Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
At least two Olympic hockey players have and continue to spread the beauty and excitement of the sport to the four corners of the world. Two summers ago, Harvard junior Caitlin Cahow spent a few weeks in Kazakhstan with Athletes in Action, a Christian organization of past and present collegiate athletes, who tried to improve … Read more
High-end composite sticks are all the rage, but are they damaging budgets and skills at the college level? Dave Starman asks around.
In many ways, athletic teams are like families. They play together, they pray together, they sleep together, they eat together. They support each other. So when some members of the family splinter off — for whatever reason — it could be uncomfortable when they return to the fold. It wasn’t uncomfortable when three Olympians, senior … Read more
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
It was a weekend for the birds, literally. When four of the top teams from the ECAC West and the NESCAC met in the Cardinal Classic this weekend, the teams residing west of Lake Champlain found themselves playing in the late game on Sunday. In the end, the host team found themselves on top, of … Read more
Like so many other young girls, Molly Schaus grew up playing pond hockey in her backyard. “I always wanted to play hockey with my older brother so one day he said ‘O.K. You can play if you’re the goalie,’” she said. The Natick, Mass. native has parlayed that slight into the beginnings of a distinguished … 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
Nearly a decade ago, when head coach Jeff Kampersal convinced Annemarie Holmes that Princeton University was the place for her, the beginnings of a turnaround from an average hockey team to a championship level squad were in place. “That started the transformation,” Kampersal says. “We used to have kids who played hockey. Now we had … Read more
Notre Dame and its former head coach make headlines; Boston College goes up and down; Army opens eyes in Atlantic Hockey; and the WCHA adjusts after a newsworthy offseason. Dave Starman offers up his thoughts.
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
USA Hockey has named nine current collegians to its Select Team for the Four Nations Cup. The event, one of three major international events along with the Olympics and World Championships, will be held in Kitchener, Ont. from Nov. 7-11. There are seven current collegians on the roster for Canada, and five each for Sweden … 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