College Hockey Video of the Week (6/6/11): Most Memorable Moment of my Union Hockey Experience

This will be my last week running this blog, so I thought this would be a fitting video to show. I will have more news later in the week about the future of UHB.

This video contains highlights from Union's 5-0 victory over Princeton on Senior Night to claim the Clearly Cup. I will forever remember this moment, and I'm sure the seniors on the team will call this moment the greatest of their careers.  From the time I got to the rink to having Andrew Buote thank me during his speech to celebrating with the team after the game, I can easily say that night was the most fun and exciting nights of my four years.

Good luck to all the Union students in their upcoming finals, and congratulations to all the seniors that will be walking with me at graduation this upcoming Sunday.

Whatever it takes...

College Hockey Video of the Week (5/30/11): Former College Players making a difference in the Stanley Cup Playoffs

The Stanley Cup playoffs has reached the final round as the Vancouver Canucks take on the Boston Bruins. Some of the most important players on each of these teams are former college stars like Kevin Bieksa (Vancouver/Bowling Green), Ryan Kesler (Vancouver/Ohio State), and Tim Thomas (Boston/Vermont).

Here are some videos about each of these players (and Martin St. Louis) on their college careers.

College Hockey Video of the Week (5/23/11): College Hockey - Time Of Your Life

Sorry for the late post. This is a video from College Hockey Inc. interviewing NHL players that played college hockey.



And as an apology for posting a day late, here is a bone crushing hit (and glass shattering hit) from a DIII game between Curry and Hobart.

College Hockey Video of the Week (5/16/11): Denver's David Makowski scores 195 foot goal

This took place this past February in a game between Denver and Michigan Tech.

Out Of The Woods: Parts 9 and 10

Here are the last two segments of "Out Of The Woods." I hope you all enjoyed watching the documentary. I really enjoyed it! The 1993 Maine team is arguably the best college hockey team ever and Paul Kariya might be the best college hockey player of all-time. It's really interesting to get an inside look of this team.

Out Of The Woods: Parts 7 and 8

Out Of The Woods: Parts 5 and 6

Here are Parts 5 and 6 of the "Out Of The Woods" documentary.

I hope you're all enjoying this!

Out Of The Woods: Parts 3 and 4

Here is the third and fourth segments of the "Out Of The Woods" documentary about the 1993 U of Maine national championship team.

Parts 5 and 6 will be posted tomorrow.

Enjoy!

College Hockey Video of the Week (5/9/11): Out Of The Woods

Ok, I'm going to try something different with the CH Video of the Week since news is very slow. Instead of showing one video, I will be showing a whole documentary. The documentary is called "Out Of The Woods," which is about Maine's 1993 championship season. This Maine team is one of the greatest (if not the greatest) college hockey teams of all time. With the help of guys like Paul Kariya, Jim Montgomery, Garth Snow, Mike Dunham, and the Ferraro brothers the Black Bears lost only one game that season and went on to win the national championship in dramatic fashion.

Luckily for us, YouTube has this documentary and has is split up into 10 parts. So, for the next five days I will be posting two parts.

Please let me know if you like or dislike this idea. I'm just trying something new.

Here are parts 1 and 2 of the documentary. Enjoy!

Believe In Rick Bennett and Troy Grosenick!

Some people are worried about what's going to happen to the Dutchmen without Coach Leaman and Keith Kinkaid. Union fans should not be worried because Rick Bennett will be a great coach and Troy Grosenick will provide solid goaltending. The biggest thing is believing in them. If the fans believe in them then they will believe in themselves.

I believe in these guys! Happy Springfest!

Rick Bennett fights for the NY Rangers (blue jersey):


Troy Grosenick celebrates with Cedar Rapids RoughRiders (#27):

Nate Leaman Press Conference at Providence College

Jason Klump (former CHN writer) was nice enough to travel to Providence College yesterday to attend the press conference where Nate Leaman was introduced as the new men's ice hockey coach at Providence College.

