Monday, 12/31/07

The Rink Rat Rankings: Season 2, Edition No. 8

We're less than eight hours away from 2008, but before we ring in the new year, I just had to get in a final set of Rink Rat Rankings in 2007.

It was a busy weekend for new teams in the Rankings, as holiday tournament season gave me my first look at Colorado College, Clarkson, Maine, UMass and UMass-Lowell. That brings us to 31 of the 59 Division I teams, and all but six of the teams in the USCHO.com/CSTV Rankings.

So, let's see how it all shakes out before I go enjoy some of the sun here in Florida, huh?

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Saturday, 12/29/07

A Giant Distraction?

Good afternoon from "Hockey Bay, U.S.A.," where I'll be providing live coverage from the Lightning College Hockey Classic. I decided to start my day of hockey early, and am getting ready to watch the Tampa Bay Lightning take on the Philadelphia Flyers.

I just found out that it won't be the only professional sporting action that passes before my eyes today.

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Friday, 12/28/07

A Sunny Disposition

I should probably be in my car right now.

I have a two-hour drive back to Tampa, and a very full day ahead of me tomorrow, with not one, not two, but three hockey games.

Long drives and lots of hockey...what else is new?

Well, I don't have to put on a coat when I go outside, I swam some laps in an outdoor pool this morning, and I can do 70 miles an hour legally on I-75, with palm trees and other interesting flora on the side of the road as I do so.

Who says this isn't really a vacation?

OK, seriously, a few other things from the first day of the holiday tournament season bear mentioning.

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Thursday, 12/27/07

Old Hab-its Die Hard

Every now and then, you luck into a nice surprise. That was the subject of my weekly column, with the fields at several holiday tournaments being stronger than we might have expected, and it's something I found a couple of weeks ago.

While my main reason for being in Florida is the college hockey action at the Florida College Hockey Classic in Estero and the Lightning College Hockey Classic in Tampa, I'm also covering the Outback Bowl, and when my CSTV.com Adam Caparell signed me up, he asked me if I wanted to go to "Team Night" at the Tampa Bay Lightning game against the Montreal Canadiens.

Duh.

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Tuesday, 12/25/07

It Never Ends, Does It?

What is it with these kids who leave Minnesota without completing two seasons?

Amazingly, I never seem to be done writing about them.

At least, that's the way it seems to be...and speaking of which, how big does Jimmy O'Brien's departure seem in retrospect?

Kyle Okposo's departure from Minnesota really seems like the gift that keeps on giving for a writer with absolutely nothing else happening in his sport.

Especially when Gary Bettman gets involved.

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Monday, 12/24/07

A Family Thing

This is normally the day of the week when I write my Rink Rat Rankings, but since there's been only two games played since the last Rankings - and Alabama-Huntsville was already in last before the loss and tie to Robert Morris - there's nothing more for me to say this week on that subject, at least not until next Monday.

Instead, I'm left to ruminate on a weekend with no college hockey.

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Sunday, 12/23/07

Party On, Garth!

Well, I think it's gotten to the point in the holiday season where if you haven't sent your Christmas cards, you're pretty much out of luck in getting them there by the 25th.

Of course, with the way things have gone in the last couple of days, I tend to doubt that Don Lucia and Garth Snow would be sending each other Christmas cards anyway.

Although, the more I think about it, I get the sense that the Golden Gophers' bench boss might feel compelled to send some well wishes to the Island around Easter.

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Friday, 12/21/07

Rough Day For The Gold Market

I knew that we would hear more about Kyle Okposo's decision to leave the University of Minnesota, but I didn't think we'd hear it this fast.

Basically, where we stand now, Don Lucia isn't happy with the Islanders, Islanders GM Garth Snow isn't happy with Don Lucia, and there's a fair bit of wondering - including some by me - about how this is going to affect the U.S. team at the World Junior Championship.

Is anybody happy right now?

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Thursday, 12/20/07

Saying It All

So, in the last 24 hours, I've written both a blog entry and a column about Minnesota, specifically Kyle Okposo's departure from the Golden Gophers. After all that - not to mention coming back to the office today to find that my desktop wallpaper had been replaced with a picture of Okposo in an Islanders sweater (thank you very much, Mr. Kroll) - I thought it would be refreshing to talk about Wisconsin a bit.

