Archive of USCHO’s blog content
I definitely can’t complain about my ability to make predictions this past week. I fashioned a 7-1 record and now own a 25-19 record on the season. Yet, even with the success, I won’t pretend that I have the Midas Touch when it comes to making picks for the teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic … Read more
Louie Educate blasted onto the scene in the ECAC Northeast last season. The Nichols freshman scored 27 goals in 27 games, finished with 42 points, and posted seven game-winning tallies for Nichols. Then he bolted. So, to say Saturday’s contest between Utica, Educate’s new home, and Nichols at the Utica Memorial Auditorium is your ordinary, … Read more
After taking a break from conference play last week, teams in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association return to battle each other this week. Last week, I did well, picking Wisconsin-Eau Claire to sweep Wisconsin-Stevens Point. The Blugolds, ranked third nationally, are 10-1-1, and appear to be the hottest team in Division III. I also picked … Read more
Well, my lead didn’t last long. Thanks to incorrectly picking Dartmouth and Cornell, I went 16-4 last week (.800), while Arlan went 17-3 (.850). Overall on the year, both Arlan and I are 104-43-15 (.688). This is the last big weekend of games, so let’s see how we can do. Friday, Dec. 7 Harvard at … Read more
Went 4-2-0 last week, as I correctly picked Hobart to win the Wednesday game against Buffalo State in an early version of this blog I sent to my editor, and am now 22-4-3 to date (.810). We’ll see how this week goes. Friday-Saturday, Dec. 7-8 Fredonia vs. Elmira Elmira (4-5-0, 2-4-0) suffered its first … Read more
Jimmy and I only disagreed on a single game last week. Which means we both got shellacked on Friday and had to make do with modest Saturday comebacks. Even though he picked up a game on me, I’m still ahead by five so I’ll be heading into the holidays with a nice cushion barring a cataclysmic collapse. … Read more
Here are our predictions for this weekend: No. 6 Denver at No. 9 North Dakota Joe: The key for UND will be reviving its 37th-ranked power play (15.1 percent) against a solid DU penalty kill (86.4 percent overall). They will at home against a DU squad motivated to pick up some of the points lost … Read more
Last week: 6-4-2 Overall: 38-35-15 We’re at the unofficial halfway point of the college hockey season, with most teams winding down the pre-holiday break portion of their schedules this weekend. All games are at 7 p.m. unless noted. Friday, Dec. 7 Colgate at Massachusetts I realize all-time records mean little, especially considering there’s a lot … Read more
There’s a game tonight between Michigan Tech and Northern Michigan. It’s a Tuesday. As the kids say, WTF — which stands, of course, for “What Tremendous Fun!” Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan. At home last weekend, the Huskies lost to and tied Minnesota-Duluth, 7-3 and 4-4. Late in the third period and down 4-2, MTU … Read more
Michigan Tech at Northern Michigan Joe: Neither team comes into this single-game Tuesday night on a roll with the WCHA’s Huskies losing and tying Minnesota-Duluth over the weekend while the CCHA Wildcats were swept on the road by Western Michigan. Based on recent strength of schedule, I pick NMU to win at home. Tyler: Michigan … Read more
Three things from Atlantic Hockey play this weekend: Western weekend winners – The Western side of Atlantic Hockey went 5-0-1 against its Eastern counterparts this past weekend. On the season, the West “pod” leads the East 16-6-4 in inter-region play. Things are more distributed in the standings, with Western teams holding down the 1, T4, … Read more
Raiders Rallying? At first glance, things don’t appear to be going very well for Colgate. The Raiders have been outscored 27 to 72 on the season. However, given the margin was 36-2 in four defeats inflicted by Minnesota and Cornell, the 36-25 deficit and 4-7-2 record in the rest of their games becomes much more … Read more
Utica spent the early part of the season showing everyone it can win the wide-open games. In fact, the scores were quite impressive: 6-1 over Morrisville, 9-0 over Fredonia, 7-2 over Nazareth, 11-2 over Elmira. However, coach Gary Heenan’s crew has spent the past two weeks reversing the trend. As we get deeper into the … Read more
I was in East Lansing Saturday night when the Buckeyes swept the Spartans. When I was talking to OSU coach Mark Osiecki after that game ended — before all other CCHA games ended because the OSU-MSU game began at 6:05 p.m. — little did I know that the Buckeyes were setting a trend. In four … Read more
Few gave Wisconsin much chance to win this weekend at No. 5 Denver, and they had every reason to think the Pioneers would easily sweep this series after the Badgers lost twice at home to Minnesota State and slipped to 1-7-2 and winless at home. But good teams must put away struggling ones early or … Read more
These are the three things I think I learned this week. Three: Home ice isn’t always all it’s cracked up to be. I’d commented earlier this season that home ice appeared to be more dominant than usual this year. Well, this weekend may have singlehandedly changed all that. One might have thought that the Boston … Read more
Can we all agree that it’s early, thereby accepting that caveat without further asterisk-ing? Great. Now then: ECAC Hockey is looking good so far. Scary good. Let’s take a spin ’round the league we call our own. What the NHL doesn’t know… In order to be a top team, you have to get the top … Read more
When Boston College coach Jerry York recorded his 500th win back in 1996, USCHO was in its first year of existence. There was no room for us in many press boxes and some coaches were befuddled by exactly what USCHO was all about. “What’s this Internet website thing?” one coach asked me, his face clouded … Read more
Last week: 9-3-3 Overall: 32-31-13 I finally showed some signs of knowing what I’m talking about last week, posting my best picks record of the season. Here’s a look at this upcoming weekend, with a couple bonus midweek games thrown in. All games are 7 p.m. unless noted. Friday, Nov. 29 Clarkson at Cornell Cornell … Read more
I knew last week would be a bit painful. Perhaps I should be grateful for any week in which I at least break even. Last week: 4-3-1 (.562) Season to date: 51-29-15 (.616) Wrong-way splits … sigh. This week It’s a full slate of CCHA action this week, with 10 teams playing and Bowling Green … Read more