Jim Connelly

Jim Connelly is the USCHO Executive Editor. He has been with USCHO since 1999 and previously covered Atlantic Hockey and Hockey East. He also serves as a color analyst for Hockey East on NESN.

Hockey East picks: Jan. 8-13 (UPDATED)

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In this space last week, I knocked on wood saying that barring COVID setbacks, last week would produce the busiest week for Hockey East since the restart. All of those games went off without a hitch. But that seems like a distant memory as both UConn and UMass Lowell have COVID tests in recent days … Read more

Clarkson at Quinnipiac preview with Bobcats coach Rand Pecknold: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 6

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No. 8 UMass home-and-home vs. No. 14 UMass Lowell preview with Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 20

This season finds ECAC Hockey trimmed down to just four teams. Two of those teams – No. 10 Clarkson and No. 13 Quinnipiac – have a three-game series this weekend. Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold, whose Bobcats host the Golden Knights, joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger for a preview.

We also look at No. 6 St. Cloud at No. 5 Minnesota Duluth, No. 1 Minnesota at No. 12 Wisconsin, and Arizona State at No. 18 Notre Dame.

Also of note: all 11 teams in Hockey East will finally have gotten their seasons underway in a slate of games capped off by No. 8 UMass at No. 15 UMass Lowell on Tuesday.

And the two ranked teams in Atlantic Hockey – No. 19 American International and No. 20 Robert Morris – have series this weekend, with AIC home-and-home with Army and RMU at Niagara and back home against the Purple Eagles for two.

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This Week in Hockey East: Heavy conference representation at World Juniors, with U.S. coming away with gold

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Tuesday night was a night for the ages in the United States as the U.S. Under-20 team upset its rival to the north, Canada, for World Junior gold.

Certainly there was impact from Hockey East in the game as Northeastern’s Devon Levi entered riding an historic streak in goal for Team Canada and former Boston University forward Trevor Zegras skated through the tournament at a wild clip, eventually finishing with a point total that matched the largest ever for a U.S. player.

But there was one team that was loaded with great storylines on both sides of the puck: Boston College.

Robert Morris’ Derek Schooley talks Colonials, recruiting in Pittsburgh, Frozen Four planning: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 6

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A conversation with incoming Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast season 2 episode 20

Robert Morris is off to a strong 8-3 start overall and 6-1 in Atlantic Hockey play. Head coach Derek Schooley joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to talk about this year’s team, playing a compressed and changing schedule, recruiting the best talent from around Pittsburgh, and about the planning that’s going on for the 2021 Frozen Four in the Steel City.

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Minnesota Duluth at St. Cloud State preview with writer Matt Wellens: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 5

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No. 8 UMass home-and-home vs. No. 14 UMass Lowell preview with Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 20

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Minnesota Duluth beat writer Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune to preview the No. 4 Bulldogs at No. 6 St. Cloud State in NCHC play.

Jim and Ed also look ahead to another NCHC series, No. 16 Denver vs. Colorado College, a Hockey East home-and-home series between No. 13 Northeastern and No. 9 UMass, the start of ECAC Hockey play, and Arizona State’s games at No. 1 Minnesota.

The hosts and guest also opine on the proposal by NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton to use historical data to allocate at-large bids in this season’s NCAA tournament.

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Hockey East picks: Dec. 30-Jan. 4

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I feel the need to knock on wood as I type this. But should all of the scheduled games on the Hockey East slate go off as expected, we will see, by far, the busiest weekend of the season as we turn the page from 2020 (can’t do that soon enough) to 2021. So as … Read more

TMQ: Discussing NCHC commish Fenton’s comments on NCAA hockey tournament seeds based on past showings

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.

Usually, the week between Christmas and New Year’s Day is a down time for TMQ, but in this most unusual hockey season, we perhaps should have anticipated that something would surface to merit comment this week, which is exactly what happened in the form of NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton’s unconventional ideas about how to choose the 2021 tournament field.

World Juniors 2021 preview with Chris Peters: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 5

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A conversation with incoming Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast season 2 episode 20

The semester break in college hockey signals that it’s time for the IIHF Under-20 Men’s World Junior Championship. Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by ESPN’s Chris Peters to preview the tournament.

