Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
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
“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
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
After just a three-game engagement in the 2020-21 season and starting the current season 0-4-0, Albertus Magnus has won their last four games in a row including the championship game of the PAL Stovepipe Tournament last weekend. The 5-1 win over Western New England earned the second-year team their first trophy and a chance to … Read more
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
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
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
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
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
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