COI Season preview: The Citadel Bulldogs Hockey team

What follows is the first of what I hope to see several more of here, a team interview with the college teams. Other squads have any interweb access and want their own post here? Send some hellos to CarolinaOnIce@gmail.com.

Things should be pretty clear for the BRHC's coming season after the Annual Fall Meeting this coming weekend in Williamsburg, VA. Earlier this summer the Colonial Collegiate Hockey League ponied up with the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference. Essentially, the new BRHC is this frickin' big:

and stretches nearly the entire Southeast which should be a good thing for members of NC and SC's teams (East Carolina who is back after an independent season, ASU, The Citadel, UNC-W, UNC-Charlotte and NCSU's Division III team) as they play in broader areas and more rinks with the chance to bring in futher alumni support. They're gonna need the gas money, folks.

And because every single college kid has a Facebook account apparently, be sure to join the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Group to keep up to date around the league this coming year.

Here's a few questions with the very clean-shaven men from the Citadel team:

Alex GRIMES

(Title: Captain. Position: Forward. Year: Senior. Company: Golf)

COI: Your biggest game of the season this year will be...

It depends on how the season goes. Most likely it will be a playoff game.

COI: Optimism = good. What does the future hold for Bulldogs hockey?

We have high hopes for the team. Our coach is dedicated to bringing in good quality players, and ensuring that the Citadel becomes one of the best teams in the South. The team has been around since 2001, and I expect it to be around for a lot longer.

Justin MENOR

(Title: Team President. Position: Forward. Year: Junior. Company: Alpha)

I went to the Citadel to become a better person and a better leader/team player. I started playing hockey when I was 10 and wanted to play rather than watching hockey games.

COI: Has the team ever done anything with the fellow Charleston team the SC Stingrays of the ECHL?

No.

COI: You should try contacting the team management at their home page.


Alexander WINTON

(Title: Assistant Captain. Position: Forward. Year: Sophomore. Company: Papa)

COI: What have been the highest and lowest points in your career as a Bulldog?

Highest: Going to the Naval Academy with 8 players and still gaining a lot of respect. Lowest: Losing 6 games in a row.

COI: Very cool and ouch. What do you think the future holds for Bulldogs hockey?

An ever expanding team and schedule...and the Citadel's greatest all-star of all time (me) pretty much dominating Grimes in life.

Marc EMOND

(Title: Assistant Captain. Position: Goalie. Year: Senior. Company: Palmetto Battery)

I ended up going to the Citadel because I was looking for a military school and it came down to Norwich and the Citadel. The Citadel was 15 minutes from the beach in the city while Norwich was in the middle of the woods with nothing around it. It was an easy choice. I started playing hockey when I was about 3 years old at public skating. My dad would bribe me with pizza to skate from one end of the ice to the other.

COI: Mmmm. Pizzzaaaa (stops to wipe drool for a sec). So VMI is the chief rivalry with both schools being military colleges?

We played them last year and it was a rough couple of games. It was really cool though because even though we both were at each others throats on the ice, after the game we were all pretty chill.

COI: How active are the coaches, staff and current players in recruiting?

Our coach has been awesome in terms of recruiting. We have two things against us, we are playing a northern sport in a southern state and also we are a military school so there are only a certain number of people who would even consider coming here. Our coach has been able to overcome these obstacles and still be able to draw in players.

COI: The team website is quite sharp and is regularly updated. What else do you do / what are you doing for promotion? How do Charleston area residents and Citadel students find out about the games?

We use such things as Facebook and word of mouth.

COI: We're a bit late to the whole Facebook party. A little off-topic here but still of interest…can you explain the Citadel tradition of weddings? (I had an old friend tell me something about the exit of the bride and groom under the crossed swords and the smacking of her behind by the best man with his blade...)

It’s about welcoming her to the Citadel family.

COI: Okay then! Good luck to the Bulldogs on the coming season.

More team features to come, ya'll.

ECU Hockey schedule released

Wuffie's McLovin Dance continues today as the ECU Ice Hockey page has the release of their schedule for the 2008-2009 season.

