Quick calls from my first college hockey broadcast

I haven't even watched this whole game through yet, but I know I had a lot of fun calling the Princeton-Brown men's hockey game on Saturday night, I know it was even harder than I expected, and I know I'm proud to have accomplished the goal of calling even one college hockey game. Although I certainly hope there are more in store!

Via the teams' respective Twitter accounts, here are most of the key plays from Saturday night:

Stu Pomeroy's first career goal! pic.twitter.com/cu62O6l8MI

— Princeton Hockey (@puhockey) February 28, 2016

Seven seconds left in the 3rd and Max Veronneau sends this one into OT pic.twitter.com/cuopcD6OpC

— Princeton Hockey (@puhockey) February 28, 2016

Check out Ryan Kuffner's chance in OT and the glove by Ernst pic.twitter.com/e7HWPhkqdZ

— Princeton Hockey (@puhockey) February 28, 2016

Essay: This is hockey country

While in North Dakota, I had the chance to take in an amazing atmosphere at a University of North Dakota hockey game. While on an airplane a day and a half later, I took a stab at an essay on the topic. It's not my usual style or subject matter on this blog, but what is a free-lance blog for if not posting stories that you haven't been able to sell to anybody!?

So if you're interested, check it out after the jump. It was a fun night.
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Photo blog: My trip to North Dakota

I got the wonderful chance this week to visit North Dakota for the first time, letting me cross another state off my list. Not too many left! Somewhat fittingly, I ended up getting stuck in Fargo, N.D., for an extra day after my Sunday-morning flight was cancelled, but here's a photo blog from my first two days in this cold, cold state:

Friday was a long, long travel day. Shreveport-Fargo is not exactly a direct flight. It took 10+ hours, three flights, and a roughly 40-degree dip in temperature.

7 a.m. flight from Shreveport.

Connecting in Denver.

4:30 p.m. arrival in Fargo.

NDSU is everywhere in Fargo.

Naturally, my first destination was the Fargodome, capacity somewhere upwards of 18,000.

The inimitable Fargodome.

I met up with my partner, Ben Leber, and some of our crew on Friday night, and by airtime on Saturday, we were ready to go.

Former Vikings LB Ben Leber, a South Dakota native
who is well-known and popular in the area.

Almost time for kick-off.

The game itself was low-scoring but intense and highly entertaining. Both teams used a lot of clock with every possession, with Wofford trying to upset the defending FCS champion. North Dakota State's dominating defense (no offensive touchdowns allowed in last 14 quarters of playoff football) made crucial third- and fourth-down stops in the fourth quarter to advance to the FCS semifinals next week.

Noise level upward of 100 decibels at times during
the game, won by NDSU 14-7 behind its top-rated defense.

Afterward, a look at the production truck responsible for making us look good.

Behind-the-scenes magic.

Since it was a day game and I'm a long-time amateur hockey fan, I took the chance to drive 87 miles up to Grand Forks, N.D. to see the famed Ralph Engelstad Arena at the University of North Dakota. Despite some wind and really poor visibility, I'm very glad I went. The arena and atmosphere, with a sold-out crowd of 11,799, were simply amazing, and it was great to see some live hockey. Great end to a very fun sports day.

Yeah, it was snowing as I got to the arena midway through the first period.

As for the game, UND beat Denver 6-3 in WCHA action.