Big Ten squads have youngsters leading the way

This week, the column is all about some of the minutia of the league, the little things that seem to be adding up to some interesting first impressions for B1G Hockey in the early going. That scoring margin Three of the top ten scoring offenses nationally belong to Big Ten teams: Ohio State (4.44 goals … Read more

Three things we saw from a B1G weekend of hockey

1. Robert Morris is Ohio State’s Achilles’ heel. For reasons unknown to anyone other than RMU coach Derek Schooley and OSU coach Steve Rohlik, the Colonials by and large have the collective number of the Buckeyes. Robert Morris dealt Ohio State its first loss of the season Friday night in Columbus and a doozy it … Read more

Pickin' the Big Ten: Nov. 4-5

It’s completely my fault that picks for Thursday night’s game between Niagara and Penn State weren’t posted. I have nothing to gain by telling you that Drew Claussen picked the Nittany Lions by a score of 5-2, because he’s going to take a win for that game and I’m going to take one in the … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: October 28-29

The Big Ten may not have the best inter-conference record in Division I, but B1G Hockey is still floating above .500 — and I’ll take that, all things considered. Let’s see how Drew Claussen and I are floating so far. Last week Drew: 4-4-2 (.500) Paula: 4-4-2 (.500) Season Drew: 12-11-4 (.519) Paula: 14-9-4 (.593) … Read more

Pickin' the Big Ten: October 28-29

The Big Ten may not have the best inter-conference record in Division I, but B1G Hockey is still floating above .500 — and I’ll take that, all things considered. Let’s see how Drew Claussen and I are floating so far. Last week Drew: 4-4-2 (.500) Paula: 4-4-2 (.500) Season Drew: 12-11-4 (.519) Paula: 14-9-4 (.593) … Read more

Three things from a promising wash of a weekend

The Big Ten went 4-4-2 for the weekend, with the highest-ranked team in the league, Minnesota, dropping two games to St. Cloud State. Even though the only team to earn a sweep was Ohio State, it was still a good weekend for B1G Hockey. Here’s my take on things. 1. The Buckeyes look like they’re … Read more

Big Ten roundup: Börgstrom's goal and assist lead Denver over Michigan State

After Michigan State gave up 14 goals on the road to an unranked Lake Superior team last weekend, the Spartans regrouped to hold No. 6 Denver to two third-period goals in the Pioneers’ 2-1 win in East Lansing. The game wasn’t, perhaps, what anyone expected, especially through 45 scoreless minutes. “We weren’t very efficient,” said … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Oct. 21-22

So far, B1G Hockey has had a solid start to the 2016-2017 season. Here’s how Drew Claussen and I have started. Last week Drew: 3-3-1 (.500) Paula: 4-2-1 (.643) Season Drew: 8-7-2 (.529) Paula: 10-5-2 (.647) This week Five Big Ten teams are in action this weekend, each playing two-game Friday-Saturday series. Wisconsin is playing … Read more

Pickin' the Big Ten: Oct. 21-22

So far, B1G Hockey has had a solid start to the 2016-2017 season. Here’s how Drew Claussen and I have started. Last week Drew: 3-3-1 (.500) Paula: 4-2-1 (.643) Season Drew: 8-7-2 (.529) Paula: 10-5-2 (.647) This week Five Big Ten teams are in action this weekend, each playing two-game Friday-Saturday series. Wisconsin is playing … Read more

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Oct. 14-16

The Big Ten had a decent opening weekend. So did Drew Claussen and I, although we were each bitten by picking splits the wrong way. Drew: 5-4-1 (.550) Paula: 6-3-1 (.650) This week All six B1G teams are in action this weekend, although Minnesota plays the U.S. Under-18 team in exhibition tonight. Michigan State and … Read more

Pickin' the Big Ten: Oct. 14-16

The Big Ten had a decent opening weekend. So did Drew Claussen and I, although we were each bitten by picking splits the wrong way. Drew: 5-4-1 (.550) Paula: 6-3-1 (.650) This week All six B1G teams are in action this weekend, although Minnesota plays the U.S. Under-18 team in exhibition tonight. Michigan State and … Read more

Splits and near-misses and glimpses of good things to come

We had an interesting first weekend in the Big Ten, with every team picking up at least one win and two teams rewarding the B1G coaches for a little preseason faith. 1. The Nittany Lions, the Wolverines and the Badgers each earned splits. After a decisive 4-2 win over St. Lawrence Thursday night, Penn State … Read more