Jim ConnellyQ: When is third place almost like a championship? A: When, like Holy Cross, your offense has been struggling and you’ve upset the pre-tournament favorite. Also, the AHA gets serious about expansion, and Quinnipiac hits the road. Jim Connelly reports.
It’s not often that the consolation game of any tournament, let alone a holiday tourney, would elicit a celebration worthy of singing and dancing. Not, of course, unless you’re Holy Cross. The Crusaders, who entered Sunday at the Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot as a heavy underdog against ECACHL-leading Union, let choruses of “O-Lay, O-Lay, O-Lay, … Read more
Perhaps it wasn’t as easy a path as Providence hoped for, but with a 3-1 victory over Holy Cross Saturday night, the Friars advanced to the championship game of the second annual Dunkin’ Donuts Coffee Pot tournament. “We know [Holy Cross is] going to give us a good game,” said Providence coach Paul Pooley, whose … Read more
Continuing an annual tradition, USCHO.com’s Jim Connelly takes a partly tongue-in-cheek look at holiday thankfulness around Atlantic Hockey.
Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl knew that there was a formula to follow if his club were to upset No. 4 Boston College Monday night. Nowhere in that formula, though, was it planned to give the Eagles 10 chances on the power play. Behind an effort that Pearl called “undisciplined” his Crusaders fell, 5-0, … Read more
Paced by a five-goal second period and the play of rookies Chris Bourque and Peter MacArthur, No. 15 Boston University downed Massachusetts-Lowell, scoring the game’s final six goals in a 7-2 road victory. MacArthur and Bourque combined for three goals and three assists and dominated on the ice, connecting twice on power-play tallies in a … Read more
American International’s improvement hasn’t shown in the standings — yet; Holy Cross and Boston College renew a decades-old rivalry; and Bryan Worosz reaches a milestone in net for Canisius, according to Jim Connelly.
If the Massachusetts Minutemen hoped to rebound after a stinging 5-2 loss to Merrimack last Saturday night, head coach Don “Toot” Cahoon knew that there was one player who needed to step up to be successful against No. 1 Boston College. His wishes were answered as that player, goaltender Gabe Winer, turned in a career … Read more
Mercyhurst’s Rick Gotkin hits a milestone as head coach of the Lakers, and Holy Cross finds out just how tough it is to repeat. Jim Connelly rounds up the happenings in Atlantic Hockey.
Going into Friday’s game between Connecticut and Northeastern, everyone knew that the Huskies would come out winners. Northeastern, though, kept things according to script, outplaying and outscoring its brethren Huskies from UConn, 5-2, to earn its first home victory of the season in front of an announced crowd of 1,740 at Matthews Arena. The offensive … Read more
Atlantic Hockey has picked up some big wins in the early going, but Jim Connelly wonders when victories over the “Big Four” will cease to be news. Also, Holy Cross starts its title defense, and injured Army sees new faces start to contribute.
It’s happened only two times before and never in Boston. And for once this week, we’re not talking about anything to do with the Boston Red Sox. Jerry York became just the third coach in college history, joining coaching legends Ron Mason and Bob Peters, to reach 700 career wins Friday when his No. 2 … Read more
Connecticut pulls off the nonconference upset and then looks ahead, while Sacred Heart builds momentum in league play and Mercyhurst gets off the schneid. And were there a couple of baseball games this week? Jim Connelly sounds off.
Take Me Away! Maybe that was the cry of Canisius before boarding a plane from Buffalo (with connections through Atlanta and Salt Lake City) to Anchorage for last weekend’s Nye Frontier Classic. The Griffs traveled a total of 17 hours including layovers but when they arrived on the ground in Anchorage, were without the necessary … Read more
Amid hopes of following in the footsteps of fellow WCHA member Minnesota and repeating as national champion, the 2004-05 campaign for defending titleist Denver has gotten off to a rocky start. Returning to the beloved city of Boston where the Pioneers captured their national title last April, 1-0 over Maine, No. 11 Denver fell 6-2 … Read more
Business, Not Hockey No, this isn’t the NHL. We’re not talking about a collective bargaining agreement, a salary cap or players buying one-way tickets to Europe. Still, as we open the Atlantic Hockey season, the second year of the league’s existence under that name, business is on the top of many minds as much as … Read more
It seems hard to believe that a coach in Atlantic Hockey whose team went 20-14-2, upset Ohio State and Western Michigan and tied Cornell on the road, could call that season anything but a success. But for Mercyhurst coach Rick Gotkin, that’s exactly what happened last year. “We had some good success last year, but … Read more
It was a storied trip for Holy Cross last season, one that few associated with the program, coaches, players and fans alike, will ever forget. A wire-to-wire regular-season championship was followed by a dominant walk through the Atlantic Hockey tournament and the school’s first visit to the NCAAs. Now, for the Crusaders the question is … Read more
The old cliché reads that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, so Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl should take it as a compliment that Sacred Heart coach Shaun Hannah wants to imitate last year’s Holy Cross hockey season. “We learned a lot from the Holy Cross team last year,” said Hannah, whose upstarts shocked … Read more
Uno mas. One more. That should be the war cry of Quinnipiac as it embarks on its final season in Atlantic Hockey before moving on to the seemingly greener pastures of the ECAC Hockey League. This is the last chance for the Bobcats to show their value in a league in which, at least for … Read more