The U.S. team scored plenty of goals but few at the right time. And their so-called diamond in the rough, goaltender Thomas McCollem, collapsed at the wrong time, allowing 10 goals total in his final two games against Canada (a 7-4 loss in pool play) and Slovakia (a 5-3 quarterfinal loss). I don’t want to sit here and question coaching as I’m no brighter than the group that was behind the bench. But it certain stirs questions in my mind whether or not this team had the leadership to carry it to victory.

On the other hand, Canada once again reigned as the dominant force. I watched Monday night’s Gold Medal Game against Sweden. Canada was dominated on the shot chart, allowing 40 shots for Sweden to Canada’s 31. But anyone who watched that game knows that of Sweden’s 40 shots, few were of high quality. The Canadian defense stiffled the Swedes, killing all six power plays and allowing few quality chances for Sweden with the man advantage. In the end, the 5-1 final was hardly indicative of how close the game was down the stretch (Canada scored twice into an open net) but, in my mind, was representative of how much better Canada looked on monday night.

The title was Canada’s fifth straight, the second time the nation has put together such a streak. Next year, the Canadians will go for a record sixth straight and will once again have the luxury of playing on home ice as the tournament will be played in Regina and Saskatoon. Which leads me to pose the question: why?

Why does Canada play host to almost every one of these tournaments? In my memory, I can recall two that were played in the states - in North Dakota (a relatively short ride from Canada) and Boston (again, 4 hours to the Canadian border). I know that a few of the European nations have also hosted the event and the U.S. (well, Buffalo, which might as well be considered Canada) will host again in 2011. But it does seem somewhat unfair that the entire world has to play in front of raucous Canadian crowds in what is supposed to be a neutral international event. If it’s because of money, I understand. This year’s WJC generated a record 453,282 fans, crushing the old record of 374,353 set in Vancouver in 2003. I’d just rather see the rest of the world take a stab at hosting this event.

Still, the WJC remains likely the most exciting amateur, non-collegiate championship played today in sports. I’d just prefer to see something rather than the same old, same old.

- Having watched them play for the first time, I have to say Cornell is pretty legit. They did a nice job handling a good St. Cloud team in the semis and found a way to rally to beat Colgate in a shootout in the finals. All in all, the Florida College Classic was a very entertaining tournament to watch as all four teams (Maine being the fourth) proved they were excellent hockey clubs.

- I still hate the use of shootouts in tournaments, particularly in Championship games. If you’re playing for a title, play it out like a playoff. Don’t let a team’s ability to score on breakaways decide which team is the champion.

- Holy Cross played one of the more entertaining games I saw of the holiday season against Denver. After having to hold off the Pioneer attack in the first (the Crusaders allowed 20+ shots in the opening period), Holy Cross skated with one of the nation’s best teams.

- Boston University certainly proved they’re extremely legit. As did Notre Dame. Neither seemed to have too much trouble capturing their tournament titles!

And then there’s the World Junior Championship. I have to say I was extremely disappointed with the United States performance in the quarterfinal game against Slovakia. After the U.S. was stopped on a penalty shot in the opening minute, it was as if the club stopped trying. Their goaltender fought the puck and probably should’ve been pulled after the second goal. Their offense certainly ran into a red-hot goaltender but that still doesn’t seem like an excuse. I really thought that the U.S. just lacked the gusto to get the job done. They didn’t bury chances and in a single-elimination tournament, that’s the key.

One point that Dave Starman kept making, which I thought was a good one, was that James van Riemsdyk appeared to be playing hurt. He certainly didn’t look himself though still was a force offensively.

And on a final note, I join the rest of the college hockey world in wishing Minnesota bench boss Don Lucia a speedy recovery. Word this weekend was that doctors couldn’t diagnose the Gophers head coach’s illness, which certainly is scary. But it was great to hear he was healthy enough to watch his club’s 3-2 win over Northeastern in the title game of the Dodge Holiday Classic from the press box. Let’s hope that we’ll be seeing that perfectly coifed hair behind the Minnesota bench very soon!

This was something of an odd year for Hobey contenders in  the holiday tournaments. Two front-runners, Colin Wilson of BU and James vanRiemsdyk of New Hampshire were at the World Juniors - although it’s safe to say that Wilson might have done himself more good at the Denver Cup. Brock Bradford and Boston College skipped the holiday tournament scene in favor of a trip to New Brunswick. 

