Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
This week, Theresa Spisak fills in again for Executive Editor Scott Brown — and ably so. She and Senior Writer Jim Connelly speculate about the nature of polls, the probabilities of the holiday tournaments and the nature of modern media. This last Tuesday Morning Quarterback of 2007 brings presents for everyone. Happy holidays!
The flu bug has gotten our esteemed Executive Editor Scott Brown down for the week, but there is a more than adequate substitute in Theresa Spisak, USCHO’s WCHA Correspondent. What’s surprised thus far? How do some of the holiday tourneys look? And April will be in Colorado, hear what Theresa has to say about that and much more in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Plattsburgh Wins Primelink One of the premier tournaments in college hockey changed a bit this year. This alteration meant that only one SUNYAC team is now involved as Potsdam no longer participates with Plattsburgh, Norwich, and Middlebury. The fourth team is now a different invited guest each year. This season it was St. John’s from … Read more
Close Call We’ve heard it all year from the coaches of Atlantic Hockey — for several years actually. The parity in the league. How close the games are. How close in talent the teams are. On how any given night, anybody can beat anybody. All coaches tend to say these things. But in the AHA, … Read more
A Showdown Looms Sitting atop the ECAC NE right now is Curry College. Coach Rob Davies seems happy, but realizes there’s a lot of work left to do. “We’re pretty pleased, we’re 6-1-1, but we need to work on all facets of our game, obviously.†The Colonels only loss was to Babson College, and in … Read more
The season is finally underway and after one weekend of conference play and some terrific tournaments over the Thanksgiving holiday, the ultra-competitive nature of the league is already showing through just the first handful of games. Quick: name the only team without a blemish (loss or a tie) on their record in the first couple … Read more
There have been very few surprises so far this season in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. St. Thomas is atop the standings and everyone else seems to be falling into place. One surprise is how poorly the MIAC has performed against non-conference opponents. It is no secret that MIAC teams have had their struggles against … Read more
Miami makes a statement and Michigan stays in stride with the College Hockey Showcase looming, while Niagara gets number 22, but Boston College and Maine have fallen on tough times as new names move up the Hockey East ladder. Jim Connelly and Scott Brown return with their weekly gabfest.
Nichols Off to Fast Start Last season, Lou Izzi and the Nichols College Bisons got off to a 5-0-1 start, which was the best in the school’s history. This year, Izzi has his squad off to a 4-0-1 start, but one big difference is that this year’s team has nine freshmen. “We have a pretty … Read more
MCHA league play kicked off last weekend and two game sweeps were the top order of business. While Northland was idle, Adrian made its MCHA debut with a home sweep of Lawrence, while MSOE accomplished the same over Crookston. Concordia’s opening weekend wasn’t quite as successful as they dropped two at home to Finlandia. Marian … Read more
The Red Bird Is Back Look up. Wa-a-a-a-a-ay up. There you will see the Cardinals high on top the SUNYAC perch. By Plattsburgh’s standards, they have had some off years recently. This season is more like a Plattsburgh year as they have opened the season with seven straight victories, all conference games. Even though they … Read more
Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference teams did not fair well against schools from Wisconsin last weekend by compiling a record of 2-9-3. This does not give much hope or optimism for MIAC schools looking to make a run in the postseason. Granted it is very early in the hockey season, but with that big of a … Read more
Showing Signs Slowly but surely, Lebanon Valley is showing signs of a turn around in its fortunes. An increased level of competitiveness and its first victory this past weekend are all signs of hope. Admittedly, the season got off to a rough start with a 9-1 thrashing by Brockport, who scored two goals in the … Read more
Three CCHA teams atop the national polls, some surprising early Hockey East results, fisticuffs and suspensions. Jim Connelly and Scott Brown again take on the latest news from the world of college hockey.
After three weeks, it is safe to say the season has officially begun. Nearly all MCHA and NCHA teams will be hitting the ice this weekend as the MCHA begins league play and the NCHA confronts week two of the MIAC Interlock. Speaking of the NCHA-MIAC Interlock, things didn’t go the way the NCHA had … Read more
Road Warriors There’s no doubt that the most intense rivalry in the SUNYAC is Plattsburgh vs. Oswego. What’s surprising is how much the road team dominates this rivalry. One would think that with a rivalry such as this, where sellout crowds are guaranteed, crowds that need no prodding to be whipped into a frenzy, the … Read more
No Hole This Year Excluding exhibitions, Elmira hasn’t had a winning record four games into the season in any of the last five seasons. It has almost become expected that the Soaring Eagles will start a season slow, build momentum mid season, and end on a tare to run for the playoffs. Unfortunately, sometimes the … Read more
Several big series in the WCHA led to at least one surprising conclusion, while Clarkson and Princeton march along in the ECAC in the early going and Miami continues its run. Scott Brown and Jim Connelly take on the week in college hockey.
A Season Nearly Spoiled It takes hundreds of nuts to hold a car together, but it takes only one nut to scatter it all over the highway. That analogy can apply to most anything, including a sports team. It takes so many intricate details and hard work to put a team together, but a few … Read more
It has been nearly a decade since Lawrence, Marian, Northland and MSOE formed the fledgling four team league known as the MCHA. Now eight strong and rising in prominence, its evolution is almost complete. This evolution, however, has led to numerous procedural maneuvers over the past year, so before even bothering with the hockey, let’s … Read more