Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
Jockeying For Position Looking back on the first half of the MIAC season, one thing has become clear: reports of the conference’s immense depth have not been exaggerated. Last Saturday, all four conference match-ups went into overtime, and St. Mary’s was the only team in the conference to not come away with at least one … Read more
Hockey, as we all know, is a game of funny bounces. And some bounces send shocks fanning out across the hockey surface a little further than others. Take for instance a careening puck that, last year, ended St. Lawrence’s NCAA hopes against New Hampshire. Fired by UNH’s Sadie Wright-Ward, it ricocheted off a derriere (some … Read more
Welcome back for what will be this column’s final incarnation of 2008. As always, let’s take a look at where NCHA and MCHA teams stand on the national scene, though not much changed this week. Superior remains the highest ranked Western team, holding onto its No.2 position nationally and three first place votes after yet … Read more
No Longer A Quilt Quilts are great for keeping fans warm while sitting in cold rinks watching a hockey game. But a patchwork team is not the best recipe for success. This year is the first one where Geneseo can be considered Chris Schultz’s team instead of a Brian Hills/Jason Lammers/Chris Schultz quilt. The year … Read more
For many teams the first three weeks must seem like a blur. After all, the majority of schools’ first part of the season is complete before semester break even ends. With the late start to the season for these leagues most teams have crammed in two weekends of conference play along with a Thanksgiving tournament … Read more
The end of the first half of the season is already upon us with a few teams wrapping up their first semester schedules this weekend. However a majority of the D-III teams will have the weekend off as the players finish up and prepare for their finals before they head home for winter break. Out … Read more
As the boys in the ECAC NE get ready to shut it down for the holiday break, we’ll take a look this week at perhaps the biggest surprise of the first half: the Westfield State Owls. Winners of their last six games, the Owls own a 7-1-1 overall record and are tied for third place … Read more
This Week in the NCHA/MCHA Returning from a two week hiatus, it’s easy to spot a bit of a shakeup for NCHA and MCHA teams on the national scene. The big mover has been University of Wisconsin-Superior. After defeating previous No. 1 St. Norbert two weeks ago, the Yellowjackets stand at 4-0 in the NCHA … Read more
It is surely one of the more exotically named little towns in all of Alberta, perhaps second only to the inimitably monikered crossroads of Head-Smashed-In-Buffalo-Jump for catching one’s fancy. We refer, of course, to Ma-Me-O Beach (population 95). It is the hometown of Carson Duggan, a key cog in the success enjoyed by St. Lawrence … Read more
An Early Statement in the NESCAC This past weekend while everyone was recovering from the turkey, mashed potatoes and grandma�s homemade stuffing, the Amherst Lady Jeffs made an impressive statement against previously tenth ranked Trinity. Amherst shut out the Bantams 3-0 at home at Orr Rink on Saturday night and then followed up the next … Read more
Rivalries. Where would we be without them? Dave Starman, who likes what he sees on the schedule this weekend, takes us on a trip down memory lane with some of the game’s best.
As condensed as the playing schedule has been this year with Thanksgiving coming in the very last weekend of the month, the regular season league play gave way to some of the traditional and new holiday tournaments featuring some of the regions best teams from all leagues playing against each other for bragging rights and … Read more
Turkey Tourneys Four SUNYAC teams competed in Thanksgiving weekend tournaments, and in all cases, the teams did a split. Sort of. Technically, Plattsburgh tied their first game, but were relegated to the consolation match due to losing the shootout against Norwich. Two of the strongest tournaments of the year — located in St. Norbert and … Read more
People hadn’t even carved their turkeys yet this year when the Johnson & Wales University hockey team had earned their fourth win. Last year, folks were making New Year’s Eve plans when the Wildcats finally garnered win number four. With his team 4-0 in league play, and 4-0-1 overall, coach Eric Noack can’t help but … Read more
Jim Connelly and Scott Brown look back at a memorable weekend and look forward to this season’s holiday tournaments, with an impromptu geography quiz thrown in.
Hello Neumann! This past weekend the Neumann Knights notched their name into the ECAC West discussion with an impressive sweep of previously eighth ranked Utica. Just a few weeks after Utica asserted their name among the ECAC West elite after splitting with Plattsburgh, Neumann now must be considered a legitimate threat as well after taking … Read more
It may be a small sign, but a significant one nonetheless, of how far women’s college hockey has come. That two teams who are far behind the sport’s elite, namely Maine and Vermont, can hook up to produce a dandy of a hockey game. Over the ages, we’ve seen some doozies, from the five-overtime Providence … Read more
The preparations have been made, the hype meter is full and Jim Connelly and Scott Brown are ready for the games — it’s Air Force against Colorado College and Denver.
The overnight temperature in Madison, Wisc. on Thursday was 16 degrees with a wind chill of 5. The outlook for Ft. Myers, Fla., on Friday called for 77 degree temps and breezes. It would seem like a good time for a hockey team, say No. 1 ranked Wisconsin, to take a pre-holiday tournament southward, which … Read more
Get Out The Brooms Fans of the MIAC were promised a league full of hard-fought games and parity: teams on the bottom improving against teams at the top. And they were promised a gobbled mess of league standings that would be an adventure to decipher every week. What a difference a week makes. The MIAC … Read more