College Hockey Monthly Awards

Here are the monthly awards for the Month of January

Atlantic Hockey: Jamie Hunt JR. D Mercyhurst: Hunt is leading Atlantic Hockey in points with 38 (10 goals 28 assists) and is 7th in the country in points. This month Hunt tallied 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points including a 4 point game against American. He and the rest of the Mercyhurst team are in the lead in the Atlantic Hockey Standings.

CCHA: Jeff Jakatis JR. G Lake Superior State: Jakatis allowed 8 goals in 6 games this month and was 4-1-1. Jakatis is currently 13-7-5 with a 1.84 goals against average and is probably the most improved goaltender in the country after winning just 10 games the previous 2 seasons.

CHA: Ted Cook FR. F Niagara: Cook has 15 goals and 13 assists on the season and is leading the CHA in scoring. This month Cook tallied 5 goals and 6 assists for 11 points. Cook and Niagara will look to improve their standings in the CHA and get the automatic bid in the NCAA touranment.

ECACHL: Tyler Burton SO. F Colgate: Leading the conference in conference games in scoring, Burton is improving from his Freshman year with even better numbers. With 19 goals and 12 assists on the year for 31 points, he is already one point shy of tying last years total. He is improving each game. This month Burton tallied 5 goals and 3 assists but his team is continuing to win games in the league.

Hockey East: Cory Schneider G Boston College: What more can i say, 3 shutouts in a row, only 9 goals in 7 games this month, and he is improving on his numbers game after game. The Eagles are 6-1-0 since the return of Schneider who went to play Juniors in Canada which is why he missed one start. This month Schneider had an amazing streak with over 200 minutes of shutout hockey.

WCHA: Matt Carle JR. D Denver: Carle is leading the WCHA in scoring as a defensemen. So far Carle has 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points. This month Carle registered 3 goals and 8 assists for 11 points. He and Denver have really improved and swept at the time #1 Wisconsin. The Pioneers will look to get on another roll in hopes for a third straight national title.

NCAA: Carle Denver (pictured above)

College Hockey Weekly Report A BU-Tiful weekend

For the first time since the 2001-2002 season the Boston University Terriers took the Hockey East season series from the Boston College Eagles.

After trailing BC 2-0 in the first period, the Terriers took over from there. BU would score 2 in the second period to tie it at 2 with goals from Kevin Schaeffer and Eric Thomassian. In the third period 1:32 in to be exact BU scored the game winning goal when Brandon Yip scored. BU would add another goal from Brad Zancanaro to make it 4-2. BC made it close however with a goal from Brett Motherwell to make it 4-3 but it wasant enough as the Terriers survived in Chestnut Hill. John Curry was brilliant in net stopping 30 of 33 BC shots on goal.

On Saturday Kenny Roche, Brian Ewing and Peter McArthur each scored a goal in the 3-1 victory over UMASS-Amherst.

Boston College did get a W on Saturday night as well as Brian Boyle scored 4 goals in the 4-3 overtime victory over UMASS-Lowell.

We are getting close to the Beanpot and things will get intresting. Can BU win #27, will BC come out hungry if they face BU in the finals, or will one of the underdogs (Northeastern, Harvard) steal a beanpot victory.

In other College Hockey action this weekend

Wisconsin continues to struggle without goaltender Brian Elliott as the Badgers were swept by Minnesota in Madison. With the 2 losses the Badgers gave up the lead in the WCHA as a once 11 point lead has vanished and they are now tied for first with Denver and Minnesota.

Miami swept Ferris State to give the Redhawks the #1 team in the country.

North Dakota continues to dissapoint at home as they were swept by St. Cloud State. The loss dropped the Fighting Sioux out of the projected brackets.

And Michigan and Michigan State did not do anything but tie this weekend as no one won a game in the 2 game series.

In next weeks action:

Big ECACHL series as the top two teams in the conference will face each other as Cornell battles Colgate. Is this the time for the Big Red to shine again, or will it be Colgate's turn to take over.