Dates to circle on your calendar and plan for the drive to G-Vegas:

The November homestand at Bladez On Ice starting on the 7th against the Division II Duke Blue Devils with the following weekend having VT's Division II team Fri. night the 14th and U of R on the following Saturday the 15th.

That game against the Richmond Spiders will be a re-match of the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference 2006 Championship where the Pirates came up just short of winning their conference in the 1st year of existence.

Unfortunately, the ECU boys don't have App State or NC State on the schedule at this point. ASU is in the other division of the newly re-aligned BRHC but don't rule out the possibility of a Pirates/Wolfpack tilt as they scheduled a game midway through this past season. For all of you who are in the Raleigh area - the closest that ECU will come to us is at the Triangle Sports Plex in Hillsborough vs. Duke on October 25th.

App State Hockey checks in with COI

I received an e-mail from the new publicity dude for the App State hockey team last week informing me that my link to their site took you to their old one. So without further ado,

The New & Improved ASU Hockey Homepage

There you will find their schedule for the upcoming season up and available. Their link to the side has been updated as well. Way to be on the ball Mountaineers!

They have also put up a preliminary page for this Fall's upcoming Charlotte Shootout, in which they are co-hosts with UNC-Charlotte.

2008 Charlotte Shootout

The teams are looking for sponsorship for the CLT Shootout and any profits from the event will be going to charity.

Blue Ridge Hockey Conference gets a massive makeover

Major announcement out of the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference as they merged with the Colonial Collegiate Hockey Conference today. Three different divisions are formed now based on how each team has developed over the last few seasons. Alignment is now such:

and they're looking for a few more apparently. Everything you'll need to know about these happenings: BRHC/CCHC Announce Expansion Plan.

In other news, sadly, the coach of the Georgia Tech hockey team passed away yesterday in Atlanta. Full details via their site.

The Bag Skate For Monday, December 10th

Sweatin' To The Oldies: On Sunday, Hurricanes played Detroit (the two oldest teams by average age) a 1/2 hour after their previous MTL beatdown, end up losing a game, 5-2, that was more competitive than expected. They will sleep like babies today. (Canes Country)

Erik Cole is back on the scoresheets and he's baaaaaad. (Lord Stanley's Blog)

Must-read: Sherry of Scarlett Ice translates the recently struggling Senators play through the sock-puppet medium. (Scarlett Ice)

East Coast Eagles are now the junior affiliate of the NCSU Wolfpack Hockey team. (ACCHL)

Appalachian State ends a frustrating 2007 with a big win over NC State. (App State Mountaineers)

Charlotte Checkers have an in-house blogger now on their official site, and she ain't half-bad! (Charlotte Checkers)

The SPHL Champion Fayetteville Fireantz (with an intimidating website intro), are .500 at home but undefeated in regulation on the road. (Fayetteville Fireantz)

East Carolina Pirates have their media guide available for download. (ECU Ice Hockey)

The Acid Queen sounds off on her love of Detroit Red Wings fans. (Sweet Tea, Barbecue & Bodychecks)

Stephen A. Smith mouths off on blogs, makes us all stupider for having listened to him. (ThePensBlog)

NHL.com's been following the undrafted rookie Hurricanes prospect, Jerome Samson, up in Albany. (NHL.com)

X-Hurricane Bates Battaglia waved by the Toronto Maple Leafs. Good luck, Bates. See you downtown. (CasonBlog)

College Hockey Overload

App State: It's been a tough season so far for those Mountaineer boys. The Clemson Tigers welcomed them to South Cackalack with a Shalacking double header. Clemson won both games by a combined margin of 24-3. Up next for ASU, they head "right near da beach, boi!" to face the UNC-W Seahawks, a team they have never lost to.

Duke Blue Devils: On a tear!

The Blue Devil's beat ACCHL foe NC State 4-1 on Friday to move to 4-0 in the league.

The Blue Devils' came away with two victories in their Home and Home with the Liberty Flames . On Friday, the team traveled to LaHaye Ice Center and won 4-3. Playing at home on Saturday, the Devils edged the Flames 6-4.

The Blue Devils' travelled to north to play two ACCHL opponents in Virginia and Virginia Tech. After beating UVA 6-1 on Friday, Duke outlasted Virginia Tech 3-2 Saturday night.

