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The USHL held their first ever top prospects all-star game last night. A few notes:

• With no NTDP it was really boring. Their final exams were scheduled for this week, so that is the source of the conflict this year. Whether they will be a part of it in the future remains to be seen. It would probably be good for the game as a whole as it would draw more scouts, but maybe not as good for the players whose stock could take a tumble
• It was also boring because Dubuque’s Mike Matheson and Zemgus Girgensons weren’t there either. Girgensons has been flying up draft boards, so it would have been fun to see him in this type of environment.
• That said, Fargo’s Brian Cooper, who is a Nebraska Omaha commit, was by all accounts the most impressive player in the game. He’s a pretty small kid but he’s always been the prototypical leader type: he captained team USA at the Junior A Challenge this year, and I love his skating ability.
• Indiana’s Robert Baillargeon had 2 goals, and is scoring a point per game for the Ice this year. The future BU Terrier really gets to the net well and has great hands.

1. Minnesota-Duluth (15-4-3) (11-3-2) No Change

2. Merrimack (12-4-5) (8-3-3) Up 1

3. Boston College (14-8-1) (10-5-1) Up 2

4. Minnesota (16-8-1) (12-4-0) Up 2

5. Ohio State (14-6-3) (10-5-3) Down 3 Continue reading this post »

Merrimack 6, Maine 2: Merrimack got two goals from Jesse Todd and 24 saves from Joe Cannata to move into third in Hockey East with two games in hand over the second and first place teams. Spencer Abbott had his 12th of the year for the Black Bears.

Union 2, Harvard 0: Union got goals from Mat Bodie and Kelly Zajac to move into 2nd in ECAC Hockey. Tony Grosenick stopped all 18 Crimson shots.

Michigan 4, Ohio State 0: The two teams will tangle at Progressive Field tonight, but it was the Wolverines who got the best of their rivals in Columbus. Shawn Hunwick was fantastic, stopping all 46 Buckeye shots.

North Dakota 2, Minnesota 1: North Dakota overcame injury woes and a reckless hit by Danny Kristo to defeat their rivals 2-1 with a late goal by Brock Nelson. Andrew MacWilliam also had his first goal of his career in the win as the Sioux move to 8-1-1 in their last 10 games.

St. Cloud State Sophomore Cam Reid has left the school for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL. Reid has 6 goals and 15 points in 22 games for the Huskies this year, and finishes his college career with 14 goals and 30 assists in 59 games.

Reid was the 192nd overall pick by Nashville in the 2009 draft, and while he’s been OK in college I doubt that megariches await him in the NHL, so perhaps a college degree would have come in handy. (even if it’s only from St. Cloud State. Zing).

North Dakota and Clarkson played in Winnipeg this weekend, and by all accounts it was a huge success. Having Winnipeg just a couple of hours away from Grand Forks helps, but I imagine the event will help open the doors to more events in Canada in the future.

Arctice Ice Hockey had an interview with Paul Kelly, where he talks a bit about the general challenges of opening potential recruits’ eyes to the benefits of playing college hockey, but he also noted that they’re looking at making this a semi-regular occurrence. Toronto could end up hosting a Frozen Four which, passport issues aside, would probably be a fantastic event.

The last two points Kelly touched on that are important is they hope the NCAA will tweak eligibility rules so that players who play in fewer than 10 CHL games would still be eligible for college hockey. Obviously the easy work around on this is to just have coaches make sure kids play 11 games and then they’re screwed, but it still helps. The other, more important one, is making kids who commit to a college and sign a LOI off limits to CHL recruitment. This probably won’t stop the under the table payments from some OHL teams, but hopefully more kids will get a season of college hockey under their belt and then get to make their decision based on facts and their own experiences rather than what they hear through the grapevine.

1. Minnesota Duluth (14-3-3) (10-2-2)

Duluth is on a 16 game unbeaten streak, and they’re undefeated on the road this year. But most impressive has been the play of Kenny Reiter, whose .919 save percentage in conference play ranks 2nd in the WCHA.

2. Ohio State (14-4-3) (10-3-3)

All eyes will be on Cleveland this weekend, as the Buckeyes host rival Michigan at Progressive Field, the home of the Cleveland Indians. Now if only they could get Harry Doyle to announce.

3. Merrimack (11-4-4) (7-3-2)

The Warriors are significantly better on the road than at home this year, but have a chance to reverse that with their next six games coming at home, the first two with Maine.

4. Notre Dame (13-6-3) (8-3-3)

Riley Sheahan has been fantastic for the Irish this year: His 7 goals in 20 games already marks a career high, and he’s one point away from his career high of 22 which he set last year.

5. Boston College (13-7-1) (9-4-1)

The Eagles will take on Northeastern at Fenway this weekend, and play 11 of their next 13 games away from home. Continue reading this post »

BU 4, Merrimack 2: With Charlie Coyle and Corey Trivino gone, the Terriers have some serious Ewing Theory potential to borrow a Bill Simmons term. BU got four goals from four different Terriers, and Adam Clendening had an assist in his first game back from World Juniors. Josh Myers had his first goal of the year for Merrimack.

Miami 2, Michigan State 1: Connor Knapp stopped 33 of Michigan State’s 34 shots and the RedHawks got a goal from Bryon Paulazzo and the OT winner was supplied by Jimmy Mullin. The win vaulted Miami over Michigan State in the CCHA standings.

Alabama-Huntsville 3, Denver 2: Denver is struggling with some injuries right now but a loss to UAH is still a bad one, though it’s not Denver’s fault: The Pioneers outshot Huntsville 43-20 but Clarke Saunders was on top of things, making 41 saves. Mac Roy had the game winner with under 3 minutes to go in the game.

Cornell 3, Colorado College 1: Andy Iles stopped 39 of Colorado College’s 40 shots (and probably would have come in handy at World Juniors but that’s a topic for another day) as Cornell beat a Jaden Schwartz-less Tiger squad. John McCarron had the game winner, and his first of the season.

Jim Scherr will be named the first commissioner in NCHC history, according to the Colorado Springs Gazette. He will be introduced tomorrow in a press conference by North Dakota AD Brian Faison, who seemingly has been the spearhead of the NCHC this whole time.

Scherr is a former USOC boss who resigned (or was forced to resign) just as the US was gearing up for the 2016 vote. His replacement was Stephanie Streeter, a complete unknown (especially to the IOC voters) so good work, USOC!

The South Dakota native was a national champion wrestler at Nebraska and finished 5th at 198 pounds in the Seoul games. Scherr became the USOC head after the fallout of the Salt Lake City bribery scandal, and oversaw the most successful period in Olympic history, as the US broke a record for medals won in an Olympics without a boycott in 2008 with 110. They also won 25 medals in Torino in 2006, the most medals they had won in a European winter Olympics. They then shattered their “road” Olympics medal high winning 37 in Vancouver. The 9 golds each in 2006 and 2010 are a US record for a Games not on US soil.