Category: college hockey (Page 5 of 19)

A College Hockey Geek’s Guide to Day 1 of NHL Free Agency

1 July, 2010 / Kat

Derek Stepan is just one of 8 former college players listed in today's Transactions. (Photo: BroadwayHockeyDaily.com)

Thursday’s start to the NHL Free Agent signing period was a nice pace of busy – just enough to keep die-hards engaged, but not so much as to seem like free agents were being tossed like slippery fish in Pike’s Place Fish Market in Seattle.

For us college hockey fans out there, many of the giant moves of the day had little to do with college hockey alumni. That isn’t to say that college hockey alumni stayed still – some moved, one officially left early, and we found a blog favorite swapped right before bedtime on free agency eve. A few quick notes for college hockey fans looking to keep up with Day 1:

– University of Vermont hangs with the Gophers and Badgers. Of the eight college hockey players (my own hand count – feel free to call me out if I’m wrong) changing hands or signing deals since late Wednesday evening, two were from the University of Vermont: Martin St. Louis (whose four year contract extension with the Lightning was previously announced but officially went through today) and The Swedish, blog favorite Viktor Stalberg (who found himself a part of a giant deal where he was swapped with others by the Maple Leafs in exchange for Chicago Blackhawks Kris Versteeg and Bill Sweatt, a Colorado College alum.) The Catamounts tied with the University of Wisconsin and the University of Minnesota for the most amount of former college players listed on the transaction wire in the past 24 hours (2 each). Now about that “former players” bit, Badgers….

– Derek Stepan officially ended his college career today. Stepan, the WCHA leader in points and assists this past season, ended his collegiate elgibility by agreeing to terms with the New York Rangers (quite the college hockey friendly franchise, eh?) He played two seasons for the Badgers, and captained the victorious squad at this year’s World Junior Championships. Not a shocking early leave, but still a early college departure in a season chock full of them…

– The State of Hockey gets one of their own. St. Cloud State alum Matt Cullen was signed to a three year deal by the Minnesota Wild today, after playing with the Carolina Hurricanes and Ottawa Senators this past year. Cullen is from Virginia, MN, giving him what is sure to be the “Little Boy In Minnesota” dream trifecta: grow up in Minnesota, play college hockey in Minnesota, then play professional hockey in Minnesota. Awww. I’m such a sucker for those stories.

Your list for Day 1, with help from TSN.ca (Happy Canada Day!)

– Toronto swapped Viktor Stalberg (UVM-Hockey East) and two others for Bill Sweatt (CC-WCHA) and Kris Versteeg from Chicago.

– Martin St. Louis (UVM back during the ECAC days) signed a four-year contract extentsion with Tampa Bay.

– Derek Stepan (Wisc.-WCHA) agrees to terms with the New York Rangers officially, thus ending his elgibility two years early.

– Matt Cullen (St. Cloud State – WCHA) signs a three year deal with the Minnesota Wild.

-Adam Burish (Wisc. – WCHA) signed a two year deal with the Dallas Stars after spending three seasons with Chicago.

– Jordan Leopold (Minn. – WCHA) signs a three year contract with the Buffalo Sabres.

-Jonathan Matsumoto (Bowling Green – CCHA) signed a two-year, two-way contract with Carolina. He’s spent his four pro seasons in the Phantoms organization in the AHL.

-Paul Martin (Minn. – WCHA) signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins, after spending his entire pro thus far with the New Jersey Devils. (I initially forgot this, and didn’t see it listed when I was investigating the TSN transactions list Thursday evening, but big thanks to Laurel for reminding me.)

Drafting the Night Away (A SportsGirlKat NHL Draft Preview)

24 June, 2010 / Kat

This year’s coverage of the NHL Draft is some of the best I’ve ever seen in any sport. Much of that is due to the social media saturation of hockey, a sport whose earlier decline led to an early adoption of social media, which has led in part to a public resurgence. (But that is a story for another evening.)

While I seriously lack any unique knowledge or insights, I wanted to share some of the story lines, Twitters and blogs I’m following as the draft unfolds this weekend.

– Are the NHL scouts as high on Charlie Coyle as we all are?

Could BU bound Charlie Coyle be the first college player taken in the draft? the most optimistic of projections have him going in the late first round, and even the college-player-shy Boston Bruins have worked out and dined the Massachusetts local. Will Coyle be the sixth BU player to be the first college player picked in the draft in history? (Fun facts provided by these interesting-to-college-hockey-geek-me College Hockey News charts.)

Not so fast, says SB Nation’s In Lou We Trust. While the rest of the media have been touting Coyle’s upside, this New Jersey Devils blog is a great summation of some realistic reviews of his ability. Will his offensive playmaking translate over from his EJHL days? While I believe the dismissal of the EJHL as a “weak league” is incorrect, I may agree with In Lou We Trust that Coyle’s talent on bigger stages may not be easily predictable.