New Hampshire and Maine will renew its rivalry as both teams are on the bubble right now. Look for this series to be very competitive as always in this rivalry.

Providence and Vermont will go at it for 2 in Providence.

Lake Superior and Nebraska-Omaha will face each other as Nebraska-Omaha is on the outside looking in.

And Colorado College will face North Dakota in a key series for North Dakota as they look to get some wins and get back in the projected brackets.

Who will prevail this week? The weekly preview will tell you all that you need to know. And don't forget about Bracketology Wednesday week 4 as the brackets have shaken up this week.

College Hockey Preview Some Rivalries and Key games

What more can I say about the greatest college hockey rivalry there is. That is Boston College and Boston University.

BC will be going for its 100th win in this series tonight. Both teams are red hot. BC is 9-0-1 in its last 10 including a 2 game shutout sweep over Vermont last weekend while BU has only lost once since the return of David Van der Gulik. Meanwhile BC goaltender Cory Schneider has had shutouts in his last 3 games and has a shutout streak of 217:43 minutes. Should be a great game the rubber match of the Hockey East season series (3 games). But again do not be surprised if they meet again at least once maybe twice more as the season progresses into The Beanpot and the Hockey East Tournament.

I expect this game to be very physical and should be a close one. Both teams do have games on Saturday as BC travels to UMASS-Lowell and BU hosts UMASS-Amhrest.

In other college hockey action this weekend

Minnesota and Wisconsin will duke it out in Madison. A once 11 point lead for the Badgers in the WCHA is now down to 4 with Minnesota tied for second with Denver. Wisconsin will be without Goaltender Brian Elliott for another few weeks.

Michigan and Michigan State renew their rivalry one week after playing each other on a Tuesday night at Michigan State. Big series for both teams as Michigan and Michigan State will look to move up in the pairwise rankings.

St. Lawrence and Clarkson will play each other one more time.

And the sleeper series this weekend will be held in Grand Forks as North Dakota will face St. Cloud State.

Thats all for this week, next week the weekly report will feature scores from key weekend series' and dont forget about Bracketology Wednesday week 4.

Bracketology Wednesday Week 3

This week there are some changes in the rankings, but only one team is being replaced.

Lets breakdown the confrences and their teams who are in.

WCHA: 5 (Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin)
Hockey East 4: (Boston College, Maine, New Hampshire, Vermont)
CCHA: 3 (Miami, Michigan, Michigan State)
ECACHL 2: (Colgate, Cornell)
Atlantic Hockey: 1 (Mercyhurst)
CHA: 1 (Bemidji State)

Now that you know who is in and who is out lets seed them. There are some major changes in the seedings so take a look. New teams are in bold

#1 Boston College (16-4-2)+
#2 Wisconsin (18-4-2)-
#3 Minnesota (16-6-4)=
#4 Miami (17-4-4)+
#5 North Dakota (17-10-1)+
#6 Colorado College (17-10-1)=
#7 Cornell (13-4-2)+
#8 Denver (14-10-2)+
#9 Vermont (15-7-2)-
#10 Maine (15-9-0)=
#11 Colgate (13-6-5)+
#12 Michigan State (14-10-5)+
#13 New Hampshire (13-8-4)-
#14 Michigan (14-9-1)-
#15 Mercyhurst (15-8-0)=
#16 Bemidji State (13-8-3)=

Now lets place the teams

Boston College the #1 team overall will be in the Northeast regional in Worcester with Bemidji State, Denver, and Vermont.

Northeast: #1 Boston College vs #4 Bemidji State, #2 Denver vs #3 Vermont

Wisconsin is the second #1 seed and will be in the Midwest regional in Green Bay with Colorado College, Mercyhurst, and Michigan State.

Midwest: #1 Wisconsin vs #4 Mercyhurst, #2 Colorado College vs #3 Michigan State

Minnesota is the third #1 seed and they will be placed in the East regional in Albany with Cornell, Maine, and Michigan.