To some, those are the top three forwards contending for the Hobey - although Air Force’s Jacques Lamoureux might have an opinion about that - and they were all out of Hobey-relevant action. Still, there were several Hobey hopefuls in the holiday tournaments who are worth talking about.

Cornell’s Ben Scrivens has to be viewed as one of the holidays’ big winners, with MVP honors at the Florida College Classic. The Big Red netminder didn’t have his best performances of the season, giving up a pair of goals in both games, but he got the job done, and he now has two wins over WCHA schools this season, which will probably help his cause later on.

When Scrivens did give up a goal against St. Cloud, Garrett Roe had something to do with it, with a goal and an assist in the 3-2 loss to the Big Red. It wasn’t a happy weekend for St. Cloud, though, so I think Roe probably stood pat, possibly helping himself a little. The real story for Roe, though, will be how St. Cloud does in the second half, and whether the Huskies can get that ever-elusive first win in the NCAA tournament.

The Air Force boys took a hard hit with a loss to Quinnipiac in the championship of the Toyota UConn Holiday Classic, although Greg Flynn did find his way onto the all-tournament team. Really, though, the Falcons made their big non-conference statement against Colorado College, and now, it’s a question of whether Flynn and Jacques Lamoureux can keep up their scoring pace over the rest of the Atlantic Hockey season. I’d say that one of the two is a likely Hobey finalist at the Falcons’ current pace, more likely Lamoureux.

It sounds like a boring couple of weekends, Hobey-wise, and unfortunately, that’s what it was, but there are a couple of big winners worth mentioning. One is Matt Gilroy of BU, who was the MVP of the Denver Cup with the game-winning goal in the championship game over Denver. Gilroy doesn’t exactly have eye-popping numbers, but he’s about where he was in the last couple of years, when he’s been an All-American, and this year, he’s the co-captain of a Terriers squad that looks like it has the potential to go deep in the postseason. He’s also a player who’s turned down many, many pro offers to stay in school for his senior year, and in these times, that certainly helps his cause. I don’t think Gilroy’s teammate Colin Wilson has to worry about competition from his captain, but I can certainly see a Hobey finalist berth in Gilroy’s future if he continues to produce at his pace and lead in his own zone.

The other holiday winner is Quinnipiac’s Bryan Leitch, who handed out five assists en route to MVP honors at the UConn tournament, and has tacked on four goals and an assist in wins over Harvard and Dartmouth this weekend to take the national scoring lead. The one thing I’d say is that 23 of Leitch’s 31 points are assists, so he’d probably have a better case as a Hobey contender if he were on the blueline. Then again, the Brian Leetch comparisons would just be too much.

Bad jokes aside, Leitch and Gilroy are definitely worth keeping an eye on in the second half.

After his team lost a shootout 1-0 for the championship of the Badger Hockey Showdown last Sunday, I asked Lake Superior State coach Jim Roque whether he likes the format, given that his league is now using it as standard protocol for allocating an extra point following tie games.

“No, I don’t like it,” Roque said. “Actually, the coaches in our league voted against it. It’s our administrators that voted for it. We had a couple schools where coaches voted for it and their administrators voted against them. It’s a tough way. we don’t have the skill guys that they do.”

It’s easy not to like the system when you’re 1-6 in shootouts, but I get the feeling that the record has little to do with Roque’s opposition.

There are many around college hockey that don’t have much good to say about shootouts, other than maybe conceding that fans seem to get excited. Their reasons for not wanting them to be part of the college game are varied.

Some used to say they didn’t want them to impact the PairWise Rankings, but the reality is that they don’t. Games that go to shootouts still count as ties toward all the ranking systems except a league’s standings. (You can make an argument, however, that teams getting points for shootout victories makes a difference in the final standings, altering which teams get to play at home.)

Some don’t want a team game boiled down to a 1-on-1 situation. If that’s the case, the penalty shot should be tossed out of the game altogether, too, because it’s a 1-on-1 situation.

Personally, I like shootouts, but it’s not for any on-ice reason. It’s because of what I heard when the public-address announcer at the Kohl Center informed the fans that there was a shootout coming up — a loud cheer.

Money is tight and getting tighter. It’s not getting any less expensive to see college hockey games, although in many places it’s still a great bargain. A lot of people are going to have to make new choices involving their entertainment spending. I don’t know if the difference between finishing in a tie and finishing a game in a shootout will bring in a lot of new fans or keep the old ones, but I’d like to think that some will see the shootout as entertainment value. And while standings and rankings are important, let’s hope that the fan fits into the equation somewhere.

