Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
Way back on October 29, 2022, the Cadets traveled to face-off against the Gulls in the opening game of the 2022-23 season and skated away with a 3-0 road victory. The Gulls have been anxiously awaiting the outcome of the first-round game between Plattsburgh v. Norwich for their quarterfinal opponent and now have the chance … Read more
Well, let me just say that if anyone thought they knew what was going to happen in the first round of the NCAA tournament, they were likely underestimating the drama that ensued on Saturday night across all four games. Three games went to overtime including a four-overtime marathon between Wisconsin – Stevens Point and Augsburg. … Read more
Wow. That’s one way to describe the reaction to UW-Stevens Point’s marathon NCAA Division III opening around hockey tournament game Saturday night against Augsburg. Unreal. Amazing. Thrilling. Insane. Those words fit as well. Especially when you consider some of the numbers that came out a four-overtime thriller for the ages between the Pointers and Auggies … Read more
Ryan Wagner has been playing goalie most of his life. The position just always appealed to him, and the UW-Stevens Point hockey senior standout hasn’t looked back. “I think as a kid, I enjoyed that you got to be on the ice all the time. And I thought the gear was really cool,” Wagner said. … Read more
It is time to go dancing at the national tournament and while the season saw its fair share of crazy results on a week in and week out basis, the 2022-23 NCAA tournament field is not surprising other than the NESCAC entrant from Bowdoin. Then again, that should not be too much of a surprise … Read more
Augsburg went all the way to the national semifinals a season ago. And now the Auggies have an opportunity to make another run in the NCAA tournament. Their quest begins Saturday night against UW-Stevens Point on the road in an opening-round game, with the winner advancing to play reigning champion Adrian. Here are three things … Read more
This first round matchup reflects the age-old question of whether it is better to be the hot team that found their game at the right time of the season versus the team that has been consistent all season but slipped in their chance for a conference title. Bowdoin has been on fire in February and … Read more
Last March, the NCAA tournament field saw both these teams receiving bids as winners of their respective conferences and the seeding positioning them against each other in the first round, hosted by UNE. Fast forward to March of 2023 and the MASCAC champion Panthers get to play host in a return matchup with the Nor’easters … Read more
With two games split during the regular season, these long-time rivals now find themselves playing for much bigger stakes on a national stage. Each team is coming from a different vantage point for Saturday’s game with the host Cardinals fresh off their SUNYAC championship win over Oswego while Norwich earned an at-large bid following their … Read more
The National College Women’s Bracket was announced on Sunday. The 11 team is set and play in the NCAA Tournament begins Thursday evening. Ohio State, who lost the WCHA Tournament Championship game to Minnesota, retained their top spot thanks to their body of work over the course of the season and earned the top overall … Read more
What an amazing weekend of D-II/III college hockey as championships were decided across each of the conferences in the region. While NESCAC created the most drama with a No. 7 Bowdoin vs. a No. 8 Williams overtime title game, Plattsburgh returned to the top of the SUNYAC with a heart-stopping 2-1 win at Oswego and … Read more
The Utica Pioneers have been here before. Highly ranked and winners of the regular season in the UCHC. They have even gone on to win the league tournament and highly seeded in the NCAAs but have not translated all those things into a national championship for the school – Yet! This year Utica finished the … Read more
Three games. Three titles. Three berths to the NCAA Division III hockey tournament on the line. It all comes down to an exciting Saturday night of hockey in the west region. The NCHA final features a pair of top 10 teams in the USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll, with No. 3 Adrian and No. … Read more
It all has come down to this weekend and the opportunity the conference finalists have to win a league championship and advance to the NCAA tournament. For St. Anselm and St. Michael’s it is all about winning the only title they can play for as D-II teams, but the D-III teams all know the … Read more
It’s conference tournament championship weekend and by Sunday at lunchtime, we’ll know which 11 teams are heading to the NCAA Tournament this season. The ECAC and WCHA still have semifinal games left, while the other three conferences have played everything but the title game. The whole sport shifted their postseason schedules a bit this year … Read more
Headed into championship weekend out east after all teams officially began conference tournament play this past weekend, whilst others continued with their respective tournaments. We’ll take a look back and highlight some of the main events that occurred, and I’ll give my picks for this weekend’s conference games. The NEHC’s top-two narrowly advance Elmira defeats … Read more
The playoffs come upon us so fast and seem to fly by. Approaching championship weekend, we’ll take a look at how the teams out west got there and also, I’ll make my picks for this weekend’s games in the three conferences. MIAC Gustavus defeats Hamline 5-1 The Gusties are headed to another MIAC title game … Read more
If we all thought something like, the regular season was crazy but the playoffs will show the true championship pedigree teams, then I say the list just got a lot bigger as there were upsets aplenty, thrilling overtime games and surprises across many conferences as the playoff action unfolded this weekend. The CCC, NE-10, SUNYAC, … Read more
Bemidji State at (1) Ohio State In the first game, Sophie Jaques scored a hat trick to lead OSU to a 4-1 win. She put in a shot off the faceoff in the first, lit the lamp with .2 seconds left in the second and added a shot from the slot in the third to … Read more
There were potentially just 20 minutes left in the hockey season for Aurora. The Spartans trailed St. Norbert by a goal heading into the final period of an NCHA tournament semifinal showdown at home Saturday night. It was in that third period that momentum began to swing in favor of the Spartans, who weren’t ready … Read more