Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
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
The 2007-2008 women’s D-III hockey season is upon us as four teams officially began play last weekend. First-year program Adrian College headlined as the biggest news of the weekend, splitting a two-game series with Neumann College. The Knights are a formidable opponent that received honorable-mention status in the USCHO.com pre-season poll and have been knocking … Read more
Lester Patrick wears a ponytail She was the Wayne Gretzky of women’s hockey during her playing days at Providence College. Now, come next Wednesday, Cammi Granato will be it’s Lester Patrick. Granato, the first marquee name the sport ever had, will now be the first individual female honored by the NHL with a major award. … Read more
With another week of hockey in the books, Jim Connelly and Scott Brown return to their keyboards. This week, topics include New Hampshire, Miami, RIT, Wayne State and more.
The Manhattanville Valiants rode Player of the Year goaltender Andrew Gallant all the way to the NCAA semifinal last year, only to drop a 3-2 decision to Middlebury. But even making it as one of the final four teams in the country was a great accomplishment and has set the expectations high for this year’s … Read more
The Neumann Knights were an overtime loss away from winning the ECAC West Championship last season, amassing an impressive 17-5-5 record. Compare that to just three short seasons ago, when the Knights went 4-17-2 and only won two games in the league. This year Neumann is picked to finish first in the ECAC West coaches … Read more
A True Believer I think I can remember my response when I first stumbled upon the news that hockey is played by women. It was something like this. “What?” Now, I am no hockey novice, and in fact I can trace my the roots of my hockey fanaticism back to the late 1960’s. But I … Read more
There is a youth movement afoot at Hobart this season. Take 10 freshmen who join the roster this season, add in two sophomore Division-I transfers, mix with seven returning sophomores, and you have a very young Statesmen team. With such a youthful squad, head coach Mark Taylor isn’t quite sure what to expect at the … Read more
The Elmira Soaring Eagles have been stuck in a rut the last two seasons. They start slow, look like they are about to fold their proverbial tents, and then get on a roll in January to save the season. For months now, head coach Tim Ceglarski has been wracking his brain to put in place … Read more
By almost all standards, last season was an unmitigated disaster for the Lebanon Valley Flying Dutchmen. The team only won two games and tied another all season. Al MacCormack, the only coach they had ever known, was forced out in December. And the team itself was almost wiped out by an administration review in late … Read more
If you live in Utica, NY, the place to be on a Friday or Saturday night is at the Aud for a Utica College hockey game. The Pioneers led the D-III nation last year in attendance, packing 25,291 fans into their venerable rink over the course of twelve games. That average per game (2,107) exceeded … Read more