2022 World Junior Championship Canceled

The remainder of the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta, Canada has been cancelled due to COVID-19 and the Omicron variant, following the third game forfeiture in the past two days. 

The 10-team WJC was scheduled to run through Jan. 5 in Edmonton and Red Deer. Participating this year were Austria, host Canada, the Czech Republic, Finland, Germany, Russia, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States.

It is the first time in 44 years, according to sportsnet.ca, that the world's premiere men's hockey under-20 tournament will not crown a champion. The U.S. won last year's event in Edmonton, besting Canada by a 2-0 score in the gold medal game.

Canada, U.S. Win 2022 WJC Openers

Both Canada and the United States got off to winning starts at the 2022 IIHF World Junior Championship in Alberta on Sunday.

Powered by a hat trick from defenseman Owen Power (Michigan), host Canada began matters with a 6-3 victory over the Czech Republic. The top draft choice in the 2021 NHL Entry Draft, Power scored two power-play goals, and is the first Canadian defenseman to ever score three goals in a single WJC contest. 

The U.S., the defending WJC champion, opened up the new tournament by edging Slovakia, 3-2. Matthew Knies (Minnesota), Matthew Samoskevic (Michigan) and Landon Slaggert (Notre Dame) scored goals for Team USA, while goaltender Drew Commesso (Boston University) finished with 23 saves.

The Americans will now take on Switzerland in Red Deer on Wednesday, while Canada will face off with Austria in Edmonton later that same day.

ADDENDUM: Team USA has forfeited its game to Switzerland, after two American players tested positive for COVID, which forced a mandatory team quarantine. According to IIHF.com, "the result of the game will be recorded as a 1-0 win for Switzerland by forfeit in accordance with the IIHF Rule Book." The U.S. is tentatively scheduled to play Sweden on Thursday.

Robert Morris Hockey Programs Reinstated

The Colonials are back—or rather, will be.

Robert Morris University announced over the weekend that its men's and women's NCAA Division I ice hockey programs, which had been cut over the summer, will both return for the 2023-24 season after a successful fundraising effort.

Derek Schooley, who had served as the men's hockey head coach at RMU since the program's inception in 2004-05, will remain in that position as the Colonials return to the ice. The women's team is searching for a new head coach after Paul Colontino left in August, after the RMU program had been dropped.

Both the men's and women's teams are expected to apply for reinstatement to their respective conferences, Atlantic Hockey and College Hockey America, in the future.

Bob Peters 1937-2021

Legendary college head coach R.H. "Bob" Peters" passed away on Feb. 15 at the age of 84.

A native of Fort Frances, Ont., Peters began his coaching career with two seasons at his alma mater, the University of North Dakota, where he played as a goaltender before becoming an assistant coach for three years. He went 42-20-1 overall behind the bench at UND, before he took the reins at Bemidji State University beginning with the 1966-67 campaign. 

In 36 seasons with the Beavers, Peters posted 22 seasons of 20 or more wins, and led BSU to five NCAA Division II national championships and one NCAA Division III national title. He also oversaw BSU's transition back to NCAA Division II in 1993, before overseeing its move to NCAA Division I and the now-defunct College Hockey America conference in 1999.

Peters retired after the 2000-01 season with an overall record of 744-313-61 (.694), including a 702-293-50 mark at BSU. He was named the WCHA Coach of the Year in 1964-65 with North Dakota, and earned the Eddie Jeremiah Award as the top head coach in NCAA Division III in 1983-84 with Bemidji State.

The Beavers are playing in their first season in the revamped Central Collegiate Hockey Assocation, after the dissolution of the men's WCHA. Last year's BSU squad made the NCAA Division I tournament for the fifth time in the program's history, and the first time since 2010, all under current head coach Tom Serratore.

Maine's Bishop Retires from NHL

Longtime NHL goaltender Ben Bishop (Maine) formally announced his retirement from professional hockey earlier this week, due to a degenerative condition in his right knee. The injury cost him all of last season, which would have been his fifth consecutive campaign with the Dallas Stars. He made his final playing appearance by starting in one game for Texas (AHL) this fall.

Bishop, 35, played in the NHL from 2008 to 2020, suiting up for the St. Louis Blues, Ottawa Senators, Tampa Bay Lightning and Los Angeles Kings before finishing up in Dallas. In 413 career regular-season appearances, he posted a record of 222-128-36 with a 2.32 goals-against average, a .921 save percentage and 33 shutouts, along with 12 assists offensively. He went 29-21 (2.27, .924) in 52 Stanley Cup playoff contests, and backstopped Tampa Bay to the 2015 Stanley Cup Final, although he was unable to complete that series due to injury. He was also a three-time finalist for the Vezina Trophy as the league's best goaltender.

Born in Denver, Bishop grew up in Missouri and was a product of Chaminade College Prep, the St. Louis Amateur Blues, and Texas (NAHL) before enrolling at the University of Maine in 2005, several months after he was drafted 85th overall by St. Louis. In three seasons in Orono, the 6-foot-7 netminder went 55-35-7 (2.29, .917) in 99 games overall with the Black Bears, whom he also backstopped to the 2007 NCAA Frozen Four in St. Louis. In 176 career AHL games, he finished 91-64-15 (2.62, .912) with Peoria, Binghamton and Texas over seven seasons.

A two-time Hockey East All-Academic selection, Bishop was also named to two NHL Second All-Star Teams. He was also a member of the bronze medal-winning U.S. squad at the 2013 World Championship in Sweden//Finland, where he led the Americans to three victories while he was in net.

MSU Surprises Notre Dame in OT, 1-0

Mitchell Lewandowski connected just 33 seconds into overtime to break a scoreless tie and send Michigan State to a 1-0 win at Notre Dame in Big Ten play on Saturday night. 

Lewandowski snapped a shot home from the high slot off a rush for his seventh goal of the season and second game-winner, after the two teams had played 60 scoreless minutes at Compton Family Ice Arena in South Bend, Ind. Drew DeRidder made 30 saves for the Spartans to earn his fourth career NCAA shutout, while Ryan Bischel stopped 23 of 24 shots for the Fighting Irish in defeat. The win also salvaged a series split for MSU, which fell to UND by a 3-2 count on Friday, despite taking an early two-goal lead.

MSU (10-7-1 overall, 5-5-0 Big Ten) has now won six of its last eight outings overall, and will return to action on Dec. 29 against visiting Western Michigan in the first round of this season's Great Lakes Invitational. UND (12-5-0, 6-4-0) is now off until Jan. 1-2 when it will host Niagara.

UConn's Huska Makes NHL Debut with Rangers

Ryan Huska (Connecticut) finally made his NHL debut this week, at Madison Square Garden in New York City. Unfortunately for the Slovakian netminder, he took the loss despite making 39 saves as his New York Rangers fell to the visiting Colorado Avalanche, 7-3, on Dec. 8.

Drafted 184th overall by the Rangers in 2015, Huska played three seasons (2017-19) at UConn, where he registered a 20-38-8 record with a 2.90 goals-against and a .908 save percentage in 69 career appearances with the Huskies. After turning professional in 2019, the 6-foot-3 netminder has spent the bulk of his pro career with Hartford (AHL), going 23-20-13 (2.93, .896) in 56 outings for the Wolf Pack.

The 2016-16 USHL Goaltender of the Year with the Green Bay Gamblers, Huska, 24, has also represented his native Slovakia in numerous international competitions, including the Under-18 World Junior Championship, the World Junior Championship and the World Championship.