East: #1 Minnesota vs #4 Michigan, #2 Cornell vs #3 Maine

And finally the fourth #1 seed is Miami and they will be in a region with Colgate, New Hampshire, and host North Dakota in the West.

West: #1 Miami vs #4 New Hampshire, #2 North Dakota vs #3 Colgate

The Frozen Four Bracket will have the Northeast vs West and Midwest vs East.

On the Bubble this week: St. Lawrence, Boston University, Harvard, Lake Superior, Providence, and Ferris State.

Well thats all for week #3. Big games this weekend that will be mentioned in the preview this week.

College Hockey Weekly Report Vermont shutdown by the Eagles

In the big 2 game series in the east, the #2 team in the country the Boston College Eagles showed why they have one of the best defenses in the country.

This week the Eagles shutout #5 Vermont twice in the weekend series in Chestnut Hill. Friday night Chris Collins and Stephen Gionta scored the only 2 goals of the game as BC won 2-0. Saturday the result was the same with an Eagle victory as Chris Collins scored 2 goals to get goals number 19 and 20 on the year as the Eagles would win 3-0. Brian Boyle scored the other goal for BC. The Eagles have an 8 point lead in Hockey East with Boston University, New Hampshire, and Providence each in second place with a lot of work to do to catch up in the standings.

Lets not forget the games Cory Schneider (pictured above) had in net. On Friday he stopped 22 shots in the shutout and on Saturday he proved to be even better making some crucial saves as he stopped all 33 shots giving him 55 saves for the weekend. Schneider extended his shutout streak to 3 games and has not allowed a single goal in 217:49 and could close in on the all time shutout minutes in BC history. Current New Jersey Devils' goaltender Scott Clemmensen has the record with 254:23 minutes set in the 1997-98 season.

The #1 team in the country Wisconsin was swept for the first time this season as Denver won the 2 game series in Madison. The Badgers truly miss Brian Elliott in net who is out for at least another 2-3 weeks. The Badgers lead in the WCHA is now 4 points with Minnesota and Denver tied for second place in the conference.

In other games this weekend

Minnesota swept Colorado College as the Gophers held the #1 offense in the country to 4 goals this weekend. As mentioned the Gophers are working their way up the WCHA standings and have Wisconsin this coming week in Madison.

Miami swept Western Michigan as they will move up in the rankings and strengthed the lead in the CCHA to 9 points.

Maine and Providence split this weekend in a key series for both teams.

And Colgate won 2 games this weekend over Clarkson and St. Lawrence to gain the ECACHL lead in the standings.

Next Weekends games include

Boston College and Boston University will play the rubber match in their series. These are two of the hottest teams in Hockey East as BC is 9-0-1 in their last 10 and BU has only lost one game since the return of David Van Der Gulik.

As mentioned earlier Wisconsin will host Minnesota in a key series. Can the Gophers get a sweep and gain the lead in the WCHA?

St. Cloud State will look to win on the road as they travel to North Dakota to face the Fighting Sioux for two.

And Michigan and Michigan State will play each other as both teams will renew their rivalry after a game last week in which Michigan State won.

Big weekend in College Hockey coming up! Should be interesting games and dont forget about Bracketology Wednesday week 3 as teams will look to move up in the pairwise rankings.

College Hockey Preview Nations Powers battle it out

This weekend has some big series happening including Boston College vs Vermont and Colorado College vs Minnesota.

Boston College and Vermont is the big series in the east as both teams will look to gain some more national recognition. This series has 2 great goaltenders, Joe Fallon of Vermont (who recently just set the school's shutout record), and Cory Schneider of Boston College both of them are Sophomores. Look for these two goaltenders to battle it out.

Don't count out the offense in this series. BC and Vermont have the two top scorers in Hockey East, Chris Collins for the Eagles is leading the conference in scoring and Torrey Mitchell for Vermont is second in the conference in scoring. Also look for some big games from Brady Leisenring for Vermont, and Freshman Benn Ferriero for BC.

