Tim Costello
With tonight’s quarterfinal home playoff game against Massachusetts-Dartmouth just hours away, the Salem State Vikings will be hosting a home conference tournament game for the first time since 2017 – ironically the last year they won the MASCAC title. The Vikings have found a winning formula that has led to an 18-6-0 record and a … Read more
Here is Part I of this week’s two-part game prognostications with several conferences playing quarterfinal round action before semis on the weekend. Playoff hockey is here and surely there will be some upsets along the way as teams battle for conference glory and an opportunity to play on a national stage in March. Not much … Read more
Well, wasn’t that some playoff-style hockey to finish out the regular season! Everyone had to be scoreboard watching and calibrated on what the tiebreaker formulas looked like with shootout points, head-to-head and regulation wins coming into play across the conferences. There was great drama in the NE-10 playoffs where St. Anselm had to rally back … Read more
While there are many things yet to be resolved in the conferences across the east in D-III, only NESCAC finds the final weekend where every team is still alive with playoff hopes and positions among the ten teams are pretty much all up for grabs with the exception of Hamilton’s first place perch. Just two … Read more
So here we are at the end of the 2024-25 regular season and still so much yet to be decided by the competition on the ice. While some teams have already established their position entering the post-season, including this weekend’s semifinal action in the NE-10 conference, lots of teams have opportunities to solidify playoff eligibility, … Read more
There was much claimed over the weekend in terms of regular season titles including Curry, Hobart and Wilkes laying claim to No. 1 seeding and home-ice advantage for their conference tournaments but there is so much more to be resolved in the final week of the regular season for playoff eligibility and seeding across several … Read more
The Endicott Gulls are ranked among the best teams in the country and are focused on the remainder of the regular season heading into the Conference of New England playoffs later this month. A Friday night showdown with league leading Curry is in clear focus for the team but tomorrow’s Senior Night will send the … Read more
The conference battles are so tight this year with virtually every game and all-important points on the line to determine playoff eligibility, final seeding, home-ice advantage, opening round byes and, of course, the regular season champion to name but a few. Not a lot of games left on the schedule but definitely an opportunity for … Read more
Things are definitely heating up as the weeks in February roll by. Battles at the top are getting tighter, especially in the UCHC, SUNYAC, CNE and MASCAC at both the top as well as contests for playoff position further down the standings. The NE-10 has their regular season champion (St. Anselm) confirmed with one remaining … Read more
With a comfortable lead in the conference standings and just four games remaining on the regular season schedule, the St. Anselm Hawks are not taking the final games of the season lightly in preparation for a NE-10 championship run. While the team has flourished in conference play and found new player combinations to create balanced … Read more
When the calendar turns to February, it is go time for college hockey! There are less than a handful of weekends remaining in the regular season and that means that playoff eligibility, seeding and home-ice berths are all on the line across conferences where there isn’t much of a gap between a lot of teams … Read more
And then there were none… There will not be an unbeaten NCAA D-III champion this season as Hobart finally lost a hockey game to a determined Albertus Magnus squad in overtime on Friday. Just another illustration of the parity that exists where on any given night any team has a chance for a win. This … Read more
When you are the two-time defending national champions and have just established a new NCAA unbeaten streak (currently at 41 games), you might think that everything is perfectly aligned and calibrated with the 17-0-0 Hobart Statesmen. Not so for Coach Mark Taylor and staff who have a very deep roster that competes hard and has … Read more
“Punxsutawney Phil” may be telling us of an early spring or six more weeks of winter come Sunday, but he won’t be telling any teams how much time is left in their season as the calendar month turns to February. The only way to ensure longevity and more meaningful hockey games is to win. Pivotal … Read more
For anyone who might think that playoff hockey hasn’t started yet this season, just checkout the scores that featured 17 one-goal games (would have been higher if not for several ENGs) and 11 overtime contests in the east for the week ending with Sunday’s late action in the MAC and NEHC. Talk about a lot … Read more
A quick look at the conference standings in the east sees some familiar and expected names at the top of the tables. That is until you get to the SUNYAC where a very young Buffalo State roster currently sits atop the standings with a 5-1-0 record in league as they prep for the stretch run … Read more
The battles for conference supremacy begin in earnest this week as virtually every game has implications in the standings up and down the conference slates. While some of the leaders might have a false sense of security based on the current point spreads, no team is taking anything for granted with the number of … Read more
It was quite the weekend in the east as a new NCAA win streak record was established by Hobart, teams like Norwich, Trinity and Anna Maria displayed their game as they try to move towards the top of their conference standings and, of course, there were the requisite number of overtime and come-from-behind thrillers across … Read more
After suffering their first loss of the season last weekend to a familiar antagonist in Elmira, the Geneseo Knights rebounded in a big way with a decisive win over Fredonia and now face their final twelve games of the season in their new UCHC affiliation looking for a conference title and more. “Candidly, I was … Read more
Other than some mid-week games and the odd non-conference matchup to be found sporadically for the balance of the schedule, the action now turns to conference play and all-important wins and points. It is mid-January so if your team is going to make a run it would be best to bring maximum effort and execution … Read more