Tim Costello
For most teams, the holiday break represented a body of work that included lots of workout time, captains’ practices, formal practices and about 10-12 games on the schedule. For Oswego, that body of work began in earnest prior to a European trip to play Swiss and Italian competition while touring and enjoying the cultural experiences … Read more
With all but ten games remaining on the docket this weekend, the first half of the season is all but in the books. So much has happened in the east over the last month and a half including big shifts in national rankings, dark horses asserting themselves in conference play and truly unbelievable individual performances … Read more
Upsets abounded again this weekend as Hobart lost a pair of games, Norwich lost to Castleton, Franklin Pierce downed St. Anselm and Stevenson took down Utica. And that’s a look at just a few of the games across the East this past weekend where many teams closed out the first half of their schedules – … Read more
It is the last weekend of the first half for some and that implies a pretty big sense of urgency in closing out the first half with some positive momentum. I could use some of that positivity as well as my picks last week finished at 9-7-0 (.563) which certainly does not help my winning … Read more
The Stevenson College Mustangs finished last season with a disappointing 10-15-0 overall record and finished 7-11-0 in UCHC play just one season removed from competing near the top of the league standings. So far this season the team is 7-1-0 overall and 4-1-0 in the league and benefiting from “hitting the reset button” after last … Read more
Tournament play and rivalry games where just about anything can happen and usually does. Case in point, Middlebury knocked off in-state rival and No. 1 ranked Norwich in the first round of the Primelink tournament. Salve Regina lost to Utica in tournament play and Williams upset Geneseo in non-conference action. Lots of hardware handed out … Read more
With so few non-conference games available on schedules, the Thanksgiving week offers a plethora of tournaments and power conference action to bolster the resumes of teams looking to compete on the national stage in the spring. Hoisting some hard-earned hardware in the first half will also bolster morale for teams in search of championship designations. … Read more
After scoring five goals in game one against Hamilton, Amherst found themselves offensively challenged in consecutive losses to Trinity and Wesleyan. Entering a stretch of games that includes Geneseo, Babson, Middlebury and Williams, the Mammoths are looking to improve on the number of quality chances and goals produced in some winning hockey. “I think some … Read more
The upsets continued this weekend led by Buffalo State knocking off Geneseo. Conference play continues to heat up and pivotal non-conference games are showcasing some of the country’s best as evidenced in Hobart downing Oswego. Heading into Thanksgiving tournament time, teams are starting to find their game and that will help in pursuit of hardware … Read more
The teams you expect to be playing well are for the most part, but a growing list of teams off to a good start are in position to show why they are ready to contend in their respective conferences. Points are important in any conference game and teams are focused on earning them. Last week … Read more
Following this weekend’s two wins over conference rivals Massachusetts-Boston and Babson, the New England College Pilgrims are off to a 3-1-0 start to the NEHC season. Leading the way with ten goals in his first six games is sophomore forward Nikita Pintusov whose nose for the net has the Pilgrims scoring in bunches. “It was … Read more
Several “statement” games were played in conference play with some surprising results. Oh, and then were the dramatic last second goals for wins from Endicott and Brockport. The coaches always say it needs to be a sixty-minute effort, so it really hurts when 59:59 or 64:59 isn’t good enough. Here is this week’s recap of … Read more
There seemed to be a lot of scoring last week with several teams posting six or more goals in conference play contests. This week the story may be more focused on the defensive end and whether Norwich will surrender a goal after three shutout games to open the season. Great contender match-ups this weekend to … Read more
For head coach Kyle Wallack, the road to Albertus Magnus’ first season as an NCAA D-III program took about 700 days but he believes he has the right recruits and built the foundation for a solid and competitive program in the highly competitive New England hockey landscape. Going 0-2-2 in their first four games, Coach … Read more
The road to the championship in recent years has often traveled through Hartford, Connecticut and the Trinity Bantams. This year there is maybe reason to believe that the overall depth and talent across the conference will lead to yet another dynamic race right into February where several teams could lay claim to the title … Read more
Last year’s surprise team from Wilkes saw head coach Brett Riley step down to take and assistant coach position with Colgate from the ECAC. New head coach Tyler Hynes inherits a solid team that knows how much of a battle every game is in the UCHC. The pre-season coaches’ poll showed some of the usual … Read more
The sole D-II conference in college hockey is now a seven-team league with Post University officially joining the NE-10 hockey conference. That addition sets up an 18-game conference schedule with each team playing league opponents three times. The addition of Post does not change the playoff structure where only the top four teams will qualify … Read more
If you wanted to see lots of goal scoring then this was the weekend for you as teams like UNE, Norwich and Hobart showed off some firepower in conference play. The UCHC saw a lot of goals too as Elmira, Nazareth and Utica all had big offensive nights in big conference wins. Great action everywhere … Read more
Entering this weekend against the defending national champions from Minnesota Duluth, the 8-0 and top-ranked ranked Denver Pioneers see only an opportunity to continue their journey and growth as a hockey team (photo: Denver Athletics).
It was an outstanding opening weekend with favored wins, upsets galore and some overtime thrillers. Looking for more of the same this week as more conferences jump into league play this week raising the sense of urgency for wins and points. Last week my picks finished at 6-2-1 (.722) so off to a good start … Read more