The west's best matchup will happen in Minnesota as the Golden Gophers will face Colorado College. There will probably be a lot of offense in this series as Colorado College and Minnesota are one of the two top offensive teams in the country. When you talk about the duo of Brett Sterling and Marty Sertich (Last years Hobey Baker winner) you think they are the best scoring combination in the country. But don't forget about Minnesota's Ryan Poltuny and Freshman Phenom Phil Kessel who could be the top player taken in this years NHL draft. But anyway just look for this series to be all about the offense.

In other action this weekend

Wisconsin will look to defeat Denver, but they will have to do it without Goaltender Brian Elliott who was a Hobey Baker favorite. Elliott went down with a knee injury during practice and will be out 3-4 weeks. Robbie Earl and the Badgers will have to step it up this weekend.

Maine will host Providence this weekend for 2 at Alfond Arena in a very important series. Can Providence rebound and get out of the bubble this weekend? Or will Maine continue to play well at home.

And St. Lawrence will put the #1 spot in the ECACHL on the line as they travel to Cornell on Friday and will then travel to Colgate on Saturday.

Who will prevail this week? Tune into the weekly report for all the results from this weekend. And never forget about Bracketology Wednesday.

Bracketology Wednesday Week 2

This week sees some major changes in the bracket. Before I do that let me just remind you that the bracket is set up with the #1 seed in the tournament and that region taking on the #4 seed and that region, #2 faces #3. Last week it was Midwest vs East and West vs Northeast and this week wil stay the same.

First off lets breakdown which cofrences and teams that are in the tournament all in alphabetical order

WCHA: 5 (Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota, North Dakota, and Wisconsin)
Hockey East : 4 (Boston College, Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont)
CCHA: 3 (Miami (Ohio) Michigan, and Michigan State)
ECACHL: 2 (Cornell, St. Lawrence)
Atlantic Hockey: 1 (Mercyhurst)
CHA: 1 (Bemidji State)

Now lets breakdown the seedings. I forgot to mention last week that these are pairwise rankings and for example 1 doesnt always play 16 or 8 doesnt always play 9 because A. the committe wants no in conference matchups and B. they want to put everyone closer to home.

This week there are some changes so + means the team moved up - means the team moved down and the = means the team stays where they were last week. New teams are in bold.

#1 Wisconsin (18-2-2) =
#2 Boston College (14-4-2) =
#3 Minnesota (14-6-4) =
#4 Vermont (15-5-2) +
#5 Miami (15-4-4) -
#6 Colorado College (17-8-1) -
#7 St. Lawrence (14-7-1) +
#8 North Dakota (15-10-1) +
#9 Michigan (13-8-1) =
#10 Maine (14-8-0) -
#11 New Hampshire (12-7-4) +
#12 Cornell (11-4-2) -
#13 Michigan State (13-8-5) +
#14 Denver (12-10-2) -
#15 Mercyhurst (13-8-0) =
#16 Bemidji State (11-8-3) +

Dropping out from last week: Providence, Harvard, and Niagara

Now its time to match the teams up.

The #1 team is Wisconsin and they are placed in a region with Bemidji State, Colorado College, and Cornell.

Midwest (Green Bay, WI): #1 Wisconsin vs #4 Bemidji State, #2 Colorado College vs #3 Cornell

The 2nd seed (2nd #1) is Boston College and their region has Maine, Mercyhurst, and St. Lawrence.

Northeast (Worcester, MA): #1 Boston College vs #4 Mercyhurst, #2 St. Lawrence vs #3 Maine

The 3rd (3rd #1) seed is Minnesota and they again would be faced with a tough region as this region has Michigan, Michigan State, and North Dakota.

West (Grand Forks, ND): #1 Minnesota vs #4 Michigan State, #2 North Dakota vs #3 Michigan.

And the 4th #1 seed is Vermont and they would have a tough region with Denver, Miami, and New Hampshire.

