Archive of USCHO’s blog content
No. 12 seed at Alaska-Anchorage at No. 1 St. Cloud State: Matthew: Alaska-Anchorage took a pair of poundings last Friday and Sunday at Denver, losing the teams’ two games by a combined 13-2, and this weekend doesn’t look any brighter for the Seawolves. UAA head coach Dave Shyiak is in the final season of his … Read more
I knew the series in Fairbanks and Sault Ste. Marie would go to three games. I was wrong, however, about who would advance from those series. Last week: 4-4-0 (.500) Season to date: 122-90-29 (.566) Typical. This week This is the second round of the CCHA playoffs. The winners from these four series advance to … Read more
Friday, March 15 Norwich vs. Oswego State The Cadets have won four of five, and showed everyone they can turn it on when needed last week. After losing to Babson in the ECAC East Tournament, Norwich rebounded with authority against those same Beavers, handling Babson, 4-0, to earn the right to get to Lake Placid. … Read more
Four teams will meet at the Herb Brooks Arena in Lake Placid, N.Y., for the Division III Frozen Four this weekend. On one side of the bracket there will be two returning Frozen Four participants in Norwich and Oswego. In the other, there are newcomers Utica and Wisconsin-Eau Claire. Friday, March 15 Norwich vs. Oswego … Read more
Friday, March 15 Oswego vs. Norwich Neither team should experience any big stage jitters, since both are making their fourth consecutive Frozen Four appearance. That said, the hot hands, Andrew Hare in net and Paul Rodrigues with super-clutch goals, should decide this one, perhaps in OT. Oswego 2-1 Wisconsin-Eau Claire vs. Utica Frozen Four newbies, … Read more
Well, we have reached the final weekend of the Division III hockey season, and four teams are still standing. Norwich and Oswego State will play in one national semifinal on Friday, and Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Utica will meet in the other. So it’s time for me to see how well I can do making picks … Read more
Well, I did pretty well again in my second week of postseason picks, going 7-3 (.700). I can’t count the Sunday games, because I didn’t get around to posting picks in the new match-ups since I was at Denver-Alaska-Anchorage for an 11 a.m. game. Overall on the postseason, I am 24-10 (.705). Here comes the … Read more
Friday, March 15 Norwich Cadets vs. Oswego State Lakers In seasons past, this was the NCAA title game, but these two programs battle to see who moves on the to championship. Oswego has a big win over Adrian, while Norwich got revenge over Babson. Toss-up really. Both teams have the experience and roster to do … Read more
Friday, March 15 Norwich vs. Oswego The Cadets finally got the Babson bear off their back, while Oswego edged Adrian (Mich.) last week and has two of the top three scorers in the nation in Paul Rodrigues (45 points) and Luke Moody (43 points). Oswego was also the national runner-up last spring to St. Norbert, … Read more
Friday, March 15 Norwich vs. Oswego This one should be one for the ages, with two teams that have been here four straight times. Expect an overtime thriller that goes to the Cadets based on balance and an incredible senior class that has been there before. Norwich 3-2 (OT ) Wisconsin-Eau Claire vs. Utica It’s … Read more
Friday, March 15 Oswego vs. Norwich The puck drops on the NCAA D-III Frozen Four with two traditionally strong programs that are no stranger to the spotlight. The Lakers fell to St. Norbert in last year’s national championship game and have been on a mission to return to the final all season. A late goal … Read more
There are a maximum of 15 games remaining to be played in Hockey East. I enter this weekend eight games behind Dave. I should be waving the white flag. But my never-give-up mentality is keeping me alive. Then again, Dave can just match all of my picks this weekend and I’m done. So let’s just … Read more
Surprise, surprise? Only one Game 3, and only one upset in four first-round series. I thought this was ECAC Hockey! Going the distance Dartmouth was taken to the end of its rope by Harvard this weekend, as the Big Green were set on their heels by Friday’s 2-1 loss. Coach Bob Gaudet shuffled the goalies … Read more
The first rounds of the NCAA tournament have come and gone. Norwich, Oswego, Wisconsin-Eau Claire, and Utica are the four teams that remain and will be fighting for a national championship this weekend. Oswego was runner-up in the tournament last year, with a 4-1 loss to St. Norbert. Norwich also made the Frozen Four, losing … Read more
In 28 years, no team with a name other than Boston College, Boston University, Maine or New Hampshire ever won the Hockey East regular season title. Saturday night, that changed when Massachusetts-Lowell, a team that began the season 2-6-1 in league play, finished off an incredible late-season run to capture its first Hockey East regular … Read more
What a weekend of hockey! What did we learn? 1. Be wary of those last-place teams. At the end of the 2011-12 season, the last-place Bowling Green Falcons beat Northern Michigan on the road in the first round of the CCHA playoffs and Ferris State on the road in the second. This year, last-place Michigan … Read more
Conference tourneys provide final pieces in NCAA picture The four conference tournaments are in the books, and that means our season has been reduced to the seven games of the NCAA tournament, and that bracket has been announced. First, we’ll consider the conference action, where in a complete reversal of last season, every regular-season champion … Read more
St. Cloud State fans were launched onto cloud nine – sorry – when their Huskies knocked off No. 14 Wisconsin 4-2 in Madison, Wis. Friday and clinched a share of SCSU’s first (and final) WCHA men’s regular season championship. What was missing in the visiting team’s locker room at the Veterans Memorial Coliseum, however, was … Read more
Three things from Atlantic Hockey play this weekend: Onward A first-round sweep by the four home teams sets up quarterfinal series match ups that line up per the top eight seeds: No. 8 Rochester Institute of Technology at No. 1 Niagara No. 7 Canisius at No. 2 Air Force No. 6 Mercyhurst at No. 3 … Read more
MADISON, Wis. — It wasn’t much more than 15 minutes after one of the most important accomplishments in the 26-season Division I history of St. Cloud State hockey, and Drew LeBlanc was already thinking about the next step. The Huskies clinched at least a share of the MacNaughton Cup and the top seed for the … Read more