The Duke Blue Devils' opened up their season with a 6-0 win over Appalachian State and a 8-0 win over rival UNC.

UNC Tarheels: Despite losing to rivals NCSU & Duke, they were able to handle App State this year in OT, 5-4.

East Carolina: Since dropping one their 1st game this year to GW in the Charlotte Shootout, the Pirates are off and rolling once again and have not lost since. Despite the ECU Football team being outlasted by the Pack, the hockey team was able to hold up their end of "Rivalry Weekend?" by beating State (DII) 6-4.

Pirates Lay A Juicy 64 Shots On Goal In Charlotte Shootout

Via ECU Student Newspaper:
ECU club hockey team finds revenge, success at Charlotte Shootout - Sports


Via GT's Hockey site:

"The third game saw highs and lows for the Jackets. ECU was kept in check for most of the 1st period. After defenseman B.J. Stapleton left the game due to an injury last in period one, ECU scored to take a 1-0 lead after one. They scored
3 more goals in the 2nd period, but the defense re-grouped to keep the high
scoring ECU team in check in period three. Maxx Lucas faced 64 shots in the game
versus 21 for the Jackets."

In the end, GW ended up beating ECU. :(

Charlotte Shootout in Pineville This Weekend

From the App State website:

By App Hockey Press CHARLOTTE -- Southern hockey has seen it's fair share of
advancements in recent years, and when the number 3 Georgia Tech, 7 East
Carolina, 9 George Washington and 11 App State meet this weekend in the first
ever "Charlotte Shootout", our region will see one more. The
tournament is designed to bring teams from the southern region that
traditionally do not play each other together for one exciting weekend of
hockey. Teams will have merchandise available to purchase for
the fans and ticket prices are $10 for an all weekend pass to the 6 games to be
played. App State will have order forms for jersey's on hand,
they take approximately 3 weeks to have made and shipped. The
only team App State has played coming into the tournament is former BRHC
opponent East Carolina, who in the past two seasons App has a 1-3-1 record
against. The last being a 5-2 win in the BRHC conference
semifinals. The teams are hoping that the initial success of
the tournament will allow them to expand it to other teams in the future to
further the exposure of college hockey to hockey fans in the south who's options
are limited. The Schedule is as follows:
Fri, Oct 55:30 –
7:30pm#3 Georgia Tech vs. #11 Appalachian St10:15pm – 12:15am#8 East Carolina
vs. #9 George Washington
Sat, Oct 65:45 - 7:45pmGT vs. GW10:15pm – 12:15amApp
St vs. ECU
Sun, Oct 78:30 – 10:30amApp St vs GW10:45am – 12:45pmGT vs.
ECU

Watch out for the ECU vs. App match-up - this has become one heated rivalry over the years - with ASU knocking the highly favored Pirates out of the BRHC Tournament last year.

Local Boys Fire Up This Weekend

This weekend at the SportsPlex in Hillsborough - App State is in town to take on the Tarheels and Blue Devils in a weekend double header.

Link: "House Of Blues" - ASU Site

Also - if you're East bound and down - load it up and truck it to Greenville for the Purple/Gold ECU Scrimmage or head down to the Dub to see UNC-Wilmington in their Teal/White Game.

Yeehaw!

App State Hockey Moving To Pineville

CLT residents can now catch ASU hockey in the suburbs, so check them out next season!

link

Rainbow Warrior College Hockey Round-up

Clemson: Sept. 4th & 6th in Greenville, SC for you newly free-from-conference restraint le Tigres. (Tryout Application)

UNC-W has released their 2006-2007 season schedule. The friday Oct. 12 & Sat. the 13th matchup @ ECU is not to be missed.

NC State: Trying to raise money to renovate Dorton Arena.

Flashbacks anyone?

East Carolina: With their 1st game as independents scheduled for October 5th, the Pirates are holding tryouts on August 31st & Sept. 1st in Greenville, North Carolina (not South, W) (Tryout Application)

UNC always has their application available on-line. They say bring your gear and be ready 1st day of classes.

Appalachian State has a nice written farewell to their Seniors.

Support your local teams!