Jim Connelly
There are exactly five weekends left in the Hockey East regular season. Depending on the team, each member has either seven, eight, nine or 10 regular-season games remaining. Certainly, there will still be a lot of unexpected twists and turns (see Merrimack’s victory over newly-minted No. 1 Boston University on Tuesday night). But at this … Read more
A week ago, it was UMass Lowell that had an active streak, at that point a seven-game winning streak, best in the country. That imploded against Providence but Boston University picked up the torch with three wins since our last blog. That leads the three things we learned this week. 1. Boston University now earns … Read more
A week ago, it was UMass Lowell that had an active streak, at that point a seven-game winning streak, best in the country. That imploded against Providence but Boston University picked up the torch with three wins since our last blog. That leads the three things we learned this week. 1. Boston University now earns … Read more
Dave followed up a great week with an average one and, thanks to his continued failure to believe in Vermont, I picked up a game last weekend. Jim last week: 6-3-1 Dave last week: 5-4-1 Jim to date: 107-68-23 Dave to date: 105-70-23 Friday, January 20 Massachusetts at Boston College Jim’s pick: Having now seen … Read more
Dave followed up a great week with an average one and, thanks to his continued failure to believe in Vermont, I picked up a game last weekend. Jim last week: 6-3-1 Dave last week: 5-4-1 Jim to date: 107-68-23 Dave to date: 105-70-23 Friday, January 20 Massachusetts at Boston College Jim’s pick: Having now seen … Read more
The road can be a difficult place in sports — hockey, in particular. Raucous fans create atmospheres that can spur on the home club, maybe even make enough noise to draw attention to something that results in a penalty. For Massachusetts-Lowell, a six-game road swing away from the friendly confines of the Tsongas Arena, where … Read more
I know some of you are expecting to rail on the finish of Frozen Fenway. I won’t. The reality is that people who love it will continue to love it. People who don’t like myself, “curmudgeons” according to some, won’t. It sounds like a lot of the discourse we hear these days in many factions … Read more
I know some of you are expecting to rail on the finish of Frozen Fenway. I won’t. The reality is that people who love it will continue to love it. People who don’t like myself, “curmudgeons” according to some, won’t. It sounds like a lot of the discourse we hear these days in many factions … Read more
Dave ran through last week at a near-perfection level. But I’m still holding the overall lead. Jim last week: 10-3-0 Dave last week: 12-1-0 Jim to date: 101-64-22 Dave to date: 100-65-22 Friday, January 13 Boston College at Boston University Jim’s pick: Picking against BC last weekend at Fenway hurt me. But I still think … Read more
Dave ran through last week at a near-perfection level. But I’m still holding the overall lead. Jim last week: 10-3-0 Dave last week: 12-1-0 Jim to date: 101-64-22 Dave to date: 100-65-22 Friday, January 13 Boston College at Boston University Jim’s pick: Picking against BC last weekend at Fenway hurt me. But I still think … Read more
For American hockey fans, last Thursday night was a very special one. A group of 23 players under the age of 20 – with 20 of them coming from U.S. college hockey – withstood a tournament filled with future NHL talents and brought home the gold medal from the World Junior Championship. For Hockey East, … Read more
UMass Lowell owns the nation’s longest winning streak at six. What’s most impressive is that the last five of that streak came on the road. That leads this weeks’ three things that I’ve learned. 1) UMass Lowell doesn’t mind the road It was a gamble of Lowell coach Norm Bazin. Send the team on the … Read more
UMass Lowell owns the nation’s longest winning streak at six. What’s most impressive is that the last five of that streak came on the road. That leads this weeks’ three things that I’ve learned. 1) UMass Lowell doesn’t mind the road It was a gamble of Lowell coach Norm Bazin. Send the team on the … Read more
There were very few games in the final week before Christmas, but with both Dave and I struggling, I somehow picked up a single game. Thus we enter the second half totally deadlocked! Jim last week: 2-3-0 Dave last week: 1-4-0 Jim to date: 77-54-20 Dave to date: 77-54-20 (With the holiday tournament season upon … Read more
There were very few games in the final week before Christmas, but with both Dave and I struggling, I somehow picked up a single game. Thus we enter the second half totally deadlocked! Jim last week: 2-3-0 Dave last week: 1-4-0 Jim to date: 77-54-20 Dave to date: 77-54-20 (With the holiday tournament season upon … Read more
The year 2013 seems like such a long time ago for USA Hockey. It may only be four calendar years, but three years and three fruitless attempts to bring home the gold medal at the IIHF World Under-20 Championship, better known as the World Juniors, make 2013 seem like a distant memory. [scg_html_wjc2017] The team … Read more
Despite twice catching Dave at the end of last weekend, having faith in Massachusetts against Princeton on Tuesday leaves me a game behind yet again. Light schedule for Hockey East teams this weekend: Jim last week: 9-3-0 Dave last week: 9-3-0 Jim to date: 75-51-20 Dave to date: 76-50-20 Friday, December 16 Arizona State at … Read more
Despite twice catching Dave at the end of last weekend, having faith in Massachusetts against Princeton on Tuesday leaves me a game behind yet again. Light schedule for Hockey East teams this weekend: Jim last week: 9-3-0 Dave last week: 9-3-0 Jim to date: 75-51-20 Dave to date: 76-50-20 Friday, December 16 Arizona State at … Read more
With all but a few non-conference games separating Hockey East teams from the mid-season holiday break, now is a good of a time as ever to take a look up and down the league, make some observations and hand out some mid-year superlatives. Let’s start with the most important element come season’s end: the PairWise. … Read more
The Boston College Eagles, off to their best start in Hockey East history at 8-0-1, threatened to run away with the conference by the time February rolled around. But a 3-2 comeback victory by Notre Dame on Saturday against the Eagles could keep the race interesting in the New Year. 1. Three-goal explosion for Notre … Read more