Topics include the USA roster, its coaching staff headed up by Providence’s Nate Leaman, prospects for team USA, and COVID-19’s impact on the tournament.

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TMQ: ‘First-half’ surprises include AIC flying out of the gate, potential panic in Denver, Omaha soaring in pod play

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Jim: Paula, as we write this on Monday, the NCHC pod has successfully concluded. And it did so with marked success. There wasn’t a positive COVID case reported for anyone involved … Read more

What we learned from the NCHC pod: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 6

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Hockey East selects Metcalf, conference races stay hot, PairWise odds: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 19

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger look at the games and news of the past week.

At the top of this week’s episode, we look at what we learned about the NCHC now that the bubble in Omaha – run without a hitch – is over. Nearly every team has good things to take away from the 38-game confab.

Other highlights from the weekend include Bowling Green’s road sweep at Quinnipiac, a resurgent Providence offense, and a close pair of games as Notre Dame hosted Michigan State.

Plus we look at a better-than-most-expected Minnesota and take our hats off to the conferences whose flexibility has made even this much of a season possible.

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Hockey East picks: Dec. 19-21

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Good news for Hockey East: there were as many games played last week as there were the previous three. Bad news for Hockey East: more COVID-related cancelations this weekend for Maine and New Hampshire. Here are our picks on the games we hope are played: Jim last week: 4-2-1 Jim to date: 9-3-2 Marisa last … Read more

Northeastern coach Jim Madigan previews home-and-home with Providence: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 4

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No. 8 UMass home-and-home vs. No. 14 UMass Lowell preview with Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 20

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Northeastern head coach Jim Madigan to preview his team’s Saturday-Sunday home-and-home series with Providence.

We also look at No. 13 Bowling Green at Quinnipiac for a pair, NCHC pod tilts between No. 3 Minnesota Duluth and No. 4 North Dakota and No. 8 Denver vs. No. 9 St. Cloud. In the Big Ten, we preview Michigan State at No. 18 Ohio State.

Also of note, non-conference games between WCHA rivals Bemidji State and host No. 5 Minnesota State, Arizona State at No. 16 Notre Dame, plus an Atlantic Hockey tilt that sees Canisius back in action after a pause on the road against a restocked RIT.

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This Week in Hockey East: Conference continues to navigate 2020-21 season with ‘maximum flexibility’

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While over the last two weekends, more Hockey East games have been played on the ice than in the previous two, the biggest news across the league continues to come from decisions of the league’s commissioner and the athletic directors. Such was the case on Tuesday when Hockey East announced that any and all games … Read more

Talking Penn State hockey with coach Guy Gadowsky: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 4

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A conversation with incoming Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast season 2 episode 20

After dropping its first five games, Penn State has won three in a row, including a pair of overtime games last weekend against Arizona State.

Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky joins hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger to talk about his young team, the Big Ten, COVID-19 adjustments, rule changes this season, and playing in an empty Pegula Ice Arena.

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TMQ: Never too early to think about how we would choose the field for the 2021 NCAA hockey tournament

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Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback. Paula: Well, Jimmy, there’s a new No. 1 in this week’s poll, and that seems like a good place to start. Minnesota improved to 8-0-0 this week after sweeping Michigan on … Read more

Minnesota climbs to the top, there’s parity in the NCHC pod: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 5

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Hockey East selects Metcalf, conference races stay hot, PairWise odds: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 19

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger look at the games of the past week and a couple of news items.

Last week there were four undefeated teams who had seen action, but this week there’s only one of them standing alone on top. Minnesota’s perfect 8-0 record has the poised and confident Golden Gophers reaching No. 1 in the USCHO.com men’s D-I poll.

The teams right behind all had one or more losses in the past week, including North Dakota and Minnesota Duluth in the very competitive NCHC pod in Omaha, and Boston College, which lost its first game of the season to UConn.

The WCHA is down to eight teams with the announcement of Alaska’s suspended season – which the team is working to reverse – and off to a great start is Bowling Green.

Plus, we ask whether the IIHF is really doing all it can to protect players as they head to Edmonton.

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