[billvill]

OK, it was time. Here's Inside College Hockey's Great 58

No. Team
Circle The Dates

1. North Dakota A crucial four-week stretch of October and November for the Sioux has home series with Denver and UMD sandwiched between trips to Maine and Wisconsin.
2. Boston College The defending national champs will be tested early, with five of their first six on the road including a two-game set at Denver and a single road game at Notre Dame.
3. Miami The RedHawks started fast last season with a 3-0-1 mark in non-league series with St. Cloud State and New Hampshire. Guess who they open with this season?
4. Michigan Lots of eyes – about 110,000 pairs of ’em – will gravitate to the Dec. 11 outdoor match against Michigan State at Michigan Stadium. We think an early November road trip to Fairbanks is a better indicator of the Wolverines’ fortunes.
5. Minnesota Duluth Good luck getting a ticket for the Bulldogs’ Dec. 30 contest against North Dakota – it’s the night UMD christens the 6,600-seat Amsoil Arena.
6. St. Cloud State We say it every year, but the Florida College Classic in Estero Dec. 29-30 once again has an NCAA Regional vibe with the Huskies joined in the field by Cornell, Maine, and Miami.
7. Yale Yale's non-conference schedule is highlighted by a Nov. 13 game at Colorado College and Dec. 8 home tilt against Vermont.
8. Maine An action-packed October highlights Maine's slate, with a pair at Michigan State followed by a two-game visit from North Dakota.
9. New Hampshire UNH will play 10 games against teams that made the NCAA Tournament last season, including four of its first five – two at Miami, a home game against Michigan, and a trip to Cornell.
10. Alaska Good tests for the Nanooks right out of the chute – they’ll play Air Force and North Dakota at the Kendall Hockey Classic in Anchorage, then welcome Union and Colorado College to Fairbanks for the Brice Alaska Goal Rush.
11. Denver Imagine Alabama starting a football season with Texas A&M, Ohio State, LSU, Florida, and Auburn. That would resemble the Pioneers’ start with series against Vermont, Boston College, Wisconsin, North Dakota, and Colorado College.
12. Union The Dutchmen will play regular-season games in nine different states this season – New York, Alaska, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, Connecticut, Michigan, Minnesota and New Jersey.
13. Rensselaer Kudos to RPI for helping out the nation's only independent get some games. Huntsville visits for the RPI holiday tournament, and the Engineers go to UAH for two games Dec. 30-31. Yale visits for Freakout! on Jan. 29.
14. Boston University Three in-season tournaments will test the Terriers. They'll be in the IceBreaker next weekend, the Shillelagh Tournament in Chicago and the Beanpot in February.
15. Cornell The Big Red's opening weekend includes home games against UNH and RIT. Maybe Denver can stop by and make it a reunion of last spring's NCAA Regional at Albany.
16. Notre Dame The Irish are arguably the country’s biggest mystery. We’ll know a lot more after a four-week stretch that includes a home series with Michigan State and road trips to Michigan, North Dakota, and Miami.
17. Michigan State Graduations and early departures have left the Spartans with a lot of holes to fill. Maine and Alaska, visitors to East Lansing to start the season, are the kinds of teams with the ability to expose them.
18. Minnesota The Gophers are scrutinized more than any other team in the country, so the opponent is often irrelevant. That said, an early three-week stretch of games against St. Cloud State, Colorado College, and Wisconsin will serve as a measuring stick.
19. Wisconsin Rebuilding the Badgers won’t be an overnight job. November’s slate (Minnesota, North Dakota, UMD, Michigan, and Michigan State) will indicate whether the project is a minor fixer-upper or a complete overhaul.
20. RIT The Tigers' annual early-season home game at Blue Cross Arena is a matchup with UMass-Lowell. They'll face Robert Morris Dec. 30 at the Pittsburgh Penguins' new rink.
21. Colorado College The Tigers’ m.o. in recent years has been start fast, slump late. The trend could continue with a backloaded slate that includes series with North Dakota, Denver, UMD, and Wisconsin over the last six weeks of the regular season.
22. Northeastern Six straight January home games, including five against conference foes, will be a big stretch for the Huskies before the final weeks of the regular season.
23. Vermont The Catamounts start and end the season at The Gut. Denver visits this weekend and Vermont closes the Hockey East regular season with a pair against UMass Lowell.
24. Lake Superior State Challenging Miami, Michigan, and Alaska for the CCHA title is unlikely, but the Lakers have the veteran leadership and goaltending to get into the league’s second tier. They can take a big step in that direction in November series against like-minded Northern Michigan and Ferris State.
25. Nebraska-Omaha UNO’s first-ever WCHA home series against Minnesota State is fairly mundane, since the two schools have played non-conference games a million times. WCHA series no. 2, however, pits Dean Blais’s Mavericks against North Dakota, the school he led to two NCAA titles.
26. Merrimack Merrimack meets Alabama-Huntsville for a pair of mid-January games in Nashville after consecutive home contests against Maine and Boston University.
27. Harvard Five of Harvard's first eight games in league play are on the road. They'll visit alum Kevin Sneddon for the New Year as the Crimson compete in Vermont's Catamount Cup.
28. Northern Michigan Another team looking to emerge from the CCHA pack, the Wildcats have a fairly favorable first-half league slate. Visits to Miami and Alaska will be difficult, but there are home series with Ohio State, Bowling Green, and Western Michigan and a trip to Lake Superior.
