College Hockey Update:  Testing, testing.  1-2, 1-2.  Is this thing on?  Ok, we’re back.  College hockey is well underway, so let’s get to it!

Ok, once I got this started, I realize I no longer have my email lists of readers (I use webmail from my ISP, we changed ISPs last summer, and I lost a ton of emails, including those).  So there won’t be a daytime email on this posting, only the night time posting email, which will make this even more ancient history then it would have been had you been notified, and read this, Friday afternoon.  By the time you get notice of this, Friday night’s games will already be over!  So chalk this up to shaking off some rust, and I hope to be more timely with the next one.  Now, as regards LAST WEEK’S games among the top ten teams . . . .

Minnesota-Duluth edged up to #1 after hosting and sweeping Alaska-Fairbanks; Mankato State edged down to #2 after splitting its weekend at Lake Superior State; and Michigan edged up to #3 after hosting and sweeping Niagara.  Western Michigan edged up to #6 on its sweep at St. Lawrence; North Dakota edged down to #7 after hosting and splitting with Minnesota; and Cornell edged up to #9 after beating Boston University in New York at Madison Square Garden in the annual “Red Hot Hockey” game between the two.  An idle Quinnipiac edged down to #4; idle St. Cloud State held at #5; idle Notre Dame held at #8; and idle Nebraska-Omaha edged down to #10.

Last Friday night in Duluth it was all Bulldogs as Carter Loney scored on a power play only five minutes into the period (assist by Kobe Roth).  Alaska tied it up nine minutes into the second, but Duluth went ahead 2-1 on a goal by Noah Cates nine minutes later.  UMD really opened it up in the third with goals by Kobe Roth four minutes into the period, then by Blake Biondi seven minutes later, and finally by Ben Almquist with a minute left in the game, giving UMD the 5-1 win.  UMD badly out-shot Alaska in every period, for a total shot count of 37 vs. 11.  Saturday night played very differently as Alaska showed more offense, and was able to hold UMD off for three periods, which ended in a 0-0 tie.  But in OT it only took half a minute for Noah Cates to score the winning 1-0 goal.  UMD dominated the game, but not as badly as Friday night, as they out-shot Alaska 34-19.  You might ask . . . . Cates scored two goals, why did you feature Roth?  Two answers.  My answer to the public would be “I’m rooting for the role players.”  My real answer is, “I’m shaking some rust off . . . . ”

So, Kobe Roth is far from a role player.  He has been a serious contributor to the team for half a decade (as of the end of this season).  In fact, he scored thirteen goals in each of the last two seasons.  His hometown of Warroad is something to note.  Seven miles south of Canada, at an elevation of about 1,100 feet, this town of 1,800 folks is not to be taken lightly as regards weather.  The all-time high here is 103 degrees, and the all-time low is -55 degrees.  In January the average high is 13 degrees, and the average low is -9 degrees.  Suffice it to say, if you go there in the winter, you should take a warm jacket.  Warroad is the hometown of some other folks who accomplished great things in hockey in the past, and the crowd I am thinking of are all in the same family.  Dave Christian was a member of the 1980 gold medal Olympic hockey team.  His dad, Bill, and uncle, Roger, were both members of the 1960 gold medal Olympic hockey team.  His uncle Roger was on the 1956 silver medal Olympic hockey team.  And Dave’s nephew is Brock Nelson, currently playing center on the New York Islanders.

This weekend features one top-ten matchup, as #5 St. Cloud State hosts #7 North Dakota for two games.  Should be a killer weekend.  Always worth going online and listening to the St. Cloud State games on KNSI 1450 AM/99.3 FM.

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

[table id=230 /]

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

— Tom