Dan Hickling
The team to beat in the ECAC West is … Elmira. That notion wouldn’t have put you out on a limb not too many seasons ago. For half a decade, from 2008 to 2012, the Soaring Eagles owned the spot at the top of the league at the end of the regular season. Each of … Read more
Somebody’s bound to say it. “Ours is the toughest conference in Division III hockey.” The thing is, the SUNYAC can make the claim as well as anybody, at least if the gauge is Frozen Four appearances. Last year’s Frozen Four featured two SUNYAC schools, Geneseo and Oswego, and although they both bowed out in the … Read more
At 17, the draft-eligible defenseman will be the youngest player to skate for Red Berenson at Michigan.
The crop of college defensemen who will make the biggest marks this season is a diverse one.
At 5-foot-8 and 157 pounds he’s small for the blue line, but his speed and intelligence make up for it.
A top line of Boston University’s Jack Eichel, Boston College’s Alex Tuch and Michigan’s Tyler Motte emerged as having strong potential.
Crimson sophomore-to-be Sean Malone didn’t make the initial U.S. team cut at Lake Placid, but he played his gritty style.
The goaltender, one of eight second-round picks with college ties, was taken 36th overall by Vancouver.
Forwards Dylan Larkin, Sonny Milano, Alex Tuch and Nick Schmaltz all heard their names called by NHL teams Friday.
Even-numbered years have produced many first-round picks of college-connected players, and NHL rankings show as many as five could be taken this year.
Hercules. Atlas. Samson. All of them broad shouldered guys of legend – two mythical, one Biblical – who came through in the crunch. You can add to that list the likes of Tyler Brickler and Matt Galati. It’s likely that without them, neither of the two bitter SUNYAC foes, Geneseo and Oswego, would be two … Read more
Vulcan? Who’s that? Can he unleash a blazing slapper from the point on the power play? Perhaps not. Nor can he prevent the SUNYAC’s two entries in the NCAA tournament – No. 8 Oswego and No. 9 Geneseo – from firing up their Frozen Four hopes. Despite the threat of the winter storm named for … Read more
The three “Ws” of Division III hockey – watching, waiting, worrying. That was plenty of each to go around for teams with NCAA tournament aspirations, especially for top seeds – including three of five in the East – who fell in this past weekend’s conference championship tilts. Ultimately, the news from the selectors was good … Read more
The three “Ws” of Division III hockey – watching, waiting, worrying. That was plenty of each to go around for teams with NCAA tournament aspirations, especially for top seeds – including three of five in the East – who fell in this past weekend’s conference championship tilts. Ultimately, the news from the selectors was good … Read more
Halley’s Comet? No, it’s Oswego as an underdog. Having been cast as perennial favorites in the SUNYAC – with the last four (and six of the last eight) league regular-season crowns locked in the trophy case – the No. 3 Lakers (19-6-2, 10-5-1) come into Saturday’s championship game at No. 1 Geneseo (21-5-0, 14-2-0) as … Read more
It all boils down to this. The two top teams in the ECAC West – No. 1 Utica and No. 2 Elmira – will fight it out on Saturday for league supremacy. Is anyone surprised? Ya shouldn’t be. The two squads, who between them have taken the last six league championships (okay, Elmira copped the … Read more
Fans hoping for a quarterfinal round upset – and certainly those of Neumann and Nazareth – were left disappointed after Wednesday’s ECAC West playoff lid lifters. Thus, we now have the top four seeds (in order) Utica, Elmira, Hobart and Manhattanville set to square off in the weekend’s semifinal tilts. Manhattanville kept its season going … Read more
Hockey can be a crazy game at times, but it’s rarely tinged with insanity. That is if you were to apply the common notion that insanity is defined by repetition followed by an entirely different result. That said, Buffalo State’s hefty 7-2 thumping of Brockport in Wednesday’s SUNYAC quarterfinal did not defy any logic, even … Read more
How do you like your finishes? Down to the wire? If so, then the race for the ECAC West regular-season championship could be right up your alley. With two games remaining on the schedule, Elmira and Utica share a top spot tie with identical 9-3-1 conference records. And although it’s a bit of a pity … Read more
Just one weekend of regular season play remains on the SUNYAC schedule. However, the docket will feature at least three distinct story lines, each of which will stir the stew of the upcoming playoff picture. Because of the way the SUNYAC standing have stratified over the course of the season, three key questions have yet … Read more