Dutchmen to open 2017-18 at Ice Breaker

by Ryan Fay

Union will open the 2017-18 season by making its third appearance in the Ice Breaker tournament, it was announced Saturday.

Minnesota Duluth will host the 21st annual event at the 6,500-seat AMSOIL Arena in Duluth, MN. Minnesota and Michigan Tech will round out the four-team field.

The first round of the tournament, set for Oct. 6, will see Union take on Michigan Tech at 5 p.m. and Minnesota Duluth against Minnesota in the nightcap. The third place and championship games will take place the following day.

Depending on what happens between now and then, Union's game against Michigan Tech could be the first-ever meeting between the two schools. The Huskies are one of only seven Division I teams yet to play Union.

The Dutchmen didn't have much luck in their two previous Ice Breaker appearances, 1999 in Denver and 2005 in Colorado Springs. In the 1999 event, Union lost to Denver 4-1 and Notre Dame 4-0. In 2005, the Dutchmen fell to Colorado College 6-1 and Air Force 9-2.

Tournament details with ticket prices will be released at a later date.

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College Hockey Video of the Week (4/18/11): A Tribute To Neal Broten

At the Frozen Four, Minnesota native Neal Broten was honored before the championship game. He is one of the most popular hockey players in the history of Minnesota. He played at every level in the state of Minnesota and was successful at all levels. Broten was a high school star in Minnesota before playing for the University of Minnesota and the Minnesota North Stars.

His claim to fame is being the only player to ever win an NCAA championship, an Olympic gold medal, and the Stanley Cup. He won the NCAA championship in 1979 where he scored the game-winning goal, was a member of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team, and scored the game-winning goal in the New Jersey Devils' Stanley Cup clinching game in 1995.

For more on Broten click here.

Here are three videos of these three great moments:



(Look for Broten on the ice around the 1:04 mark. He's wearing #9.)

College Hockey Video of the Week (4/4/11): Last Frozen Four in St. Paul

This Thursday, the Frozen Four returns to St. Paul, Minnesota for the first time since 2002. The 2002 Frozen Four was my third ever Frozen Four, and was the first one where I had to fly to go see the games. I remember having such a great time at this site because I liked the rink, we went to Mickey's Dining Car (like in the Mighty Ducks), had a great time at the Frozen Fest, and just had an overall great time.

But, probably the most memorable part of that tournament was the University of Minnesota's come-from-behind overtime win over Maine in the championship game in front of a crowd that was pretty much 99% Gopher fans. The crowd was electric and when Grant Potulny (who I think was the only player on the Minnesota roster not from Minnesota) scored the game-winning goal the place went absolutely insane. I still remember sitting next to (or behind) a group of older Maine fans and how disappointed they were.

So, here is a video with all the goals from that game with music (I thought it was a nice touch). Hopefully this year's Frozen Four can reciprocate the same feelings I had the last time I was there. I'm really not going to cheer for any team because I really don't like rooting for teams besides my own, but I hope the UMD Bulldogs do well.

Anyways, am I going to be the only Union fan at the Frozen Four this year? I will definitely be wearing my Union jersey with pride, and I'm sure plenty of people will want to take pictures of me with the jersey to see if they can find every college hockey jersey at the tournament (since that's what Frozen Four people tend to do). I'll keep you all posted throughout the week in what I'm doing in St. Paul.

Have a good week Union fans, and enjoy my favorite day of the year: SEMIFINAL THURSDAY!

College Hockey Video of the Week (1/17/11): A History of Minnesota - North Dakota "Brawls"

This past weekend saw the latest of the Minnesota-North Dakota brawls. It was spurred by clean hit by UND's Brad Malone at the end of the second period of Friday's game. This was a relatively small "brawl," but it was still entertaining.

Here is the video:


And here are some other clips of Gopher - Fighting Sioux fights over the years:


This one features Kelly Zajac's brother Darcy:











Even the fans don't like each other:

Dutchmen Beat Gophers in Overtime 3-2

What a great way to bring in the New Year for the Dutchmen! This was a game they really needed to have in order to prove to the rest of the nation that they are not over-rated. Who knows, but maybe this win will be looked back upon as the defining win of the season. Even though Minnesota might not be a national power this year, it is still a pretty big feat to go into Mariucci and beat the Gophers.

