Jim ConnellyThis Week’s Picks Hey folks. Beginning this week, both Dave and I will be making our weekly picks in the Hockey East blog. Every week, we will both make the selections for the upcoming games, meaning I can kick Dave’s butt fair and square this season. Friday, Oct. 15 Rensselaer at Northeastern Dave’s Pick: The … Read more
Is it only me, or has the start date for college hockey gotten a bit out of control? When a team’s first practice is actually an exhibition game, I think teams are playing too early. When a club is 0-2 in the league eight days after it takes the ice, I think teams are playing … Read more
Just how significant was the 2009-10 season for the Merrimack Warriors? Consider this: • Last year’s sixth place finish was the best league finish for Merrimack since the 1996-97 team that finished fifth in a nine-team league. • Merrimack’s playoff win over Boston University was the team’s first since an eighth-place Warriors team upset top-seeded … Read more
Entering last season, the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks had the highest expectations. Coming off a heartbreaking loss in the 2009 Hockey East title game to the eventual national champion, Boston University, the River Hawks seemed poised to finally climb to the top of the league, boasting an experienced lineup and two senior goaltenders. That season of … Read more
Attention Maine fans: You may remove the paper bags from your heads. The team that you’re used to seeing has returned. Sure, maybe that’s a bold statement, but for a school that expects its team to compete for a national championship year in and year out, the well-document struggles of Maine hockey in the 2007-08 … Read more
Providence enters the 2010-11 season as the perceived doormat. The once-powerhouse program that twice has won Hockey East tournament titles (though none since 1996) has inconceivably missed the playoffs for two straight seasons. This year, the Friars were picked for 10th in the preseason coaches’ poll. Though this might seem like a tailspin to the … Read more
Rarely has a team won a national championship in recent years only to return the next season nearly entirely intact. In the case of Boston College, that is the ultimate luxury heading into the 2010-11 campaign. After BC’s dominant postseason run culminated with the national title last April in Detroit, many wondered if the Eagles … Read more
College hockey’s celebrated opening day of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft was followed by a solid performance in the Draft’s conclusion on Saturday. Eight players with college ties were selected in the second round, giving college hockey a grand total of 17 collegians selected in the top two rounds. After closing Friday’s opening round with … Read more
Saturday’s NHL Entry Draft notebook leads off with details of one of the best opening two rounds for Americans. Jim Connelly reports.
There were plenty of names tossed around as to which collegian would be the first to walk to the podium in the opening round of Friday’s NHL Entry Draft. But it was the less thought of birthday boy, Jaden Schwartz, who got his ultimate wish. Related link: Video interviews from the first round of the … Read more
A nervous beginning turned into a near-record first-round haul for college hockey and a record number of selections for USA Hockey. Jim Connelly reports.
Will a college player go in the top 10 of the 2010 NHL Entry Draft? Jim Connelly thinks so. Read his mock draft to find out who, when and where.
Jim Connelly brings you five items to keep in mind during the 2010 NHL Entry Draft.
It has been 10 years since the famous 1-2 showing for college hockey players in the NHL Entry Draft. Yet it was just last year that 15 picks went by before a college player was selected. That makes this weekend’s event in Los Angeles a big deal for the college game. Jim Connelly reports.
As the NHL Entry Draft is about to take the stage at the Staples Center in Los Angeles (7 p.m. Eastern Friday, Versus/TSN; 1 p.m. Eastern Saturday, NHL Network/TSN), here’s what the top scouts from the NHL’s Central Scouting are saying about the top college and college-bound prospects: Derek Forbort, defense, North Dakota (incoming) “Derek … Read more
Danny Biega did well at the NHL combine and could hear his name called in the first few rounds of the NHL Entry Draft. But he’ll have to do even better to achieve his goal of graduating from Harvard in three years. Jim Connelly reports.
The NCAA Ice Hockey Rules Committee decided against a proposal that would switch facial protection for student-athletes from full cages and shields to half visors last week. The decision, though, was made so that there could be further research on the topic, which is a positive step for College Hockey Inc. executive director Paul Kelly, … Read more
With head-contact injuries getting more attention, an idea to change from full-shield face protection to visors is being put in front of the NCAA. Still, it’s hard to prove that’s the safer option. Jim Connelly reports.
Keep that championship trophy in Beantown. Â Paced by an explosive third period in which No. 4 seed Boston College struck for four goals, the Eagles routed No. 3 seed Wisconsin, 5-0, in front of a record 37,592 fans at Ford Field, to capture the school’s fourth national championship and third in the last 10 … Read more
Boston College and Wisconsin, mirror images in many ways, are set to play for the national championship on Saturday. Jim Connelly reports.