College Hockey All Over National TV in 2013-14 [UPDATED]

Posted on September 16, 2013 by Chris Peters

The 2013-14 season will be a somewhat bittersweet one for college hockey fans around the country. Though realignment takes away some of the tradition, the fact that there will be unprecedented coverage of live games on national television this year may help soften the blow for some.

The NCHC already released its schedule with exclusive TV partner CBS Sports Network earlier this month, with 18 games expected to be televised in HD. Monday, the Big Ten announced its television schedule, with 27 games on the Big Ten Network as well as some games on both on the ESPN family of networks, which was unexpected.

NBC Sports Network has not yet officially released its full schedule, but a large package of Hockey East games, among others are expected to be aired on Friday nights on the network.

The good news for folks with these channels is that there’s going to be tons of games. The bad news is that you’re probably going to have to have some tough choices of what to watch on Friday nights this upcoming season and the vast majority of the broadcasts won’t come until January.

Either way, there is more college hockey on national TV than ever before, so you won’t find any complaints from me.

Coming up after the jump the NCHC and Big Ten TV schedules…

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Posted in NCAA | 5 Comments

Hockey’s Growth in the United States: 2003-2013

Posted on September 13, 2013 by Chris Peters

Another hockey season is upon us. As NHL training camps open, many hockey players across the country, young and old, are registering for yet another season in the amateur ranks of the sport in the United States. In all likelihood, there will be more players from the mini mites to old-timers playing hockey in this country than ever before.

USAHockeyUtilizing USA Hockey’s public playing membership numbers, American hockey participation has been on a precipitous rise since the early 1990s. When looking at the numbers over a 20-plus-year span, the growth is rather remarkable. However, it is just as impressive when looking at a shorter window.

In the early 1990s, there was much more room to grow. As demand for the game grew, so did the number of facilities, which allowed hockey to flourish in the United States. Though the potential for growth stalled during an economic downturn, hockey didn’t stop moving forward.

After reviewing 20-year growth in 2010 (here and here), I decided to take another look at how hockey has fared over the last decade (using the 11 seasons between 2002-03 and 2012-13) and also broke it down into a five-season span (2008-09 to 2012-13).

Coming up after the jump, a look at hockey participation in each state since 2002-03.

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Posted in Grow the Game, NHL, USA Hockey | 16 Comments

Denver Ticket Plan Aims to Keep North Dakota Fans Out

Posted on September 4, 2013 by Chris Peters

If there’s one thing you can say about North Dakota hockey fans, they’re passionate. That passion makes UND’s among the best, if not the best traveling fan base in all of college hockey.

That has occasionally made their away games seem a lot more like home.

With that in mind, the University of Denver unveiled a new ticket plan for its series with North Dakota, as Brad Schlossman of the Grand Forks Herald writes:

When single-game tickets go on sale Friday morning for UND’s road series at Denver, the Pioneers will require that fans buy tickets to two other selected Pioneer games if they want to go to a UND-DU game. The website doesn’t currently list which other games will be part of the three-game pack, but it won’t be a second UND-DU game.

For fans who don’t want to purchase sets of three, there are two other options.

The first is getting them through the UND Alumni Association, which has a number of tickets for that series.

The other option is for fans would to get group tickets, which can be purchased by groups of 20 or more.

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Posted in NCAA | 1 Comment

Concussions in Junior, College Hockey Need More Attention

Posted on September 3, 2013 by Chris Peters

Concussions aren’t going away. Over the last few years, concussions and head trauma have become as much a part of the sports discussion as what you can find in the box scores. As more is learned about the human brain and what happens when it gets injured, it’s a topic that can’t be discussed enough.

(Photo via stemgenex.com)

It is particularly important when it comes to younger players, players who have not yet earned the big contract, or more importantly, whose brains are still developing.

It is well known that hockey is a high-risk sport when it comes to head trauma. This weekend, there was yet another startling reminder of how serious concussions can be for young players.

Jarrod Maidens, an Ottawa Senators prospect playing for the Owen Sound Attack in the Ontario Hockey League, missed all of last season with post-concussion symptoms. Maidens suffered the injury in the early portion of the 2011-12 season when he caught an accidental knee to the head. He remained in the game after apparently showing no signs of concussion, but the symptoms arose after the game.

The forward was due to make his return this year, but over the weekend he was sent home, still suffering from post-concussion symptoms with no timetable for a return. Hockey doesn’t even matter at that point, you worry about his quality of life. He’s 19.

The NHL, with its heightened exposure and every single game televised draws the most conversation and most attention. The concussion issue is a major one for the league, but it goes far beyond that. It is a major issue in the leagues that feed the NHL, which in some ways makes that also the NHL’s problem.

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Posted in Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL, USA Hockey | 2 Comments

PHOTO: 2014 USA Hockey Olympic Jersey Unveiled

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Chris Peters

There have been minor news nuggets coming out of the U.S. Olympic Camp in Arlington, Va., but one of the more notable events to take place was the unveiling of the 2014 Olympic jersey.

And here’s the first look, via Nike PR.

USA2014

The jerseys were designed by Nike and with the USA shield featured prominently on the front, this is a bit of a nod to the jerseys of the 1930s and 1940s.

