Commissioner Jim Scherr said. “It was great to get everyone in the same place and on the same page as we prepare for our inaugural season. We have some tremendous individuals at each of our institutions that are highly motivated and very professional. We are just a couple of months from dropping the puck on opening weekend and I could not be more excited to get the season underway.”

The American Hockey Coaches Association annual meetings followed with talk of changing the NCAA regionals from neutral sites to the home arena of the regional top seed sites as last done in 1996. Tweaking the Pairwise rankings was discussed with no action made on either topic.

“About 35 to 40 percent of the Western coaches wanted to look at institutional sites but a lot like the neutrality,” Owens said. “We talked about other ways to help attendance, such as lowering ticket prices and student ticket discounts. I would like to see permanent western sites so fans can plan on attending in advance.”

No rule changes were proposed for the NCAA to consider.

Incoming CC freshman Sam Rothstein, pictured in white, scored Saturday for Sioux Falls to force tonight’s decisive Game 5 in its USHL playoff series against Lincoln.

Air Force associate coach Mike Corbett made his case to the Alaska-Anchorage fan base during his day of interviews up North.

National Collegiate Hockey Conference opponent Minnesota-Duluth is bringing in seven freshmen this fall, including one to replace departed sophomore defenseman Chris Casto.

UMD also picked up a former Division III defenseman from St. Scholastica, which is down the street from campus. In all likelihood, he will join the program next fall.

Miami coach Enrico Blasi signed a 10-year contract, resulting in a six-year extension of his current deal. The RedHawks have made the NCAAs nine of the past 10 years including two Frozen Four appearances.

Here is a look at the Miami signees for the upcoming season and the one this period for Colorado College.

Tiger season tickets are on sale by the way.

The last-second deadline to sign up for the CC team awards brunch at 11:30 a.m. Sunday, April 28 is by 9 a.m. MT this Monday. Here is the link for more information.

From the Better Check with the Wife Department: Former Tiger Jack Hillen joked ”Maybe I need to have more kids” after he recorded six points in the five games, his best streak as an NHLer,  since his youngest son, Knox Patrick, was born.

The WCHA’s Minnesota State signees focused on defense.

Here is a YouTube video of a virtual tour of the Pegula Ice Arena at the Big Ten’s Penn State.

Former Tiger Jack Hillen signed a two-year $1.4 million contract extension with the Capitals, worth $700,000 in 2013-14 and 2014-15, the team announced Tuesday.

“I just wanted to get it settled and get it behind me so I can just concentrate on hockey and play the game,” said Hillen, who is glad to have some stability with his wife due to give birth to the couple’s second child within the next two weeks, during a press conference. “Stuff off the ice it’s nice when it takes care of itself and when that’s what happens, you can just focus on hockey and have fun playing.”

The last time Yale was in the Frozen Four, it was 1952 at the old Broadmoor Ice Palace, losing to CC in the semifinals. Michigan won the title the next night over the Tigers.

College Hockey News points out that a change in emphasis from hockey to men’s basketball may be behind Denver’s surprising move to fire longtime coach George Gwozdecky. Scheduling Senior Night for 11 a.m. Sunday to fit around NIT-Bound men’s hoops team suggests there may be something to that.

The Denver Post wants answers from the DU AD.

The three Hobey Hat Trick finalists are: Johnny Gaudreau, sophomore forward from Boston College; Quinnipiac senior goalie Eric Hartzell, and Drew LeBlanc, senior forward from St. Cloud State. This year’s Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced Friday, April 12, 2013 from Consol Energy Center in Pittsburgh, PA during the NCAA Frozen Four.

No CC players made the all-CHN teams, but then neither did LeBlanc. North Dakota’s Danny Kristo is the Player of the Year. He signed a two-year deal with Montreal earlier that day.

Nick Bjugstad, Zach Budish and Nate Schmidt all left Minnesota early while Michigan’s top defenseman Jacob Trouba has left school to join the Jets organization.

North Dakota’s Derek Forbort is headed to the Kings organization.

Minnesota State’s future is bright after making the NCAAs this season. Miami’s 18 underclassmen suggest it should contend in the National Collegiate Hockey Conference next season.