29. Bemidji State If St. Cloud State is the WCHA’s Jan Brady, does that make BSU Cousin Oliver? The Beavers open their new arena – the Bemidji Regional Events Center – Oct. 15-16 against North Dakota.
30. Brown A four-game November road swing takes the Bears to Colgate, Cornell, UNH and BU in what will be an early test to see how much Brown's program continues to grow.
31. Mercyhurst Four of Mercyhurst's last five games are at home, and the only road game is a short trip to Canisius. They opened by scoring the last four goals of the game in a 4-4 tie at Michigan.
32. UMass Lowell UMass Lowell plays six of eight at home late in the year before a season-ending road trip to Vermont.
33. Air Force The Falcons wrap up an early-season, six-game home stand with a quartet of intriguing games. A pair of Atlantic Hockey tilts against league preseason faves RIT and Mercyhurst are followed by non-conference dates with Colorado College and Yale.
34. Ohio State The Buckeyes’ sked is typically chock full of general quirkiness, mostly due to their status as third-class citizens in their home rink, Value City Arena. This season is no different; OSU’s first league series at the VCA is Dec. 3-4 against Michigan.
35. Massachusetts The Minutemen are a rare case, in that they won't play in a single in-season tournament this year, however, they do visit Wisconsin for a pair in the weekend formerly inhabited by the Badger Showdown.
36. Ferris State A stick salute to the Bulldogs for being one of the five teams willing to make the trip to Alabama-Huntsville this season. The hockey gods reward Ferris with a favorable first-half schedule. Following the UAH foray, the Bulldogs play 12 of their next 17 at home.
37. Dartmouth The Big Green won't leave the state between a Nov. 26 game at Harvard and a Jan. 21 trip to Unioin. Seven home games and the annual Riverstone game against UNH in Manchester line the schedule in between.
38. St. Lawrence The Saints play 11 road games in the middle of the year with just one home date in between in what could be a make-or-break stretch.
39. Minnesota State Twisting a line from Wyclef Jean , the Mavericks will be gone all November. Between Oct. 23 and Dec. 3, MSU has four road trips in three time zones – at Alaska Anchorage, at Nebraska-Omaha, at Denver, and at UMass Lowell.
40. Colgate Colgate's jam-packed schedule includes very little time off. They play eight straight two-game league weekends from Jan. 7-9 through the end of the year, and nine of the 16 games are on the road.
41. Robert Morris Robert Morris hosts Colgate for two in late December then visits North Dakota for a pair to start January.
42. Niagara It's a new league for Niagara, and they might have the chance to spoil things for Atlantic Hockey's defending champs. The Purps have a home-and-home with RIT on the last weekend of the year.
43. Princeton The Tigers wrap up the year with three games against expected ECAC Hockey heavies Yale, Rensselaer and Union.
44. Canisius The Griffs play two of last year's Frozen Four reps in a span of four games, at RIT Dec. 17 and a pair at Wisconsin Jan. 7-8.
45. Quinnipiac October series at home against Ohio State and on the road at St. Cloud State will test Quinnipiac's mettle before they begin league play at Brown and Yale.
46. Alaska Anchorage The Seawolves and Alaska meet annually for the Governor’s Cup, a rivalry that’s as fierce as any in college hockey. This season’s series takes place Feb. 25-26 with game one in Fairbanks and the finale at Sullivan Arena.
47. Sacred Heart The Crusaders have seven straight home games in the middle of the year, five of them against conference foes.
48. Alabama-Huntsville The Chargers are America’s Team, because they’ll see most of it this season. UAH’s wanderings will take them to Colorado, Michigan, Nebraska, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Tennessee (a neutral-site series with Merrimack in Nashville).
49. Western Michigan The Broncos were a miserable 2-14-2 on the road last season. New coach Jeff Blashill will get to address that issue early – WMU follows a season-opening home series against Canisius with seven of its next 10 away from home.
50. Providence In a scheduling quirk, Providence faces UNH for three straight games, only interrupted by an exhibition game against the US NTDP Under-18s.
51. Clarkson Golden Knight fans will get to see some new faces at Cheel this year, as Bowling Green, Bentley and Minnesota Duluth all visit in non-league series.
52. Holy Cross If Holy Cross meets Wisconsin in the second day of the IceBreaker, it means the Crusaders will play against teams from all five conferences within the first six games of the year.
53. Michigan Tech The bad news is that the Huskies won just five games last year. The good news is that four of those wins came against teams Tech will face in six of its first 10 games this season (Minnesota Duluth, Minnesota State, and Northern Michigan).
54. Army Non-league games against Harvard and Ohio State at Vermont's holiday tournament highlight Army's out-of-conference slate.
55. Bowling Green In order for new coach Chris Bergeron to get his first win behind the Falcon bench during the season’s first weekend, he’ll have to beat Michigan and coach Red Berenson, who’s one shy of career victory no. 700.
56. Bentley Five straight non-league games open Bentley's campaign, and eight of their first 10 contests are away from Ryan Arena.
57. Connecticut UConn's holiday tournament includes Holy Cross, Bowling Green and Princeton. The Huskies will also compete in RPI's tournament with Bowling Green and Alabama-Huntsville.
58. American International After three straight home games to start the year, AIC hits the road for seven in a row. Their first 12 games are league games.