East (Albany, NY): #1 Vermont vs #4 Denver, #2 Miami vs #3 New Hampshire.

On the bubble this wek are Lake Superior, Boston University, Harvard, Ohio State, Clarkson, and Providence.

Thas all for this week, look for some shake-ups next week with some big games that will be mentioned in the College Hockey Preview this week.

College Hockey Weekly Report Wisconsin Domination

Wisconsin continues to prove that they are the unanamous number one team in the country. The Badgers scored a combined 12 goals in 2 games at Colorado College

On Friday night the Badgers won 3-2 with goals from A.J. Degenhardt, Tom Gilbert, and Joe Pavelski. Brett Sterling continued to impress the nation as he scored his 22nd goal of the season but the Tigers came up short.

Saturday night was a no contest basically. Wisconsin scored 6 goals in the first period including 2 goals from Andrew Joudery in the first as the Badgers went on to a 9-1 victory. Robbie Earl added 2 goals while Tom Gilbert had a goal and 3 assists in the rout. Brian Elliott again played well in the seires and is proving that he is the leading canidate for the Hobey Baker award.

In other college hockey action this weekend

Boston College had some trouble on Friday night only getting a 2-1 victory over Merrimack, but came out flying on Saturday at Merrimack as the Eagles shutout the Warriors 5-0. BC stands alone the top of Hockey East with a 6 point lead over Providence and New Hampshire.

Minnesota and North Dakota split this weekend at Marruci Arena in Minneapolis. Minnesota won 6-1 on Friday with two goals from Alex Goligoski. North Dakota bounced back with a 4-2 victory on Saturday night. Goaltender Philippe Lamoureux played much better in net stopping 41 of 43 Minnesota shots. This was a much needed split for North Dakota.

Orignally thinking that Minnesota-Duluth was on the way up, they went back down again gettin swept by Michigan Tech in their own building. The schedule only gets tougher for Duluth as they still have to face Colorado College, Wisconsin, and Minnesota in conference.

In an exciting 2 game series, Boston University and Maine gave us plenty to watch. Boston University however gained a key sweep of Maine with Kenny Roche playing a key role as he scored the game winning goal on Friday night in the 3-2 Terrier victory, and also scored a power play goal on Saturday as BU won 5-4. Roche had 2 goals and an assist in the series.

And St. Lawrence jumped to first place in the ECACHL as the Saints defeated Rensellear 4-3 and Union 3-0 both on the road.

In next weeks action

A huge series will take place in Chestnut Hill as Boston College will host Vermont for 2. Will BC gain some cushion this week in the standings, or will Vermont continue to gain some national recognition.

Colorado College will travel to Minnesota for a key 2 game series in the WCHA. Can Colorado College's offense bounce back after a 3 goal series at home against Wisconsin? Or will Minnesota continue their success at home.

Providence and Maine will play each other at Oreno as both teams will look to bounce back after their losses this weekend, Providence to UMASS-Lowell, and Maine bein swept by Boston University.

And St. Lawrence will put the #1 spot in the ECACHL on the line as they travel to Cornell and Colgate this weekend.

Who will prevail? Check out the preview, and next weeks weekly report, and dont forget about Bracketology Wednesday week 2 as a couple of changes will be made.

College Hockey Preview Some key matchups this week everywhere

This week features some key series all over the country.

Lets start with Hockey East where Boston University and Maine will battle it out in a key series for both teams. BU is looking to go past .500 for the first time since early November, while Maine is looking to move up the Hockey East rankings and also the national polls.

In order for BU to do well in this series they will have to get some offense from the team which is averaging about 2.9 goals per game and Maine is only allowing 1.7 goals per game. John Laliberte, BU's leading scorer will need to play a key role to get the offense going. On the other side Maine's goaltenders Ben Bishop and Mike Lundin will probably split the starts in net.

