Archive of USCHO’s blog content
Last Week: 6-4-2 On the Season: 102-66-25 (.593) I already previewed the four first round playoff games in this week’s Atlantic Hockey column, so let’s go right to the picks: Saturday, February 26 Canisius at Niagara – These schools are sports rivals and never has so much been on the line as they meet in … Read more
After more than 600 games across the three respective conferences, it comes down to this: the championship finals. In addition to a conference trophy, winners of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association, Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and Northern Collegiate Hockey Association titles advance to the NCAA Tournament’s first round, which starts March 9. So, without further … Read more
The race between Jim and me is getting close to a mathematical close-out, but I’m still holding out hope that he’ll choke like the New York Yankees. Dave last week: 5-2-3 Jim last week: 5-2-3 Dave’s record-to-date: 95-35-28 Jim’s record-to-date: 105-31-26 Here are this week’s picks: Friday, March 4 Boston University at Northeastern Dave’s pick: In … Read more
Last week Theresa: 9-2-1 Season Theresa: 129-74-24 Last week Tyler: 9-2-1 Season Theresa: 131-53-20 Oh hey look, everybody – it’s the last weekend of the regular season which means everybody plays everybody else. This year is also especially fun because we’re essentially deciding spots 2-11. All we know is that UND and MTU will play … Read more
Here it is – the BIG weekend in conference play. Conference championships and NCAA automatic bids are on the line starting this afternoon so here are my predictions for who hoists the hardware come the end of the weekend. Winners in bold. Friday, March 4, 2011 Southern Maine at Norwich – The first game in … Read more
It’s playoff hockey time, and this weekend the CCHA begins its first round of best-of-three series with the bottom six teams in the league competing to advance to next week’s quarterfinal round. Frankly, I think the top eight teams should be in with the bottom three sitting it out, but I’m old-fashioned that way. Remember, … Read more
I already did some off-the-cuff analysis of the series in yesterday’s column, so here’s a little more. Don’t take me too seriously, though: Like the first games of the year, the first games after the holiday break, and the last games of the regular season, the playoffs have so little to do with precedent and … Read more
The NCAA has released its final set of rankings before Selection Sunday, so it’s time for an updated Bracketology. As was the case for the past few year, we know the criteria used by the NCAA Division III Men’s Committee to select and seed the teams, but not the weighting used in their evaluation. This … Read more
I had an awesome week last week, going 16-2 (.888) and correctly picking every playoff series, including picking that Clarkson-Dartmouth would go three. I incorrectly figured that St. Lawrence would win a game off Harvard, and that North Dakota would sweep Bemidji State. Overall on the season, I am now 178-56-24 (.736). Obviously, we are … Read more
The top two teams are left standing in the ECAC Northeast. No. 1 seeded Curry opened the game with three unanswered goals and held off No.4 Becker 5-1 Wednesday night. Check out Melissa Wade’s photo gallery from the game here. The game acted as senior night for the Colonels, after their original senior night game had … Read more
We knew it wouldn’t take long for the Penn State program to take shape, and we’re starting to see a little bit of that emerge, on multiple levels. This week, we learned the names of two Nittany Lions recruits thanks to recruiting guru Chris Heisenberg: forward Jake Friedman of the Eastern Junior Hockey League’s South … Read more
A frenzied closing minutes ensured the first round of the playoffs in ECAC Northeast and MASCAC wouldn’t be devoid of any upsets. Sixth seeded Westfield State scored three goals in the final 6:03 to snap a 1-1 tie and knock third seeded Plymouth State out of the playoffs. Pat Nelson’s goal broke the deadlock, while Jeff … Read more
“We’re rooting for certain teams we normally don’t root for.” Ferris State head coach Bob Daniels on how the end of the season makes for strange bedfellows, following the Bulldogs’ tie and win over Ohio State on the road Feb. 25. “You can spin that any way you want it. At some point, you have … Read more
It’s relatively easy to pick a player of the year, a goalie, a rookie, all that stuff, but I’m going to try throwing a few new categories in there as well, to give some credit to those who deserve it… but in very specific ways. Props for the Players Pad-pounder award: Alex Killorn, Harvard The … Read more
You’d figure that in general, winning teams score a lot and don’t give up much in the defensive end. And losing teams… well, the other way around. Well, duh. Of course it’s true. In general. You’d also figure that winning teams have strong special teams and losing teams couldn’t score if you gave them a five-on-two. And … Read more
Although the Oswego State Lakers’ breakout season ended last Saturday in a heart-breaking 2-1 double overtime loss to Neumann, the Hockumentary video blog that senior goaltender Emi Williams has been producing all year is back! The series is now up to eight episodes as two new installments have been added from the second semester. For … Read more
Minnesota looks like a completely new team in the past few weeks, blasting Denver with seven goals two weeks ago and taking three points at rival Wisconsin. But as exciting as it was for Gophers fans to watch their team earn its first sweep since Nov. 19-20, Minnesota didn’t get any closer to an at-large bid … Read more
Overtime Frenzy in the SUNYAC There is nothing in sports like overtime playoff hockey. Nothing. This SUNYAC semifinal round graced us with not one, but both, games going into overtime. “We could have made this place erupt two or three times in overtime,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. However, both results left the home crowd … Read more
And then there were two. The top two seeds were victorious in the semifinal round of the ECAC West playoffs and have moved on to the championship game on Saturday night in Elmira. Elmira defeated Hobart in rather convincing fashion, 5-2, on Saturday. Soaring Eagles coach Aaron Saul left the team midweek to be with … Read more