[billvill]

UML 2011-12 schedule
After a couple of holiday tourney disasters recently, I'm glad to see UML will be staying fairly close to home this year.

2011-2012 SCHEDULE

Date Opponent / Event Location Time / Result

10/08/11 vs. New Brunswick Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
10/14/11 at Minnesota State Mankato, Minn. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/15/11 at Minnesota State Mankato, Minn. 7:00 p.m. ET
10/18/11 vs. Connecticut Conway Arena 7:00 p.m. ET
10/28/11 vs. Boston College ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
10/29/11 at Boston College Boston, Ma 7:00 p.m. ET
11/05/11 vs. Boston University ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
11/11/11 at Maine ^ Orono, Maine 7:00 p.m. ET
11/12/11 at Maine ^ Orono, Maine 7:00 p.m. ET
11/18/11 at New Hampshire ^ Durham, N.H. 7:00 p.m. ET
11/19/11 vs. Massachusetts ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
11/25/11 vs. Alabama-Huntsville Tsongas Center 4:00 p.m. ET
12/02/11 vs. New Hampshire ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
12/03/11 at New Hampshire ^ Durham, N.H. 7:00 p.m. ET
12/09/11 vs. Boston College ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
12/10/11 at Northeastern ^ Boston, Mass. 7:00 p.m. ET
12/29/11 vs. Rensselaer Storrs, Conn. 4:00 p.m. ET
12/30/11 Army/Connecticut Storrs, Conn. TBA
01/05/12 vs. Russian Red Stars Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
01/13/12 at Vermont ^ Burlington, Vt. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/20/12 vs. Northeastern ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
01/21/12 at Northeastern ^ Boston, Mass. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/24/12 at Providence ^ Providence, R.I. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/27/12 at Massachusetts ^ Amherst, Mass. 7:00 p.m. ET
01/28/12 vs. Massachusetts ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/03/12 vs. Vermont ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/04/12 vs. Vermont ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/10/12 vs. Merrimack ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/11/12 vs. Maine ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/17/12 vs. Boston University ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
02/18/12 at Boston University ^ Boston, Mass. 7:00 p.m. ET
02/24/12 at Merrimack ^ No. Andover, Mass. 7:00 p.m. ET
02/25/12 vs. Merrimack ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET
03/02/12 at Providence ^ Providence, R.I. 7:00 p.m. ET
03/03/12 vs. Providence ^ Tsongas Center 7:00 p.m. ET

[billvill]

UML 2011-12 roster (BB's new favorite player on the roster!) Young team, all new coaching staff......we'll see how it goes.


