Tim CostelloAs the line from Wayne’s World goes — Game On! It’s opening night on Friday for the last two leagues to start the 2006-2007 season and the action should be exciting from the first games forward in the interlocking schedule between the two conferences. At this point after about two weeks of practices, coaches have … Read more
The first game of the season at the Williams Ice Rink at the Community Sports Center is also the first on-campus game for the Trinity Bantams men’s ice hockey team where they opened the 2006-07 season against Hamilton. After the ceremonial face-off with members of the Williams family, team captains and Coach Dunham the teams … Read more
Team Overview: “Young but very quick,” is how coach Terry Meagher categorizes his Bowdoin squad this season. “We will have a lot of new faces and some shoes to fill with the departures of Adam (Dann) and George (Papachristopoulos) but we have a nice returning nucleus and some good leadership for this team.” Senior captain … Read more
Team Overview: Last season the Bantams struggled to find themselves offensively and were a bit more generous in allowing other teams to score. They found there game heading down the stretch and managed to make it into the final four of the conference tournament. Like others in the league, Coach John Dunham will have a … Read more
It would be somewhat easy for me to take a look at last year’s preview of the NESCAC conference and repeat many of the comments brought forth by the league coaches there are a lot of similar themes. Like last year the defending league and national champions are coming out of Middlebury and everyone has … Read more
Team Overview: For head coach Chris Potter, this is the third recruiting class coming in as he has built the program. His primary focus early on has been on the defensive end of the ice and it has paid dividends with the Cardinals yielding only 61 total goals last season. “When I first came here … Read more
Team Overview: Amherst is exactly one of the teams who was at the top of the standings in January (second place) and finished in sixth on the basis of results in a handful of games. “This league is just so tough,” said head coach Jack Arena. “Whether you are playing the NESCACs or the ECAC … Read more
Team Overview: “We basically won with really good team defense and exceptional goaltending,” said Middlebury coach Bill Beaney. “In fact we were a little challenged offensively which we would like to change this year.” Hard to believe a team that scored 137 goals last season was challenged offensively especially with junior Mickey Gilchrist (24-26-50) and … Read more
Team Overview: The Mules enter this season looking for some depth having played several games down the stretch with a limited number of skaters. “We will have a lot better numbers this season, noted head Coach Jim Tortorella. We have a nice mix of some veteran guys and some new guys that should help us. … Read more
Team Overview: Injuries took their toll on the Jumbos coming down the stretch last season as they seemed poised to make the conference playoffs. This year head coach Brian Murphy likes his overall numbers which should provide some much needed depth: “We will have better numbers so we shouldn’t get caught only dressing 13 or … Read more
Team Overview: The Ephs’ second-place finish last season might have been a surprise to everyone else but coach Bill Kangas: “You just want to keep building momentum and its cliché, but play better in every game than one you played the night before. We were fairly young last season but those guys have a full … Read more
Team Overview: OK, not to beat a dead horse but head coach Jim Ward will have a very young team this year and expects the team to grow literally game by game. “We will probably have fifteen or more freshmen and sophomores in the lineup every night,” noted Ward. “I have really been impressed with … Read more
Team Overview: “You know the strength of our team is going to be on the blue line,” said head coach Phil Grady. “We surely lost a big class and will have a lot of young guys coming in eager to play this year. Losing Gus(Katsuras) is tough but it may be a good thing in … Read more
Team Overview: The Pilgrims were on the bubble last year when it came time for the at-large bids for the NCAA tournament despite almost twenty wins. This year’s team looks to be markedly different from recent teams in terms of age and experience. “We graduated a big class and lost some other kids from the … Read more
Team Overview: For St. Michael’s, the battle for recognition in the ECAC East is focused on the regular season. The Purple Knights are a D-II school like St. Anselm’s and hope to earn the respect of their opponents in the conference by succeeding during the season before the playoffs. Jared Silver leads an improved Purple … Read more
Team Overview: When is year two really year one? For head coach Neil Sinclair, he is entering his second season at Skidmore but has his first recruiting class coming on board to his program. “This is my first recruiting class here because of the timing of getting the job when Coach Dion resigned,” Sinclair explained. … Read more
Team Overview: The key thing about taking over a new program is the constant drive to improve the roster and quality of play on the ice. Second-year head coach Alex Todd has been working on both and fit in a pre-season conversation while on the road for a recruiting trip prior to starting practices on … Read more
Team Overview: The continuous improvement exhibited by coach Jeff Beaney’s squad over the past two seasons has not gone unnoticed around the league — the huskies aren’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. BEANEY “We have a veteran team this year,” said Beaney. “But with the experience and depth, we need to have a better start … Read more
Team Overview: Norwich basically reloaded last season with the offensive emergence of Rick Cleaver and Nikita Kashirsky who each totaled over 40 points. In fact, the Cadets scored 151 goals last season while only giving up 56 so they were able to play well in all three zones and dominate opponents. “We have some good … Read more
Team Overview: Bill O’Neill is in that elite group of coaches with over 400 career wins — all at Salem State. O’Neill like the looks of his returning players and is curious about the mix of some of the new recruits coming in: “You just don’t know what you have before you get on the … Read more