As if a 38-0 season, conference title, and ACHA national title weren’t enough, the Illini hockey team will be sending two players to the first annual ACHA All-Star Game, and the honor is well-deserved for both players.

 The first is junior Jason Nemeth.  The forward from Roanoke, Texas led the national champs in scoring this year with 66 points but also did more than finding the net, leading the orange in blue in penalty minutes as well with sixty.  This was a breakout year for Nemeth.  When I talked to Coach Chad Cassel about his play this year, he said that Nemeth has really emerged as more of a scorer this year rather than someone who just sets other guys up like he had in his previous two seasons.

The next player going to State College, PA is sophomore defenseman Brad Hoelzer.  Hoelzer also had a special year, leading all defensemen in scoring with 26 points.  His play late in the season in the defensive zone, however, was what brought this nod.  He played his best hockey at the right time–the postseason–becoming a starter along to go with some other accolades.  Hoelzer was named CSHCHL tournament MVP and also was an ACHA all-tournament first team selection. 

 These two Illini will be joined by 38 other players from all over the country in the event hosted by Penn State on Saturday, March 29.  For more info on the game visit the illini hockey website.

The following post was written by staff intern Kevin Kaplan. He did not invent the Kaplan Test Prep Course. 

Spring training in the MLB is in full swing, and today if you’re a Cardinals fan, you can momentarily rest easy. If you’re a Cubs fan, well, at least you can rest easy with the fact that you can continue to go to Wrigley Field to see the Cubbies battle. Oh, wait, maybe you can’t …

On St. Louis’ side, things are looking pretty good. Albert Pujols tried his best to scare the Cardinals faithful when it came out that surgery might be the answer to an arm injury that he sustained in 2003.

The words of the Cardinal’s physician, Dr. George Paletta, did not make anybody feel any better. Paletta said Pujols experienced a “high grade tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow, as well as bone spurs, inflammation and arthritis in the joint — all of which have likely developed as a reaction to the ligament tear.”

Well, on Wednesday it was revealed that Pujols would not be going the route of surgery. That was very bad news to anybody who would be playing the Cardinals, and the Florida Marlins were the first to experience that news firsthand.

In their Thursday morning encounter, Pujols topped off a string of three homeruns in a row by Cardinals batters to top the Marlins 5-2. These spring training games are key for the Cardinals, as their roster seems to be up in the air. Pitching will be an interesting spectacle as the season progresses, but overall the Cards look good. While the Cards won the day, the same couldn’t be said for the Cubs. Falling 2-1 to the Athletics in Cactus League play, the highlight for the Cubs was a three-inning four hit shutout by (former Cardinal) Jason Marquis.

A loss for the Cubs is nothing new, however, and after all it is only Spring Training. The headline news for the Cubs lately has been the fact that they may not be playing in Wrigley Field anymore. Before anyone has a heart attack, the second oldest stadium in the country isn’t going anywhere (though there are renovations planned).

The issue begins with the acquisition of the Cubs franchise by billionaire Sam Zell. The Cubs franchise had been owned by the Chicago Tribune for years, but Zell is now selling them off. The problem is that, as of now, he also plans on selling off the naming rights to the field. This would allow Wrigley Field to be called any number of different things.
Since 1926, Cubbie nation has gone without a pennant, all the while being assured the one constant that America’s most dedicated fans could go to WRIGLEY FIELD and watch their “lovable losers” take
the diamond.

Now, they might not even be able to do that.

Depending on where your pro football loyalties lie, Brett Favre’s career affected your life in one of two ways. For the millions of fans that comprise “Packer Nation,” Favre’s arrival from the Atlanta Falcons in the summer of 1992 was nothing short of a godsend. The quarterback took a franchise that had fallen on mediocre times and turned it into a perennial divisional, conference, and league-wide contender, year in and year out. For everyone else, Favre was the face of the enemy, a monster that trampled the dreams of division rivals and playoff opponents on a regular basis. Favre looked good on the field only when buried under a pile of defensive linemen or tossing one of his NFL record 288 picks.

But behind the love-to-hate relationship many fans hold towards No. 4 is a sincere level of respect for an athlete that is truly an anomaly in today’s NFL. Favre personified the essence of sports, and not just because he didn’t run over traffic control officers or shovel thousands of dollars onto the floors of strip clubs. There’s something about the image of Favre racing around the field after throwing the game-winning touchdown against your favorite team, a huge smile painted on his face, that rouses a sense of awe at not only his ability to compete at such a high level, but the passion that allowed him to enjoy the game so completely after so many years.

Two words fell out of my mouth this morning when ESPN.com refreshed on my computer screen: “Oh no.”
After years of harboring resentment towards Favre and his beloved Packers, my initial reaction was not one of celebration or relief, but of disappointment with a trace of remorse. Favre was a competitor, and, above all, a winner, that played with the same vigor whether his team was in first or last. You can say all you want about Favre the Packer, but there is little honest criticism one can offer about Favre the football player.