NO NAME HT/WT POS YR Hometown Last Team
29 Arnold, Derek 5-8/165 Forward SO Foxboro, Mass. Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL)
22 Badger, Rob 5-11/175 Defenseman SO Hainesport, N.J. The Gunnery
1 Boulanger, Marc 6-0/185 Goaltender SO Olds, Alta. Olds Grizzlys (AJHL)
18 Budd, Michael 6-0/187 Forward SR Burlington, Ont Burlington Cougars (OPJHL)
31 Carr, Doug 6-2/200 Goaltender SO Hanover, Mass. Brockville Braves (CJHL)
13 Caveney, Joe 5-11/183 Forward JR Fitchburg, Mass. Sioux City Musketeers (USHL)
4 Corcoran, Tim 6-1/190 Defenseman SR Milton, Mass. Bay State Breakers (EJHL)
25 Curry, Nick 6-0/195 Forward SO Augusta, Ga. Springfield Jr. Blues
17 Ferreira, Matt 5-11/178 Forward SR Brampton, Ont Brampton Capitals (PJHL)
6 Furlong, Daniel 5-11/180 Defenseman SO Stoneham, Mass. Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
21 Gaudet, Cameron 5-11/195 Forward SO Burlington, Mass. Austin Prep
12 Holmstrom, Josh 6-0/175 Forward SO Colorado Springs, Colo. Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
34 Massie, T.J. 5-11/184 Goaltender JR Lexington, Mass. Tri-City Storm (USHL)
5 McCoy, Derek 6-1/200 Forward SO Newburyport, Mass. Valley Jr. Warriors (EJHL)
14 Pendenza, Joseph 5-11/190 Forward SO Wilmington, Mass. Boston Jr. Bruins (EJHL)
3 Ruhwedel, Chad 5-11/180 Defenseman SO San Diego, Calif. Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL)
23 Thompson, Shayne 5-11/190 Forward SO Stittsville, Ont. Brockville Braves (CJHL)
10 Vallorani, David 5-8/180 Forward SR Hamilton, Ont Milton Ice Hawks (OPJHL)
16 Wetmore, Riley 6-0/192 Forward JR Swanton, Vt. Green Mountain (EJHL)
8 Wright, Colin 6-0/195 Forward JR Burlington, Ont. Burlington Cougars (OPJHL)

Coaches

Norm Bazin - Head Coach
Cam Ellsworth - Assistant Coach
Jason Lammers - Assistant Coach

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Inside college hockey profiles UMass Lowell's new coach


From INCH

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

WCHA and CCHA leftovers to merge!


From College Hockey News

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 25 August 2011 - 02:53 PM, said:

WCHA and CCHA leftovers to merge!


From College Hockey News

What a good idea! LOL

billvill, on 08 July 2011 - 05:18 AM, said:

Let em all go, then merge the remaining WCHA, CCHA teams for a 10 team league, Then tell Notre Dame to go **** themselves, HE doesn't want their elitist bs.
Call it the WCCHA, at least then the two Alaska teams would have 4 fewer lower 48 travel games and the core of the teams would center on the Great Lakes region. I do like the idea of a Big 10 Conf for Hockey though it sets a dangerous precedent for D1 hockey programs that play small conferences in other sports.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

billvill, on 25 August 2011 - 02:57 PM, said:

What a good idea! LOL

lol. Probably a nail in the coffin for Huntsville which is sad. But it was looking more inevitable the longer it went. For Notre Dame, it'll be either NCHC or Hockey East, most likely NCHC. Not surprised either way, TV contract for WCCHA.....they'll probably have to pay up the ying for one now.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 25 August 2011 - 03:09 PM, said:

lol. Probably a nail in the coffin for Huntsville which is sad. But it was looking more inevitable the longer it went. For Notre Dame, it'll be either NCHC or Hockey East, most likely NCHC. Not surprised either way, TV contract for WCCHA.....they'll probably have to pay up the ying for one now.

Too bad for UAH. I'd like to see them hook on somewhere.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Hockey East presser at 2PM today......uh-oh.






















To announce a special outdoor game I believe...hopefully that's all it is.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 26 August 2011 - 09:13 AM, said:

Hockey East presser at 2PM today......uh-oh.






















