The end of the year provides bloggers with a wonderful crutch: best of the year lists! To be honest I don’t love doing them because they seem like a cop out but in my short blogging career one of the top things I have learned is that people love lists, so why not.
2010 was a great year for college hockey, and while I have no doubt that 2011 will be just as good if not better, we can’t move onto 2011 without first looking back at 2010.
5. Alabama-Huntsville
With the CHA disbanding after the 2009-10 season, three of the four teams found homes. Bemidji State went to the WCHA, and Robert Morris and Niagara were welcomed into Atlantic Hockey. But the CCHA rejected Huntsville’s bid to join the conference, and as of now the school is operating as an independent. Thanks to previously scheduled games and some benevolent coaches they are able to play a full schedule this season, but it remains to be seen how long the school can continue playing as an independent. Rumors of other schools joining division one hockey could help the Chargers latch on to a conference, but can they exist long enough to see it come to fruition?
4. Penn State sparks Big 10 Hockey Conference Rumors
The rumors have been going on for awhile now, but with an $88 million donation from Terrence Pegula, Penn State will officially join the ranks of division one hockey programs in 2012. Penn State will be the sixth Big Ten team to play D1 hockey, and because you need six for an NCAA tournament autobid, that has sparked a brand new round of Big 10 hockey rumors.
This will of course harm the smaller WCHA and CCHA schools, who depend on the revenue that hosting a Minnesota or a Michigan brings. Some schools (North Dakota and Minnesota-Duluth) come to mind will be able to survive, both because they can generate enough revenue on their own and because Minnesota will likely play a number of WCHA schools every year in non-conference games. The problem will likely be worse in the CCHA, where there are 4 Michigan schools not counting Michigan and Michigan State, and I don’t see either school making the trek to Lake Superior State or Northern Michigan too often. Add in the fact that many CCHA buildings are smaller than their WCHA counterparts and it’s possible that the addition of Penn State could result in the subtraction of some programs with a lot of history.
3. The Big Chill
It was recent, but the Big Chill at the Big House in Ann Arbor was the most attended NCAA event ever, the most attended event in the history of Michigan Stadium, and the most attended hockey game ever. Though Guinness changed the official record and lopped it off by more than 20,000, anyone who has seen pictures of the crowd knows that it was well over 100,000. The game was a blowout in favor of the Wolverines, as Jon Merrill and Carl Hagelin each had two goals, but the spectacle of it made it special. It started in the sunlight and finished under the lights, and it proved that while some people think outdoor hockey has become somewhat of a worn out cliche, when done correctly it is one of the coolest thing in sports.
2. Frozen Four at Ford Field
Boston College won its 2nd title in 3 years, but perhaps even more important than that was the venue. The rink setup got mixed reviews, but based on who I talked to there were more dissatisfied customers than satisfied ones. I only watched on TV, but the atmosphere seemed much worse for the 2010 Frozen Four than the 2009 edition. Part of that is that all three games were blowouts, but a setup like this just seems weird for hockey. There were a lot of tickets sold, but attendance seemed sparse and it will be interesting to see if the NCAA tries a venue like that again. They aren’t done experimenting however, as the 2012 Frozen Four is being held in that traditional hockey hotbed of Tampa.
1. USA Hockey
OK so it’s not a college hockey story, but the story of the year in hockey in general, to me, was the strides made by USA Hockey. The Olympic team made a surprise run to the gold medal game, and were an overtime away from winning it all, and they also beat the Canadians in a pool play game.
But beyond that, the Americans won an under 18 gold medal, their second in a row, going 8-1 in the tournament and shutting out their opponent in 3 games. They also outscored the competition 54-12 during the tournament. The U-18’s also had a 2nd place at the 2010 Ivan Hlinka Memorial tournament, their best finish since 2006. They won the 4 Nations Cup defeating Finland, Switzerland and Sweden, and finished 2nd at the 6 nations tournament.
The U-17s also had a nice year, winning both the Four Nations Cup and Five Nations Tournament.
Not to be overlooked, the USA Sledge Hockey team won Paralympic Gold in Vancouver, a great achievement.
But my USA Hockey moment of the year came in the World Junior Championships when the Americans, who had lost in a shootout to Canada on New Years Eve, played a tight back and forth game vs. the Canadians in the rematch and when Canada scored two goals in the last couple minutes to tie it it looked like the US was destined for another heartbreak, but just over 4 minutes into the extra frame John Carlson snapped in a wrister to win it for the US, their first since 2004. The US entered this tournament as a favorite and if they can win it all again it will be a phenomenal bookend to a great 2010.