An Alabama-Huntsville player is charged with rape.

Midwest regional

No. 4 St. Cloud State 5, No. 1 Notre Dame 1

Freshman forward Joey Benik scored two goals and added an assist and senior forward Ben Hanowski had a goal and an assist to help pace St. Cloud State to a 5-1 win against Notre Dame on Saturday in the NCAA Midwest Regional at Huntington Center.

SCSU scored three in the second period to pull away for a 4-0 lead. The Huskies take on No. 2 Miami, which downed Minnesota State 4-0, a 2 p.m. MT on Sunday.

No. 2 Miami 4, No. 3 seed Minnesota State 0

TOLEDO, Ohio – The Minnesota State Mavericks were defeated by the Miami RedHawks, 4-0, in NCAA Midwest Regional semifinal action on Saturday at Huntington Center in Toledo. Four different players scored for Miami.

West regional

No. 4 Yale 4, No. 2 North Dakota 1

GRAND RAPIDS — Senior forward Corban Knight scored a goal but North Dakota surrendered four goals in the third period and was defeated by Yale, 4-1, in the NCAA West Regional final at Van Andel Arena.

Yale’s Josh Balch scored just his third goal of the season to get the Bulldogs on the board with 7:35 remaining in regulation, and Jesse Root – who scored the overtime winner against Minnesota in Friday’s other semifinal – notched the eventual winner on the power play with just 4:56 remaining.

A goal by Stu Wilson with 2:21 left put Yale up 3-1, and Kenny Agostino rounded out the scoring with an empty netter at the 19:00 mark.

UND opened the scoring 7:22 into the game on senior center Corban Knight’s 16th goal of the season , beating Bulldogs’ goalie Jeff Malcolm (24 saves), who benefited from three goal posts hit by UND.

UND junior Clarke Saunders made 35 saves against an aggressive Yale team that out shot UND 39-25, including a 28-17 edge over the final two periods. It could have been worse if not for 16 blocks by North Dakota.

Here is a look at the Northeast regional which involves three Colorado Springs-area players. A record five CS players, including UMass-Lowell junior Josh Holmstrom, pictured, play in the NCAAs on Friday.

Here is the Post’s Denver-New Hampshire preview, how the Pioneers followed the same practice schedule they used in 2004; a look at the success of putting brothers Nick and Quentin Shore on the same line; and Post writer Adrian Dater returns to his home state.

Here is the TV/video stream schedule for this weekend.

The West regional is previewed and here are five players in Grand Rapids, Mich. to watch.

Here are plenty of  links to articles on North Dakota and its first-round opponent Niagara. Here are the beat writer’s article, which includes worries about poor attendance in Grand Rapids wit no Michigan teams in the NCAAs this year . Western Michigan finished No. 16 in the Pairwise rankings and missed because of the Canisius AQ. Michigan fell short of an AQ in the final CCHA championship game to Notre Dame. It is the first time in 22 years the Wolverines are not in the NCAAs.

The Midwest regional is previewed. Boston College has a smooth path ahead of it at the East regional.

USCHO produced some thorough regional previews: East, Northeast, Midwest, and West.

Here is the Mankato Free Press’ look at first-round foe Miami and a larger piece on coach Mike Hastings.

Ten storylines to look for this weekend. Here are some predictions: Goal Gophers,

The annual call for NCAA Tournament games at the top seed’s home arenas is made. Here is a look at the trend of regionalization for the NCAA now affecting hockey.

Here are the pairings:

The dates, sites, times and pairings with WCHA teams bolded follows:

Northeast Regional, March 29-30
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire

Friday, March 29, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time
No. 1 Massachusetts-Lowell (26-10-2) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (22-12-7)

Friday, March 29, 8 p.m. 
No. 2 New Hampshire (19-11-7) vs. No. 3 Denver (20-13-5)

Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13
CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Thursday, April 11, 4:30 and 8 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2/WatchESPN (order of games TBD)
East Regional Champion vs. Midwest Regional Champion
Northeast Regional Champion vs. West Regional Champion

Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN/WatchESPN

National Championship

The NCAA Tournament field was announced Sunday night and six WCHA teams made the field as expected with five at-large bids (Denver, Minnesota, Minnesota State, North Dakota and St. Cloud State) and automatic qualifier Wisconsin. That is a heck of a way for the current league configuration to go out.