Before too long, I realized rankings involving records that may be inflated by mediocre schedules wasn’t really the best way to go about things, but it was too late to abandon the pursuit. And since the RPI is still a little skewed at this point of the season, I didn’t want to turn to that yet.

So here’s this season’s rankings of the 10 holiday tournaments:

1. Shillelagh Tournament (UMass-Lowell, Minnesota-Duluth, Union, No. 1 Notre Dame) 38-22-9, .616

2. Florida College Classic (Colgate, Maine, St. Cloud State, No. 10 Cornell) 31-21-6, .586

3. UConn Hockey Classic (No. 11 Air Force, Connecticut, Merrimack, Quinnipiac) 29-27-4, .517

4. Catamount Cup (Ferris State, St. Lawrence, Colgate, No. 13 Vermont) 29-27-9, .515

5. Ohio Hockey Classic (Clarkson, No. 2 Miami, Army, Ohio State) 29-28-9, .508

6. Denver Cup (No. 3 Boston University, Rensselaer, Holy Cross, No. 5 Denver) 32-33-4, .493

7. Ledyard Bank Tournament (Army, Dartmouth, Bemidji State, Massachusetts) 25-26-2, .491

8. Dodge Holiday Classic (Brown, No. 4 Minnesota, Western Michigan, No. 6 Northeastern) 23-25-13, .484

9. Great Lakes Invitational (No. 12 Michigan, Michigan Tech, Michigan State, No. 18 North Dakota) 28-40-6, .419

10. Badger Hockey Showdown (Lake Superior State, Harvard, Alabama-Huntsville, No. 14 Wisconsin) 19-30-11, .408

And I write this as I’m sitting in the Kohl Center press box waiting for No. 10 to begin.

Salem State Ice Hockey Classic (Salem, Mass.)
When: December 27 & 28
Who: Salem State (host), Salve Regina, Penn State, Bowdoin
Outlook: Club powerhouse Penn State will take on the host Vikings in the first round. Bowdoin won this tournament last year with a win over Salem State in the finals, and I expect the same result this time.

Codfish Bowl (Boston, Mass.)
When: December 29 & 30
Who: Mass-Boston (host), Fitchburg State, Westfield State, Suffolk
Outlook: The 44th annual version of the Codfish features new kids on the block Westfield State (which is off to an impressive 7-2-1 start) against the host Beacons in the semifinals. I think the winner of that game takes the tourney.

Assumption Holiday Classic (Worcester, Mass.)
When: December 29 & 30
Who: Assumption (host), Becker, Trinity, Johnson & Wales
Outlook: Trinity is the team to beat in this one, probably over J&W in the finals.

St. Michael’s Invitational (Burlington, Vt.)
When: January 2 & 3
Who: St. Michael’s (host), Nichols, Amherst, Fitchburg State
Outlook: Fitchburg State plays its second Holiday Tournament in as many weekends, but I think Amherst beats the Falcons in the semifinals and goes on to win the tournament.

Pathfinder Bank Oswego Classic (Oswego, N.Y.)
When: December January 2 & 3
Who: Oswego (host), Augsburg, Babson, Skidmore
Outlook: Not as strong a field as in the first two years of this tournament, but still a good one. I like an Oswego-Babson final with the Lakers getting the win.

Cardinal Classic (Plattsburgh, N.Y.)
When: January 2 & 3
Who: Plattsburgh (host), Wesleyan, Castleton, Williams
Outlook:  There are two sets of Cardinals in this one, and they square off in the semifinals. I think the Plattsburgh Cards beat the Wesleyan Cards, and then defeat Williams in the finals.

Times-Argus Invitational (Northfield, Vt.)
When: January 2 & 3
Who: Norwich (host), Gutavus Adolphus, Elmira, Neumann
Outlook: This one has the strongest field of any of the holiday tourneys, with all four teams getting a mention is the latest USCHO.com Division III poll. I think the winner of the Neumann-Norwich semi will probably take the title, but I think all four games will be close.

Middlebury Holiday Classic (Middlebury, Vt.)
When: January 3 & 4
Who: Middlebury (host), Curry, New England, St. Anselm
Outlook: A much stronger field than last year should make this year a challenge for the Panthers. I’m picking Middlebury-NEC final with the hosts coming out on top.

