Archive of USCHO’s blog content
My poor track record with my picks carried over into the New Year, as I went just 8-9-1 last week. Here’s what’s on the schedule for this weekend as conference play begins to pick up. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted. Last week: 8-9-1 Overall: 56-62-21 Brown at Clarkson For all their non-conference struggles, … Read more
The numbers were stacked against No. 1 Minnesota on Tuesday in its non-conference showdown with No. 2 Notre Dame at Mariucci Arena. Only certain numbers, though. In the 15-plus seasons of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll, a No. 1 team had never won a home game against a No. 2 team. In the last … Read more
Last weekend was a good weekend for the CCHA, but was a good weekend for me? Of course not. Last week: 3-4-2 (.444) Season to date: 73-49-21 (.584) Slowly approaching season numbers that may not even add up to mediocrity. Tonight There’s a full schedule of CCHA action this weekend, but there are two games … Read more
No. 2 Notre Dame at No. 1 Minnesota Joe: Coming off a 24-day break should mean some rust for the CCHA-leading Irish who cannot afford a slow start. The Irish are 12-0-0 when they get the first goal and 2-4-0 when the opposition scores first. It seems likely Minnesota will come out strong at home and take an early … Read more
The second half of the season ramped up into full swing yesterday afternoon with top-ranked Plattsburgh and No. 5 Norwich doing battle at the Stafford Ice Arena. Both teams were playing their first games in a month and after Norwich was able to jump out to a 2-0 lead, Plattsburgh like the consumate No. 1-ranked … Read more
What a difference a week can make. 1. Upper Peninsula — represent! After a dismal showing in midseason tournaments, the CCHA rebounded with a 6-0-2 record against nonconference opponents last weekend, led by the two league U.P. teams, Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State. The unranked Wildcats and Lakers each dispatched ranked opponents, with NMU … Read more
Three things from Atlantic Hockey play this weekend: A bit of a letdown I’m sure the Robert Morris Colonials were aware and determined not to suffer a letdown after what was arguably the greatest weekend in the program’s history and it’s first national ranking in two years. But on Friday in front of a nationally … Read more
RIT enjoys signature weekend RIT put together a more than respectable 2012 portion of the season. The Tigers entered the break with a 7-9-3 mark, including 2-3-3 in the CHA. Their worst defeat was a 7-0 setback versus Mercyhurst, but that came in the first weekend. However, a summation of their season would likely have … Read more
Oh, how the mighty have fallen! The first full weekend of games in 2013 was a mix of a little bit of everything. There were still some tournaments played in both the East and West that saw some great action and surprising upsets. There were a few conference battles that have the second half off … Read more
With one win in CCHA play sitting in the league cellar, Northern Michigan seemed a bit overmatched traveling to St. Cloud State. The Huskies sat atop the WCHA standings going into the weekend and figured to have gotten its wake-up call in a split with Rensselaer (a last-place ECAC team) last week. SCSU must’ve hit … Read more
These are the three things I think I learned this past week. 1. The league is getting squeezed The top and the bottom of Hockey East are getting closer to each other. Boston College at the top (1A to New Hampshire’s 1B) continued its modest slumber last weekend, settling for a 3-3 tie with Yale. … Read more
Some weeks, it feels as though there were no “big stories” over the weekend… a lot of splits, no major controversies, nothing really stood out. Why couldn’t every week be like this week? Golden boys First and foremost, congratulations to the trio of ECAC Hockey representatives on the American World Junior Championship team. The United … Read more
Welcome to 2013 everyone. It feels like forever since I’ve made predictions on games, but the wait is over and it’s time to dive back into the wonderful of world of trying to sound smart. Several games are on the schedule this week as the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams get back into action. I … Read more
Welcome back! I hope that everyone had a great holiday and an enjoyable New Year’s! Now that we are back into the swing of things, it will be interesting to see what programs in the MASCAC take off in the second-half, or take a few steps back. This is arguably the best time of the … Read more
So good to see my personal second-half slump off to a hearty start. Last week: 3-6-0 (.333) Season to date: 70-45-19 (.593) Thanks, CCHA, for such a strong midseason showing. I didn’t count the Bowling Green game, as my prediction came after the drop of the puck. This week Let’s see if I can get … Read more
Friday, Jan. 4 Salve Regina vs. Utica Salve Regina has a tough draw on Friday night. No other easy way to say it. The Seahawks are just 4-7-1, would love to have a few games back, and now have to face the No. 8 team in the country … on the road. Utica indeed will … Read more
Back on the ice doesn’t mean back at each other’s throats. SUNYAC schools will finally return to action this weekend after the long holiday break (excepting Oswego and Plattsburgh, which both hosted holiday tourneys last weekend), but for this week and next, the battling will be strictly of the nonconference variety. Even so, all nine … Read more
It was another bad week, even with the limited schedule, for my picks as I closed the year with an 0-2-0 (.000) record. The season still looks good at 24-9-4 (.703), but I will need to stop the bleeding from the end of the year to keep my winning percentage over the 70 percent threshold. … Read more
Been off for a while due to the holidays, after going 3-1-1 in my last round of picks in early December. My season selections now stand at 25-5-4 (.794), and several ECAC West teams have nonconference games on tap this weekend: Jan. 4 Oswego at Elmira The Lakers shutout the Soaring Eagles to start the … Read more
The last picks for 2012 were not all bad, as a 3-1-0 (.750) record closed out the calendar year to a 16-8-5 (.638) overall record. That is not near the 70-percent level I aspire to hit, but if anyone thinks there is such a thing as an upset anymore, I strongly advise them to take … Read more