Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
While the 2024-2025 season will be coach George Roll’s final campaign behind the Nazareth bench, he leaves a legacy of coaching that spans almost 30 years across the D-I and D-III landscape with not only success on the ice, but in the character of the players that have played for him beyond their college years. … Read more
It’s the middle of the month and the hockey just keeps getting better. Several ranked teams are in action, including in a showdown featuring Adrian and Aurora. Let’s dive right in with a few game picks for this weekend. Friday UW-Eau Claire at Concordia The Blugolds (0-1-1) are searching for their first win. Max Dronen … Read more
Nicolas Pigeon gravitated to hockey when he was younger. Growing up in Canada, it made sense. “Oh for sure. I started playing when I was a kid,” Pigeon said. “We had outdoor rinks everywhere, but in the summer, I would play some soccer.” Pigeon’s passion for the game, and his consistent development in the game … Read more
St. Norbert took care of business at home over the weekend, sweeping Dubuque in an NCHA series. The fifth-ranked Green Knights won the opener 5-2 and capped the series with a 5-0 victory. In Saturday’s win, St. Norbert went 3-for-5 on the power play after going 4-for-5 in the first game. Gustav Portillo scored a … Read more
For Daunte Fortner, nothing beats being on the ice. Its’s when he’s at his best and when he’s having the most fun. Hockey has also added a lot to his life as a whole. “I love the people you meet and the place it can bring you,” Fortner said. “I’ve been all over North America … Read more
For six seasons, the Anna Maria College hockey team has played among the independent teams against D-II and D-III teams without an opportunity to win a conference title and very limited visibility on a national level. This season as a new member of the MASCAC conference, there is so much to play for and the … Read more
Here we go. The curtain raises on another Division III hockey season, and there is plenty of action going on during the first weekend. We got a few high profile matchups on tap, including St. Olaf battling St. Norbert and Utica taking on Adrian in a USCHO.com Top 15 matchup. Without further delay, let the … Read more
The MIAC never seems to disappoint when it comes to being competitive. The race for the regular-season championship and the five conference tourney spots up for grabs always seems to be a fight to the finish. Last year, Augsburg held a two-point edge over Bethel for the regular-season title, but the Oles, who finished fifth … Read more
By Brian Lester No question the NCHA is a pretty strong hockey conference, especially with two of the nation’s best teams in it. Reigning league champion Adrian leads starts the year at No. 3 nationally in the USCHO.com poll while St. Norbert is ranked fifth and projected to be the Bulldogs’ biggest challenger to a … Read more
While Trinity fell short in winning their first national title since 2015 in Saturday’s championship game against Hobart, their stellar sophomore goaltender, Devon Bobak was the biggest part of the equation in helping take the Bantams to a NESCAC championship, a No.2 ranking in the country and a 25-win season that has earned him the … Read more
Insane. Unreal. Crazy. Those words could describe one of the most memorable performances of Shane Soderwall’s rookie college hockey season at Curry. He made 98 saves, good enough to tie an NCAA record, in a wild tournament battle with eventual national champion Hobart that ended with the Colonels falling 4-3. “That was a one in a … Read more
Our lovely season known as Women’s D-III Hockey has come to an end. The All-American awards for East/West have been announced, now, we’ll announce this year’s USCHO awards! This was one of the best, if not the best season to date for women’s D-III hockey in terms of seeing an undefeated 31-0-0 UW-River Falls winning … Read more
Coaching the Hobart Statesmen to back-to-back national championships while winning the NEHC and establishing a new consecutive home win-streak at 37 games and counting, has earned Hobart head coach Mark Taylor this year’s USCHO Coach of the Year. Hobart finished the campaign with an impressive 28-2-1 record including a 16-1-1 record in the New England … Read more
A great season of college hockey came to an end on Saturday with Hobart taking their second national championship in a row with a 2-0 win over Trinity. Now is the opportunity for the USCHO writers to look back and recognize the outstanding performances on the ice and we (Brian and me) have come up … Read more
Playing on home ice in front of a raucous crowd, Trinity took advantage of superb goaltending from Devon Bobak and timely goals from James Barbour and Devon Tongue to defeat Adrian, 2-1 and advance to the national championship game against Hobart on Saturday. “It was a great college hockey game,” said Trinity head coach Matt … Read more
Hobart took advantage of a first minute goal and a second marker just over seven minutes into the opening period and skated off with a 3-1 win over a young Utica team on Thursday afternoon. The Statesmen, defending national champions, took advantage of their experienced roster to stymie the upset minded Pioneers holding them scoreless … Read more
For the third season in a row, the Adrian Bulldogs have reached the Frozen Four and look to add a second championship in the past three seasons to their trophy case. The now expected level of excellence has all associated with the program that they will compete every year at this level with a focus … Read more
The Utica Pioneers have been highly successful winning three consecutive UCHC titles and consistently being ranked among the nation’s best D-III hockey teams but struggled over the past two seasons to advance beyond the quarterfinal round of the NCAA tournament. Following two consecutive upsets at the hands of the University of New England, this year’s … Read more
Make it three in a row for Adrian’s men’s hockey team. The Bulldogs are headed to the NCAA Division III Frozen Four for the third consecutive year and are hoping to bring home a national championship for the second time in that stretch. They advanced with a 5-3 win over NCHA rival St. Norbert, a … Read more
The quarterfinal round in the East provided incredible action on Saturday night inclusive of Utica exorcising some past Round of 8 demons with their win over Plymouth State as well as a four overtime thriller that saw Hobart down Curry, 4-3 after more than 135 minutes of game action. Trinity also was a winner meaning … Read more