BRHC Championship Bracket 2/21

Thanks again to Janey for covering the tournament this weekend in G-Vegas!

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.

The Bag Skate for Tuesday, June 24th

The Chicago Blackhawks have re-signed former Cane Andrew Ladd to a two year deal. Come on Tuomo Ruutu, look out for us here...

Darcy Hordichuk gives a collective "F you" to the Carolina brass. I join my boy Jimmy in saying "well to hell with you too then".

ESPN will show the Paper, Rock, Scissors championship but still can't show hockey? WTF?

Hockey blogger extraordinaire and friend to COI Greg Wyshynski showcases some Anaheim Duckies leaving a tattoo parlor (or bar?) in some skimpy girlie clothes. Caniac Nation appreciates how normal our players truly are.

The Charlotte Checkers release their players "protected list".

The UNC-Wilmington club hockey squad has their own little AV Delight showcasing last year's season on Youtube.

The Fayetteville FireAntz have re-signed their puck-moving defenseman, Lawne Snyder.

The Wolfpack hockey squad needs some positions filled for next season.

YouTubery goodness: The Ron Francis Hartford Whalers days:

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.

UNC Wilmington falls one goal short of conference championship

Got an e-mail from the busy Team President / Goalie / BRHC Tourney coordinator / graduating Senior, Pete Schwarz of the Seahawks tonight as his squad lost to Old Dominion in the championship game on Sunday. From all respects, the Wilmington club hockey team has taken tremendous strides this year between hosting the conference tournament to having a 9-1-0-1 record in their final 11 games or tripling the amount of fans in the rink.

ODU Monarchs 8, UNC Wilmington Seahawks 7

You want class? Class is having this on your website after losing a heart breaker to their rival:

The Seahawks congratulate ODU and wish the team best of luck at Nationals

Congratulations on a successful season and many more to come.

Seniors graduating: Blake Cute, Tim Haggerty, Ian Aldrich, Colin Rossi, Todd Nixon

Playoffs?!? You wanna talk about playoffs?!? Playoffs?!?

Let me preface this by saying that I had an elaborate, in-depth post about the college playoffs in draft mode that the blogger gnomes must have really liked, because it disappeared into thin air. Awesome. Not.

Fortunately, el Presidente Pete Schwarz of the UNC-Wilmington Hockey squad is on top his game as his Seahawks are hosting the Blue Ridge Hockey Conference tournament this weekend.

Congrats to him on being named the BRHC goalie of the year and to the team who is undefeated since their new coach arrived.

Head over there for full details.

UNC-W Hosts BRHC Championship Tournament

College Hockey Fires Back Up This Weekend

The local boys are getting their gear out of storage from holiday break and nose-diving in to their January schedules. On tap for this coming weekend:

The RecZone - Raleigh

Friday the 11th at 6:00 Duke hosts Va Tech.

The NCSU Wolfpack hosts a weekend double header facing VT Saturday night, followed by a 1:30 matinee matchup with the Blue Devils.

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The UNC Tarheels will head down to Clemson for a Friday night matchup against the Tigers.

UNC Charlotte will host the UNC-Wilmington Seahawks Saturday at their home rink, Extreme Ice.

The East Carolina U. Pirates, still on a tear from this Fall's schedule, are traveling to sweet Georgia to take on power-house teams Georgia & Georgia Tech. This will be a good test for the still young ECU team.

Are you heading to any games this weekend? As always, photos/videos are welcomed.

Good luck! Support your local teams!

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.

Upcoming Games

Canes & Sens -- can the Canes slow the Sens undefeated role?

Weekend of October 12th & 13th

Duke vs. UNC @ Triangle Sportsplex 10:15 -- Where's Dicky V when you need him?

NCSU @ Gulf Coast FLA - Quite a roadtrip for self-sufficient student athletes!

UNC-W @ ECU - Budding rivalry - can the Seahawks rally as underdogs? (double header, Fri & Sat)

College Updates

Wolfpack held off VT last weekend with a win in Blackburg, 5-4.


Just a reminder, ECU vs. Wilmington at Bladez on Ice this weekend (Fri & Sat night games)

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!

Quick Rundown

The Blue Ridge Hockey Conference website has a team preview for the UNC-W Seahawks up.

Clemson has this years new roster and schedule up.

The ACC Hockey League has a shiny new website.

Former Hurricanes' Coach Maurice is talking all kinds of smack.

Canes training camp started today.

Erik Cole can kick your ass.

The SPHL Presidents' Cup Champion Fayetteville Fireantz have their schedule out.

Its Alive! The College Kids Are Back!

Many of the NC/SC teams have remarkably been updating their websites with new rosters and schedules. Use the links provided under "Carolinas Hockey Links" over there -------> and see for yourself.

Pete from UNC-W (who along with the ECU guys, is the best at keeping in touch w/ C.O.I.) sent me this e-mail today:

"...some info on our coaching staff since I'm still working with our website guy to fix the link...

Head Coach- Camaron VandeVeer-

Played at NCAA d3 Lebanon Valley College for 4 years. Assistant head coach in 2007

Assistant Head Coach- Greg Kutchma-

Played at NCAA d3 Lebanon Valley College for 4 years, served as captain. Was an assistant coach with the UMASS-Boston NCAA D3 program for one year. Played professional hockey for Flint Generals for one year. Currently also the head coach of the Wilmington Ice Hawks junior program.

Assistant Head Coach- Brian Hapeman-

Played at Mercyhurst College for 4 years. Played ECHL for 2 years. 2nd year with UNCW

Assistant Coach- Craig Newkirk

Plays locally within adult league. registered EMT. level 2 ref. 3rd year with UNCW.

... we have some serious talent from junior programs in Raleigh and MD. Also got two very good guys from Mass."

I always enjoy hearing from the club hockey level! As far as I know, there are no other blogs out there who are dedicated to covering the Carolinas club hockey scene. CarolinaOnIce (at) gmail.com is the address if you ever want any updates and free press.

Be on the look out in the coming months for some A/V delight from the local college clubs.

UNC Tarheels Spruce Up Website

Oooooh Aaaaaaaaah!

http://www.unchockey.com

Prepare Yourselves For The Eastside Showdown: UNC-W vs. ECU

vs

and for colors that don't match C.O.I...

The weekend of October 12th & 13th pits UNC-Wilmington against their arch-rival, East Carolina U. in Greenville, NC. The Pirates play at the controversial Bladez On Ice (supposedly not regulation sized) on Red Banks Rd. in G-Vegas. It will be standing room only in there - stay posted to C.O.I. for a mas rapido report when tickets go on sale.

UNC-W 07-08 Schedule

Blue Ridge Hockey Conference Shake Up

Earlier this year, the Clemson & ECU club hockey teams left the BRHC due to growing success within their programs. With the two of the best teams leaving, the domino effect set in with 3 other teams ditching house.

BRHC Summer Press Release (.pdf)

"The BRHC also plans to return to a Northern and Southern Division. Tentatively, the Northern Division will consist of Christopher Newport University, Lynchburg College, Old Dominion University, Virginia Military Institute and the College of William & Mary. The Southern Division will consist of Radford University, University of North Carolina Wilmington, University of North Carolina Charlotte and NC State."

The UNC Charlotte 49ers have been added to the Carolinas Hockey Links on the sidebar.

Credit goes to the UNC-Wilmington club hockey site for busting the news out and for actually keeping a website current and informative. Check out their schedule of events.

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!