MINNEAPOLIS — The Minnesota men’s hockey team will open up the Western Collegiate Hockey Association season this weekend against one of the top teams the conference has to offer.

Colorado College will host the Gophers in a two-game series that starts Friday night at 8:30 p.m. CDT. Saturday’s series finale is slated to begin at 8 p.m., and both games will be played at the World Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo.

The meeting between the WCHA’s preseason No. 2 Minnesota and No. 3 Colorado College will give both squads a chance to see just how strong the top conference opponents will be this season.

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MADISON, Wis. — After playing a tough home series against No. 9 Ohio State last weekend, the Wisconsin women’s hockey team (5-0-1, 1-0-1 WCHA) will travel to Minnesota to play two games against another tough opponent, St. Cloud State.

The Huskies (1-2-1) have started their season well, tying Minnesota 4-4 in their first game and beating them 2-1 in the second. They should provide strong competition for Wisconsin this weekend.

Wisconsin and St. Cloud State met four times last season with the Badgers going 2-0-2 in those games.

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NORMAN, Okla. — Every time Daniel Siira steps onto the ice he knows he has one mission, score a goal. And if he accomplishes this mission quickly, another one comes down from above; score another goal. So far it has been working for the freshman forward from Alaska.

“It’s very early in the season, and I think he already has four goals, so he is doing a good job there,” said Larry Donovan, head coach of the OU hockey club. “That’s his forte. He’s a very gifted hockey player, and that’s what he likes to do.”

Like the quarterback or the wide-receiver in football, the goal scorer in hockey sometimes gets all the glory for what other people help to set up. It’s a tremendous feeling Siira knows well, but he is also familiar with the hard work it takes.

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AMHERST, Mass. — The Massachusetts hockey team blames no one but itself for its exit in the quarterfinals of the 2007 NCAA Division I Hockey Tournament.

Facing Maine for the fifth time in a three-week span, the Minutemen dropped a 3-1 decision to the Black Bears 24 hours after upsetting top-seeded Clarkson in the tournament’s East Regional opening round, 1-0.

Thoughts of their two-day adventure in Rochester, N.Y., last March inevitably crossed the minds of the 18 players returning from last year’s team when they took on Clarkson last Friday in the 2007 season opener.

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BOSTON — The stats were staggering. The records began to pile up. The honors became so numerous they challenged people’s ability to count.

But eventually, the final chapter in the improbable story that transformed a walk-on to an All-American came to a close with a first-round exit in last year’s NCAA Tournament.

And for the first time in three years the Terriers are faced with a question in net: Who will rise to the occasion and fill John Curry’s crease?

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ORONO, Maine — The University of Maine women’s ice hockey team made an electrifying comeback on Sunday afternoon against Providence College and salvaged their America East conference opener in a 2-2 tie. An exciting game throughout, it culminated with an intense overtime period in which both teams battled hard to preserve the tie. Both teams were awarded a point in their first conference match-up.

Providence was all business from the opening faceoff, as their intensity caught the Black Bears by surprise in the early going. Just 1:09 into the first period, Providence’s Rachel Crissy found herself in the right place at the right time, firing a rebounded puck into the back of the net past UMaine goaltender Genevieve Turgeon. The assist went to Kathleen Smith, who fired the initial shot. Providence found the back of the net again just over a minute later. A holding penalty on Maine put the Friars on the power play and the opportunity did not go to waste. Great puck control led to Sarah Feldman rifling a shot that beat Turgeon at the 2:35 mark.

The rest of the period was quiet as far as scoring goes, but the Friars controlled the tempo of the game. After being outshot 20-7 in the first period, Maine came out more aggressively in the second. The shot ratio was closer, with Maine trailing 14-10, but Turgeon came up big on several occasions. Coming off Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors, she appeared determined to keep her team in the game. Each team had several power play opportunities but were unable to capitalize, so the score remained 2-0 at the end of two periods.

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AMHERST, Mass. — At lower levels of hockey, the most talented player will almost always dominate. Forwards with the best hands and speed can easily maneuver around lesser opponents. And goaltenders can rely on raw athleticism to shutdown an opponent. Technical skills factor into the mix, but not until the highest levels must a player combine the two to succeed and skate with the best.

Sophomore Dan Meyers and freshman Paul Dainton both learned this already. But this adjustment isn’t the biggest task facing the duo as the 2007-08 season begins. The departure of All-American Jon Quick turned the Minutemen into a question mark throughout college hockey.

Expecting this pair to replace Quick isn’t realistic and they, along with UMass coach Don Cahoon, understand this better than anyone.

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ORONO, Maine — Coming off a pair of road losses to the University of Denver this past weekend, the University of Maine men’s ice hockey team looks to bounce back this weekend during their home series against Mercyhurst College. Maine will look to improve upon their 0-2 record and seek their first win of the season.

Despite the Denver losses, the team came away from this weekend optimistic. Senior defensemen Rob Bellamy and junior goaltender Ben Bishop both concluded that the weekend was a good learning experience.

“We have a lot of new players on our team, and it was good for them to start their college career against a team like Denver,” Bellamy said. With 10 rookies on the team, the games stayed close despite all of the young talent on the ice.

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CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — There isn’t any doubt that Boston University is still Boston College’s No. 1 hockey rival. But North Dakota may be creeping up the list. The Eagles and the Fighting Sioux take to the ice at Kelley Rink Friday night having met six times in the past nine NCAA tournaments — this includes the past three years, with the last two match-ups in the Frozen Four.

“It’s becoming a really fun rivalry,” said Matt Greene, BC senior forward and assistant captain. “I think it’s actually forming into one of the best national rivalries out there. People back home, they ask me, ‘What game do I want to come to, outside of Hockey East?’ and this is the first game I would recommend. So I think that builds up a little bit of pressure.”

The pressure, however, will not be as high as usual for this match-up. BC has ended UND’s season two years in a row en route to the national championship game, and also topped the Sioux in overtime for the national title in 2001. This came just a year after UND beat BC in the championship.

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COLUMBUS, Ohio — The goal for the Ohio State women’s ice hockey team this season is simple: Improve on last year’s landmark season, which included a record of 20-13-4, a fourth-place finish in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association (13-11-4) and a semifinals playoff appearance in Minneapolis.

“Last season was a lot of fun for our team and an important year in the women’s ice hockey program,” said 9th-year OSU coach Jackie Barto. “This year we return a lot of veterans with great leadership qualities, as well as brought in some very talented freshmen. I expect us to have another very good season.”

Coming into this season, OSU was selected by USA Today and USA Hockey Magazine as the 10th best team in the NCAA and projected to finish fourth in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association behind Wisconsin, Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota.

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