Well, not so much about the team, but about one of their most celebrated songs: "You've Said It All."

I wrote an article before the 2006 Frozen Four about the old Budweiser jingle's rise to prominence at Wisconsin, and later at Maine and Boston University, but never was able to get in touch with the composer, Steve Karmen. However, last month, my father happened to meet Steve, and not long thereafter, I gave him a call.

Earlier today, I had a chance to speak with Steve at the Friars' Club here in New York. It turned out to be a very educational conversation for both of us. Check it out:

(click to view video)

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Wednesday, 12/19/07

All That Glitters Ain't Gold

So, what could have possibly possessed Kyle Okposo to leave the University of Minnesota in mid-season and sign with the New York Islanders?

I'll tell you this: it wasn't because he wanted to play in front of packed houses every night!

(Oh, come on...I've told you all on several occasions that I'm a Rangers fan. You didn't think I was going to get at least one joke in?)

OK, time to be serious and make some sense of this.

(And yes, I know, I just referenced a Prince song in the title of this post...I know you're all impressed with my manliness as a hockey writer. But hey, Prince is from Minnesota).

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Tuesday, 12/18/07

The Great Indoors?

If you looked at the Rink Rat Rankings this week, you may have noticed that the teams "Coming Soon" for the December 31 edition - Clarkson, Colorado College, Maine, UMass, and UMass Lowell - all have one thing in common: They're playing in Florida next week.

Yes, I'll be soaking up the sunshine in Florida - which, in all honesty, will be a nice change of pace after such locales as Michigan, Minnesota and Massachusetts - and will also be spending New Year's in Tampa, contributing (as I occasionally do), to CSTV.com's football coverage as well.

But if I weren't going to be in Tampa on January 1, I really wouldn't mind being in Buffalo.

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Monday, 12/17/07

The Rink Rat Rankings: Season 2, Edition No. 7

I had one of my most gratifying moments of the season on Saturday.

After answering questions from the media about his Miami RedHawks' 7-3 win over RPI, Miami head coach Rico Blasi asked me, "So does this mean we get in your rankings now?"

This makes Blasi the second coach to talk to me about the Rink Rat Rankings - Robert Morris' Derek Schooley was the first - and the answer, naturally, is yes.

The No. 2 team in the nation - according to the polls - joins the Rink Rat Rankings this week, along with Nebraska-Omaha and Union.

So, where do the RedHawks land? Click "more" to find out.

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Sunday, 12/16/07

A Fair Answer

So, we have a Writers' Round Table chat scheduled for this week's "Tuesday @ the Rink," as we look back at the first half of the season, and if the earlier chats we've had this season are any indication, we're likely to get a question about who would win a game between North Dakota and Miami.

Well, having finally seen the RedHawks in action, I can now give a fully informed answer, and to be perfectly honest, it's not much different than my uninformed answer.

I like the RedHawks.

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Thursday, 12/13/07

The Gift Of Gab

By now, you may have read my weekly column, on this weekend's Miami-RPI series and the friendship between head coaches Rico Blasi of Miami and Seth Appert of RPI, who were assistants together under George Gwozdecky at Denver, and lived together at the time.

Now, you can also listen to Blasi and Appert in this radio segment with Rodger Wyland and our good friend Ken Schott.

But you didn't really think that I would talk to the ever-loquacious Gwozdecky and his two protègès and only come up with enough quotes for one column, did you?

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Tuesday, 12/11/07

Something Nice About ECAC Hockey Refs

Over the past couple of years, I haven't been all that kind to referees. I've pointed out some questionable calls, quoted other people criticizing the officiating, and I've suggested ways of heckling a certain WCHA official. I've also continually mentioned a game that I covered as a student at Dartmouth that involved a questionable call by ECAC Hockey official John Murphy...although, in all fairness, I do that because of Ken Schott more than anything else.

So, it's about time I made some amends. I know I've declared Dave Hansen the official ECAC Hockey referee of the Rink Rat blog, but I can do more.

So, I'd like to take this opportunity to salute the integrity and great character of the ECAC Hockey officials who worked Saturday's Brown-Yale game at Ingalls Rink, who proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that they cannot be bought.