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Posted in 2014 Olympics, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey | 7 Comments

Team USA Olympic Hockey Jersey History 1920-2010

Posted on August 27, 2013 by Chris Peters

Tuesday at 11:30 a.m. ET on USAHockey.com, the 2014 U.S. Olympic jersey will be unveiled. It will join a long line of jerseys that have been part of some of the greatest moments in American hockey history.

There have been plenty of hits and misses, and we won’t know much about where the 2014 jersey will land until it is unveiled Tuesday. However, it looks like we probably got a peek at what to expect based on this crest being on pretty much every single thing American players were wearing Monday at camp, including the practice jerseys.

If this is the jersey, it will be the first time in a long time the U.S. goes with a shield or crest versus a word mark since the 1940s.

[Update: See the new jersey here]

You may recall that in 2010, the IOC banned federations’ national teams from wearing the corporate logo of said federations. Therefore, USA Hockey’s trademark “Waving S” logo can’t be used on the jerseys as it was in Olympics from 1988 to 2006. So before the new jerseys joins the ranks to be judged against the rest, here’s a look at what it will be compared to for the rest of time. Continue reading →

Posted in Uncategorized | 11 Comments

U.S. Olympic Camp: Quote Roundup From Day 1

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Chris Peters

The U.S. Men’s National Team Orientation Camp is officially underway in Arlington, Va., and while the players aren’t on the ice, there’s some interesting info coming out of the camp.

Logo_USA_hockeySince I couldn’t be there, I’m rounding up some of the most notable notes and quotes as tweeted out by the assembled media with some thoughts on each.

There was an opening press conference from Team USA GM David Poile and many players had media scrums throughout the day. Coming up after the jump, some of the most notable quotes of the day.

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Posted in 2014 Olympics, NHL, U.S. National Teams, USA Hockey | 3 Comments

2013 All-American Prospects Game Roster Revealed

Posted on August 26, 2013 by Chris Peters

Monday, USA Hockey revealed the 40 players invited to participate in the 2013 CCM/USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game in Pittsburgh. The game, which will be held at the CONSOL Energy Center on Sept. 26, features only U.S. players eligible for the 2014 NHL Entry Draft.

The full roster is available here.

Unlike last year, when the roster was dotted with several second-year eligible players, 39 of the 40 are first-year eligible for the NHL Draft. There didn’t seem to be too many egregious omissions from the roster and it looks like a fairly good crop for what is sure to be a great event in Pittsburgh.

If you hadn’t heard yet, American hockey legends Mark Johnson and Joey Mullen will be the head coaches for each side. Both are former Penguins, while Johnson’s late father Bob was a head coach of the Pens as well. NTDP coaches Danton Cole and John Gruden will be the assistants.

More thoughts on the roster after the jump. Continue reading →

Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA | Comments Off on 2013 All-American Prospects Game Roster Revealed

NCAA vs. CHL: QMJHL Rising as Legitimate Player in Recruiting Battle

Posted on August 21, 2013 by Chris Peters

Once considered mostly an afterthought in the ongoing and ever-present recruiting battle between college hockey and the Canadian Hockey League, the QMJHL has made a more concerted effort to attract top-end talent from the United States. This summer, it may be starting to pay some dividends, if only for a few teams.

For years, the QMJHL had been essentially a non-factor, with the number of American players competing in the league at a rather low number. Perhaps it’s not a coincidence that as the QMJHL lagged behind on attracting U.S.-based talent, the Ontario Hockey League and Western Hockey League were taking big steps forward and strengthening their leagues.

However, coming off the third straight year of a QMJHL team winning the Memorial Cup and a draft in which the league boasted the first and third overall picks — Nathan MacKinnon and Jonathan Drouin — as well as four other players taken within the first 22 picks, the QMJHL made a statement in regards to its ability to attract and produce elite players.

Perhaps that is part of what has led to a larger number of American-born players heading to the QMJHL this summer, which has been one of the most intriguing storylines of another rough summer of decommitments.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA | 2 Comments

NCAA vs. CHL: Summer of Decommitments Rages On

Posted on August 19, 2013 by Chris Peters

For a pair of teams that play in the Canadian province of Ontario, the Ontario Hockey League’s Kitchener Rangers and London Knights sure love their American players.

NCAAvsCHLNews broke Saturday night that Christian Dvorak, a highly regarded forward out of the Chicago Mission program and now former Wisconsin commit, had signed with the London Knights. There seems to be quite a bit of that going around these days. In fact, the Knights themselves picked up Montreal Canadiens first-rounder and former Western Michigan commit Mike McCarron earlier this summer.

Earlier in the week, London rival Kitchener announced the signing of Ryan MacInnis, a forward who had not committed to a school, but left the U.S. National Team Development Program a year early. Two weeks prior, the Rangers also announced the signing of Mentor, Ohio, native and former Ohio State commit Nick Magyar days after confirming the club had inked Shattuck-St. Mary’s product and Davie, Fla., native Mason Kohn.

These were just the latest signings in what has been an increasingly busy summer for players once on the college path, even going beyond American players. Some Canadians previously on the NCAA path have changed course and signed with various teams across the Canadian Hockey League.

Even at this late stage of the summer, CHL teams are snapping up quality former college-bound prospects at a somewhat prolific rate it seems.

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Posted in American Prospects, Junior Hockey, NCAA, NHL Draft | 25 Comments