This Week in ECAC Hockey: Yale struggling to find positives this season, but ‘taking it one day at a time’ with second half approaching

While every Ivy League team entered this season with a lot of uncertainty, Yale likely had the most questions of any of the six teams who were resuming play after a year-long layoff. The Bulldogs entered the season with 24 players on their roster, yet only nine of those players had played in a college … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Departing commissioner Fenton proud of how ‘we created a conference and built it into what we think is one of the best conferences across all of college hockey’

NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton is always busy at this time of year, with the college hockey season nearing its halfway point. Now, though, he has even more on his plate as he transitions from leading a conference with one sport to another with 19. Fenton was announced Friday as the next commissioner of the Summit … Read more

Babson’s Boutoussov finding balance between books, pucks

The 2021-22 season has brought a variety of COVID-influenced changes to virtually every program playing hockey at the D-III level. Depending on the events or program activities from the largely canceled season, there are new elements that include “super-seniors,” an abundance of new and young players, transfers and more. For Babson’s Paul Boutoussov, the new … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Air Force ‘feeling good about ourselves,’ ends fall semester on high note

Air Force coach Frank Serratore knows his team is a work in progress. He pointed out at the beginning of his season that the Falcons were one of, if not the youngest team in Division I, with 17 underclassmen on the roster and just one senior. And that’s in a year where most teams are … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan State racking up wins as Spartans have ‘done some good work this first half’

Michigan State had improved slightly each season since Danton Cole was hired as head coach in 2017. Until last year, that is. Like many other teams, the 2020-21 season was not kind to the Spartans. There just aren’t many ways to polish a 7-18-2 overall record into anything positive, but with one series remaining in … Read more

D-III East Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – December 6, 2021

There were some key games played amongst league leaders with Babson beating previously unbeaten Norwich, Utica downing Wilkes and Endicott doing the same to Curry in a weekend series split. The battles on the ice have been great but there have still been COVID protocol impacts felt across the region and especially in NESCAC where … Read more

NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey: Robert Morris men’s coach Derek Schooley working to ensure women’s team comes back strong as well

While the fundraising date for the Robert Morris Athletic Department and Pittsburgh College Hockey Foundation (PCHF) is quickly approaching, Derek Schooley, men’s hockey coach and Director of Hockey Ops, isn’t solely focused on the money. The PCHF was formed after RMU cut their men’s and women’s hockey programs and has joined with the athletic department … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Lethargic early season in rear view mirror, Northern Michigan picking up offense as ‘buy-in on some of the small details has really gone up’

When the season started, Northern Michigan had something of a defensive crisis. The Wildcats barely had enough healthy bodies to field a full defensive unit. At one point, they had just four regular blueliners. Adding to that, the team’s No. 1 goalie, Rico DiMatteo, wasn’t 100 percent after recovering from surgery. “We played a series … Read more

D-III East Game Picks – December 2, 2021

There is no drop-off on the important matchups this week in conference play with several marquee games this weekend amongst nationally ranked teams. I continued my slide with last weekend’s tournament and non-conference picks that finished at 8-5-1 (.607) which lowers the overall record to 34-18-6 (.638) so it’s time to rally and close out … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Conference play heating up as Providence, Northeastern clash this weekend; UMass-UMass Lowell series also on docket

A lot has gone right for the men’s hockey programs at Providence and Northeastern in the last month. No. 13 Providence (12-5-0, 6-3-0 Hockey East) has won six straight games and 16th-ranked Northeastern (11-4-1, 5-3-1) ran through the November portion of its schedule without a regulation loss. Something has to give this weekend as the … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: After recent seasons of decreased offense, Colgate group finding scoring touch in 2021-22 campaign

Offense has been hard to come by for Colgate for several seasons. While the Raiders usually had solid defense and goaltending, their struggle to score put them at a disadvantage. But it’s been a different story so far this year. Colgate enters its final weekend of the first half 25th in Division I in goals … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota YouTube series still delivering fresh content after 200 episodes, with more in production

“Through These Doors,” North Dakota’s in-house digital series chronicling life inside the university’s men’s hockey program, reached a major milestone Thursday when the show’s 200th episode premiered on YouTube. The show, aired weekly during the hockey season, is now in its 10th year. That’s six years on top of what David Folske, one of the … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Half-dozen conference newcomers making their mark during early part of ’21-22 season

Thanksgiving marks the unofficial end of the “early” part of the college hockey season, and it’s at this point that we usually look at freshmen who have made a big impact for their teams and the league in general. But this year is unique, at least in terms of rookies. About a dozen players in … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Coming off weekend sweep over Niagara, Michigan looks ‘to get it to the net’ against Minnesota

As preseason favorites Michigan and Minnesota meet for the first time this season, we were correct about at least one thing from the preseason. The two teams are in first and second place, Michigan leads Minnesota by a point, but both have also played two more contests than everyone except Wisconsin. “We know what kind … Read more

D-III East Hockey Weekend Wrap-up – November 29, 2021

Oh, what a weekend it was with a No. 1 vs. No. 2 game between Geneseo and Utica; great tournament action with Norwich, Babson, Skidmore, Albertus Magnus and Castleton emerging victorious and non-conference battles that have national ranking implications. Yes, the weekend had everything you would want to see for competitive action – here is … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bowling Green on pace for another solid season as Falcons aiming to ‘maintain that standard and play to that standard’

Before the season started, outsiders weren’t quite sure what to make of Bowling Green. After all, the Falcons had lost 11 players to either graduation or the transfer portal. It would have understandably been hard to predict how losing so many key contributors would affect a program that has won 20-plus games for seven straight … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Boosted by upperclassmen, transfers, Quinnipiac fast piling up notches in win column

When Quinnipiac takes the ices for its next game on Dec. 3, it will have been nearly a month and a half since the Bobcats lost a game. The Bobcats (10-1-3) will end November on a nine-game unbeaten streak after tying Clarkson Friday and rolling over St. Lawrence on Saturday. Quinnipiac’s only loss this season … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Commissioner Metcalf talks potential expansion, return of Frozen Fenway with USCHO.com

This Week in Hockey East: Incoming commissioner Metcalf ‘respected by all,’ comes in with ‘a proven national reputation’

A major upheaval is underway in college sports, with a large number of large schools changing conferences in pursuit of more television revenue. Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf doesn’t fret that his league will be affected by any aftershocks. “In Hockey East, we’ve been together a long time,” he said. “There’s a lot of familiarity … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After sweeping then-No. 2 St. Cloud State, Western Michigan looking to ‘try to be as consistent as possible’

When Western Michigan’s players gathered Tuesday to continue a tradition created last year in which they bonded over a Thanksgiving-week team meal they cooked themselves, the Broncos knew they had plenty for which to be thankful. The Broncos had every reason to celebrate, not only for the holiday but also the team’s recent success. WMU … Read more