I did speak with one person deep in the know in the EJHL last Friday who says that BU fans won’t be disappointed in Coyle, and that he is quite fun to watch. Could it be that Coyle is one great college hockey player – one BU fans sorely need after having all the fun sucked out of their 2009-10 season – but not first or second round draft pick worthy? Continue reading

A Former Terrier Gets A Do-Over

9 June, 2010 / Kat

Photo: BU Athletics

On June 20, Fox Sports Network will begin airing Season 2 of Replay The Series, a series focused on enabling rematches of games from participants’ younger years. This season will focus on a 1999 hockey game between Detroit Central Catholic and Trenton High School that was stopped mid-game when a Trenton player suffered a severe injury to his jugular vein.

While Central Catholic continued on that season to have a championship season, Trenton couldn’t rebound from the horrific injury. Gatorade, the series sponsor, set out to recreate the game to allow the two teams to finish – including the severely injured Trenton player.

The actual game and the rematch featured a former BU captain and his Providence College standout twin brother. Brad and Tony Zancanaro played for Trenton High in 1999, and are key players in the rematch. You’ll be able to spot them in the featured clips on the series’ website. Brad was captain of the Terriers in 2005-06, while his brother Tony was one of the key cogs of the Friars from 2003-07. Immediately following Trenton’s disappointing 1999 season, both brothers went on to play in the USHL and NAHL before beginning their collegiate careers.

This Week In College Hockey Withdrawal – May 23, 2010

23 May, 2010 / Kat

Just 131 days until October 2, the first day Division I men’s college hockey teams can officially practice. Continue your countdown with these links, including a whole host of schedule news.

Kevin Roeder won the ECHL Kelly Cup this weekend with the Cincinnati Cyclones. (Photo: Shawn Raecke \ Idaho Statesman)

– Former Miami defenseman Kevin Roeder would be getting absolutely sick by journalists reminding him that Colby Cohen’s winning shot in the 2009 National Championship game deflected off him, but he’s too busy winning the ECHL Kelly Cup with the Cincinnati Cyclones.

– Frozen Four participant Wisconsin announced their 2010-11 schedule on Thursday, including confirmation that they will face BU in the opening round of the Icebreaker Tournament on October 8th. This year’s Icebreaker takes place in St. Louis, MO at the Scottrade Center, and also includes Notre Dame and Holy Cross. BU won the Icebreaker in October 2008, when it was hosted at Agganis Arena; Wisconsin last participated in the Icebreaker in 2002.

– In other neutral game site news, Union will play Jerry D’Amigo and the RPI Engineers in Lake Placid on October 30th. Union will also be a part of the Dodge Holiday Classic, along with Ferris State, Bemidji State and Minnesota, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

– Denver joined Wisconsin and Union in releasing their schedule this week, and have already boasted/complained about how tough it is. Yes, if you lost as many players to the pros and were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Regionals after jockeying for the number 1 ranking all season, you would be complaining about everything possible as well.

– No, BU fans, you’re not seeing crazy things on future University of Minnesota-Duluth rosters. Their Adam Krause plays offense and adds a “e” at the end of Kraus. Krause will play for the USHL’s Chicago Steel next season, before reporting to Duluth in 2011.

This Week in College Hockey Withdrawal: May 5, 2010

5 May, 2010 / Kat

Let’s skip this whole “BU no longer has a team” talk. We’re just eliminating all the taller players – it works for BC after all. There’s so much I would love to say about the Saponaris being dismissed from the Boston University hockey team, but it’s all already been said.

Merrimack's favorite hockey player: The Flying Frenchman Stephane Da Costa

Da Costa is busy reppin' France. (Photo: Merrimack Athletics)

With that out of the way, here’s my newest idea to keep me blogging every single day: This Week in College Hockey Withdrawal. Because the Pittsburgh Penguins may have a whopping 14 ex-college guys on their active playoff roster, but that only makes me miss college hockey more.

– The University of Maine officially released their 2010-11 schedule on Wednesday. One of the surprises for me is that the Black Bears and BU will not face each other Valentine’s Day weekend, which is unusual. 2010-11 is Maine’s year to host two games in that matchup, and they will do so on January 28th and 29th.

– Merrimack’s Stephane Da Costa is a part of the France squad at the IIHF World Championships that start up this weekend. Da Costa’s brother, Teddy, who usually plays in Poland, will also play on the team. Da Costa and his fellow Frenchmen skated an exhibition against the USA (a team which has only two players that didn’t participate in college hockey according to the sharp fact finding of Joe Yerdon) on Tuesday. Those two non-college guys on team USA (Brandon Dubinsky and Nick Foligno) each had two assists in the 3-1 win.

– The guys over at BC Interruption find themselves talking college hockey when discussing the “Boston College to the Big Ten” rumors. Would an Eagles move to the Big Ten force the conference to add college hockey? My question: Would a big money conference like the Big Ten even want to do so in the age of Title IX? Also, who says it would be worth the conference’s while, given that the popularity of college hockey dropped off after its 2009 surge?