Men’s Frozen Four

Another Frozen Four concludes, and another college hockey season comes to an end. It’s been a blast for me to cover Atlantic Hockey and do a national D-III blog this season, and it’s been a real pleasure and privilege to do the Frozen Four Blog this week. Hopefully, it’s given you a flavor of what … Read more

It was a lighthearted but emotional press conference for the Spartans, who fulfilled the dream that every college hockey player has – to hold the trophy aloft after winning the final game of the season. The rest of the USCHO crew will have all the details with a variety of recaps and features. I am … Read more

Tim Kennedy – Michigan State Justin Abdelkader – Michigan State Nathan Gerbe – Boston College Tyler Howells – Michigan State Brian Boyle – Boston College Jeff Lerg – Michigan State MVP: Justin Abdelkader

0:00: Twenty minutes to go. Maybe. 0:00: Miscellaneous factoid: BC is 23-1 when leading after two periods this season. 1:10: A great chance by the Spartans has the crowd buzzing. Kennedy puts one through the crease behind Schneider. Right after, Abdelkader goes to the box for interference. 3:39: BC with a couple of good chances, … Read more

3:34: BC gets its second power play of the game when Abdelkader hooks Benn Ferriero in front of the Spartan net. The Eagles’ power play is clicking at 35% over the last 13 games. 5:00: Another State hooking call – Crowder goes off. 5×3 for BC. 6:14: Lerg comes up huge on Ben Smith, who … Read more

I’ll be liveblogging the finals from the pressbox high atop the Scottrade Center. As with the semifinals, there will be a separate blog post for each period. Reload to see updates as each period progresses. Here are the line charts: Michigan State Forwards: Kennedy-Abdelkader-Crowder Lerg-Mueller-McKenzie (starters) Schepke-Sucharski-Sprague Lawrence-McClellan (Michigan State using an extra defenseman) Michigan … Read more

How the Eagles win: Keep doing what they’ve been doing. The Long Run is now at 13 games, the longest under coach Jerry York. Over that span, BC has outscored its opponents 61-23. “We’ve had some bounces,” York said. “Maybe just good Karma going on.” “Around Beanpot time, we decided to look in the mirror … Read more

A few of the 300 ways Michigan State can win: Be physical. Negate the Eagle’s speed with size and intensity. “We can’t try to play BC’s game,” said Spartan coach Rick Comley. “We just have to go out and be who we are…We’re not as quick as they are, and I think they score better … Read more

It’s about four hours to game time and the USCHO crew is getting ready to head over to the rink. It’s only about a four block walk to the Scottrade Center, albeit through unseasonably cold weather here in St. Louis. We were Glad to get an invitation to a party last night hosted by my … Read more

My favorite quotes so far: “Well, I’m working on a five-star sudoku. It’s taking me a while. It’s probably going to take me until six o’clock tomorrow night.” – Michigan State coach Rick Comley’s opening remark in Friday’s press conference. “I didn’t think when I was riding the pine in Junior B hockey that I’d … Read more

They just finished up with the Hobey and Humanitarian presentations to a pair of worthy winners in Ryan Duncan and Kristin Savard. But as someone who has been to these things since the early 90s, I’m not sure that the new and improved way of presenting the awards is better. Let’s start with the Hobey. … Read more

OK, I’m an Atlantic Hockey guy – I cover the league for USCHO.com and do radio for RIT – but even if I wasn’t, I’d be rooting for Eric Ehn to win the Hobey Baker Award. Not that I don’t think the other two finalists don’t deserve to win, on the contrary I can make … Read more

Last night during the second semifinal, the press was notified of the death of the mother-in-law of Maine coach Tim Whitehead. She passed away suddenly prior to the Black Bears’ loss to Michigan State. We were asked to respect the privacy of Coach Whitehead and his family and we are of course honoring that and … Read more

I’m still in the pressbox at an empty Scottrade Center, watching the press conferences on closed-circuit TV (the rest of the USCHO gang is there in person, asking questions). North Dakota is up first, and Chris Porter, the Sioux captain said it all. “We never gave up,” he said. “We fought hard ’till the end.” … Read more

And we’re about to get underway. Reload often for updates. 0:00: The Eagles’ Brock Bradford took a holding penalty at the buzzer at the end of the second period, so North Dakota starts the period with a man advantage. 2:00: Penalty over. 5:10: This period has been evenly played so far. The Toews-Duncan-Oshie line has … Read more

0:00 : BC starts the period on the power play, and Brian Boyle is a force down low, but the Eagles fail to score. 2:20: One too many Eagles means a power play for the Sioux. 3:15: North Dakota gets the lead back with a power play goal. Oshie’s shot from a tight angle rebounds … Read more

We’re about to get underway in Game 2. Here are your linecharts: North Dakota Forwards: Duncan-Toews-Oshie Watkins-VAndeVelde-Porter Fabian-Kalp-Kozek Radke-Zajac-Miller North Dakota Defense: Chorney-Lee Finley-Bina Jones-Genoway North Dakota Goal: Lamoureux Boston College Forwards: Gerbe-Smith-Bradford Rooney-Bertram-Ferriero Price-Greene-Gannon Kucharski-Lombardi-Orpik Boston College Defense Boyle-Brennan Filangieri-Motherwell O’Hanley-Sneep Boston College Goal: Schneider 0:00: Definitely more Sioux fans in the house. Either … Read more

Postgame thoughts: Maine came out a few minutes after the game and saluted their fans. A tough end to a great season that saw the Black Bears come up short again. Maine has made an impressive nine straight appearances in the NCAA Tournament, including six Frozen Four appearances over that span. Nothing flashy from the … Read more

0:00: And we’re underway. The joint is about 60% full. 2:34: State’s Graham goes off for tripping, and Maine has a golden opportunity right off the bat. With Lerg down and out, Leveille’s shot at an open net hits a body in front and then caroms off the crossbar. 4:34: Penalty over. Maine 0-2 on … Read more

We’re in between the first and second periods of Game 1. Thanks to the wireless going up and down like a yo-yo and nonstop action in the first period, I haven’t had a chance to post the line combinations. Here they are: Maine Forwards: Soares-Leveille-Johnson Ryan-Hamilton-Purcell Shepheard-deKastrozza-Bellamy Hahn-Clark-Laise Maine Defense: Lundin-Duffy Tyler-Ramsey Hopson-Danis-Pepin Maine Goal: … Read more