To announce a special outdoor game I believe...hopefully that's all it is.

LOL. Very funny.

Yup, Bertagna to announce Vermont-Massachusetts, New Hampshire-Maine games at frozen Fenway.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

billvill, on 26 August 2011 - 09:17 AM, said:

LOL. Very funny.

Yup, Bertagna to announce Vermont-Massachusetts, New Hampshire-Maine games at frozen Fenway.

Why no BC/BU/Harvard at Fenway?? I figured if they're gonna do something like this, at least get a beanpotter in the house.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 26 August 2011 - 09:25 AM, said:

Why no BC/BU/Harvard at Fenway?? I figured if they're gonna do something like this, at least get a beanpotter in the house.

BC/BU did it last year, and Haaaavaaahd isn't well liked in HE. They tolerate them in the Beanpot because there aren't any other Boston D-1 schools to round out the 4th.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Bill, you're more in contact w/Hockey East. Is there a chance that Vermont will bring many more fans than Umass, even in Fenway? I'm not sure about the UMass fanbase. Would be weird to see a sea of green and gold drowning out a few Umass fans.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 26 August 2011 - 09:31 AM, said:

Bill, you're more in contact w/Hockey East. Is there a chance that Vermont will bring many more fans than Umass, even in Fenway? I'm not sure about the UMass fanbase. Would be weird to see a sea of green and gold drowning out a few Umass fans.

I would say it's going to be 50/50. Vermont fans travel far better than UMass fans generally, but the novelty of the event will bring in fans from both campuses. Both schools are pretty far from Fenway.

[coach bob]

Vermont has about a 3 hour ride to Boston and UMass has about an 1.5-2 hr ride. There are an incredible amout of fans, as Bill said, that will travel to see both teams. I'll be curious to see if they clear the stands or if they will treat it as a double header.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

Jay McKee has resigned as assistant coach with Niagara, to join the Americans.

Jay and the Americans



His singing voice sounds different than I thought it would.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

NHL watches as colleges wage war with Canadian junior hockey Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2011-08-30/nhl-colleges-wage-war-with-canadian-junior-hockey-ohl-whl-qmjhl#ixzz1WiWZY8nB

Until the NCAA changes it's first contact rules, they will continue to lose this war. A lot of 18-19 year old Mjunior players w/mangled knees..etc out there who probably wish they'd been better informed.

These advisors/agents in waiting don't help matters either.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 01 September 2011 - 11:02 AM, said:

NHL watches as colleges wage war with Canadian junior hockey Read more: http://aol.sportingnews.com/nhl/story/2011-08-30/nhl-colleges-wage-war-with-canadian-junior-hockey-ohl-whl-qmjhl#ixzz1WiWZY8nB

Until the NCAA changes it's first contact rules, they will continue to lose this war. A lot of 18-19 year old Mjunior players w/mangled knees..etc out there who probably wish they'd been better informed.

These advisors/agents in waiting don't help matters either.

I agree, but if I'm the parent of a kid who could potentially make it to the NHL, but not a bluechip (let's face it, just a fraction of them do make it), I'm recommending college hockey over juniors. I'd rest a little easier knowing my kid had a degree from a Hockey East school if his hockey career didn't pan out.

[21st Century Schizoid Man]

billvill, on 01 September 2011 - 11:14 AM, said:

I agree, but if I'm the parent of a kid who could potentially make it to the NHL, but not a bluechip (let's face it, just a fraction of them do make it), I'm recommending college hockey over juniors. I'd rest a little easier knowing my kid had a degree from a Hockey East school if his hockey career didn't pan out.

I believe there is far more going on "under the table" in the CHL world than people really realize. What scares me to death, is these advisors/agents in waiting using six figure under the table payments in order to sway potential clients parents'. They have to eat too, and 20% of 100k if you can string 3 or 4 a year ain't too shabby.

[billvill]

21st Century Schizoid Man, on 01 September 2011 - 11:18 AM, said:

I believe there is far more going on "under the table" in the CHL world than people really realize. What scares me to death, is these advisors/agents in waiting using six figure under the table payments in order to sway potential clients parents'. They have to eat too, and 20% of 100k if you can string 3 or 4 a year ain't too shabby.

There's no doubt about it, I think a lot of folks north of the border are looking the other way. The problem is, the CHL doesn't really have to answer to anybody. Their administrators turn a blind eye while agents and coaches rape these kids.