College Hockey Update:  We’re back after a long hiatus, a short bout with the coronavirus, etc…  No, we’ve never taken this big of a break.  We’ll cover the top twenty teams at least for now, and give you their most recent results, even if it means going back in time for a couple of them.  Sadly, we’ve gone so far that this is the last weekend of regular season play for four of the six conferences, and only Hockey East and the NCHC have one more weekend of regular season play.  So we’ll be covering the playoffs very, very soon.

Last weekend fourteen teams were in top-twenty matchups, and here we go with them. Michigan held at #2 after hosting and sweeping Ohio State, edging the Buckeyes down to #12; and Denver held at #3 after splitting their weekend at Western Michigan, as the Broncos held at #6.  North Dakota moved up two spots to #7 after sweeping their weekend at Minnesota-Duluth, edging the Bulldogs down to #8; and Massachusetts-Amherst held at #10 after splitting its home-and-home weekend with Connecticut, edging the Huskies up to #19.  Boston University moved up four notches to #13 after beating Northeastern in the Beanpot Tournament Championship game on Monday, Feb. 14th, in the Boston Garden, and Northeastern in addition split its home-and-home weekend with Boston College, all adding up to Northeastern dropping two rungs to #15; Massachusetts-Lowell held at #16 after splitting its home-and-home weekend with Providence, and the Friars held at #19 on the results; and Clarkson dropped two slots to #17 after losing at Cornell, and having won at Colgate the previous night, as Cornell held at #18 (Cornell had hosted and lost to St. Lawrence the previous night).

Mankato State held at #1 after hosting and sweeping Bemidji State; Minnesota edged up to #4 after sweeping their weekend at Pennsylvania State; and Quinnipiac edged down  to #5 after beating Dartmouth, and losing to Harvard.  Notre Dame moved up three spots to #9 after sweeping their weekend at Michigan State; St. Cloud State dropped three notches after getting swept on their weekend at Nebraska-Omaha; and Michigan Tech held at #14 after splitting their weekend at Ferris State.

COLLEGE HOCKEY UPDATE FEATURED PLAYER

Last weekend Michigan had huge help from its freshman defenseman Luke Hughes, who scored two goals in his team’s 5-3 win Friday night, and scored another goal in his team’s 3-0 win Saturday night, as Michigan swept Ohio State. Hughes is tied for second on his team in goals scored, with sixteen, and is tied for fifth in assists, with sixteen.  His hometown of Canton, MI., his home to 99,000 residents spread among its 36 square miles, and sits at an elevation of 680 feet.  It was first settled in 1825 and then organized in 1834.  It sits 31 miles west of downtown Detroit, and 18 miles east of the University of Michigan campus.  Luke was drafted with the fourth pick in the 2021 NHL entry draft.  He is from a heck of a hockey family!  That #4 pick makes him average in his household, as his brother Quinn, who played at Michigan as well, and is now a defenseman with the Vancouver Canucks, was picked #7 in the 2018 draft; and his brother Jack was picked #1 in the 2019 draft and now plays center with the New Jersey Devils.  His dad, Jim, played four years as a defenseman at Providence College.

Last Friday night Ohio State got on the board first in the final seconds of the first period to make it 1-0 going into the first break.  But Michigan scored twice in the first four minutes of the second, first by Thomas Bordeleau, then by Luke Hughes, to make it 2-1, Michigan.  Dylan Duke made it 3-1 on a short-handed goal just four minutes later.  Ohio State managed to cut the lead to 3-2 only fifteen seconds later, the score going into the second break.  In the third, Ohio State tied it up at three on a power play goal four minutes into the period.  Michigan pull ahead again, 4-3, scored a short handed goal nine minutes later, and with time running out, Luke Hughes found the empty net to make the final 5-3, Michigan.  Saturday night Michigan blanked Ohio State 3-0 on goals in the first, second, and third, by Philippe Lapointe, Luke Hughes, and Mark Estapa, respectively.

The University of Michigan was founded in 1817 in Detroit, and moved to Ann Arbor in 1837.  Today its 30,000 undergraduates and 16,000 graduate students are enrolled on its 860 acre campus upon which 584 buildings are located.  Michigan has thirteen undergraduate schools and colleges, and eighteen graduate schools and colleges.  The late President Gerald Ford was a Michigan Alumnus.  Michigan is a member of the Big Ten, and its teams are called the Wolverines.  The Hockey program started in 1920, and has won nine NCAA Championships, the most of any school; its most recent titles were won in 1996 and 1998.  Michigan plays its games at Yost Ice Arena, which was built in 1923 as a field house, and was converted to an Ice Hockey Arena in 1973; it seats 5,800.  Mel Pearson is in his fifth season as Michigan’s Head Coach, and his teams have compiled a 93-62-16 record to date, including a 22-15-3 record, NCAA Tournament appearance, and Frozen Four appearance in his first season, and a 15-10-1 record, and trip to the NCAA Tournament last year.  Pearson played college hockey at Michigan Tech, graduating in 1981, and then coached for 23 years at Michigan as an assistant to Red Berenson; he then left Michigan to become the Head Coach at Michigan Tech for six seasons.  In 2014-15 his Michigan Tech team went 29-10-2 and appeared in the NCAA Tournament; in 2016-17 his Tech team went 23-15-7 and also appeared in the NCAA Tournament.  He succeeded Berenson, who retired in 2017 after 33 years as Head Coach at Michigan. Michigan, 25-7-1, and ranked #2, will close out its regular season play as they travel to play two games at #9 Notre Dame, tonight and tomorrow night.

THIS WEEKEND

This weekend features four top-twenty matchups, with #1 Mankato State playing two at #14 Michigan Tech; #2 Michigan playing two at #9 Notre Dame; #5 Quinnipiac hosting #18 Cornell for one game tonight; and #6 Western Michigan playing two at #7 North Dakota.

This provides the top twenty teams, rankings, records, and most recent results:

[table id=232 /]

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

— Tom