Jim Connelly

Is it me or is the college hockey world being overcome by incident after incident that leaves the average fan shaking their head. After a season that’s had a rash of problems for players both on and off the ice, last week saw one of the top scoring players in the nation head to the … Read more

It’s been two and a half decades in the making, but Boston College can finally say it advanced past archrival Boston University to reach a Beanpot title game. Junior Nathan Gerbe poked a loose puck at the right post over the glove of BU netminder Brett Bennett (30 saves) at 7:15 of overtime to give … Read more

They say that patience is a virtue, but if you’re the Providence Friars trying to win at Boston College for the first time in more than five years, it’s more of a solution. The Friars, who hadn’t tasted victory at BC’s Kelley Rink since January 24, 2003, displayed the utmost patience with the Eagles on … Read more

Tuesday was the annual Beanpot Luncheon, officially kicking off the 56th Annual Beanpot Hockey Tournament, which will begin play next Monday, February 4. This yearly “kick-off” event brings together representatives from each of the tournament’s four schools – Boston College, Boston University, Harvard and Northeastern. The luncheon has become a bit of a schmooze-fest, though … Read more

Minnesota-Duluth put its stake in the ground as a contender in the national picture Saturday night, completing a two-game sweep of No. 15 Mass.-Lowell, 4-1, at Lowell’s Tsongas Arena. The No. 19 Bulldogs stymied the River Hawks’ offense in both games, allowing just a single goal. Much of that could be credited to the outstanding … Read more

It really is true that news is cyclical. Well, at least that’s how I feel. One week after we had everything from Magness-gate to a pact between the WCHA and Bemidji State, we have little in the form of news to report. I even dug into the NCAA’s Website to see if there was anything … Read more

For the second straight night, the No. 11 Boston College Eagles fell behind 2-0, and for the second straight night, the Eagles were able to battle back. Unlike Friday night’s 5-4 victory over Mass.-Lowell, though, the Eagles never took the lead and after 65 hard-fought minutes for both teams, both BC and Boston University settled … Read more

For the opening 20 minutes of Friday night’s game between No. 11 Boston College and No. 15 Massachusetts-Lowell, things couldn’t have looked better for the upstart River Hawks. However, perfection for 20 minutes doesn’t always translate to a victory, as Lowell quickly found against the potent Eagles’ offense. Despite an early 2-0 advantage for Lowell, … Read more

The CHA’s demise seems all but a foregone conclusion. After Air Force departed in 2006, leaving the league with five teams, and Wayne State’s announcment that it will drop hockey at the end of this season bringing the enrollment down to four, it seems impossible for college hockey’s sixth conference to remain. The pending question … Read more

I’ve received a lot of email from fans who were at Magness last Friday night when the controversial no-goal ended the Wisconsin-Denver game. Some of the feedback brought up worthy points: “Magness Arena is equipped with technology that does not allow the goal light to come on, which it did, if there is no time … Read more

I guess if I’m going to write about how instant replay is used in college hockey, I best do my home work. In my blog posting earlier today, I wrote about how the Denver-Wisconsin game used instant replay to determine that Wisconsin’s tying goal came after the buzzer. After a fellow USCHO staffer wrote me … Read more

It seems this past weekend that the sweep was the preferred method of dealing with opposition, at least for some of the nation’s top teams. Michigan, Miami, Colorado College, New Hampshire and North Dakota all posted back-to-back Ws on the weekend that with either maintain or improve the poll positioning. The sweep that probably had … Read more

The Providence Friars were literally seconds away from a much better outcome in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss to the No. 13 Mass.-Lowell River Hawks. Providence gave up two goals in the final second of a period, one at the buzzer of the second that knotted the game at two and the game-winning goal with 1.3 … Read more