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By Ryan Stieg  Sports injuries are an interesting thing. Sometimes, they can devastate an athlete, but they can also lead to unexpected opportunities.   That’s been the case for St. Thomas forward Alex Gaffney, who joined the team this year out of the transfer portal, and is now having the best season of his college career. He’s currently tied for seventh nationally in goals with 12 and […]

By Ryan Stieg  Well, how was your weekend? Mine could have been better.   For the first time ever, I was in real danger of having a winless week. Northern Michigan and Ferris State surprised me by getting wins and St. Thomas ended up splitting its series. Everything came down to the Bemidji State-Augustana series on Saturday night, and that’s when

St. Thomas’ Ryan O’Neill tries to set up a play behind the Lake Superior State net during the first period of a game on Dec. 6 in St. Paul. (Photo by Ryan Stieg) By Ryan Stieg  ST. PAUL – All good things eventually come to an end, and for the St. Thomas men’s hockey team, that was a

By Ryan Stieg  Well, we’ve reached December, and things are heating up in the CCHA. The most recent NPI rankings (the replacement for Pairwise) came out Sunday and four CCHA teams are in the top 20, which means the league has a good chance to get more than one team into the NCAA Tournament this year. That is, if those teams continue to play

By Ryan Stieg  This is tough to say folks, but the perfect week has escaped my grasp again. The worst part is that I came so close to achieving it, going 3 for 4 with my picks, but one school didn’t cooperate with my plans.   That team was Minnesota State, who ended up sweeping Michigan Tech when I thought it’d be a split. The good thing

By Ryan Stieg  ST. PAUL, Minn. — After Friday’s overtime loss to Bowling Green, St. Thomas head coach Rico Blasi emphasized the importance of having a better start in the rematch Saturday.   The Tommies didn’t exactly get the start they were hoping for, but they had a great finish as UST scored four goals in the third period to defeat the Falcons 6-2 and get its first CCHA

By Ryan Stieg  ST. PAUL, Minn. — The last time the St. Thomas men’s hockey team played at home, it played its best game of the season and earned a hard-fought win over St. Cloud State. Friday night’s performance against Bowling Green was far from that. The Tommies struggled through most of the game and didn’t come together until the final

By Ryan Stieg  With every set of predictions I announce, I strive to achieve the perfect week, and I came agonizingly close last week.   I was correct with almost all my picks except for the one in Sioux Falls. I thought St. Thomas would win in regulation against Augustana and although the Tommies tied it up late, they’d eventually lose in a shootout. Going 4

By Ryan Stieg  ST. PAUL, Minn. — It took a little longer than they probably wanted it to, but the St. Thomas men’s hockey team finally got its first win at Lee & Penny Anderson Arena.   After blowing leads twice against Providence during the arena’s opening weekend and another lead against rival Minnesota State the following week, the Tommies managed to finish the job Tuesday night

By Ryan Stieg  It’s now Week 7 in the CCHA and so far, the season has gone better than expected for me. Even last weekend went okay for me as I went .500 with my picks, but not good enough to earn a Harvey Wallbanger to celebrate Saturday night. Maybe next year, I’ll try one for the first time.   Seeing as I didn’t get to partake in a Wallbanger since I didn’t pick better than .500,