Ever wish you could get the latest scores when you were out on the road somewhere? Maybe you were sitting in traffic on the way home from a game, or maybe you just weren’t someplace where you could get to any of the online scoreboards out there. Maybe you were at a game and wished the PA announcer would update the out-of-town scores more often.

That’s all about to change. You can now get live, in-progress score updates on your cell phone — or other handheld wireless device — using College Hockey News‘ new Wireless Scoreboard.

It’s simple — just put “scores.collegehockeynews.com” into your phone, and you’re all set. Bookmark the page for easy access in the future.

There’s more information here. Just remember that while there isn’t a charge to use our new service, wireless charges through your provider may apply, mileage may vary, please drink responsibly, blah blah blah.

If you’ve seen Hockey East’s wireless scoreboard feature (we had something to do with that too), this one will be familiar to you.

This was what we had in mind last week when we told you about CHN’s new partnership with the RinkAtlas.com rink mapping system and team schedule calendars, and said more was coming soon.

As always, let us know what you think, and feel free to pass the word or tell us how you use the wireless scoreboard. Maybe we can convince management to come up with a special prize for the best story…

Comment on this Post ...

Until they are unseated, the WCHA is king of the college hockey landscape.

However, we might be seeing signs of resurgence in the eastern schools as these early non-conference games unfold.

Starting with the obvious, Maine is playing the best hockey of anyone in the country right now.  The Black Bears are 5-0-0 and 3 of those wins are over WCHA schools, in WCHA arenas.

New Hampshire opened their season on the road at Colorado College, and swept the Tigers 4-3 and 7-2.  RPI went into Denver and took a game from the Pioneers, and hung around for two periods in the second.  This is an RPI team picked to finish ninth in the ECAC.

Coming up this weekend SLU heads to Michigan Sate, Northeastern travles to Michigan and Boston College travels back to Wisconsin, in what will be the most talked about games of the week.  A BC sweep could further turn the tide to the eastern schools as early departures take their toll on the west.  I realize it’s still October, but come April the college landscape could be very different.

Here’s what Ron has to say about the weekend:

• How about Notre Dame? Crushing BC 7-1, then rolling over Providence 6-1 the following night. The only blemish on their record so far is a 3-2 OT loss to Minnesota State. Aside from that, they’ve been offensively dominant in the four other games they’ve played this season. Are they the real deal? 
• Vermoooont? Where are you?
• Is it just me or are there a lot more weekday games this year?
• The Canadian teams went 2-2-1 on Saturday against Bemidji State and an Ivy League foursome hitting the ice for the first time this season. There’s a bit of rust there, but once the Ivies are on skates, you know hockey season is in full swing and that’s a good thing.
• The WCHA is the only conference with a winning record against “Big 4″ teams with a 15-9-5 record.

Comment on this Post ...

I’m a regular joe, just like everyone else. So when I get a chance to go out for the evening, I take it. That being said, getting a chance to go out, doesn’t necessarily mean watching college hockey the entire evening.

So imagine my surprise when I return home to see the insanity that hit college hockey this evening.

So sure, my own Golden Knights look like they got a beatdown 5-1 at the hands of LSSU, but lets be honest, last week’s series at OSU left us all apprehensive of the Lakers, who came out firing Friday with a big win. Who thinks they’ll finish in 10th place now?

“But what else Ron?!” you say?!

Well for starters Nebraska-Omaha issuing a 10-1 final over Niagara shocks me. At least until I saw RPI squeaking out a 2-1 victory over Denver in a game most saw going to the Pioneers. But that’s all fine and dandy until I see Michgian Tech take out Vermont, and Maine take a four goal victory over North Dakota. At this point is it bizzaro world I say? Not so sure until on my way to the cotton candy stand I see that Notre Dame took out Boston College 7-1. What a world college hockey has become. Finally, every game, every night, anyone can be a winner, by a slim margin, or by a blowout.

Comment on this Post ...

RIT and Air Force open up their Atlantic Hockey season along with the rest of the now 10 team league.  Highlighted by the early season matchup between perennial league front runners Mercyhurst and Holy Cross.

In the ECAC the Ivy league schools open up with their annual exhibitions against Canadian schools, while the other six schools face off in some quality non-conference games.  Getting the most press is RPI head coach Seth Appert’s return to Denver for a pair of games.  Clarkson returns to Cheel to face LSSU in Jim Roque’s first return to Potsdam since 2000.

In the CCHA, Michigan looks to sweep Miami at Yost after defeating the Hawks last night 6-3.  This series was moved from Friday-Saturday to Thursday-Friday due to the Michigan football game.

