College Hockey Update:  Well, howdy again, amid a really unusual college hockey season. We have a number of teams that have not yet played a game, while some teams have already managed to get in eight.  Teams in the Big Ten have been pretty aggressive about playing, and have been traveling to opponent campuses.  Atlantic Hockey is doing the same thing and has squeezed in about half as many games as the Big Ten has played up to this point.  In the NCHC, teams are playing all the games at Nebraska-Omaha.  Hockey East has played very few games.  There seems to be no such thing as the ECAC (yet?), perhaps due in large part to the Ivy League, the source of about half the ECAC teams, had cancelled sports.  No one attends the games.  Well, no exactly no one.  In the Big Ten, they appear to be admitting very small audiences by the attendance figures.  Two games at Michigan State had attendance of 100, and 88.  The barn burner that I found was a game at Pennsylvania State, which at attendance of 166.

Now I know I’m a stick in the mud about things such as players on teams for two years, or even only one, and then leaving, and asking how this is college hockey.  But . . . . how is THIS college hockey?  And what is the point of college sports?  In my crazy, pollyanna, idealistic world, I still want to think that the point of it is to infuse a great sense of belonging to a school. To bring students together, and have them cheer on a team in common — to add to the experience of being in college.  Please forgive my naivety, but if not that . . . . then what?  So, with a lot of campuses empty or near empty . . . . what’s the point?  And how does sending all teams to Omaha fit the bill?  And in particular, how about no one can attend?  I’m just daffy enough to think it is really a strange thing that a college could have a basketball arena that seats 22,000, and students can’t go!  Well, that’s of course is an exaggeration.  As we all know, they do allocate about 700 student seats, available through lotteries!  700 would be about 3% of attendance, and about 2-3% of the student enrollment . . . .  and if they can’t get in on the lottery, tickets might be had for only about $80 to $125, well within most student budgets!  Oh, but I have digressed far too much here, and you may well not agree with these sentiments.

I’m going to cram a lot of reporting in to what follows, going back to last Friday, and covering games played this week up to last night, many after the poll came out on Monday.  Some of these teams are playing a whole lot of games right now . . . .

Last week saw some top ten matchups as North Dakota held at #1 with a win over Denver, knocking the Pioneers down four spots to #9 (North Dakota also beat Western Michigan, and after the poll, lost to Denver this week, and tied #3 Minnesota-Duluth as well; Denver additionally lost to St. Cloud State on the weekend, dropping four pegs to #9, but then beat North Dakota and Miami of Ohio after the poll came out).  Boston College held at #2 after sweeping a home-and-home series from Providence; Minnesota-Duluth held at #3 after beating Miami of Ohio on the weekend, then again after the poll (a sweep that straddled the poll), then followed by the tie with North Dakota last night.

Minnesota edged up to #4 on its sweep at Michigan State, and then swept Michigan after the poll came out; and Michigan moved up two spaces to #5 after losing to Pennsylvania State, and then dropped two to Minnesota after the poll.  Mankato held at #6 after losing to Michigan Tech, then beat Michigan Tech after the poll; and Clarkson moved up two rungs to #7 on an idle weekend, then lost to Niagara after the poll.  Mass-Lowell protected its position on an idle weekend, remaining 0-0-0, and moved up two notches to #8; and Massachusetts dropped two slots to #10 after splitting a home and home series with Merrimack College.

Last week North Dakota had huge help from senior forward, and captain, Jordan Kawaguchi, of Abbotsford, B.C., who scored two goals and added four assists as well over four games in the last week.  The 5’9″ forward is tied for third on his team in goals scored, with two, and is tied for first in assists, with five.

North Dakota is coached by Brad Berry, who moved up from his assistant coach position in May of 2015 after Dave Hakstol became the head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers.  Berry, a former NHL Defenseman, is from Bashaw, ALB., and played college hockey at North Dakota. In addition to nine years as an assistant at North Dakota, he spent a year as a scout for the Dallas Stars and two years as an assistant coach for the Columbus Blue Jackets.  Berry is now in his sixth season as head coach, and his teams have compiled a 119-58-24 record to date, including two trips to the NCAA Tournament, taking the title in 2016, his first season.  The Hawks are ranked #1 with a record of 3-0-0, not including a loss and a tie since the poll.  They will play an astounding five games over the next nine days: One against #3 Minnesota-Duluth; Two against #13 St. Cloud State; One against Western Michigan; and One against Miami University of Ohio.

In addition to the top ten matchup of UMD vs North Dakota, #3 UMD will also face #9 Denver on Saturday.

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

[table id=219 /]

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

— Tom