Check out the action if you can, and have a Happy New Year!

I was particularly eager to see former Notre Dame player, Brett Lebda (2000-04), for the first time in person in a Wings’ uniform.

Two minutes into the first period, the Avs led the Wings 2-0.  At the 1:51 mark of the third with the score tied 2-2, Lebda was called for covering the puck in the Detroit crease and Colorado’s Jordan Leopold (University of Minnesota, 1998-2002) beat Chris Osgood on the ensuing penalty shot for the game-winning goal.

The gentlemen that surrounded me – “gentlemen” is a loose term, but it’s Christmas – loudly protested the penalty shot and wondered aloud – “wondered aloud” is also a bit generous – about why it was called.

I said, “Because Lebda covered the puck in the crease, and no one but the goalie on the defending team can do that.”

They all paused, turned, looked at me.  One asked, “Is that a new rule?”

“Not as far as I know,” I said.  “It’s like, Rule 55 something.”  

The debate ended, the gents nodded appreciatively, one offered to buy me a drink.  The fact was that I had looked it up the week before because someone had asked me about it.  

Moments later, the 30-something guy sitting two down from me blushed when his attempt to embarrass me backfired.  I said something about Detroit’s inability to penetrate the Colorado defense, he said, “She said, ‘Penetrate,’” and everyone laughed at him when I didn’t blink.  He mumbled something apologetic about Beavis & Butthead, another offer of alcohol was made and Liz – who missed the penalty shot and my quiet (and totally lucky) conversion of the locals, and who had feared for my safety in her absence – arrived just in time with fresh vodka-tonics.

I learned several things from this game:

• It was fun to sit in the stands again and pull for one team over another, as long as I made it clear to fellow fans that I was rooting for their team, too.
• It was fun to know more about hockey than the guy fans with season tickets.
• It was fun to have a friend deliver vodka-tonics during a game.
• It was fun to see a penalty shot converted in an NHL game, even if the infraction that led to it was made by a former CCHA player and the shot scored by someone who once graced the WCHA.
• It’s always more fun in the press box, even without the vodka-tonics.

It’s Christmas Eve, and I’ve left snowy Flint for unseasonably warm and sunny Beverly Hills, Fla.  For every year that I travelled from Ohio to Florida to spend Christmas at Hacienda Weston, I seemed to bring the chilly weather with me.  My family would complain about the temperatures in the 50s, which were not much warmer than what Columbus experienced.

It was seven little degrees in Flint last weekend, and it was 80 here today.  I can only believe it’s the Universe’s way of balancing things out – especially since there’s no one from the CCHA playing in Florida this week.  Cornell, Maine, Colgate and St. Cloud round out the Florida College Classic in Estero just after Christmas, and the Tampa Bay Lightning abruptly withdrew its sponsorship of the fairly new Tampa College Classic earlier this year, forcing founder Notre Dame to reinvent the tourney as the Shillelagh Tournament in Hoffman Estates, Ill. Jan. 2-3.

This also forced me to look up the word shillelagh, which is a short club meant to be used as a weapon.  I like it.

This year, I’ll be returning to Flint in time to see the second day of the Great Lakes Invitational – and that genuinely will feel like coming home.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, folks.

You can read about it here, Note he’s wearing his Neumann helmet in the picture.

Didn’t work. Still got the question.

Who do I think will win the WCHA? I threw out Denver as my best guess.  There was little science behind the pick, which is odd for me — I like backing up opinions with stats or trends or the like. Nope, this one was just a pure guess based on the vibe that seems to be coming out of not only the Pioneers but also Minnesota and Colorado College over the last few weeks of the first half.

Let’s start with this assessment: There are a lot of teams that have a shot at the Cup given their point totals at the holiday break. But I’m looking at Denver and Minnesota as the top group in the chase for the title. The Gophers established themselves early, but the reality is that, even though they have put up a lot of points, they haven’t swept a series since the opener against St. Cloud State. That may not sound like a big deal, but every point counts when you’re talking about the difference between first place and second place.

Denver looked like it was in trouble after it was swept at St. Cloud State, then lost the opener of a home series against the Gophers. But since the Pioneers blanked Minnesota in the finale on Nov. 22, they haven’t lost. It’s not necessarily that they’re on a seven-game winning streak as much as that they might be figuring out how they have to play to be successful that makes them impressive to me. We’ll see how much time Tyler Bozak misses after knee surgery, and how much that absence will impact the Pioneers’ balance.

