Matthew WebbI spent a huge amount of space in last season’s preview blathering on about how tight and competitive the league was going to be. Though it was pretty much stating the obvious, it turned out I was right. The top seven spots were up for grabs heading into the final weekend of the season; when … Read more
After three weeks, it is safe to say the season has officially begun. Nearly all MCHA and NCHA teams will be hitting the ice this weekend as the MCHA begins league play and the NCHA confronts week two of the MIAC Interlock. Speaking of the NCHA-MIAC Interlock, things didn’t go the way the NCHA had … Read more
It has been nearly a decade since Lawrence, Marian, Northland and MSOE formed the fledgling four team league known as the MCHA. Now eight strong and rising in prominence, its evolution is almost complete. This evolution, however, has led to numerous procedural maneuvers over the past year, so before even bothering with the hockey, let’s … Read more
The University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point athletic department has issued a statement announcing the resignation of men’s hockey head coach Joe Baldarotta. The resignation is effective Friday, April 6, but Baldarotta will remain as an associate lecturer in the Department of Health, Exercise Science and Athletics. “We appreciate the many contributions Joe has made to Pointer … Read more
Heading into the championship game, the Middlebury Panthers had won 24 consecutive playoff games, and three straight national titles. The last time the Panthers were beaten in postseason play was in the 2003 NCAA semifinals, by none other than the Oswego State Lakers. Middlebury’s streak is now over as the Lakers have struck again, this … Read more
Saturday’s NCAA semifinal match up between the St. Norbert Green Knights and Oswego State Lakers looked to be a dead heat on paper. It turned out the paper didn’t lie, as the two played 60 minutes of deadlocked hockey, until a Ryan Woodward goal for Oswego 3:51 into the first overtime gave the Lakers a … Read more
The opening semifinal between Oswego and St. Norbert might have been a tough act to follow, but the nightcap between the Middlebury Panthers and Manhattanville Valiants did everything it could to match the pace of the opener. When all was said and done, it was Middlebury skating away with a 3-2 victory. As a result, … Read more
Another year, and another trip to the Frozen Four for St. Norbert. Making their fourth Frozen Four appearance in the last five seasons, the Green Knights clearly want nothing more that to finally skate away with a national title, but there is another element to the weekend that head coach Tim Coghlin wishes all Division … Read more
Behind a stifling defense and goals from four different players, St. Norbert pulled away to defeat Bethel 4-1 in Saturday’s NCAA quarterfinal contest at the Cornerstone Community Center. The win lands the Green Knights in the Frozen Four for the fourth time in five seasons, where they will face Oswego State. St. Norbert controlled the … Read more
Many were expecting UW-River Falls to be traveling to St. Norbert this weekend for a NCAA Quarterfinal matchup. Instead, it will be Bethel making the trip to the Cornerstone after a strong performance carried the Royals to a 2-1 opening round victory over the Falcons on Wednesday night. The Royals are making their first every … Read more
The Bethel Royals are undefeated in NCAA tournament play, as a sensational performance from freshman goaltender Aaron Damjanovich and a timely third-period goal paved the way to a win in their first-ever NCAA tournament game, dropping Wisconsin-River Falls 2-1 in front of a raucous Hunt Ice Arena crowd — many of whom were Bethel fans. … Read more
Once again it will be the MIAC and NCHA squaring off in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament as MIAC champion Bethel (17-9-1) will travel to at-large bid recipient UW-River Falls (21-5-2) for a 7:05 p.m. CT Wednesday faceoff. The winner will advance to play at St. Norbert (24-3-2) in Saturday’s Quarterfinals. The Royals … Read more
One more weekend of conference playoff action to go. In the NCHA, St. Norbert and St. Scholastica will square off Saturday night at the Cornerstone Community Center in Ashwaubenon, Wis. Second seeded St. Norbert earned its trip to the finals by defeating third seeded UW-Stout 4-1 last weekend, while fifth seeded St. Scholastica makes its … Read more
With each passing week more things fall into place. The MCHA conference race has finally been settled and it was once again MSOE claiming the regular season title. It didn’t come easy, though, as the Raiders dropped Friday’s contest at Finlandia 11-4 before rebounding to score a 3-2 win on Saturday, thereby locking up the … Read more
Well, a lot sure has happened since last week. First off, the MCHA played itself out so all but two spots in the conference are locked up, even though one weekend of regular season play remains. Conveniently enough however, the two spots up for grabs are first and second. Even more convenient is that the … Read more
One more week to go in the NCHA and two in the MCHA, and despite the NCHA big dogs beating up on each other a bit not much has changed in terms of the national scene. UW-Stout’s loss to UW-Superior dropped them out of the top spot in the PWR, but only down to No. … Read more
With another week in the books, the NCHA still looks to be in good shape when it comes to positioning for the NCAA tournament, as four NCHA teams still reside in the top eight of the PairWise Rankings (PWR). The week did see one big change as a NCHA team now claims the top spot … Read more
Two early goals would stake UW-Superior to a lead they would never relinquish as they defeated UW-Stevens Point in a NCHA conference clash 5-3 at Wessman Arena. It didn’t take Superior long to get on the board as less than three minutes into the game an innocent looking clear from the Yellowjackets was mishandled by … Read more
I normally use my introduction to recap the movement of NCHA and MCHA teams in the USCHO.com Division III poll. From now on I’ll do the same, though I’ll be using the PairWise Rankings (PWR), the first edition of which just came out this week. The PWR seek to mimic the NCAA selection criteria so … Read more
Another week is in the books, and once again not much has changed in terms of the national scene. All four nationally-ranked NCHA teams went a perfect 2-0 against MIAC competition last weekend. All four also held their spots in the USCHO.com Division III poll. St. Norbert remains the third ranked team in the nation, … Read more