Tim Costello
There is no question the season is off to a resounding start after the great action in week one. Week two promises more of the same with great rivalry games and battles among ranked teams as some conference play begins in earnest. Here are this week’s picks for the ten conferences playing this weekend … Read more
The Trine Thunder was one of three NCHA teams to play in the NCAA tournament last spring and look to build on last year’s quarterfinal exit in overtime to eventual champion Hobart. The new campaign began in the same state as the last one ended with a ten-hour bus trip to Canton, New York … Read more
Well, how about that for an opening week of the season! We saw inaugural wins, tournament titles won, career milestones achieved and of course, upsets and ranked teams stumbling out of the gate in pursuit of a Hobart team that showed it is ready for all-comers this season. Here’s the wrap-up of some of the … Read more
Well, it is a new season! One new league, four new teams and the continued pursuit for conference and national title glory coming ahead over the next six months. In addition to all that is new in the D-II/III landscape on the ice, I plan on trying some different things in the coverage this year … Read more
Last season, Gustavus Adolphus won the regular season title and then battled a determined St Olaf squad to win the MIAC championship and NCAA berth before losing a one-goal game to St Norbert in the national tournament. No surprise, the Gusties appear to be a contender again this year in the typically unpredictable and … Read more
The CNE will have something old and something new as part of the conference for the 2025-2026 season. Former member of the CCC, Johnson & Wales returns to the league along with the new NCAA program started by Roger Williams College in Rhode Island. That brings the total to nine teams for this season … Read more
Last season saw the Stevenson Mustangs earn the first ever MAC hockey championship and auto-bid to the NCAA tournament. Following the season, the only coach the program had known, Dominick Dawes made the decision to return to his alma mater at Norwich leaving an opportunity for a new bench boss in Maryland. Matt … Read more
MASCAC will change from a ten-team league this season to the traditional and more familiar eight-team conference following the departure of Plymouth State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth to the new Little East conference (LEC). That does change the landscape somewhat based upon PSU’s recent dominance in the league, but many see the conference as wide open … Read more
The newest conference starting in 2025-2026 is the Little East which adds a deep ten-team conference that merges the Little East athletic conference schools with some associate members from the former NEHC. The league also features Keene State in first season affiliated with a conference as well as the introduction of Western Connecticut State … Read more
If only the hockey gods and maybe a friendly bounce or two had gone the right way for three teams from the west in last year’s NCAA tournament, the Frozen Four would have looked very different. All of those teams from the NCHA (Aurora, St. Norbert & Trine) are back and looking forward to … Read more
The NE-10 never lacks for excitement as very few teams have been successful in translating regular season success into the D-II conference championship. Assumption is one of the few teams in recent years to do so. St Anselm and St. Michael’s seem to find themselves playing for the big prize frequently and often against … Read more
SUNYAC has seen its own fair share of changes over the past couple of seasons. First, Brockport and Geneseo departed to join the ranks of the UCHC. Two familiar rivals in Oswego and Plattsburgh battled for the conference title with the Lakers earning their fist SUNYAC title in many years. Now this season, the … Read more
The UCHC, like virtually every other conference, will have a new look this season with the additions of Albertus Magnus and Elmira from the now defunct NEHC along with St John Fisher which commences NCAA play this season. The new nine-team league will certainly add more excitement to the pursuit of the conference title … Read more
New looks, there are a lot of them this year across the D-III hockey landscape. OK, you might even say why is the guy from the east covering the WIAC? Well, like the hockey landscape so too has the coverage changed. I will only hope to be able to come close to all Brian … Read more
After an incredible regular season and sensational NCAA tournament with Hobart winning their third consecutive national championship, it was time for the annual USCHO awards. Now after further time to digest the season that was and begin to look ahead to the 2025-26 campaign, here are some thoughts on what was, what will be different … Read more
While the bid for the national championship fell just short in Utica last weekend, the Curry Colonels achieved significant milestones as a program including the CNE regular season title, the CNE tournament title where thy defeated three-time champion, Endicott, the top-seed in the NCAA tournament and a quarterfinal win over Hamilton that earned the Colonels … Read more
Sometimes the decisions on award winners are just fairly obvious. Case in point would be the current Player of the Year in the CNE; AHCA First Team All-American; Sid Watson Award winner; Joe Concannon Award winner and newly announced New England Hockey Writers’ D-II/III MVP in the person and goaltender that is Curry’s Shane Soderwall. … Read more
Among the many outstanding first-year players at the D-III level this season, two clearly rose to the top of the list with their exceptional play on the ice and helping their teams to both conference and NCA tournament success. Ryan Burke from Oswego and Landry Schmuck from Aurora are this year’s winners of … Read more
We all just needed to take a little breather after that amazing season and sensational national tournament, but no worries the intrepid East/West duo of myself and Brian Lester have come up with this season’s All-USCHO teams and the representation of talent on the ice is nothing short of spectacular. This year we have fifteen … Read more
The quarterfinal round shaped up with the top two seeds joining the action in the tournament while three of the four contests featured east v. west matchups that was expected to and did create a lot of excitement. They say the worse lead in hockey is a two-goal lead and the teams from the west … Read more