(click to view video)

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Monday, 12/10/07

The Rink Rat Rankings: Season 2, Edition No. 6

So, the polls are now out, and Michigan has supplanted Miami as the No. 1 team in the country. But are the Wolverines No. 1 in the Rink Rat Rankings? Click "more" to find out.

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Sunday, 12/09/07

Love The Gloves

So, as I was about to write last night, before I was so rudely interrupted by my computer running out of power as I sat in my car outside the Olympia Ice Center...

The Brown-Yale game yesterday was, as I said, a brutal, physical affair between two teams that - to take it from the Yale radio announcers who were sitting right next to me - do not like each other personally.

The biggest impressions I took with me involved gloves.

First, there were the gloves of Yale goalie Billy Blase and Brown netminder Mark Sibbald, which were used to make some really pretty, flashy saves in a game that involved 59 total saves. There were some real jaw-droppers there that only built the drama in a game that came right down to the last minute.

Then, there were the gloves of Yale's Will Engasser and Brown's Paul Baier, which were the difference between a 10-minute misconduct and a one-game suspsension.

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Saturday, 12/08/07

Well, This Is A New Experience

I'm typing this in the front seat of my car - which is parked, I hasten to add - outside the Olympia Ice Center, just over an hour after RIT finished off a 5-0 win over American International.

I was blogging the game live over at Power Plays and was working on my postgame wrapup when a member of the rink staff informed me that I had to leave, because they had to close the building.

Now, I know I'm often the last to leave, but this was a new one on me. I half wanted to be like Herb Brooks in Sweden after the exhibition and tell the guy to leave me the keys and I'd lock up (if that part of Miracle is actually true; I know other parts of that scene aren't entirely accurate), but clearly, this was not a guy who spends much time reading college hockey blogs, so I couldn't pull out the "semi-renowned Internet writer" card to buy myself more time.

So, here I am sitting in my car, pulled up as close to the building as possible so I can still use their wireless.

I thought you might like to know.

And here are a few more things you might like to know.

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Thursday, 12/06/07

Coast To Coast

Wow, there's been an impressive stream of news lately...

I know I usually get all revved up on one subject and write at some length on it, but let's get a few quick reactions on

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Tuesday, 12/04/07

Czech It Out

Well, given that I spend part of my summer each year checking out the National Junior Evaluation Camp, it would only make sense that I have something to say about the team they wind up picking at that event, the 2008 National Junior Team that will go to the World Junior championship in the Czech Republic starting on December 26.

As it happens, that team was announced tonight.

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Monday, 12/03/07

The Rink Rat Rankings, Season 2, Edition No. 5

As the calendar turns from November to December, the season is now one-third over. Scary, isn't it?

That's the bad news. The good news - which has nothing to do with my car insurance - is that over one third of the nation's Division I hockey teams are included in this week's Rink Rat Rankings.

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Sunday, 12/02/07

Every Dog Has Its Day

There are a lot of ways I could write a blog post with a dog theme these days.

Of course, there's Northeastern, now on a seven-game unbeaten streak after beating Brown on Friday, and certainly, as I've written on a couple of occasions, the Huskies are doing a great job right now.

Then, if I wanted to be incredibly self-absorbed - not that I'm ever like that, of course - I could refer to my earlier characterization of Nathan Gerbe as college hockey's answer to Scrappy Doo and point to the seven-point weekend he posted against Boston University. Duh duh duh Dah duh Dah...Puppy Power!

Still, the best dog tale - get it, tail? - may not be in Hockey East. It could well be in Minnesota, where, in case no one's noticed, Minnesota Duluth is third in the WCHA.

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Saturday, 12/01/07

Hit Me With Your Best Shot

Last night's BC-BU game was certainly a surprise on the ice. It wasn't surprising that Boston College won, obviously - that certainly happens enough between these two rivals - but I was really surprised at how flat many of the BU players. I wouldn't go as far as Jack Parker, who said he didn't have anything good to say about anyone on his team, but then, I'm not a coach trying to make a point. I'd say that Pete MacArthur, Joe Pereira, Bryan Ewing and Matt Gilroy played their tails off for the Terriers last night, but generally, Parker was justified in what he said, and as a coach, you don't single out individual players after a game like that.

All of that said, there was another reason I went to Conte Forum last night. I wanted to see the BC fans at their best.

So, did I?

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