Column

Over the span of the first semester, there have been several surprising teams as well as a few disappointments. Several freshmen have already made a name for themselves and a few veterans are having superb years. With this being the last column before the break, let me hand out my mid-season awards. ECAC-East Biggest Surprise … Read more

While most people were celebrating Thanksgiving, and resting up after a big turkey dinner, a few teams laced up their skates and took the ice over the holiday’s. Last week’s Game of the Week saw Neumann traveling to Brunswick, Maine to face the No. 8-ranked Bowdoin Polar Bears for the first time in their program’s … Read more

For many student-athletes, the real season begins in March with the postseason. NCAA Tournaments are the way a program and its participants often measure themselves. A team’s success in March can help recruiting. Just ask any coach of a national championship team what happened the next signing period. In some sports, sponsors and networks line … Read more

When the clock struck 0:00 on the 2005-2006 hockey season, the Middlebury Panthers swarmed the ice in celebration at the Ronald B. Stafford Ice Arena. They had won their third straight NCAA Championship, this time at the expense of Plattsburgh State. This weekend, the No. 1-ranked Panthers return to that very same rink, where they … Read more

Laura Monk is finding out this season what it means to be lonely at the top. Ironically, her collegiate hockey season was lonely at the bottom as well. Monk is Wayne State’s sole senior, a role the 22-year-old native of Ontario, Canada, is finding mother-henish to say the least. “I think they look up to … Read more

Excitement! That is what is in Oswego State coach Diane Dillon’s voice this week. Why is she excited? It may have something to do with her squad’s impressive 3-1-1 start. That record includes her team’s first ECAC West victory over the weekend on the road in overtime against Buffalo State. “I couldn’t be happier to … Read more

The players were sizing up their next day’s opponents. And the coaches, poised to applaud the season’s outstanding players, had strategy in the back of their minds. But for the women on the UConn hockey team, the biggest choices weren’t who to shut down or who to double team in the first-round of the 2006 … Read more

It was a tale of two teams this past weekend. Team A is a rising program looking to make noise in the NCAA tournament this season. Team B is a perennial powerhouse that won the first two NCAA titles but came up empty in the three years since. Team A made its first appearance in … Read more

Last week, I covered teams six through ten in my pre-season rankings. This week, I list my preseason top five and reveal the team with the best shot to take home the NCAA title. 5. Manhattanville Valiants In back-to-back seasons, the Valiants’ NCAA runs have ended with one-goal quarterfinal losses in Middlebury, Vt. This season, … Read more

She kept them waiting practically until the last minute but finally in early June, the phone call came to the coach. “Coach, I’ve made my decision ….” were the words, like those of so many prized recruits, that began the conversation. Within a minute or two, Mercyhurst coach Mike Sisti heard what he had been … Read more

Wisconsin coach Mark Johnson knew his defending national championship team meant business when his players returned from summer break in good shape. “That tells me they didn’t spend the summer celebrating their national championship,” he said. “I don’t see any complacency because of last year. I see a group that’s competitive and working hard, and … Read more

As we wait for the puck to be dropped on the 2006-2007 Division III women’s ice hockey season, there are many questions to be answered. Will Middlebury continue its dominance and capture its fourth straight NCAA Championship? Is this the year a team from the West rises up and snatches the championship from the East? … Read more