The NCAA selection committee did not strictly follow the Pairwise rankings, instead, opting for some regionalization to help boost attendance.

Here are more reactions to the pairings: Goal Gophers,  Mankato Free Press (with video), Western College Hockey Blogs includes regional preview capsules.

The dates, sites, times and pairings with WCHA teams bolded follows:

Northeast Regional, March 29-30
Verizon Wireless Arena, Manchester, New Hampshire

Friday, March 29, 4:30 p.m. Eastern time
No. 1 Massachusetts-Lowell (26-10-2) vs. No. 4 Wisconsin (22-12-7)

Friday, March 29, 8 p.m. 
No. 2 New Hampshire (19-11-7) vs. No. 3 Denver (20-13-5)

Men’s Frozen Four, April 11 and 13
CONSOL Energy Center, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

Thursday, April 11, 4:30 and 8 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN2/WatchESPN (order of games TBD)
East Regional Champion vs. Midwest Regional Champion
Northeast Regional Champion vs. West Regional Champion

Saturday, April 13, 7 p.m. Eastern time, ESPN/WatchESPN

National Championship

The following conferences and teams received automatic qualification:Atlantic Hockey Association, Canisius; Central Collegiate Hockey Association, Notre Dame; ECAC Hockey, Union; Hockey East Association, Massachusetts-Lowell; Western Collegiate Hockey Association, Wisconsin.

On Saturday, the WCHA unveiled a new logo.

Here are a few details about next season in the WCHA, including tournament locations.

Wisconsin took off after freshman Nic Kerdiles joined the team following his 10-game suspension.

Tickets remain available for all three games for the WCHA playoff series between Colorado College and Denver. Keep in mind most CC fans sit in sections 5, 6 and 7. There is no TV for the series but it is available on Pioneer Vision.

CC’s seniors leads Division I with 65 goals; the most for any senior class. Here is the breakdown: Rylan Schwartz (15 goals), William Rapuzzi (15), Mike Boivin (14), Scott Winkler (13), Andrew Hamburg (6) and Joe Marciano (2).

Here are preview notes for the six WCHA playoff series this weekend.

Click on the school’s name (bolded) to go to its article:

No. 7 seed Nebraska-Omaha at No. 6 Minnesota State

No. 8 Colorado College at No. 5 Denver. Here are Three Things to Watch about that series.

No. 9 Minnesota-Duluth  at No. 4 Wisconsin

No. 10 Michigan Tech at No. 3 North Dakota

No. 11 Bemidji State at No. 2 Minnesota, which also debuts its video series “Pride on Ice.”

No. 12 Alaska-Anchorage at No. 1 St. Cloud State.

Here is the TV/video stream availability for all six WCHA playoff series.

The All-WCHA honors will be coming out soon. Here are some sample ballots from bloggers on how they would have voted: Goon’s World, Western College Hockey Blog and Bucky’s 5th Quarter.

Air Force hosts Canisius in the Atlantic Hockey Association quarterfinals. Here are the Falcons’ preview notes, 3 Things to Watch and the Gazette preview.

The 2012-13 CCHA All-Conference Teams were announced Wednesday.

I bolded players from Miami and Western Michigan since those teams will be CC opponents in the NCHC next season.
First Team

Position        Name, Year, School      First   Totals

Forward Austin Czarnik, SO, Miami       8       46

Forward Anders Lee, JR, Notre Dame      7       44

Forward Riley Barber, FR, Miami 5       40

Defense Jacob Trouba, FR, Michigan      8       43

Defense Dan DeKeyser, JR, Western Michigan      6       36

Goaltender      Brady Hjelle, SR, Ohio State    6       39

Second Team

Position        Name, Year, School      First   Totals

Forward Tanner Fritz, SO, Ohio State    2       32

Forward Ryan Carpenter, SO, Bowling Green       1       22

Forward Andy Taranto, SR, Alaska        2       20

Defense Luke Witkowski, SR, Western Michigan    3       26

Defense Bobby Shea, SR, Bowling Green   2       25

Goaltender      Frank Slubowski, SO, Western Michigan   4       27

Vote Values: 1st place = 5, 2nd place = 3, 3rd place = 1

Honorable Mention (next six point totals, regardless of position with first team-votes in parentheses): Ryan Dzingel, SO, F, Ohio State, (2) 17; Domenic Monardo, SR, F, Lake Superior, (2) 16; Kyle Bonis, SR, F, Ferris State, (1) 16; Matthew Caito, FR, D, Miami, (1) 15; CJ Motte, SO, G, Ferris State, 14; Bryan Rust, JR, F, Notre Dame, 11.