SportsCenter replayed a telling interview this afternoon that Favre did with Rachel Nichols. In his college days at Southern Mississippi, the coaches would often have a difficult time locating the ecstatic Favre after a touchdown pass. “Where’s Brett?” they would ask. After seventeen years of exhibiting the same youthful infatuation with the game, there will be something missing from the world of sports now that No. 4 has departed.

No matter your disposition, fans everywhere will have one question on their mind when the new season begins in September:

“Where’s Brett?”

Entry was written by Kevin Kaplan

As the new intern at the DI, this is my first day at the office.

Luckily for me, I did not have to spend much time pondering what this first article would be about since this day coincided with one of the most attention grabbing broadcasts in all of sports. As a welcome change of pace, this announcement did not involve steroids, NCAA violations or an arrest of any kind. Instead, it simply marked the departure of one of the most popular and successful athletes in sports history.

At a press conference in the early hours of Tuesday, March 4, Brett Favre announced his retirement effectively the end of an era. Maybe some expected him to quit after going 4-12 in 2006, but surely not after a season that had him firing a career-best 66.5 pass completion percentage. Regardless of outside perceptions, Favre called it quits, citing the fact that he did not have the mental strength left to win another Super Bowl.

As all of the cheeseheads begin their mourning, the rest of sports nation must figure out what to make of this. As an admitted fan of all St. Louis sports, I spent 2007 with modest hopes that my Rams would have a better season than the Miami Dolphins. It turned out to be no-contest, as the Rams went on a run towards the end of the season to triple Miami’s win total.

Unfortunately, the future doesn’t look particularly bright for the Rams, and the quarterback situation in St. Louis is in a state of uncertainty as starter Mark Bulger has faced his share of injuries in recent months. While I was still waiting for the Rams to win a game halfway through the season, Favre was busy dominating the NFC North, all the while looking like his old self and pushing memories of a 29 interception season behind him.

While this resurgence after 17 seasons in the league was inspiring in the eyes of many, it may have hurt the eyes of fans of another Midwestern team: the Chicago Bears.
Living in the conveniently centrally located city of Champaign, one may find fans of any variety of teams, but by far the largest fan-base is that of the Chicago Bears. With so many fans of “Da Bears” around, a person doesn’t have to spend much time in Champaign to find some animosity towards Favre. After all, as Favre cleaned up the NFC North en-route to a playoff loss to the eventual NFL champion New York Giants, the Bears found themselves at the bottom of the division with some major quarterback questions.

With a love-hate relationship between fans and Bears starting quarterback Rex Grossman and the trade of Brian Griese for a draft pick, Bears fans are left with about as much certainty as the Packers with likely 2008 starter Aaron Rodgers.

This puts fans of local NFL teams in interesting spots, as each of them face a degree of uncertainty with their quarterbacks. The thing is, regardless of what will happen in the future and no matter how good any of these teams become, there will never truly be another Brett Favre.

Rex Grossman can’t be mentioned in the same sentence as Favre, but neither can the current most famous/infamous Patriots quarterback Tom Brady. Favre’s appeal was on a much higher level than just skills. Despite his problems, which he had just like every other human being, Favre symbolized all the good things about the game.

Now he symbolizes a different era of football that has now officially ended.

Listen and watch all the action at www.livesportsvideo.com

ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!ILLINOIS WINS!  WOW…what a season…38-0 with the final score of 4-2.

Illinois captain Drew Heredia was the MVP, and deservedly so.

Until next year, Illinois is on top of the ACHA world!
Two periods down and the Illini still have a one-goal lead. This time it is 3-2 with the Illini getting a short-hander of their own from Drew Heredia before Lindenwood brought back to within one with under a minute left in the second. This should be a great one! 20 minutes left!!

One period is over and the Illini have a 2-1 lead. Lindenwood got on the board first with a short-hander from Larry Kopecky, but on that same power play, the Illini answered back with Drew Heredia putting one in the net. They got another one soon after from the stick of Daniel Cohen.

It’s been a physical one so far, and let’s hope it stays that way. GO ILLINI!
It’s about 6:10pm eastern time and the Illini are skating on the ESL Sports Centre ice and the puck will drop in about 20 minutes here. The Illini will be trying to take home their second national title in the last four seasons! Standing in their way is CSCHL foe Lindenwood. The orange and blue have beaten the Lions four times this year and three times it was decided by just one goal. So tune into livesportsvideo.com for all of the action, and keep checking the DI sports blog for more updates.

THE ORANGE AND BLUE ARE IN THE ACHA CHAMPIONSHIP GAME!!!!

