Tim CostelloHappy New Year! Most of the players and coaches return to the ice this weekend with resolutions they intend to keep in the second half of the season. For some — who have already played in a holiday tournament or non-league game — there has been an opportunity to work off the rust that the … Read more
For many teams the first three weeks must seem like a blur. After all, the majority of schools’ first part of the season is complete before semester break even ends. With the late start to the season for these leagues most teams have crammed in two weekends of conference play along with a Thanksgiving tournament … Read more
As condensed as the playing schedule has been this year with Thanksgiving coming in the very last weekend of the month, the regular season league play gave way to some of the traditional and new holiday tournaments featuring some of the regions best teams from all leagues playing against each other for bragging rights and … Read more
Finally! Just a few days before Thanksgiving and the last of the D-III leagues get underway this weekend after three grueling weeks of practice and looking at players wearing the same color shirts. Surviving without sustaining any injuries to players anxious to start the season is only one of the areas of concern for coaches … Read more
The interlocking schedule between NESCAC and ECAC East provides hockey fans in the Northeast some of the best match ups anywhere on virtually every weekend between now and the end of February. In this the last season in its current configuration before the commencement of the Massachusetts State College Athletic Conference (MASCAC) next year takes … Read more
Following last weekend’s high-powered 7-2 romp in the quarterfinals against Manhattanville, the Norwich Cadets have returned to the Frozen Four for the first time since they hosted the championship weekend in 2004. For this group of Cadets, it’s the first time they have advanced to the title round and with no experience in this round; … Read more
Following last weekend’s high-powered 7-2 romp in the quarterfinals against Manhattanville, the Norwich Cadets have returned to the Frozen Four for the first time since they hosted the championship weekend in 2004. For this group of Cadets, it’s the first time they have advanced to the title round and with no experience in this round; … Read more
Championship Weekend! It’s here and by most coaches’ accounts there should be a heavy presence of local and state law enforcement officials around hosting arenas and nearby towns looking out for those who have outstanding warrants for grand larceny. It’s been happening in college towns and ice arenas all over New England all winter. The … Read more
Careful what you ask for . . . yes it’s playoff time but that also means the season is winding down and now for most teams, it’s lose and you go home until next year. Everything is up for grabs and even the littlest on-ice detail now can mean the difference between moving on and … Read more
I was going to start out with something like: It’s the Final Countdown … but then the flashback to 80’s hair bands and Euro pop just kind of took the luster off of the whole moment. No, I am looking for something a little bigger than that cliché phrase and song title because, as usual, … Read more
OK welcome to the insanity that is the league standings at this time of the year in both the ECAC East and NESCAC. Don’t like your team’s position in the standings? Just hope they have a good weekend and almost anything can happen. With just four games left in the regular season, it’s really getting … Read more
3, 2, 1, … blast-off! The final weeks of the regular season are ticking down and there are still 12 valuable points up for grabs as teams make their final push for playoff eligibility and positioning in the league standings. If you want to be playing hockey in March, now is the time to start … Read more
Hard to believe that the calendar rolls into February this weekend and that we are heading down the stretch run in the season where both leagues are very competitive for all of the playoff spots. Fondly referencing a ‘Badger Bob’ Johnson quote, Bowdoin coach Terry Meagher noted that “we are right in that hockey tunnel … Read more
With the weeks counting down to the all important conference playoffs at the end of February, some teams are starting to get on the roll that many predicted would carry them to the top of the league standings at the beginning of the year. Middlebury and Norwich are prime examples. Still others are finding their … Read more
This week brings us to the unofficial halfway point in the season. Based on what amounts to about an average of a 25 game schedule per team, this weekend puts most teams across the halfway mark and really turns the focus on making an impact in league play. As Colby coach Jim Tortorella puts it: … Read more
Happy New Year! Can’t you just see the confetti, the ball, er puck, dropping at the stroke of midnight over and over again in a scene reminiscent of Bill Murray in Groundhog Day? Over and over again in flashbacks, the league coaches have had various amounts of time during the holiday break to think about … Read more
As Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of the game is mental.†For many of the teams starting out this season, they are learning that there is much more in play for their teams than just their physical capabilities and talent on the ice. In fact, both good and bad, the mental approach to how … Read more
The season is finally underway and after one weekend of conference play and some terrific tournaments over the Thanksgiving holiday, the ultra-competitive nature of the league is already showing through just the first handful of games. Quick: name the only team without a blemish (loss or a tie) on their record in the first couple … Read more
The other half of the interlocking leagues, NESCAC also starts this week with their ECAC East partners with the level of competition in this league no different top to bottom which is going to make for some very interesting results. Last season saw the top five teams separated by just three points and virtually all … Read more
FINALLY!!! Let’s play some hockey. Last season saw dramatic improvement from a number of programs that had every fan wondering what the scores would be from virtually every match up. The league was so tight that going into the last weekend of the regular season only three points separated the top five teams in the … Read more