CCHA Reporter's Corner: Mike McMahon dives into regionals and unpacks college hockey's big headlines

CCHA Reporter's Corner: Mike McMahon dives into regionals and unpacks college hockey's big headlines

On the 56th episode of The CCHA Reporter's Corner, [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/podcasts/the-ccha-reporters-corner] co-hosts Jared Rubado and Trent Singer welcome in longtime college hockey writer Mike McMahon. With more than two decades of experience covering the college hockey landscape, McMahon joins the show to discuss the 2026 NCAA tournament picture as well as a number of other pertinent topics. The four teams advancing to the Frozen Four — North Dakota, Wisconsin, Michigan and Denver — have combined for 33 national championships in the sport. McMahon provides his biggest takeaways from NCAA regional action, including his personal experience covering Merrimack in the Sioux Falls regional. McMahon offers his take on the debate between neutral or home-site regionals, exploring potential solutions that could make it work. He also discusses the recent coaching change at the University of Minnesota, providing his thoughts on the decision of Augustana coach Garrett Raboin to remain in Sioux Falls and the eventual hiring of Brett Larson to take over the Gophers' program. What's going on at Mercyhurst, where administrators have abruptly decided to end the men's hockey program? McMahon, who's been covering the story through his College Hockey Insider [https://www.collegehockeyinsider.com/] newsletter, has been locked in on the story. He fills in Rubado and Singer on what he knows. The CCHA Reporter's Corner is a weekly college hockey show that's brought to you by Rubado, Singer and Wright, featuring players and coaches from around the CCHA. To watch this show and to see clips and highlights from this episode, head on over to Midwest Sports Plus, [https://www.midwestsportsplus.com/] the home of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. For the audio-only version, subscribe to The CCHA Reporter's Corner on Spotify, [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KJkXkbX3BxY3V1udEZZWY?si=9785394ab6f94ac9] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ccha-reporters-corner/id1860679801] or wherever podcasts are available. Follow Singer and Rubado on X — @trentsinger [https://x.com/trentsinger] and @JaredRubadoBP [https://x.com/JaredRubadoBP] — and throughout the week, check out their work at siouxfallslive.com [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/] and bemidjipioneer.com. [https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/]

CCHA Reporter's Corner: Augustana star Josh Kotai on goaltending journey and CCHA playoff run

On the 54th episode of The CCHA Reporter's Corner, [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/podcasts/the-ccha-reporters-corner] co-hosts Jared Rubado and Trent Singer are joined by the 2025-26 CCHA Player of the Year in Augustana goalie Josh Kotai. This episode was recorded several days before learning of Kotai's prestigious league honor, but there was certainly no shortage of things to talk about when it comes to one of the best puck-stoppers in all of college hockey. In this hourlong episode, Rubado and Singer delve into Kotai's junior season and what has allowed him and his Viking teammates to string together a 22-10-4 campaign as they head into a crucial CCHA Mason Cup semifinal game versus St. Thomas on Saturday at Lee and Penny Anderson Arena in St. Paul. Augustana is coming off a first-round sweep of Bemidji State last weekend in the first round of the league playoffs. Kotai discussed the feeling of relief in defeating a Beavers squad that ended his season a year ago and how electric the playoff environment felt at Midco Arena. Hailing from Abbotsford, British Columbia, Kotai discussed his early playing days in Canada and what got him so fixated on wanting to become a goaltender. His junior career began amid the COVID-19 pandemic, making three different stops before he eventually landed with the Battlefords North Stars in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, where he went on to become the league's goalie of the year. Kotai then made his way to coach Garrett Raboin's fledgling college program in Sioux Falls. He talked about what made the Vikings the perfect fit and what those early college days were like before his breakout season in 2024-25. The CCHA Reporter's Corner is a weekly college hockey show that's brought to you by Rubado, Singer and producer Cordell Wright, featuring players and coaches from around the CCHA. To watch this show and to see clips and highlights from this episode, head on over to Midwest Sports Plus, [https://www.midwestsportsplus.com/] the home of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. For the audio-only version, subscribe to The CCHA Reporter's Corner on Spotify, [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KJkXkbX3BxY3V1udEZZWY?si=9785394ab6f94ac9] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ccha-reporters-corner/id1860679801] or wherever podcasts are available. Follow Singer and Rubado on X — @trentsinger [https://x.com/trentsinger] and @JaredRubadoBP [https://x.com/JaredRubadoBP] — and throughout the week, check out their work at siouxfallslive.com [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/] and bemidjipioneer.com. [https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/]

CCHA Reporter's Corner: MSU's Tristan Lemyre on winning MacNaughton Cup, previous college success