The Illini grabbed a short-handed breakaway goal about 5 minutes into the third, but Liberty clawed back within one to make it 3-2. But Jason Nemeth made an empty net goal to put the Flames away and put the final score at 4-2!

Illinois looks to win their second national title in 4 years with a victory tomorrow at 6:30 Central here from Rochester.

The Illini came out with a 2-0 in the second period and didn’t do much with it…with the Flames doing a great job on the penalty kill, even scoring a shorthanded goal on a rebound to put the score at 2-1. The star of the game right now, however, has to be Liberty goalie Mike Binnie, he is keeping this Flame team in the game and has been the difference so far, along with the physicality of the Flames.

We have one period of semifinal hockey left here in Rochester and let’s see if the Illini can hang on…
It’s semifinal time and the Illini are leading after 2-0 after one period with a goal on the power play on a deflection by Jordan Pringle on an Alex Park wrister.

The next one was a Nick Fabbrini rebound. This game is really physical…with quite a few hits from the neutral zone. We’ll see if the Illini can hold on…

ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS! ILLINOIS WINS!

The final score being 6-2. The Illini showed their dominance tonight and have definitely established themselves as the team to beat in this tournament. Now it’s time for a day and the Illini will take on Liberty on Tuesday night.

It gives you Illini fans a chance to make the trek out to Rochester and support this squad. This is a special team and a special season…36-0…the magic number is now at 2.

End of the second period, Illinois 5, Rhode Island 2.

The Illini defensemen are doing a much better job of not turning the puck over in their own zone and the offense has responded with long offensive rushes and, the big one, 4 second period goals.

The long offensive rushes from the orange and blue are keeping the Rhode Island Ram defensemen on the ice for longer shifts and tiring them out. It also looks like the Illini have found the weak spot of Ram goalie Andrew Lisi–scoring three goals from behind the net with wraparounds after faking the centering pass. Joey Resch provided the first spark using that strategy, followed by Jason Nemeth putting one past Lisi with an impossible angle. The highlight of the period had to be from Brad Hoelzer, picking up final goal of the period with point two seconds left with a great scrap by Johnny Liang with the assist.

Let’s see if the Illini can hold on here in the final period
End of the first period, Illinois 1, Rhode Island 1.

The Illini playing well, allowing a goal on a great breakout by one of the Rhode Island forwards. Fabbrini had the early goal for Illinois. Credit Johnny Liang with the assist.

Sorry about all the tech difficulties, but we should be good for the rest of the game.

GO ILLINI!

Rochester, NY-The top-ranked and undefeated Illinois hockey team put a scare into some of its fans early in its first round national tournament match up with Robert Morris University in Rochester, NY, allowing a Colonial power play goal halfway in the fist to tie the game at one. The orange and blue came out sluggish in the first period, with much of the action happening in the Illini zone.

But Daniel Cohen came to the rescue to put the Illini out front 2-1 at the end of the first with a masterful deke followed by a backhanded wrister past Bobby Mo goalie John Hoffman. From there, the Illini added a tally each in the second and third periods to get three out of four of their goals on the power play, which goes to show that the old adage is true—special teams are more important when it comes to playoff hockey. Chad Cassel’s bunch took the final 4-1, with junior defenseman Brad Hoelzer getting two goals on wrist shots from the blue line. Mike Burda also played an unbelievable game, bailing out his defenseman multiple times.

So the Illini survived and advanced, avoiding an early exit from the national tournament and reducing their magic number to three. If you want to see the Illini in action, you can visit www.achahockey.org to catch a webcast of the orange and blue in Rochester, with WPGU’s own Jon Hansen, Blake Stubbs, and myself calling the action. If you want to reach us during the broadcast or want to send out a message to a loved one, you can email us at achanationals@gmail.com. The webcast is only a five dollar fee to watch all of the games this weekend with very crisp audio and video feeds. Keep it locked here at the DI sports blog for more updates throughout the national tournament

Hey there Illini hockey fans!

Our team has had quite the season — perfect so far! Join the WPGU crew out in Rochester, N.Y., as the Illini try and finish their perfect season with a national championship.

Due to ACHA restrictions, WPGU cannot broadcast the games on the air. But play-by-play announcer Jon Hansen, color commentator Alex Symonds, and statistician-extrodinare Blake Stubbs will be bringing you all the action online. The ACHA is providing a video Webcast, so you can not only listen to us call the game, but watch it online as well.

Jon, Alex and Blake will also be providing updates on WPGU 107.1 throughout the tournament, as well as real time updates on dailyillini.com, and the217.com.

Here is the link for the webcast. There is a quick and easy registration: LiveSportsVideo.com

Stay tuned to the DI sports blog for updates on the games all weekend…

First game is tonight at 7:30pm CST vs. Robert Morris (PA).

Go Illini!!!