Tim Costello
For the four Independent teams in the east, the 2023-24 season will be the final one with that distinction as all four teams move to official conferences for the 2024-25 season among the many new league and conference alignments. Albertus Magnus will join the NEHC; Anna Maria and Rivier will be members of the MASCAC … Read more
It’s almost over. The end of scrimmages and meaningless exhibition games that don’t count on any record or in any standings. This Friday starts the 2023-24 season – a season before the change in the D-III landscape changes dramatically with new conferences and most importantly, just a single at-large bid available for the national tournament. … Read more
Plymouth State was one of only two teams that finished their conference schedule undefeated last year (Utica was the other) on the way to the MASCAC championship. The Panthers have dominated the conference in recent years and will be trying to extend their six-year title streak as Plymouth State and Massachusetts-Dartmouth will be departing in … Read more
Not one but two CCC teams reached the Frozen Four hosted by Endicott last spring. The Gulls certainly have a strong desire to repeat as conference champions and take another shot at a national title while the University of New England continues to get closer and closer to the big prize at the end of … Read more
The St. Anselm Hawks ended their title drought last season with a dominating season in the NE-10. In a league where anything can happen and usually does, the Hawks best be prepared for a series of contenders in the six-team D-II league that often sees such familiarity create some crazy results on the ice. While … Read more
SUNYAC has seen the big three dominate league titles over the past decades with Plattsburgh, Oswego and Geneseo winning their fair share of conference glory. With Brockport and Geneseo scheduled to play in the UCHC next season and Canton joining the SUNYAC conference in earnest, the 2023-24 season is the last chance for every team … Read more
When Hobart celebrated their first-ever national championship last spring head coach Mark Taylor noted they would love to be back this season with a chance to repeat especially for some key players that were unable to play last year due to injury. Those players are healthy and the challenge of the NEHC is right in … Read more
The UCHC was among the front runners in seeing changes for this season and even bigger ones for the 2024-25 season where the D-III hockey landscape will be dramatically different with the emergence of the MAC conference and the Little East conference. Misericordia will field its D-III hockey squad next season that enables the six … Read more
A young boy, a hockey mom’s encouraging words, a love of sport, a local rink and service to the community have all been woven together over time to create an entrepreneurial vision that is born of hockey but committed to so much more in the Washington D.C. area and beyond. Saint Anselm freshman forward Will … Read more
In a season where multiple injuries plagued the defending national champions from Adrian, senior Matus Spodniak stood tall as a reliable and productive player that helped the Bulldogs reach the national championship game for a second consecutive season. The senior from Slovakia produced thirty goals and twenty-eight assists for 58 points in leading Adrian through … Read more
The attainment of something elusive and something new were the hallmarks of the 2022-2023 season for Hobart College head coach Mark Taylor. Extending his team’s current streak to eight consecutive NCAA appearances, the Statesmen won their first national title with a thrilling 3-2 overtime win over Adrian to finish a 29-2-0 season that also included … Read more
Amazingly, two sometimes isn’t enough as it applies to movie franchises. The “Men In Black” series has completed three successful and linked storylines much like the intrepid Men In Blades (MIB) have done with their third consecutive nomination and earning finalist status for the Hockey Humanitarian Award. While the recognition is greatly appreciated and humbling, … Read more
In D-III where goaltending exceled this past season as well as in the NEHC conference where All-American caliber goaltenders are the competitive ante, Damon Beaver arrived as a first year at Hobart and all he did was backstop the Statesmen to their first ever national championship. Beaver played in 20 games and started 18 for … Read more
The just completed D-III season showcased an immensely competitive landscape across each of the regions and conferences with outstanding team performances and individual efforts. Across the board, the level of competitiveness was on display each and every week with a large number of continuous upsets and fluctuations weekly in the standings and national polls. The … Read more
It was a fitting end to the D-III season on Sunday night as the two best teams in the country battled evenly through sixty minutes of regulation hockey before ultimately deciding the national championship in overtime with Hobart’s Wil Crane scoring to lift the Statesmen to their first national championship. It was tough to see … Read more
It was the game everyone hoped for as two dynamic teams squared off for the national championship at Raymond J Bourque Arena on the campus of Endicott College. As expected, regulation time wasn’t enough as a spirited overtime session went back and forth until Wil Crane converted a blocked shot to the right of the … Read more
After a crazy 15 goal affair between Adrian and UNE and a chess match decided late in the third period between Hobart and Endicott, we are down to the final two teams that will battle for the national title on Sunday evening. For many, including this writer, we have the two best teams in the … Read more
What the first semifinal game between Adrian and UNE displayed in firepower and goals on the scoreboard, the second game between Hobart and Endicott owned in intensity and physicality with two strong and fast teams trying to impose their will on the opposition. Hobart emerged victorious on the strength of relentless pressure and superb goaltending … Read more
What a Friday slate of action that took place at Endicott College. Two very exciting games that had fans in the rink and everywhere going crazy with the exceptional play of four teams. No doubt the craziest game of the day and maybe in tournament history (certainly right up there with the historic St. Norbert … Read more
What the first semifinal game delivered in offensive volume, the second game delivered in a highly choreographed chess match between two very skilled teams that ended with a 3-1 win for Hobart in front of a raucous home Endicott fan base. Goals from Brenden Howell, Austin Mourar and an empty-net goal from Luke Aquaro were … Read more