Episode No. 53 of The CCHA Reporter's Corner [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/podcasts/the-ccha-reporters-corner] welcomes in Minnesota State senior forward Tristan Lemyre. Co-hosts Jared Rubado and Trent Singer hear from Lemyre about what it was like to be in the middle of a chaotic and dramatic final weekend of conference play, which saw the Mavericks standing at the top of the CCHA standings when it was all finished. The Mavericks claimed their eighth outright MacNaughton Cup in the last nine seasons. However, despite transferring into the program during the summer, Lemyre is no stranger to championships. The 5-foot-10 forward played his first two seasons of college hockey at Denver, where he was a part of a national championship team in 2023-24. Then, in 2024-25, Lemyre tallied 14 points, including six goals, for a Western Michigan team that went on to win its first-ever national title. A native of Mirabel, Quebec, Lemyre talks about how he discovered his love for the sport of hockey while following the Montreal Canadiens at a young age. Following a junior season with the Flin Flon Bombers in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, Lemyre made his way to the USHL with the Dubuque Fighting Saints, racking up 87 points in 107 games with the organization over the span of two seasons. Lemyre discusses his growth through the junior ranks and how he eventually made his way to the Pioneers program. He talks about his college years at Denver and WMU and what made those teams so special before circling back to what it will require for the Mavericks to follow in those same steps in 2025-26. The CCHA Reporter's Corner is a weekly college hockey show that's brought to you by Rubado, Singer and producer Cordell Wright, featuring players and coaches from around the CCHA. To watch this show and to see clips and highlights from this episode, head on over to Midwest Sports Plus, [https://www.midwestsportsplus.com/] the home of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. For the audio-only version, subscribe to The CCHA Reporter's Corner on Spotify, [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KJkXkbX3BxY3V1udEZZWY?si=9785394ab6f94ac9] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ccha-reporters-corner/id1860679801] or wherever podcasts are available. Follow Singer and Rubado on X — @trentsinger [https://x.com/trentsinger] and @JaredRubadoBP [https://x.com/JaredRubadoBP] — and throughout the week, check out their work at siouxfallslive.com [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/] and bemidjipioneer.com. [https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/]

CCHA Reporter's Corner: MacNaughton Cup drama proves one thing — win more games

On a bonus episode (No. 52) of The CCHA Reporter's Corner, [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/podcasts/the-ccha-reporters-corner] co-hosts Jared Rubado and Trent Singer welcome in Tech Hockey Guide's Tim Braun to discuss the fallout following a thrilling final week of regular-season action in the CCHA. Augustana was the only team that wasn't in league action on the final weekend. Still, somehow, the Vikings still found themselves sitting in first place in the CCHA standings following a Friday night in which none of the other four teams in contention for first place were able to leapfrog Augustana for the top spot. That set up a thrilling finish to the regular season Saturday night, with eyes from all across the college hockey landscape falling on the CCHA to witness how it would end. Bowling Green emerged with a 4-3 road win over MTU in overtime to capture five of six possible points, locking the Vikings into the No. 3 spot at the very least, before Minnesota State scored two late goals, including an empty-netter, to come away with a 3-0 win over Northern Michigan, which moved the Mavericks into at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup. That left a final game in Bemidji to carry a lot of weight. St. Thomas eventually claimed a shootout win over Bemidji State following a 2-2 tie, giving the Tommies the No. 2 seed and clinching MSU's eighth outright claim to the MacNaughton Cup in the last nine years. In the end, there were a pair of two-way tiebreakers to decide teams that finished with only one point of each other. UST won its tiebreaker over an Augustana team it went 0-1-2 against in the regular season, while MTU claimed its tiebreaker against BGSU despite the Falcons earning five of six possible points in the regular-season finale. Needless to say, the conference took a lot of flack for its tiebreaker scenarios in a season that was a bit of an anomaly. In this episode, Rubado, Singer and Braun recap the weekend from their own perspectives, sensibly address some of the backlash and close things out with questions from listeners. The CCHA Reporter's Corner is a weekly college hockey show that's brought to you by Rubado, Singer and producer Cordell Wright, featuring players and coaches from around the CCHA. To watch this show and to see clips and highlights from this episode, head on over to Midwest Sports Plus, [https://www.midwestsportsplus.com/] the home of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. For the audio-only version, subscribe to The CCHA Reporter's Corner on Spotify, [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KJkXkbX3BxY3V1udEZZWY?si=9785394ab6f94ac9] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ccha-reporters-corner/id1860679801] or wherever podcasts are available. Follow Singer and Rubado on X — @trentsinger [https://x.com/trentsinger] and @JaredRubadoBP [https://x.com/JaredRubadoBP] — and throughout the week, check out their work at siouxfallslive.com [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/] and bemidjipioneer.com. [https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/]

CCHA Reporter's Corner: Predicting individual award winners ahead of final weekend

It's time for a little prognosticating on this week's episode of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/podcasts/the-ccha-reporters-corner] On the 51st episode of the show, co-hosts Jared Rubado and Trent Singer make their best guesses as to which players in the CCHA will garner the individual accolades. With a week remaining in the regular season, there's still a lot to be decided among a number of the league's awards. However, the names in the running have mostly been decided. The conference race remains a heated battle heading into the final weekend of play, with three home-ice spots and a MacNaughton Cup champion still to be decided. From CCHA Defensive Defenseman of the Year to Player of the Year, Rubado and Singer discuss a litany of names in the running for the conference's top individual honors. In a league full of elite netminders, which player will nab the award for Goaltender of the Year? Which forwards are emerging in a neck-and-neck race for Forward of the Year? What will the all-conference first team and all-rookie team look like? Rubado and Singer talk about all that and more in this hour-long episode. The CCHA Reporter's Corner is a weekly college hockey show that's brought to you by Rubado, Singer and producer Cordell Wright, featuring players and coaches from around the CCHA. To watch this show and to see clips and highlights from this episode, head on over to Midwest Sports Plus, [https://www.midwestsportsplus.com/] the home of The CCHA Reporter's Corner. For the audio-only version, subscribe to The CCHA Reporter's Corner on Spotify, [https://open.spotify.com/show/5KJkXkbX3BxY3V1udEZZWY?si=9785394ab6f94ac9] Apple Podcasts [https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-ccha-reporters-corner/id1860679801] or wherever podcasts are available. Follow Singer and Rubado on X — @trentsinger [https://x.com/trentsinger] and @JaredRubadoBP [https://x.com/JaredRubadoBP] — and throughout the week, check out their work at siouxfallslive.com [https://www.siouxfallslive.com/] and bemidjipioneer.com. [https://www.bemidjipioneer.com/]