College Hockey

Professional NHL games feature controlled arena action, in which seasoned and at times apathetic sports gladiators spar off against one another. College hockey games couldn't be more different. College hockey players get truly aggressive on the ice, but they don't treat the sport as a business. Fans fling X-rated epithets at the players and at each other--all in the name of good clean (sort of) fun.In certain match-ups, such as Harvard vs. Cornell, fans actually throw live fish on the ice. College hockey bands tend to be extremely loud and raucous. Since college games tend to be much less expensive than professional games--free for students in most cases--the atmosphere at a college hockey rink is usually convivial and good spirited.Many university ice hockey clubs host '50-50 raffles' and give proceeds to the community or to university charity groups. At the end of college hockey games, players salute their fans with their sticks--an act of courtesy that you generally won't see at professional hockey games. Yet despite all the fun and good-natured play, college hockey games can get quite intense. The Michigan vs. Michigan State face-off of 2001 drew more than 70,000 fans.Boston University and Boston College face-off every year in a bitterly contested battle that has been raging since 1975. Colorado College and Denver have also been at each other's throats for years. Recently Colorado lost the rivalry's trophy, prompting allegations of fraud and misconduct on both sides. Some of the best college hockey can be found, unsurprisingly, in Canada. McGill University, for one, typically fields an excellent team every season.