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.

This Week in Hockey East: Games slowly, but surely, getting underway as commish says ‘we can pick up some momentum’

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To say that the start of the Hockey East men’s season has had some bumps in the road may be an understatement. But you might not know that by talking to first-year Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, who is still upbeat and very positive that the season is close to getting back on track. “It’s … Read more

RIT’s Wayne Wilson on a restarted season, this year’s Tigers, AHA pods: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 2

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

Rochester Institute of Technology was the first Division I team to cancel its 2020-21 season but also the first to restore it.

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger talk with RIT head coach Wayne Wilson about the process that led to the restoration of this year’s campaign, what he expected this season from his team and what he learned about the Tigers from a weekend split against Clarkson. We also discuss the Atlantic Hockey pod schedule and look ahead at games this weekend against Niagara.

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TMQ: Getting a feel for how the 2020-21 college hockey season will go – or how it won’t go

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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: Jimmy, it seems ironic that there is so much hockey to talk about this week given how many teams haven’t begun playing yet, how many games have been postponed and … Read more

Arizona State, Boston College, Notre Dame sweeps; NCHC pod starting: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 3

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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 weekend, including Arizona State’s sweep of a depleted No. 14 Wisconsin, Notre Dame’s road sweep of No. 4 Michigan, No. 2 Boston College’s home-and-home wins over No. 7 UMass, and RIT’s come-from-behind win on Friday in a weekend split with No. 9 Clarkson.

We also discuss the large number of canceled or postponed games and whether playing makes sense (spoiler alert: it does) and how difficult it is to prevent the virus from impacting a team.

We take a look at the upcoming NCHC bubble in Omaha and ask whether that could be a preview of this year’s NCAA tournament protocol.

And we note that the pandemic can hit very, very close to home.

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Hockey East picks: Nov. 27-28

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  Yet again, COVID is making a bit of a mess of the Hockey East schedules. After just two men’s games were played last weekend, the league is expected to play just three this weekend. Jim last week: 1-0-1 (similar to goaltender’s stats, we’ll be counting shootouts as ties in our head-to-head standings) Marisa last … Read more

Hockey East 2020-21 Season Preview: ‘Still a great uncertainty’ as conference struggles to get to starting line

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Nothing about this year’s Hockey East season will feel normal, so neither then will be this year’s season preview. Yes, all 11 men’s team, as of the date of publication, are still planning on playing their seasons. At publication time, six teams were already supposed to have begun their seasons. Yet, only two have. COVID-19 … Read more

Michigan continues to roll, NCHC pod, postponements now the norm? Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 2

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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 week, including Michigan’s strong start, the NCHC pod arrangements, and the large number of postponed games thus far.

Plus how will the cancellation of eight teams’ seasons affect ECAC Hockey in the future?

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Hockey East picks: Nov. 20-21

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It’s been a very long offseason for Hockey East. Well college hockey in general. So it’s great to be able to return to picking the league games as the puck drops on the Hockey East season this weekend. If you’re a loyal reader of the Hockey East column, you may remember that my long-time colleague … Read more

Penn State at Minnesota preview with Gophers voice Wally Shaver: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 1

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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 play-by-play voice Wally Shaver to look ahead at Thursday and Friday’s two-game series seeing No. 10 Penn State visit the No. 11 Gophers.

Jim and Ed also preview No. 6 Michigan at No. 14 Wisconsin as well as two Monday-Tuesday series featuring No. 9 Ohio State at Minnesota and Penn State at Wisconsin.

Hockey East gets underway with a home-and-home series featuring No. 2 Boston College and New Hampshire.

In non-conference play, No. 5 Minnesota State has a pair at WCHA rival No. 16 Bemidji State and No. 8 Clarkson has a single tilt at ECAC Hockey foe Colgate.

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Michigan’s Mel Pearson talks Wolverines, pandemic, compressed Big Ten schedule: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 1

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

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Michigan head coach Mel Pearson to discuss this year’s Wolverines team, preparations in an extended preseason, precautions in the face of the pandemic, and a compressed Big Ten schedule. Pearson also explains the decision made to keep freshman Owen Power at Michigan rather than heading to Canadian World Juniors camp.

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Wisconsin, Michigan off to strong starts; Eight teams cancel seasons: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 1

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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 back at the first weekend of college hockey for the 2020-21 season.

Wisconsin picked up six points in the Big Ten with a weekend road sweep at Notre Dame while Michigan won both ends of a home series against Arizona State.

Eight teams have cancelled their 2020-21 campaigns, including the Ivy League as a whole, and others have seen delays and postponements.

Alabama Huntsville has $17 million contributed to fund operations for the next decade, while Long Island University has defied critics and is ready to get its new program underway this week.

And the training camp for the Canadian World Juniors team has three NCAA programs facing a dilemma.

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Strong February cements USCHO Rookie of the Year award for Boston College’s Newhook

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Last June, the name Alex Newhook became internationally-known in the world of hockey when the 18-year-old was selected in the first round (16th overall) by the Colorado Avalanche in the 2019 NHL Draft. To say that Newhook entered Boston College with high expectations on his shoulders as part of a highly-touted freshman class would be an understatement (photo: Rich Gagnon).

Cancelling the NCAA tournament, Detroit as a future host, eligibility, future protocols with men’s D-I chair Steve Metcalf: USCHO Spotlight college hockey podcast season 2 episode 25

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

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Steve Metcalf, chair of the NCAA men’s D-I ice hockey committee, deputy director of athletics at New Hampshire, and incoming commissioner of Hockey East.

Metcalf discusses the whirlwind of decisions that were made as news changed very quickly last week. Also discussed are the future of Detroit hosting a Frozen Four, the possibility of providing additional eligibility to hockey players, the impact of contagion on future protocols, and Metcalf’s retrospective on serving on the committee.

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