Others receiving votes:

Forwards – T.J. Tynan, JR, Notre Dame, (1) 8; Chase Balisy, JR, Western Michigan, 8; Cody Kunyk, JR, Alaska, (1) 6; Matt Thurber, SR, Northern Michigan, 4; Dane Walters, SR, Western Michigan, 4; Cristoval Nieves, FR, Michigan, 1; Reed Seckel, SO, Northern Michigan, 1; Garrett Thompson, JR, Ferris State, 1.

Defensemen – Robbie Russo, SO, Notre Dame, (1) 9; Mac Bennett, JR, Michigan, (1) 8;  Colton Parayko, FR, Alaska, 8; Jason Binkley, SO, Ferris State, 6; Simon Denis, SO, Ferris State, 6; Craig Dalrymple, FR, Ohio State, 4; Steven Spinell, SR, Miami, 4; Trevor Campbell, SO, Alaska, 3; Scott Macaulay, SR, Northern Michigan, 3; Curtis Gedig, JR, Ohio State, 1; CJ Ludwig, JR, Northern Michigan, 1.

Goaltenders – Andrew Hammond, SR, Bowling Green, 8; Jared Coreau, JR, Northern Michigan, 6.

CC senior goalie Joe Howe has quietly gone about carving out a place in the program’s record books as the 4th all-time career saves leader.

Same questions, but much different situation for Minnesota State this season. Here is the Mankato Free Press’ capsule look at the series.

Of course all the other league series bear watching, especially the first two listed:

No. 16 Wisconsin at No. 13Nebraska-Omaha: The Badgers’ up-and-down season is best exemplified by the past week: On Feb. 18, they were basking in the afterglow of an outdoor win over No. 2 Minnesota. Seven days later, they are choking down the ashes of an OT loss to undermanned Penn State. How will the Badgers bounce back? UNO is approaching the weekend as a dress rehearsal for the WCHA playoffs.

No. 10 Denver at No. 2 Minnesota: The Pioneers are taking a similar approach; the playoffs have already begun.  David Makowski has been an offensive bright spot for the Pioneers. The Gophers’ only senior is featured.

To sum up, eighth-place CC is five points behind sixth-place UW and DU and must make up those points in the four remaining games. Next weekend, UW hosts North Dakota while DU entertains Alaska-Anchorage. CC travels to Michigan Tech. The Tigers’ home playoff ice hopes are slim, but not mathematically impossible. They need a lot of help.

Bemidji State at No. 6 North Dakota: BSU is trying to right the ship in time for the playoffs. The Beavers have only won one game in Grand Forks in program history, and that was back in 1970. The Beavers have defeated UND just once, a 1-0 WCHA win at the Sanford Center on Nov. 20, 2011. Interestingly enough, UND senior Danny Kristo, one of the more dynamic players in the WCHA, has never recorded a point against BSU, his father’s alma mater. The games between the two schools will continue.

North Dakota’s Dillon Simpson is featured to lead off the weekly NCAA college hockey notebook while Mark MacMillan gets a look by The Hockey Writers web site. Here is more from the Herald beat writer.

Michigan Tech at St. Cloud State: The Huskies are looking to build toward the playoffs while SCSU senior Drew LeBlanc continues to have an outstanding senior season.

Alabama-Huntsville at Minnesota-Duluth: The Chargers’ coach is from northern Minnesota. UMD’s Keegan Flaherty and his hockey family are profiled here. Here is a series preview capsule by the news-Tribune’s Kevin Pates.

Alaska-Anchorage vs. Alaska-Fairbanks: The Seawolf seniors want to hoist the Governors’ Cup for the first time.