In the end, though, I think it comes down to one thing: being exceptional.

I started to get on this subject in my last post, as it concerns Brock Bradford of Boston College. His numbers so far this season are impressive, and they’ll make him a Hobey finalist, if this keeps up, but that kind of scoring isn’t exceptional at Boston College under Jerry York. It’s worth noting that with all the Eagle forwards who have been named Hobey finalists during York’s tenure at BC, the one Hobey winner at BC under York has been Mike Mottau, a defenseman.

In his Hobey Baker season of 1999-2000, Mottau averaged a point per game from the blueline, while also winning Hockey East’s Defensive Defenseman of the Year award. That’s exceptional.

Ryan Miller set an NCAA record for save percentage in 2000-01, the year he won the Hobey at Michigan State. Exceptional.

Matt Carle had 53 points in 39 games as a defenseman in 2005-06. Again, exceptional.

Peter Sejna had 82 points in 42 games for Colorado College in 2002-03. You see anyone else scoring 80 points in a college season lately?

Kevin Porter spent most of last season atop the national scoring charts, while captaining a team with all of two seniors to a CCHA regular-season championship, the Great Lakes Invitational title, a Mason Cup, and the Frozen Four. You see where I’m going here?

So, the next logical question is: Who’s exceptional in college hockey this season?

Colin Wilson at BU is a good place to start. He’s been quiet in the last couple of weeks, but even with his scoring average “down” to 1.31 points per game (from about 1.54 before the BC series), he’s on pace to score 47 points if he plays 36 games. That would be the rest of the regular season - minus the games he’ll miss for World Juniors - plus four postseason games. Somehow, I think he’ll play more than that, but even if he doesn’t, 47 points would be the most scored at BU since Chris Drury scored 57 in his Hobey Baker season, 1997-98. That may not mean much if he doesn’t wind up at or near the top of the national scoring chart, but if Wilson can resume his previous pace, I think he has a much better shot at the Hobey than does his rival from further up Commonwealth Avenue, Brock Bradford.

The nation’s current leading scorer, James vanRiemsdyk of UNH, also has a shot at being exceptional and winning the Hobey. The Wildcat sophomore is on pace for 55 points in 36 games, which hasn’t been done at UNH since 2004-05, when Sean Collins scored 56 points in 42 games. Before that, you’d have to go back to Jason Krog’s mind-blowing 79 points in 38 games in his Hobey Baker year of 1998-99. Clearly, vanRiemsdyk is scoring at an exceptional pace. Of course, the real exception they’d like to see in Durham is an exception to the Wildcats’ recent run of early exits from the NCAA tournament.

There are also a couple of blueliners who strike me as exceptional in their play thus far. Gregg Flynn of Air Force has 22 points in 16 games and may give teammate Jacques Lamoureux a run for the Atlantic Hockey entry into the Hobey race (Brent Olson is also racking up the points in the Springs, but Lamoureux has 12 goals to Olson’s five, and goals definitely count for more than assists when it comes to comparing point totals among Hobey contenders).

Also on the blueline, Minnesota State’s Kurt Davis is on pace for 47 points, which isn’t too far away from Carle’s Hobey numbers, and certainly notable among defensemen. Of course, it can be hard to win the Hobey when your team doesn’t make the playoffs, and while that didn’t stop Carle, he’d already been part of two NCAA championship teams, which was a point in his favor. I think Minnesota State will have to at least make the NCAA tournament this year for Davis to get any serious Hobey consideration, but it may be a possibility.

I’ve pointed out that it’s very hard for Cornell goalies to win, because their numbers are chalked up to The System, but Ben Scrivens is stopping shots at a Miller-esque pace: His 1.21 goals-against average and .954 save percentage are both better than Miller’s at this point, and that even includes a sound drubbing at the hands of North Dakota the day after Thanksgiving. Obviously, those numbers are going to be hard to keep up through the second half of the season, but if Scrivens can do it, it’s going to be very hard to deny him the award.

Of course, we’re just reaching the end of the first half of the season now, and the second half may tell a much different story. However, the story will end with someone hoisting the Hobey in D.C., and one thing you can count on is that that somebody will be exceptional.

So far, these are some of the guys who look like they might fit the bill.