Another huge series will take place in Colorado Springs where #5 Colorado College will host #1 Wisconsin. Colorado College trails Wisconsin by 5 points in the WCHA standings. Colorado College has one of the best offenses in the country which is lead by Senior Forwards Brett Sterling who is second in the country in scoring with 37 points (21 goals, 16 assists) and last year's Hobey Baker winner Marty Sertich who is 4th in the country in scoring with 33 points (10 g 23 a). Wisconsin goalie Brian Elliott has other plans however, which is to shut them down like he and the Badgers did earlier in the season when they won and tied the Tigers earlier in the season in which Elliott gained a shutout in that series. Wisconsin has something to prove, while Colorado College will look to defend their home ice. Should be an interesting series.

In other College Hockey action this weekend:

North Dakota and Minnesota will renew their rivalry. The Fighting Sioux will look to avenage an earlier sweep by the Gophers in Grand Forks.

Ferris State and Northern Michigan will both look to move up in the CCHA standings.

Denver and St. Cloud State will face each other. Denver will look to improve on the 11-9-2 record while St. Cloud State will look to move out of the bottom of the WCHA standings.

And coming off a win against #3 Miami, Ohio State will look to get out of the bubble watch this week as they face Nebraska-Omaha lead by the nations leading scorer in Junior Foward Scott Parse.

Big weekend in College Hockey, read the weekly report to find out all the results of the key games.

Bracketology Wednesday Week 1

For those of you who dont know what bracketology is, it is a perdiction of mine at what the 16 team NCAA tournament might be like if the season ended today.

Before we get to the brackets lets breakdown the number of bids each conference has and the teams that will be in

Hockey East: 5 (Boston College, Maine, New Hampshire, Providence, Vermont)
WCHA: 5 (Colorado College, Denver, Minnesota, North Dakota, Wisconsin)
CCHA: 2 (Miami, Michigan)
ECACHL: 2 (Cornell, Harvard)
Atlantic Hockey:1 (Mercyhurst)
CHA:1 (Niagara)

Now lets breakdown the seedings

#1 Wisconsin (16-2-2)
#2 Boston College (12-4-2)
#3 Minnesota (13-5-4)
#4 Miami (14-3-3)
#5 Colorado College (17-6-1)
#6 Vermont (13-5-2)
#7 Cornell (10-3-2)
#8 Maine (14-6-0)
#9 Michigan (13-7-1)
#10 Harvard (10-7-2)
#11 Denver (11-9-2)
#12 North Dakota (14-9-1)
#13 New Hampshire (10-7-4)
#14 Providence (12-7-1)
#15 Mercyhurst (11-8-0)
#16 Niagara (10-9-1

Who hosts the regionals?

East- Albany, NY (Rensselaer and the ECACHL host)
Northeast- Worcester, MA (Boston University host)
Midwest- Green Bay, WI (Michigan Tech host)
West- Grand Forks, ND (North Dakota host)

If those teams make the NCAA tournament than they automatically go to that site, this week North Dakota is the only team but they get to go to Grand Forks since they host.

Now lets place them

Lets start with #1 Wisconsin who would be the top seed in the tournament they will be in a region with Colorado College, Harvard, and Niagara.

Midwest: #1 Wisconsin vs #4 Niagara, #2 Colorado College vs #3 Harvard

The #2 team and the second #1 seed belongs to Boston College and this region will have Denver, Maine, and Mercyhurst.

Northeast: #1 Boston College vs #4 Mercyhurst, #2 Maine vs #3 Denver

The #3 team and third #1 is Minnesota and will be put in a very tough region with Cornell, North Dakota and Providence.

West: #1 Minnesota vs #4 Providence, #2 Cornell vs #3 North Dakota

And the final #1 seed is Miami who will be faced with a diffucult region with Michigan, New Hampshire, and Vermont

East: #1 Miami vs #4 New Hampshire, #2 Vermont vs #3 Michigan

On the bubble: Lake Superior, St. Lawrence, Clarkson, Colgate, Ohio State

Thats all for week 1 bracketology, find out next week if your team is still there.