In Hockey East Boston Universtiy splits a pair between Northeastern and Merrimack, and in the WCHA St. Cloud travels to Minnesota State, and Duluth travels to Madison. 

In non-conference play the best matchup is New Hampshire at Colorado College, but according to some the best rivalry takes place this weekend as Alaska and Alaska Anchorage square off for the Governers Cup.  The Maverick Stampede is also the weekend and features UNO, Niagara, Lowell and Northern Michigan.  Finally Ohio State travels to Minnesota in what will feature the return of Kellen Briggs from suspension.

Comment on this Post ...

We’re on to you USNTDP-U18 Team. You thought you could fool us, you thought could outsmart us, the American Public. Well we’ve caught on to your rouse, and frankly, we’re a little surprised. Until you get your act together, you’re on notice.

After sweeping through September defeating teams like the Texas Tornado and the North Iowa Blizzard, racking up a 6-0-0 record and a +26 goal differential, you had the swagger. Travelling to Fairbanks and defeating Alaska 5-3 showed you had the confidence. However the 9-2 beating you took at Anchorage just left us shocked.

After leaving us in a deep depression for a week you come back and take Michigan to overtime. Five days later, it’s the top ranked Boston College Eagles, and it was another overtime thriller. The USA was back. While we weren’t happy with the losses, we knew that you had regained your cocky American stride. We could salute you for your effort and look forward to the season ahead.

Then you lost 7-1 to New Hampshire.

Which team is it USA? Do you only show up for big games? Is UNH not considered a big game anymore? We, the American Public, are concerned. Is it drugs? You’re not on drugs, are you? Is it girls? Look we were all Under 18 once in our lives, we know it’s an awkward time, but to lose to UNH 7-1 like that just gets us worried. The Russians, and Canadians aren’t going to care that you got dumped this week, or that you’re not the right fit for the Thrashers. This is international competition. This is the show, or at least one version of it. We need you. We need that gold medal. We need to live vicariously through you. Please USNTDP, we’ve got nothing left.

The World Juniors are a mere 6 months away. You have plenty of time to get into International shape. You have games against 13 D-1 schools left. Please treat them as big games. Sure you can beat up on Traverse City, but doesn’t that feel hollow? Wouldn’t you rather take on North Dakota in Grand Forks and show them what’s for? Can beating the stuffing out Canisus make up for a overtime loss to Michigan State? I think we all know the answer to this.

Comment on this Post ...

There aren’t any NCAA Division I hockey teams in California, but through a new partnership with RinkAtlas.com, College Hockey News now provides easy access to directions and maps for all games.

We’ve been looking to do something like this for some time, and when we learned about RinkAtlas, it seemed like a no brainer. RinkAtlas has the most accurate door-to-door directions for indoor ice rinks in the United States and plans to add rinks in Canada soon as well.

If you’ve seen Google Maps (and by now, who hasn’t), RinkAtlas will be very familiar to you. In addition, what we like most about the site is that its accuracy comes through verification of satellite coordinates, so you don’t have to worry about having the correct street address for an arena.

Besides a new RinkAtlas link on each team home page to its home arena — for example, Ohio State — you will find a new “Map” link for all games on both the weekly schedule page and all team schedule pages. Whether the game is at a regular Division I home arena or not.

So for instance, if you’re planning a trip to Florida for the Lightning College Hockey Classic on Oct. 27-28, the games involving Air Force, Alabama-Huntsville, Army, and Notre Dame have Map links to the St. Pete Times Forum in St. Petersburg.

And don’t forget to click the “Satellite” button on any of the maps for a satellite view of the arena. Keep an eye out for the boss — you can waste a lot of time with this feature.

Even though we’re using RinkAtlas only for maps of arenas hosting Division I games, you’ll find it a great resource for any rink in the United States. There’s no excuse now for missing that late night pickup game — or at least, you can’t say you didn’t know how to get there.

By the way, another new feature we’ve added this season is downloadable team schedule calendars. Visit any team schedule page — Providence, for instance — and click the “Download as Calendar” link to grab an .ics file that you can import into calendar programs like Outlook, Mozilla Calendar, and Apple iCal.

There’s more to come soon, so stay tuned. And please feel free to leave us feedback on these or any other new features you’d like to see.

Comment on this Post ...

No, not the Billy Joel album. A perusal of the Sunday news brings this reminder about the old adage courtesy of the Union Leader of Manchester, N.H.

