Archive of USCHO’s blog content
The picks and pairings have been announced. My thoughts: Looks like they went strictly by seedings: E1. Plattsburgh E2. Amherst E3. Hobart E4. Elmira E5. Neumann E6. Nichols E7. Babson W1. UW-Superior W2. UW-Stout W3. St. Scholastica W4. Gustavus Adolphus It looks like St. Norbert was 4.3 seconds away from being about to defend its … Read more
…and the NCAA selection committee is meeting as I write this final version of Bracketlology. We’ll be doing an analysis of the picks once they are announced, but for now the waiting game is on. If you’re just joining us, we know the criteria used by the NCAA Division III Men’s Committee to select and … Read more
The top two spots and the bottom two spots in the WCHA standings are locked in, so we know two of next weekend’s first-round playoff matchups. Four of the five home-ice spots are locked up, so that leaves three teams with a chance at the last one on the last day of the regular season. … Read more
So we’ve got nine games this weekend to decide eight spots in the WCHA standings. I was going to try to figure out tiebreakers in this space, but that seems like something more suited for after Friday night’s games, after the possibilities are a little better defined. So here’s my best guess as to how … Read more
The Crystal Ball got as little clearer thanks to last week’s results. The ECAC East was, ahem, interesting, with three of the top four seeds going down. That means someone other than Norwich (that would be New England College) will host the semifinals and final for the first time ever. The ECAC West also saw … Read more
Like many people who knew Mike Lockert, I’m struggling this week to come to terms with his death. Now I know what the grief counselors mean when they say that the first phase is denial, because I just can’t believe someone as wonderful and full of life as Mike is gone. Mike, the voice of … Read more
Why? Why do I let North Dakota do this to me every season? Somewhere around the middle of the season, I start to look past UND when thinking about the race for the WCHA’s MacNaughton Cup and which teams will be best equipped to make a run in the NCAA tournament. Then the Sioux go … Read more
Regular season championships carry no weight in selection for the NCAA tournament, so it’s easy to look past them as inconsequential. I don’t buy into that. Yes, there are two championships that are more important — a league postseason title, which carries an automatic bid to the national tournament, and the NCAA crown — but … Read more
It’s that most wonderful time of the year again. The end of the regular season and the conference tournament scramble to qualify for the Big Dance. It’s time to play Bracketology. As was the case last year, we know the criteria used by the NCAA Division III Men’s Committee to select and seed the teams, … Read more
Just when you thought you’ve seen everything … Wisconsin’s John Mitchell was ejected from Saturday night’s game against Denver in the third period for excessive roughness on a hit up high on the Pioneers’ Tyler Ruegsegger. If only that was the end of the story. Outside the Kohl Center media room after the game, we … Read more
The WCHA and Minnesota State both sent word today that Mavericks center Trevor Bruess has been suspended for one game. The crime? Conduct “detrimental to the game,” the league said. How about a release to explain the release? You have to have some background knowledge to understand what the league is getting at when it … Read more
The NCAA revealed its first public edition of its Regional Rankings today. These will be issued every Tuesday leading up to the announcement of the NCAA field on March 8. The criteria used to rank the teams are: • Win-loss percentage against regional opponents; • Strength-of-schedule (only contests versus regional competition) to include: Opponents’ Average … Read more
A few random thoughts as we close another weekend of college hockey: ** There aren’t many (weeks, that is) left before we get into postseason play. Two in Atlantic Hockey, the CCHA and ECAC Hockey; three in the CHA, Hockey East and the WCHA. Yale has a chance to put away its first ECAC title … Read more
It’s all over; the Boston University Terriers are your Beanpot champions for the fourth time in five years and the 29th time overall. Kieran Millan now boasts the best start of any rookie goaltender in BU history at 18-1-1, passing current Boston University women’s head coach Brian Durocher. The Eberly Award for highest save percentage … Read more
.. from the peanut gallery, that is. BU fans: “who’s your daddy”, as BU now two wins against the Huskies in two tries this year. “Hey hey hey, goodbye” of course … NU is standing proud, cheering hard for their boys despite the deficit. “North-Eastern” reverberated as loudly as it did in the first period, … Read more
Freshman David Warsofsky nipped up Brandon Yip’s blocked shot, flew down the right-wing boards in a shorthanded two-on-one with defensive linemate Eric Gryba. Gryba was just enough of a distraction to Brad Thiessen, as Warsofsky snapped the puck right by the goaler for the 4-2 lead … Hobey Baker candidate Colin Wilson piled on, ripping … Read more
Boston University’s most penalized player did what he does best. Joe Pereira, the fourth-line winger, took a conspicuous and unnecessary neutral-zone hack, earning a two-minute seat all by his lonesome with seven minutes to play in a one-goal game. Let’s see how much playing time he gets next week.
Joe Vitale had another shot at a breakaway, perhaps, but he elected to dump and call on fresher legs. 7:42 on the clock, BU has 31 shots to NU’s 23. In fact, the Huskies had the first nine shots of the period … BU had the next eight, and 12 of the following 13. The … Read more
… but Millan cleans up, denying Northeastern’s deceptive senior the five-hole goal. Vitale beat highly touted defenseman Matt Gilroy to the outside, sweeping in across the goal line and looking for the gap. Back down the other way, NU’s Mike Hewkin is whistled for interference. BU goes to the power play with just under ten … Read more
Silva (NU) and Higgins (BU) off for hitting after the whistle. Four-on-four, NHL overtime style. Huskies break in on a three-on-two rush, but a lightning-quick Millan poke-check on Strathman drew a roar from the Terrier corner of the Garden. A couple quick turnovers, a couple few gasps … all part of the fabric of this … Read more