Archive of USCHO’s blog content
There are few phrases in the English language as appealing as “playoff hockey.” (“Free food,” “good beer” and “live music” may be the only ones that surpass said phrase.) Luckily, the WCHA begins its playoffs this weekend with four best-0f three series. The Final Five is back at the Xcel Center next weekend (just like … Read more
It’s down to eight teams as ECAC Hockey moves on to the quarterfinals. The only two league teams currently in the top sixteen of the PairWise are Quinnipiac and Yale, meaning everyone else will have to win this weekend if they want to move on. However, the Bobcats and Bulldogs are tied for twelfth in … Read more
We ended our picks race last week in the regular season with me up. Last week, I went 4-3-1 (.562) and Matthew went 5-2-1 (.687). On the year, I finished the regular season with a very respectable 111-52-14 (.667) record, while Matthew went 105-58-14 (.632). Let’s see how we can do in the playoffs. Friday-Saturday-Sunday, … Read more
With the NCAA Division III men’s tournament starting this weekend with three first-round games, Dan and Brian try to look to late Saturday night and see who the winners of those games will be. DAN HICKLING Oswego @ Hobart – Oswego 4, Hobart 2. The Lakers are tourney tested and have five straight Frozen Four appearances … Read more
Last week: Dan: 5-3 Chris: 5-2 On the season: Dan: 126-76-27 (.609) Chris: 130-71-27 (.629) This Week’s Picks Atlantic Hockey Playoffs – Quarterfinals Best of Three Series Friday, March 13 – Sunday, March 15 No. 11 Niagara at No. 1 Robert Morris Dan: Niagara might be the most dangerous seed to the Colonials’ run. … Read more
Possibly the most telling statistic in reviewing the top 50 longest games list is that 38 of those 50 games occurred since 2000.
Nine championship games. Nine champions crowned. That was the name of this past weekend across men’s Division III hockey. ECAC EAST – It took a three-goal rally featuring Nick Pichette’s overtime game-winner, but defending East champion Norwich managed to pull out a 3-2 victory over Babson to take its first league tournament crown since 2012. … Read more
These are the three things I think I learned this week. 1. Five overtimes? Really? Five? I was on the West Coast this past week and when I got the chance, I checked in on the Hockey East scoreboard. I watched with mounting astonishment as the Notre Dame – Massachusetts contest kept going on and … Read more
RIT duplicates CHA run Last season, RIT knocked off the top two seeds as it earned its first CHA title. This time, the Tigers took out the league’s top three seeds, and its reward paired a CHA trophy with an NCAA invitation. Once again, the second overtime proved kind to the Tigers in the championship … Read more
Six women’s Division III conference champions were crowned this past weekend. Norwich (ECAC East), Plattsburgh (ECAC West), St. Thomas (MIAC), Lake Forest (NCHA), Trinity (NESCAC), and Wisconsin-River Falls (WIAC) all got the job done in their respective championship finals. Which teams get in to the NCAA tournament will be unveiled Monday morning. ECAC EAST Vanessa … Read more
Three things from the first postseason weekend in Atlantic Hockey: And then there were eight Only one first round series went the distance, and that also featured the only upset this past weekend. Niagara opened at Holy Cross with a classic road playoff 2-1 win, and then rebounded from a three-overtime loss in Game Two … Read more
Dartmouth, Harvard and Union each swept its opening-round playoff series, with Rensselaer beating Clarkson in three games. That sets up the following matchups in the quarterfinals this weekend: No. 10 Union at No. 1 Quinnipiac (Season series: Quinnipiac, 2-0) No. 9 Rensselaer at No. 2 St. Lawrence (Season series: 1-1) No. 6 Harvard at No.3 … Read more
1. At the 11th hour Minnesota State, at long last, won the MacNaughton Cup. But in true WCHA fashion, it took a win on the final day of the regular season to wrest the trophy away from Michigan Tech. The Huskies entered the weekend three points behind the Mavericks in the standings. Tech did its … Read more
The second-to-last weekend of Big Ten play is in the books and the only thing we know for certain is that the last weekend is going to be drama-filled. Michigan State swept Wisconsin and now occupies the top spot in the conference standings. The distance between the first-place Spartans and fourth-place Penn State is three … Read more
North Dakota wins Penrose Cup outright Congratulations are in order for North Dakota, which won the NCHC regular season championship outright on Friday by virtue of a 2-1 road win over second-place Miami. The RedHawks could have picked up a share of the Penrose Cup title if they had swept UND this weekend in Oxford … Read more
I forgot to pick the CHA championship today, but here are my picks for Sunday’s finals. Sunday, March 8 Cornell vs. Harvard Which wins, defense or offense? Usually I’d say the former, but the Big Red have looked very good the last couple of weeks, so they are my upset pick. Cornell 3-2 Boston University … Read more
Through Feb. 28, games averaged only 5.41 goals; the record low is 5.48.
The six women’s Division III conference playoff championships will be decided this weekend. That much is fact. What isn’t known is which team skates away with their respective trophy and by what score. Women’s editor Candace Horgan and women’s writer Matt Mackinder take a stab at both. ECAC EAST Candace: This tournament is Norwich’s to … Read more
I picked up two games on Dave last weekend, but still have a massive hill to climb, particularly as I don’t expect Dave to pick too differently from me in this first round of the playoffs. Because these series are best two-of-three, we will pick all three games, even if we believe there will be … Read more
Last week: Dan: 5-5 Chris: 3-7 On the season: Dan: 121-73-27 (.609) Chris: 125-69-27 (.627) This Week’s Picks Atlantic Hockey Playoffs – First Round Best of Three Series Friday, March 6 – Sunday, March 8 No. 11 Niagara at No. 6 Holy Cross Dan: Niagara is picking up steam at exactly the right time … Read more