SB Nation's Nebraska site Corn Nation picked up on a story where Minnesota head coach Don Lucia said hockey seemed like a natural fit at the University of Nebraska, and they look at the possibility. First, it's important to note that there's really no new information here; just Lucia saying he thinks it would be good idea, which is correct. If done correctly, Lincoln could be a great college hockey town, in much the same way Omaha is. But I would still be very surprised if Division I hockey happens there, at least with the current administration. Husker football will always be king, and I don't think the university has any intentions of adding another sport to compete with it. And while it was never officially made public, it was pretty clear two years ago that Nebraska-Omaha got to become the state's "hockey school" in exchange for dropping their football program, thus freeing up however many in-state players to walk-on at Nebraska-Lincoln rather than go elsewhere to play football.
Even in the internet age, a good copy editor can sometimes make all the difference. Take for example this story in the Duluth News-Tribune about UMD's student once again saying ridiculously offensive things:
Nielson said the university is working to find leaders in the student section who can help direct things in a positive direction. He said the school is not seeking out the students responsible for the chants.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. Student fans were warned in 2009 about offensive chants after a game against Minnesota State-Mankato when they were heard shouting an anti-homosexual slur and a vulgar insult.
After that incident, Nielson sent a letter threatening to remove students from games and revoke their season tickets.
There's an entire one paragraph between Bob Nielson saying they're not going to do anything to students who chanted horrible things in 2011 and Bob Nielson saying they were going to be serious about students who chant horrible things in 2009.
In discussing the Paul Kelly fiasco, Chris Peters points out that the college commissioners don't have that much power to begin with, because, what is it they really do to earn their paycheck? Can the conference commissioners fire him too?
Nate Ewell will be taking over for Paul Kelly as interim executive director for College Hockey Inc. Ewell has been pretty active with CHI so hopefully he can be successful, but the image of the institution took a big hit this week.
College Hockey Prospective has a great look at Tier II hockey in Ontario and the effect it has on NCAA hockey.
The Minnesota State High School playoffs kicked off in full last night. The early round of sectionals are usually mostly blowouts, with the real action not really coming until next week's section finals. There was one pretty big upset last night, when Forest Lake knocked off Grand Rapids. Grand Rapids was one of only three teams to come within one goal of Duluth East all season, so seeing Grand Rapids go out opens up the Greyhounds trip to state. The loss also means that Minnesota recruit and NHL draft prospect Jake Bischoff would be available to play in the USHL as soon as this weekend, giving him a more ample opportunity to be scouted against quality competition.
Also in the bottom half of Duluth East's bracket, goalie Chase Perry of #2 seed Andover, who has made an extremely strong case for an invite to play for the NTDP next year, appeared to injure his knee last night. After the game, Perry just posted the hashtag #frick on his Twitter account, so you can draw your own conclusions.
This list of the Top Ten Defensemen in the NCAA does a good listing the top three defensemen playing in the NCAA.
OHL expert Brock Otten looks at some players aging out of the OHL and facing the decision of whether they want to get an education or play professional hockey. Three of the kids mentioned--Michael Catenacci, Beau Schmitz, and Andy Bathgate, and others like Daniel Erlich that didn't even merit mention--could have done both if they hadn't given up their NCAA commitments.