D-III East Recap – November 1, 2021

If this past weekend is a true indicator for the level of play, we will see in D-II/III this season, then sign me up for the premium package please! The games were seriously beyond outstanding this weekend with big-time matchups, a shootout to determine a tournament title, overtime games galore, a first ever program win … Read more

Phase II NCAA external gender equity review report details disparities in women’s, men’s college hockey

After videos went viral last March detailing the inferior weight room setup provided to the women’s basketball championship, NCAA president Mark Emmert commissioned an external gender equity review across all sports. Phase one of the report came out in early August and focused specifically on men’s and women’s basketball. Monday’s report was the second phase … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Constant improvement mantra guides Vermont into upcoming series vs. Boston College

Vermont’s record (0-4-0) indicates a struggling men’s hockey team. The game scores tell a different story — one of a club that has been competitive in every game. Scan the Catamounts’ schedule so far and one will find a pair of one-goal losses and, perhaps more importantly, no blowouts or embarrassments. The mentality of constant … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Dealing with key player departures, Lake Superior State finding new players stepping up to fill roles

It might have been reasonable to assume at the start of the 2021-22 season that Lake Superior State might have some issues scoring goals this year. After all, the Lakers lost four of their top five scorers (Ashton Calder, Pete Veillette, Hampus Eriksson and Will Reidell) either to graduation or the NCAA transfer portal (in … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Half dozen Ivy League schools gearing up for first games in more than 18 months

Anyone taking a government course at one of the six Ivy League schools is no doubt familiar with the concept of a “blank slate.” Developed by the English philosopher John Locke, it’s the idea that humans are born with an empty mind that is filled up with knowledge and ideas as they move through life. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Holy Cross notches first win of the season, first for new coach Riga

New Holy Cross coach Bill Riga is a rookie in a league known for coaching longevity. The average tenure for an Atlantic Hockey coach is currently 15 seasons, and the last change was the addition of Canisius’ Trevor Large and Niagara’s Jason Lammers five years ago. It’s the first collegiate head coaching stint for Riga, … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Ohio State finding offense by committee is way to go in early portion of ’21-22 season

When the coaches poll came out in September, the Big Ten opener between the teams predicted to finish sixth and seventh probably didn’t cause many to bust out the Sharpie. That being said, both Ohio State and Michigan State have, at least to a point, navigated their early-season nonconference schedule successfully and will be looking … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: North Dakota off to neutral-site game Saturday in Nashville, finding ways to navigate around COVID logistics

For Ralph Engelstad Arena general manager Jody Hodgson, looking back three years to North Dakota’s last destination game sometimes feels like it happened a decade ago. The world has changed immensely since the COVID-19 pandemic started, let alone since UND beat Minnesota 3-1 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game three years ago this … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Blasi ‘extremely happy with the progress we’ve made’ at St. Thomas in first weeks on ice as D-I program

After some time away, there’s one thing Rico Blasi noticed about the familiar rinks of the CCHA. “The smell is still the same,” the first-year St. Thomas coach joked in a phone interview Tuesday, reflecting on his team’s recent road trips to Northern Michigan and Lake Superior State. Blasi, who played at Miami in the … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Quinnipiac hosting North Dakota, spectators Friday, Saturday as ‘the place is going to be rocking both nights’

A matchup between two top-10 teams is noteworthy enough on its own, but there’s a little extra buzz in this weekend’s matchup between No. 6 North Dakota and No. 7 Quinnipiac. For the first time in nearly 20 months, there will be fans at Frank Perrotti Jr. Arena when the Bobcats host the Fighting Hawks … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Internal goalie competition can only help Merrimack, according to Borek

Don’t call it a goalie controversy. Because Merrimack coach Scott Borek doesn’t see it that way. With sophomore Zachary Borgiel and freshman Hugo Ollas sharing time between the pipes so far this season for the Warriors (2-2-0, 0-1-0 Hockey East), Borek said competition at the position can only be a positive for his club. “I … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Transfers already making a difference for conference teams in early going of ’21-22 season

The new NCAA rule allowing transferring players a one-time exemption from having to sit out a year has had a sweeping impact on college hockey this season. When combined with an extra year of eligibility due to COVID-19, we saw an unprecedented number of players changing teams this past offseason. At one time, there were … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: After false positive during 2021 NCAA tournament, St. Cloud State doing ‘everything we possibly could to make sure we can play’ this season

Plenty of talk surrounded Michigan and St. Lawrence earlier this year, when COVID-19 cases saw those teams withdraw from the 2021 NCAA tournament before it began. Those moves soon became public information. What wasn’t public at the time of the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, though, was that St. Cloud State briefly worried over a false … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Upcoming Minnesota series with NCHC’s Minnesota Duluth should be ‘just good hockey teams going against each other’

Minnesota hasn’t played an in-state rival for conference points since March of 2013, but in the middle of back-to-back series against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, it feels like we’ve been transported back a couple years. The Gophers and Bulldogs will face off in a home-and-home bout this weekend with Friday’s game being played … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams

During this season’s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six consecutive games against top-ranked teams to start the new season. Hastings joked that he wanted to throw former assistant coach Darren Blue under the bus but couldn’t because he also … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: New transfer rule benefiting more schools than normal in 12-team conference

Transfer players have always played a role in college hockey. But while transfers once served to plug a hole or two on a team’s roster, some schools took advantage of a new rule to help makeover their lineup for this season. Last spring, the NCAA Division I council voted to allow undergraduate players in football, … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Away from the rink, North Dakota’s Driscoll finding pickleball a rewarding, humbling experience

We can’t all be the Tom Brady of our sport, but North Dakota goaltender Zach Driscoll feels he has a couple of irons in the fire. A graduate student who played the last three hockey seasons at Bemidji State, Driscoll in the summer of 2020 was introduced to the sport of pickleball by fellow Twin … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan facing familiar challenge from Minnesota Duluth at upcoming IceBreaker Tournament

Their roster makeup is quite different, Mel Pearson hails from Canada and Scott Sandelin is from Minnesota’s Iron Range, and nobody is going to confuse Ann Arbor and the Twin Ports. Even if not much else is the same, Michigan would probably like to emulate Minnesota Duluth’s season-ending results from the last half-decade or so. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: The almighty transfer portal and rise of the super-senior

Depending on who you talk to, the new NCAA rules around player movement, the ability to transfer and play immediately plus the extra year of eligibility players have been given due to the pandemic, are making things better…or in some cases, worse for college hockey. Players now have more choice and control over their college … Read more