Jim ConnellyWhen Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold found out earlier in the week that goaltender Jamie Holden was ready to return to the lineup after a three-week absence, it signaled good news and bad news. Holden, a playoff-tested goalie, is one of the league’s top netminders, but having both he and Justin Eddy available for Friday’s … Read more
The MAAC championship takes place under unique circumstances.
Amid a backdrop of war and with machine gun-armed soldiers protecting the campus, the 2003 MAAC Final Four got underway on Thursday with the league’s award banquet. The story of the night was the youth movement, with Bentley rookie head coach Ryan Soderquist — the youngest headman in the game — capturing the MAAC Coach … Read more
The past two league champions are joined by a team on the rise and an upstart contender. Jim Connelly previews this weekend’s MAAC final four.
Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter, who was seriously injured a week and a half ago in a collision with Boston College’s Patrick Eaves, has been upgraded from serious to fair condition, according to representatives from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on Tuesday. There was no word whether Exter is out of the coma he’s been in … Read more
Jim Connelly studies the coach behind Providence, the Hockey East regular season and postseason champs.
The New Hampshire Wildcats will get a chance to pull off college hockey’s equivalent of the daily double this weekend after UNH advanced to the inaugural Hockey East championship game on Saturday with a 2-0 victory over Maine. The women followed the suit of their male counterparts, who beat Boston University 1-0 Saturday to take … Read more
HEA final: Great game, bad ending.
Fifth-seed Boston University will look to become the lowest seed to ever win the Hockey East tournament thanks to a thrilling, 6-5 double overtime victory on Friday night over second-seed Boston College in game two of the semifinals of the 19th annual Hockey East tournament in Boston. The hero of the night for the Terriers … Read more
The MAAC might be the last Division I league to kick off the playoffs, but it doesn’t waste time once things get started. Jim Connelly previews this weekend’s single-game quarterfinals.
Just days before its MAAC quarterfinal with Mercyhurst, Iona announced Tuesday that it will drop its men’s hockey program effective at the end of this season. Iona joins Fairfield as the second MAAC school to drop men’s hockey this season. The announcement came after a meeting on March 6 of the college’s Legal Board of … Read more
Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter remained in serious condition Tuedsay at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center Tuesday with multiple fractures sustained in a collision during last Friday’s Hockey East quarterfinal game at Boston College. According to hospital officials, there is no change in Exter’s condition, and nothing further is expected before Wednesday morning. The injury … Read more
Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter remains in serious condition with multiple skull fractures at Boston’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center today following a collision in last Friday’s opening game of the Hockey East quarterfinal series at Boston College. (Original story) According to hospital spokespersons, Exter’s condition is unchanged in the last 24 hours, and unless there … Read more
As a tragedy unfolds before your eyes, keeping focused on the game is hard for everyone.
With his star goalie Joe Exter still in the hospital in serious condition with a fractured skull — the result of a nasty head-first collision with Boston College freshman Patrick Eaves — Merrimack coach Chris Serino addressed the media Saturday afternoon. Serino spoke candidly and emotionally about Exter, the ugly melee that followed the incident, … Read more
With Merrimack goaltender Joe Exter still battling a major head injury sustained in Friday’s opener, few minds Saturday night were on the rematch between Merrimack and Boston College in game two of the Hockey East quarterfinals. That, though, didn’t translate onto the ice, as both teams treated the 2,513 in attendance to an entertaining game … Read more
On Feb. 15, in a 6-1 victory for Merrimack over Boston College, BC’s Andrew Alberts delivered a late-game hit to Merrimack’s then-leading scorer Marco Rosa. The hit resulted in Rosa breaking his wrist and suffering a concussion that ended his season. The hit also set off a series of conversations and a request to Hockey … Read more
Merrimack goalie Joe Exter was in critical condition Friday night after a collision with BC’s Pat Eaves in their quarterfinal round game.
Mercyhurst wins the regular-season title in a fashion fitting to this year’s edition of the MAAC; four teams scramble for the last playoff slot; and Jim Connelly hands out his year-end awards.
“The hockey gods have paid us back.” The glorious words of Massachusetts-Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald were a fitting summary of Saturday’s 4-1 victory over Northeastern, which earned the River Hawks the final spot in the Hockey East playoffs on the last night of the regular season. In a season of almosts for Lowell that has … Read more