He took this video of the entire press conference, and is in the midst of writing about the whole situation. I will post his thoughts soon.

College Hockey Video of the Week (5/2/11): USA! USA! USA!

I was going to post a different video, but after the news that broke last night I had to ride the patriotic wave.

So, here are some great USA Hockey videos. The majority of these players are/were college hockey players, so I'm still keeping with the college hockey theme.

Go USA!







And just for fun...

College Hockey Video of the Week (4/25/11): 1985 National Championship Game Broadcast - RPI vs. Providence

Since Coach Leaman announced that he will be leaving Union for Providence, I figured I'd show Providence videos this week.

These three videos are actual footage from the last time the Friars made the Frozen Four and National Championship game.

The 1985 Frozen Four sounds like it was a classic with both semifinal games being decided in triple overtime, and the championship game was a 2-1 affair won by RPI.

You got to love the old school TV broadcast, the Hannibal Lecter-like facemasks, and definitely the Providence full hockey pants. I think Leaman should definitely bring back the full pants.

Also, take a look at #7 for RPI (1:20 mark of third video). It's Mark Jooris, who is the father of Union freshman forward Josh Jooris. It's definitely a little weird seeing a #7 and the name Jooris on the back of a RPI jersey. And look out for Tim Army, who is the coach that Leaman is replacing at Providence.

Enjoy!

Intro


First Period play


Final Seconds

Keith Kinkaid OFFICIALLY Signs With NJ Devils

On Monday, Keith Kinkaid officially signed an entry-level contract with the New Jersey Devils. At his press conference at Messa Rink, Kinkaid and Coach Leaman talked about the sophomore goaltender's decision to leave school early.

For more check out:
Union Athletics
Ken Schott's Blog
New Jersey Devils
In Lou We Trust Blog

I already gave my opinion a few days ago. Here are videos of Kinkaid and Leaman at the press conference:

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!

Captain's Corner With Brock Matheson (4/1/11)

This is the last Captain's Corner With Brock Matheson. In this final segment, Brock talks about his NCAA Tournament experience, his time at Union, the future of the team, and his future.

I want to thank Brock for taking the time out every week to talk with me and giving the fans great insight on the team. He did such a great job handling the media this season. Coach Leaman has called Brock the best captain he's ever had, and it's well deserved.

Good luck on your pro hockey career Brock!

College Hockey Video of the Week (3/28/11): Tribute To Merrimack Hockey

If there's one story that's better than Union's historic run this season, it's Merrimack's surprising and also historic 2010-11 campaign. Like Union, Merrimack moved to Division I in the early 1990s and struggled for about two decades. They did not have a winning season until this season. But, this year they went 25-10-4, finished 2nd in the Hockey East Playoffs after losing to Boston College in the championship game, and made their first NCAA D-I Tourney appearance where they lost to Frozen Four-bound Notre Dame in overtime.

Here is a video dedicated to their great season:


I also have to add this video because I think it's hilarious (in a bad way):



Does anybody out there have a Union Hockey rap? If you do, it better be better than this (haha).

LET'S GO UNION! GET PUMPED UP!

The game starts at 3pm and can be see on ESPNU. Put on your Garnet everything! It's game day!

ANYTIME, ANYPLACE, ANYHOW!

Captain's Corner With Brock Matheson (3/24/11)

It was an incredibly busy day in Bridgeport today, but Brock was nice enough to save some time for Captain's Corner this week. The media was all over the team today, which must have been cool but intimidating. I think Brock, Coach Leaman, and the rest of the Dutchmen did a great job today handling everything.

Also, Jeff Weinstein and Eric McDowell did a great job handling the "big time atmosphere." But, they've both been in these situations before with Boston College and the Golden State Warriors, respectively. It was also nice seeing some of the local media (ex. Ken Schott) in Bridgeport, which helped it feel like home. This was definitely a new experience for me with all the media, protocols, the big media room... the free lunch spread! It was such a great experience.

Anyways, here's Brock (his playoff beard is looking great!):