Here's the game summary in short: Gophers score late in the first period... John Simpson ties it up midway through the second with a PPG... Gophers take the lead again with about three minutes left in the second with a PPG... Josh Jooris ties the game up 13 seconds later... Jooris scores his second of the night 42 seconds into overtime.

Union played a streaky game. Sometimes the Dutch really controlled the play and at other times the Gophers skated all over them. Personally, I think Matt Hatch and John Simpson played excellent games as they used their speed and took advantage of the bigger ice surface. Obviously, Josh Jooris had a great game and I felt that Brock Matheson had a very strong performance. He is truly the leader of the defense.

I actually paid $13 to watch the game on Go Gopher Sports.com... and it was worth every penny in the end. Yeah, the quality wasn't so great but the Dutchmen won and that's all I care about. I also want to point out that the announcer for the broadcast was really good. He has a real hockey announcer voice. He also wasn't just interested in his team as he pointed out the academic prestige of Union along with some other cool facts. The Gopher fans on the Go Gopher Sports.com live blog on the other hand weren't as knowledgeable. They had no clue where Union was and some didn't even realize that Union was ranked higher than their team. I think they'll know more about Union after tonight!

Today (Saturday), the Dutchmen take on the Bemidji State Beavers in the tournament championship game. Earlier in the day, the Beavers beat the Ferris State Bulldogs 3-2. Union has successfully hunted the Gophers, and now it's Beaver hunting season. Two victories in Minnesota would be a great way to go into the winter term and the bulk of the league schedule. The game will begin at 5pm EST.

Also, congratulations to Head Coach Nate Leaman on becoming the winningest coach in Union College hockey history with the win tonight. Leaman now has 123 wins as Union's bench boss, surpassing Charlie Morrison who had 122 carer wins.

For more on the game check out:
Union Athletics.com
Go Gopher Sports.com (with post-game interviews from Coach Leaman and Coach Lucia)

Union Goes Gopher And Beaver Hunting

Bucky the Beaver (left) and Goldy the Gopher (right)
I wonder if Dutchy the Dutchman will be there... haha

This weekend the Dutchmen will play the #19 University of Minnesota Golden Gophers (Friday) and Bemidji State Beavers (Saturday) in the Mariucci Classic in Minnesota.
Both of these games are extremely important out of conference (OOC) games that will make a big difference in where Union finishes in the PairWise Rankings (PWR). The Dutchmen are 1-3-1 in OOC road games this season with their only win coming against Alaska-Anchorage and the tie coming against RPI in Lake Placid. They need to find a way to beat good teams on the road, but haven't done so in the games against Alaska-Fairbanks and Western Michigan.

This is Union's last chance to prove to the nation that they can beat tough OOC opponents and deserve to be in the national tournament. Personally, if Union cannot win a game in this tournament I really don't see them making the national tournament unless they make a run in the ECAC playoffs. Two wins would be so huge and would give the team a lot of momentum heading into the bulk of the league schedule.

Hopefully Union living legend Adam Presizniuk can return to the lineup this weekend. The Dutchmen have scored a combined two goals in their past three road games without Prez, and could really use his help to get the offense back on track and take some focus off of Jeremy Welsh and Daniel Carr. Prezie is the "go-to guy" on the team, and every successful team has a "go-to guy." Without a good and healthy Prezie, I cannot see this team going very far. According to Ken Schott, Coach Leaman said Presizniuk's status will be a game-time decision.

On a personal note, I have seen both Minnesota and Bemidji in the Frozen Four. I saw the Gophers win the national championship in 2002 in St. Paul, Minnesota in one of the most exciting championship games I've seen, and caught Beaver Fever in 2009 when Bemidji made their Cinderella run to the Frozen Four in Washington D.C.

Here are game notes from:
Union Athletics.com
Go Gopher Sports.com
BSU Beavers.com

Here are two videos about the Gophers and two about the Beavers. Enjoy!

College Hockey Video of the Week (10/25/10): Minnesota's Tyler Hirsch's famous incident

I vaguely remember this guy. Tyler Hirsch was a very talented player with the University of Minnesota, who had some problems and was always in the dog house of Head Coach Don Lucia. He led the Gophers with 44 points in the 2004-2005 season, and was a very promising prospect. But, Hirsch was just unable to keep everything together. He was suspended a few times and was ultimately dismissed from the team 15 games into the 2006-2007 season. It looked like he was going to sign with the NHL's Minnesota Wild, but that ultimately fell through for some reason.

