Good morning college hockey fans. Here are some of the stories that are making the news today.
This is one of the most exciting times in the college hockey season. For most teams, the stretch run is officially here. For most of the conferences, there are roughly 6-8 games left in the college hockey season before the playoffs begin. Teams are feverously preparing for the stretch run.
If you want to see where you team is currently sitting and their chances of making the NCAA tourney, here’s a link to check out. [ Playoff Status]
During the last week, there have been numerous articles written about the state of the Big Ten Hockey Conference.
In my humble opinion, think one of the biggest problems facing the Big Ten is that a non-hockey commissioner is running a big time college hockey league. In the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, commissioner, Josh Fenton has a wealth of experience when it comes to running a college hockey conference.
Maybe the Big Ten should look to former Central Collegiate Hockey Association commissioner and current Michigan State Unversity head coach Tom Anastos.
For those that don’t know, Big Ten deputy commissioner Brad Traviolia oversees the Big Ten hockey conference was a wrestler with Northwestern during his collegiate days.
In my opinion, for a college hockey league to be successful, that league needs to have a person college hockey experience, or at a minimum a person that knows the ins and out of college hockey. Tradition is very important with college hockey. Rivalries don’t develop over time, they fester and build with familiarity.
Another problem with the Big Ten, is you have a lot of matchups that could be classified as unattractive. As a hockey fan, would you rather see OSU vs. Minnesota or more attractive matchups like Minnesota vs. North Dakota and or Minnesota vs. Denver? If you would rather watch OSU and UMN, I don’t know what to tell you.
Have a great Friday.
Links
Big Ten’s Traviolia weighs in on fan frustrations, attendance, league’s future plans [USCHO.COM]
Finally, the UND hockey teams is back to full strength. [UND Hockey Blog]
The University of Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs are probably going to have to win the NCHC tourney to make the NCAA playoffs: College men’s hockey: Hard way only way left for UMD after loss to Bemidji State [Duluth News Tribune]
Bemidji State Hockey: Road trip continues with key series at Lake Superior State [Bemidji Pioneer]
Minnesota-Hockey: B1G Idiot Leads Big Ten Hockey [ Daily Gopher]
MEN’S HOCKEY: Poolman a big piece for UND [Grand Forks Herald]
WOMEN’S HOCKEY: UND’s German-born defenseman and Crookston-born forward have become inseparable [Grand Forks Herald]
UND HOCKEY: For the first time this season, UND has a full lineup available [Grand Forks Herald]
DU-UND 1994: The Last of the Great College Hockey Brawls [Let’s Go DU]
Some Pairwise news from Jim Dahl: North Dakota eyeing taking #1 from Quinnipiac, but don’t count out St. Cloud [collegehockeyranked.com]
North Dakota Fans Begin to Arrive [Let’s Go DU]
Matt VanVoorhis grew up North Dakota fan, dreamed of playing for Denver Pioneers [Denver Post]
Breaking Down the NCHC Conference Races [SBN College Hockey]
Gophers-Ohio State men’s hockey game preview [Star Tribune]
Between the Lines: Potpourri [College Hockey News]
Quinnipiac hockey living on edge, but still successful [New Haven Register]
