Well it’s back, the greatest sport we have.  Yep, the college hockey season has begun.  Last weekend at the Ice Breaker in Erie, PA., Notre Dame tied Mercyhurst, and then beat Providence; Notre Dame held onto the #2 ranking, and Providence (after beating Miami-Ohio the night before) edged down to #5.  Mankato State jumped up four spots to #7 after sweeping visiting Boston University and knocking them down five pegs to #13 — it looks like it will be a very, very long season for the BU team and fans, and especially their new first-year coach Albie O’Connell.  Unranked Wisconsin jumped into the top twenty at #15 after sweeping Boston College, knocking BC down six notches to #18; and Bowling Green moved up three slots to #17 after beating Western Michigan Tuesday, October 9th (Bowling Green also managed a split on a home and home weekend with Robert Morris), as Western Michigan held at #19 (Western Michigan also won two in a home and home weekend with Ferris State).

Elsewhere, Ohio State held at #1 on its sweep at Arizona State; Minnesota-Duluth held at #3 on its sweep at Michigan Tech; and St. Cloud State edged up to #4 on its sweep at Alaska-Fairbanks.  Denver edged down to #9 after winning at Air Force, and hosting and beating Alabama-Huntsville; Penn State moved up six slots to #10 after hosting and sweeping Clarkson, knocking Clarkson out of the top twenty; and Northeastern moved up three spots after visiting and sweeping Sacred Heart.  North Dakota dropped three pegs to #16 after a loss and a tie with Bemidji state on a home and home weekend; and Union College entered the top twenty at #20 after they hosted, tied, and beat Nebraska-Omaha.  An idle Minnesota held at #6; idle Cornell edged down to #8; idle Michigan dropped two notches to #11; and an idle Princeton held at #14.

Last weekend #1 Ohio State had huge help in its Saturday night game at Arizona State from their junior forward Ronnie Hein.  The 6’0″ 188lb forward is from Chelsea, MI., which is about an hour drive, fifty miles west of, Detroit, and about ten miles from Ann Arbor.  He is currently first on his team in goals, with two, and is tied for eighth in assists with none.  As a sophomore he was eleventh in goals with four and tied for eleventh in assists, with eight; as a freshman he was ninth in goals with five, and was tied for fifteenth in assists with six.  Prior to Ohio State he played for two seasons on the Waterloo Blackhawks of the USHL, scoring fourteen goals and adding thirty-five assists over fifty-seven games.  His hometown of Chelsea is home to 5,000, and is four square miles.  It is also home to actor Jeff Daniels, who grew up there, and moved back in 1986 to raise his three children.  Apparently he thought that might be a better environment in which to raise children than in Hollywood.  Can you imagine that?

Ohio State had beaten Arizona State Friday night 3-2.  Saturday night Arizona State played another surprisingly even game against the visiting Buckeyes as the first period was scoreless, and Ohio State had a slim advantage in shots, 11-10, and the second was nearly identical, with the identical shot tally for each team.  But a huge difference came with one minute left in the second frame when Hein netted one for the 1-0 lead, which would be the game winning goal.  In the third Ohio State tallied a 13-7 shot advantage, but Arizona State goalie Joey Daccord played tough in the net, giving up only one more goal to Ohio State’s Mason Jobst on a penalty shot.  Daccord was pulled with two minutes left, and Ronnie Hein found the empty net with twenty seconds left, scoring his second goal of the night to give Ohio State the 3-0 shutout win.  Daccord stopped 33 of 35 shots on the net, and Ohio State’s Tommy Nappier stopped all 27 shots on his net.  Ohio State is 2-0-0, is ranked #1, and will host the University of Massachusetts-Amherst for two games this weekend.

This weekend there are three top twenty matchups as #7 Mankato State will travel to play two games at #16 North Dakota; #11 Michigan will host #19 Western Michigan tonight, and visit them tomorrow night; and #12 Northeastern will host #20 Union College for two games.

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and last week’s results:

[table id=175 /]

That’s all for now.  Stay tuned, and go Terriers!

— Tom