For more info on Hirsch's career at Minnesota go to College Hockey News.

Sadly, this once great player's career is over and is famous for this odd incident after a loss in the 2005 WCHA Final Five Semifinals:

College Hockey Video of the Week (8/23/10): Holy Cross shocks Minnesota

In 2006 the college hockey world witnessed the greatest upset in the history of the sport.

This historical event took place at the University of North Dakota's palatial Ralph Engelstad Arena in the 2006 NCAA Western Regional. Minnesota was the top seeded team of the region, and went into the game as the #3 team in the country. Their opponent was Holy Cross of the new Atlantic Hockey Association, a league that was (and still is) an after thought in college hockey.

Most people expected the Golden Gophers to skate all over the Crusaders... except my little brother Adam who was 10 years old at the time. Every year before the NCAA tournament everyone in my family fills out a bracket, just like most people do for the NCAA Basketball tournament. You saw this game between the Gophers and Crusaders and it was incredibly easy to pick the top seeded team. Minnesota was historically a national powerhouse, had many future NHLers on their roster, won back-to-back championships in 2002 and 2003, and Holy Cross was from a weak league, never won an NCAA tournament game, and didn't have the recruiting or money power that Minnesota had. When I saw that he picked Holy Cross to defeat Minnesota I told him he was nuts and that there was no way that would happen. Well, I looked pretty dumb when Holy Cross shocked Minnesota 4-3 in overtime.

When HC's Tyler McGregor put the puck past Gopher goalie Kellen Briggs just 53 seconds into overtime the college hockey world went into pandemonium. This is pretty obvious from listening to the reaction of the announcers in this video, which is the best part about this video. The shock and emotion is what made this moment so great.

Maybe this is how Matt Dubrey and Brian Unger will react when Union beats a national powerhouse in the NCAA tournament.

For more about this amazing game check out Go Holy Cross.com and USA Today.com.

If you can't see the video click here.

College Hockey Video of the Week (7/13/10): The Blake Wheeler Goal

This is my first non-Union College Hockey Video of the Week, which features former Minnesota Golden Gopher Blake Wheeler who now plays in the NHL for the Boston Bruins.

This video takes place in the 2007 WCHA Championship game as Wheeler's Gophers take on the North Dakota Fighting Sioux. In the WCHA semifinals Wheeler scored a hat trick in a 4-2 win over Wisconsin. With the game tied at two in overtime and the title on the line, Wheeler raced down the ice in hope to prevent an icing call. He prevented the icing call and did something else... scored an amazing diving, one-handed goal to give his team the championship. This combined with his semifinal performance led to him being named the tournament MVP.

The goal was compared to Neal Broten's goal in the 1979 NCAA Championship game which gave the Gophers the title over North Dakota. Less than a year later Broten would be a member of the 1980 "Miracle on Ice" team.

If you can't see the Wheeler goal click here.

Notes about Union's 2010-2011 schedule

After surfing the web and the message boards I have come across some games that should pop-up on Union's schedule once it is released (which should be pretty soon).

According to Gopher Puck Live.com the Dutchmen will be playing in the Dodge Holiday Classic hosted by the University of Minnesota. The teams taking part in the tournament along with Union will be the Gophers, Bemidji State, and Ferris State. This will be a great opportunity for the Dutchmen to prove themselves against national powerhouses that have contended for the national championship in the past decade (Minnesota and Bemidji). I'm not sure who Union is playing, but if I had to guess I'd say the Gophers since they are the host and Union is the only team not from Minnesota. The tournament will take place during New Years Eve and New Years Day.

Also, word on the RIT message boards (Post #106) is that the Tigers will be visiting Union along with RPI early in the season. This makes sense since RIT is on the rise as they made the Frozen Four this past season. There is also the possibility that RIT could move to the ECAC since they are by far the best team in Atlantic Hockey. Another sign of their moving to the ECAC is that they are moving to the Liberty League. The Liberty League is a Division III conference that has many ECAC Hockey teams in it (Union, RPI, St. Lawrence, Clarkson). RIT is similar to Union in that they cannot offer athletic scholarships.

This is basically all I got for now. I will post any other things I find. Hopefully the schedule comes out soon.