College Hockey Weekly Report BC sits alone in Hockey East

After a sluggish 4-3 win at Conte Fourm on Friday night against Northeastern, Boston College traveled to Providence with first place in Hockey East on the line.

The night before Providence defeated Boston University at Agganis Arena 5-1. Providence was riding a 6 game winning streak going into Saturday night.

In the first period a short-handed goal by Providence's Joe Rheault gave the Friars a 1-0 lead at the end of 1.

The next two periods was all Boston College. Fresh off of the World Junior Championships in Canada, BC's Freshman forward Nathan Gerbe tied the game at 1 with a power play goal. The Eagles would take the lead on a 4x4 with Joe Rooney scoring the game winning goal. Freshman Benn Ferriero and Senior Stephen Gionta scored in the third period and gave the Eagles a 4-1 victory.

Lets not forget the play of goaltender Corey Schneider (pictured above). Fresh off of the World Junior Championships, one would think that Schneider would be a little tired. However that was not the case as the Sophomore made 15 saves in the first period, 16 in the second, and 12 in the third making an amazing 43 saves off of 44 shots on goal for the Friars.

In other action this weekend

New Hampshire took 3 points from Vermont winning on Friday 2-1 and tying the Cattamounts on Saturday 2-2. UNH Sophomore goaltender Kevin Regan made both starts and is starting to play better in net.

Clarkson defeated St. Lawrence in a game played in Ottawa. Clarkson had a 6-0 lead going into the third period.

Miami (Ohio) split with Northern Michigan ending their 9 game unbeaten streak on Friday night losing 2-1. Saturday Miami won 6-3

And Lake Superior is making a case that they belong in the CCHA with a sweep of Western Michigan.

Next Weeks Games

A key series in Hockey East will feature Maine traveling to Agganis Arena for 2 with Boston University.

North Dakota will look to find consistancy somehow as they will travel to Minnesota.

Fresh off an off week, Wisconsin will face Colorado College in another huge series in the WCHA.

And Ferris State and Northern Michigan will renew their rivalry this weekend in a key matchup in the CCHA as both teams are on the bubble for the NCAA Tournament.

Dont forget tommorrow is the debut of Bracketology Wednesday.

College Hockey Preview It's Hockey East's turn now

There are some big games this weekend, mainly in Hockey East.

Providence can prove they belong in first place with games at Boston University tommorrow night, then the Friars will travel back to Providence as Boston College will enter Schnider Arena which could be for first place in the conference. Senior Forward Torry Gajda is a player to watch out for as he is one of the tops in Hockey East in scoring with 24 points (12 G, 12 A). Also Hockey East defensive player of the month goaltender Tyler Sims has been playing great in net. The Sophomore goaltender went 5-0 in the month of December in which Sims only allowed 7 goals in 5 games.

In another big series, the Vermont Cattamounts will travel to New Hampshire to face the Wildcats in their 2 game series both at the Whittamore Center in Durham. UNH has had the scoring this year, but yet they are still inconsistant on the D. Sophomore goaltender Kevin Regan has struggled all year, look for Senior goaltender Jeff Pietrasiak to start both games. The Cattamounts however just came off their Shearton/TD Banknorth tournament victory thanks to the help of Sophomore goaltender Joe Fallon shutout both Dartmouth (1-0) and Clarkson (3-0). Fallon will have his hands full this weekend against the number one offense in Hockey East.

In other College Hockey action this weekend:

Miami (Ohio) will look to continue the nations longest unbeaten streak to 11 as the Redhawks will host Northern Michigan in Oxford.

Bowling Green just coming off winning the UCONN Hockey classic will look to gain momentum as the Falcons travel to Ohio State to face the Buckeyes.

And just coming off a big upset against New Hampshire, Niagara will look to upset Minnesota as they travel to Minneapolis for 2 at Mariucci Arena where the Gophers are 6-3-1.