Kevin Provencher, UL beat writer for the AHL’s Manchester Monarchs, takes U.S. College Hockey Online to task in a column this morning for a recent article raising questions about the Monarchs’ parent club, the Los Angeles Kings, and their treatment of college hockey players.

Provencher writes,

College ice hockey’s worldwide web bible, U.S. College Hockey Online, earlier this season claimed through Michigan coach Red Berenson that the evil empire NHL is doing everything and saying anything to entice college players to leave school early (or not attend at all).
…
The story became a story, or so USCHO thought, when center Trevor Lewis bypassed Michigan altogether after he was drafted in the first round (17th overall) by the Kings this past summer. Lewis attended the Kings training camp and was assigned to the Owen Sound Attack of the OHL (where he already has 14 points in nine games). Lewis gives up his NCAA eligibility by playing in Canadian juniors.

The classy and well-respected Berenson spoke emotionally to USCHO after losing Lewis, and rightly so.

“I think (the Kings) took advantage of a kid who wasn’t getting good advice and signed him so that they own him, and they can do whatever they want,” said Berenson to USCHO.

But, had USCHO spoken with Lewis, Kings GM Dean Lombardi or assistant Ron Hextall, the story would have been dramatically different. We know Hextall wasted no time after the story came out and spoke directly with Berenson to inform the coach on how exactly the situation had played out.

Provencher mentions USCHO six times in his column.

There’s just one problem.

The story in question, the one that Provencher takes to town for being critical of the Monarchs’ parent club…wasn’t written by USCHO.

It was picked up off a wire service that USCHO and many other sites subscribe to called U-Wire, from the student newspaper at the University of Michigan, the Michigan Daily. For reference, here’s the story as it ran in the Daily.

Oops.

It’s hard to imagine how Provencher could not have known this, because it says right at the top of the article where it came from — just like stories picked up off the AP wire, Reuters, etc.

Maybe it was an oversight, or maybe if Provencher had spoken with USCHO, the story would have been dramatically different.

Nonetheless, it is what it is, and Provencher and the Union Leader certainly appear to owe our colleagues at USCHO quite a big apology.

Comment on this Post ...

The WCHA opens it’s regular season with two big series as North Dakota travels to Wisconsin and Denver heads to Saint Cloud.  St. Cloud has to most to gain from the weekend as a strong showing will move the Huskies up in the polls and give all the other teams in the west something to stew over.  North Dakota and Wisconsin lost their entire rosters to the NHL so it should be fun watching the freshmen skate all over each other.

The Nye Frontier Classic opens with what will be the best game of the tournament as Colorado College and UNO face off in the first game.  UNO get’s to show off Hobey Baker finalist Scott Parse while Colorado College looks to find replacements for their big guns who left in the offseason.  The second game of the Classic features host Alasksa-Anchorage and Merrimack.  One team has to win, common sense says Alaska-Anchorage.  But that’s why they play the games.

The CCHA opens up with Western traveling to State and LSSU travelling to Columbus.  The LSSU, Ohio State match-up will be the better of the weekend as both teams are trying to establish an identity in the league and neither team has a high calibur scoring threat.  Call it a hunch but I think LSSU will take both on the road here.

In out of conference action this weekend has a first week of NCAA football feel to it as Alabama-Huntsville travels to Ann Arbor, Canisus heads to Oxford to take on Miami, and Wayne State heads to Minneapolis to take on the Gophers.  While these games aren’t too exciting to preview, an upset early can have major reprocussions later on.

Comment on this Post ...

Chris over at Western College Hockey really digs up some gems, but this one has to be seen to be believed.

It appears that Michigan has a verbal commitment from 14 year old Jon Merill for the 2010 season. Even recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg has it listed on his recruiting page, so I’m assuming it must be true.

While, I understand the need to recruit a little younger, at some point someone is going to get burned here and I suspect the NCAA might step in. Then again, it’s not a true commitment unless it’s in writing.. I think.

In other news, my son should start skating in a year or so. Scouts are welcome to attend the session if they’re looking to get a jump on the 2019 recruiting cycle.

Comment on this Post ...

Clarkson University’s student newspaper The Integrator is reporting that Clarkson has been selected to be the test site for Instant Replay this season in the ECAC.

The article didn’t specify whether or not the system is active yet, or which games the test will cover. There was definitely an opportunity during Saturday night’s game in which several Clarkson players appeared to argue that a puck was deflected by a high stick, but the referee did not review the call.

Looks like another big step forward for instant replay, now they just gotta use it!

Comment on this Post ...