Here is a look at what the USCHO expert thinks will be the NCAA Tournament field before this weekend’s game get underway. Inside College Hockey weighs in what looks like a dynamite Toledo regional: Miami, North Dakota, Notre Dame and RPI, winners of nine of its last 11 games.

This weekend’s USCHO predictions can be found here. Four WCHA and three CCHA games are on TV tonight.

The final regular-season weekend for the CCHA is previewed here. Miami looks to clinch the title this weekend. Western Michigan sophomore goalie Frank Slubowski is featured.

Women’s ice hockey playoffs start tonight with at least two locals involved:

St. Cloud State junior Molli Mott leads the No. 7 seed  Huskies with 22 points (13 assists)  into a road series at runner-up Wisconsin. Penn State captain Taylor Gross, second on the Nittany Lions with 21 points (15 assists), is headed to College Hockey America third-seeded RIT for a best-of-three playoff series.

From the CCHA …

FARMINGTON HILLS, Mich. – Miami beat Lake Superior to stay atop the league standings, while Northern Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan also won.  Western Michigan topped Notre Dame in a shootout after playing to a 3-3 tie. 

Sault St. Marie, Mich. – Senior forward Marc Hagel’s second goal of the game with 6:26 left in regulation broke a 4-4 tie and Miami defeated Lake Superior, 5-4. Freshman defenseman Matthew Caito, freshman forward Riley Barber and sophomore forward Jimmy Mullin also scored for the RedHawks. Senior forward Domenic Monardo scored twice, and junior defenseman Zach Sternberg and junior forward Dan Radke each finished with a 1-1-2 scoring line for the Lakers.  Miami freshman goaltender Jay Williams made 25 saves in the win, while Lake Superior junior goaltender Kevin Murdock stopped 46 shots in the loss.

Bowling Green, Ohio – Junior forward Stephan Vigier finished with a 2-1-3 scoring line to lead Northern Michigan to a 5-2 win at Bowling Green. Sophomore forward Mitch Jones and junior forward Erik Higby each had a goal and an assist, and sophomore forward Ryan Daugherty added a single marker for the Wildcats. Sophomore forward Ryan Carpenter and sophomore defenseman Connor Kucera scored for the Falcons.  Northern Michigan junior goaltender Jared Coreau stopped 37 shots in the win, while Bowling Green freshman goaltender Tommy Burke made 16 saves in the loss.

Fairbanks, Alaska - Junior goaltender Will Yanakeff stopped 37 shots and junior forward Greg Wolfe scored the only goal of the game to lead Michigan State to a 1-0 shutout win at Alaska.  Freshman goaltender John Keeney made 13 saves for the Nanooks in the loss.

Columbus, Ohio – Sophomore forward Alex Guptill scored twice to lead Michigan to a 5-3 win at Ohio State. Despite the loss the Buckeyes clinched a first-round playoff bye. The Wolverines also got goals from junior forwards Derek DeBlois and Luke Moffatt, and freshman defenseman Jacob Trouba finished with a 1-2-3 scoring line. Sophomore forwards Max McCormick and Ryan Dzingel each had single goals and sophomore forward Tanner Fritz had a goal and an assist for the Buckeyes. Michigan freshman goaltender Steve Racine made 29 saves in the win, while senior goaltender Brady Hjelle stopped 29 shots for Ohio State in the loss.

Kalamazoo, Mich. – Junior forward Chase Balisy scored the decisive goal in the shootout as Western Michigan played to a 3-3 tie/shootout win against Notre Dame that clinched home ice for the second round of the playoffs for both the Broncos and the Irish.  Western Michigan took a 2-1 lead in the first period on goals from sophomore forwards Justin Kovacs and Will Kessel and also got a third-period marker from freshman forward Nolan LaPorte. Notre Dame got a first-period goal from junior forward David Gerths, a second-period marker from junior forward Bryan Rust and sophomore forward Austin Wuthrich scored with 8:50 left in regulation to tie the game, 3-3. Western Michigan sophomore goaltender Frank Slubowski stopped 25 shots, while junior goaltender Steven Summerhays made 22 saves for Notre Dame.