Who will prevail? Go to the weekly report to find out all the information of the weekend.

College Hockey Monthly Awards

Here are the monthly awards for college hockey

Atlantic Hockey- Scott Champagne JR F Mercyhyurst- With a league leading 28 points in 17 games and had 1 goal and 5 assists for 6 points this month in just 4 games. Earlier this season, Champagne had 1 goal and 4 assists against Connecticut. Champagne has an early season shot for player of the year in the conference.

CCHA- Charlie Effinger and Jeff Zatkoff G's Miami (Ohio)- Both goaltenders are a combined 13-2-3 this year and are playing great in goal. The split goaltenidng situation seems to be working for the Redhawks as both goaltenders have victories over Michigan and each have had seperate victories over Clarkson and RPI. Look for both goalies to play in net over the stretch run.

CHA- Andrew Martens SR D Bemidj State- Has 3 goals and 12 assists for 15 points good for third on the team. Martens and the Defense have allowed around 2.5 goals per game but there is room for improvment as the Beavers will need the D in conference play.

ECACHL- David McKee JR G Cornell- Only gave up 3 goals in 4 games and and adding a shutout against Northeastern, McKee lowered his goals against average signifigantly and is playing better hockey. McKee, one of the pre-season favorites to win the Hobey Baker, struggled in November giving up 20 goals in 7 games, but has played well ever since. Cornell should be a team on the rise up and could make some noise come NCAA tournament time.

Hockey East- Chris Collins SR F Boston College (pictured above)- Collins played terrific hockey all year, but he really shined his play in the month of Decmeber. Collins earned 6 goals and 6 assists this month including 3 goals and an assist against UMASS-Amherst earlier in the month. In the Denver Cup Collins had 3 goals and an assist. On the season Collins has a Hockey East leading 15 goals and 10 assists for 25 points.

WCHA- Ryan Poltuny JR F Minnesota- With 7 goals and 3 assists for 10 points, Poltuny has earned his case to be in the Hobey Baker race. Poltuny was named the MVP of the Dodge Holiday Classic with 3 goals and 2 assits for 5 points in 2 games. Watch out for the Poltuny and the Gophers as they should make a statement in the coming weeks as they will face opponents such as North Dakota, Colorado College, and Wisconsin in the next few weeks.

NCAA- Collins F Boston College

Holiday Tournament(s) Wrapup

There were many great tournaments during the holiday season.

Let's start with the Great Lakes Invitational

Colorado College took the title with convincing victories over Michigan and Michigan State. Joey Crabb scored 2 goals in the triumph over Michigan 6-1 and added 2 more against Michigan State in the 6-3 victory over the Spartans. Crabb was named the MVP of the tournament with 4 goals in 2 games.

In the Sheraton/TD Banknorth tournament held in Burlington Vermont, Vermont goaltender Joe Fallon did not allow a single goal as the Catamounts easily took home the Shearton/TD Banknorth tournament title defeating Dartmouth 1-0 and Clarkson 3-0.

Denver struggled in its own tournament losing to Princeton 4-1 and then lost the consolation game to Ferris State 3-2. Boston College took the Denver Cup by winning in a shootout against Ferris State (after the teams were tied at 3 at the end of overtime) for the right to go to the finals. BC then took care of business against Princeton as Chris Collins added 2 goals and an assist in the Eagles 5-1 victory over the tigers.

Wisconsin continues to roll on as the Badgers took home the Badger invatational with a 4-1 victory over Western Michigan and a 6-1 victory over Northern Michigan. Goaltender Brian Elliott only had to make 35 saves in the 2 games.

Cornell took home the Florida Invatational as goaltender David McKee only allowed one goal in the tournament.

And Minnesota won the Dodge Holiday Classic with an 8-0 victory over Union and a 5-4 victory over UMASS-Lowell.

Thats all for the holiday tournaments and the weekly preview and report will be back this week and for next week the debut of bracketology Wednesday will take place.