With Notre Dame’s move to the Big Ten, the conference arms race is back on
Some off-the-cuff thoughts about what might be coming in the months and years ahead.
Blog Archive
Archive of USCHO’s blog content
A new champion, a strong argument for the Hobey Baker Award, and a single NCAA entry
Holy smokes! I was so caught up in re-entry into the non-college hockey world — i.e., my day job — that I completely forgot about this morning’s blog. Here are three things from the Big Ten tournament that stay with me today. 1. The Wolverines showed why they should be B1G champs. With three third-period … Read more
Dog days of Quinnipiac’s season seem a distant memory
With Quinnipiac winners of the 2016 Whitelaw Cup in Lake Placid, N.Y., last weekend, it’s time to look back at the ECAC Hockey championship that was. Here’s what we learned: Quinnipiac has ‘it’ factor No matter the test, it seems that this season was the Bobcats’ to lose. That turned out to be the case … Read more
The fallout from championship weekend
These are the three things I think I learned this weekend (other than “triple overtime takes a long time!”). 1. Northeastern won its second Hockey East title and first since 1988. Who’d a thunk it back when the Huskies were 1-11-2? Has there ever been a turnaround from an opening record like that to a … Read more
Tournament quarterfinal wrap
The field is set for this weekend’s Frozen Four in Lake Placid. Lots of great stories among the four entrants that include perennial national title contender St. Norbert, last year’s finalist looking for a better outcome in Wisconsin-Stevens Point, a team with a cause in Geneseo and this year’s first-time participant, Massachusetts-Boston. All four earned … Read more
Three things, March 20
1. Save Ferris As in, everybody’s out, save Ferris State. The Bulldogs knocked off both MacNaughton Cup co-champions and stole the Broadmoor Trophy and the WCHA’s auto-bid from under everybody’s noses. Coach Bob Daniels said after both games that the Broadmoor, a trophy the Bulldogs had never won before, was the team’s sole focus — … Read more
Three Things: On to Albany
What doesn’t kill you Every team faces some measure of adversity during the college hockey season, a 25-week marathon. But Rochester Institute of Technology had more than its fare share. Coach Wayne Wilson said this season has been the most challenging in his 17 years behind the Tigers’ bench. But RIT came through it stronger … Read more
Weekend Wrap: March 20
The Frozen Faceoff pitted the four top seeds in the NCHC against each other. Three of the four, North Dakota, St. Cloud and Denver, had already qualified for the NCAA tournament, while Minnesota-Duluth’s win over North Dakota on Friday and a Minnesota loss to Michigan in the Big Ten championship assured the Bulldogs of a … Read more
Final picks: March 19
To paraphrase the announcer from the 1992 film “A League Of Their Own” prior to the championship game at the end of the movie: Saturday night in Plattsburgh, one team will leave the rink Division III women’s champions and one team will just leave the rink. Top-ranked Plattsburgh, coming off a 5-3 win Friday over … Read more
Pickin’ the Big Ten championship game: March 19, 2016
This is it, our last Big Ten picks blog of 2015-16. Where did the season go? Yesterday, the top two teams advanced, which means that Drew Claussen went 1-1 and I went 2-0 with picks for the day. Season Drew: 80-54-19 (.585) Paula: 82-52-19 (.598) Big Ten championship game Today’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. … Read more
Saturday’s championship pick
I went 1-1 in Friday’s ECAC Hockey semifinals, as I had St. Lawrence beating Harvard. Instead, the Crimson will face Quinnipiac tonight for the chance to win the program’s second straight Whitelaw Cup. The Bobcats are in the championship game for the second time in program history after losing in the semifinals for three straight … Read more
Weekend picks
It’s the final day of the NCHC season. Three, possibly four teams, will advance to the NCAA tournament, where I’m sure they will represent the league well. Candace and Matt went 1-1 (.500) in their semifinal picks, with Candace correctly picking Minnesota-Duluth and Matthew picking St. Cloud State. Let’s see how we do on the … Read more
Pickin’ the Big Ten semifinals: March 18, 2016
The Nittany Lions and Buckeyes advance from yesterday’s quarterfinals. That means that Drew Claussen went 2-0 (1.000) and I went 1-1 (.500) in our picks. Season Drew: 79-53-19 (.586) Paula: 80-52-19 (.593) Big Ten championship tournament This year, the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul., Minn., hosts the Big Ten tourney. Penn State plays Michigan … Read more
Tournament quarterfinal picks: March 18
It’s the quarterfinal round and all four games feature matchups that are great for fans who like great offense, strong team defense and terrific goaltending. The winning teams will need to have all on display to advance to next week’s Frozen Four in Lake Placid. Last week’s first round NCAA picks went 2-1-0 (.667) with … Read more
Hockey East picks – Mar. 18-19
Dave went with strategy over intelligence last weekend and made a bad deficit a horrid one. Butt-kick central. This is like a six-goal victory. On to the Garden. Jim last week: 8-1-0 Jim to date: 189-65-36 Dave last week: 3-6-0 Dave to date: 174-80-36 Friday, March 18 Hockey East Semifinals (at TD Garden, Boston) No. … Read more
Final Five picks, March 18-19
Shane here … Greetings from Grand Rapids, Mich., the site of the WCHA Final Five, where there should be a few good games this weekend. Too bad Jack can’t be here to join me in this fine city. The top four teams in the conference are here, even if two of them needed to win … Read more
Semifinal picks
It’s down to the final four in ECAC Hockey. Colleague Josh Weinreb broke down the weekend here, so I’ll keep this brief. Be sure to check back this weekend, as St. Lawrence arena reporter Jack Lyons and myself will be in Lake Placid. Here are the picks for Friday’s games: No. 7 Dartmouth vs. No. … Read more
Weekend Picks: March 17
Women’s D-III semifinals are Friday at Plattsburgh. Nothing more needs to be said except for, well, the picks of Candace and Matt. Friday, March 18 Middlebury versus Plattsburgh, 3:30 p.m. EDT Candace: Middlebury will make it close, but not close enough. Plattsburgh 5-2 Matt: This is Plattsburgh’s year. I like the Cardinals with a win … Read more
Weekend Picks: March 17
Well, I correctly picked all four series last week, though I expected the Duluth-Miami series to go three games. I went 7-1 (.875) in games. Matthew went 6-2 (.750). I am now 121-51-14 (.688) on the year, while Matthew is 115-57-14 (.655). We will do two sets of picks, picking Friday’s games first, and then … Read more
Weekend Picks: March 17
Well, I did well again last week in my postseason picks, going 4-0. In the postseason, I’ve gone 31-12, and on the year, I am 417-104-56. We’ve got three games left. Let’s see how I do. I’ll pick the semis today, and post my picks for the finals Saturday morning. Friday, March 18 Clarkson versus … Read more