Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
The tightness and uncertainty of the NCAA women’s hockey selection process can create some strange incentives. For instance, whoever wins Saturday’s 1:05 p.m. WCHA tournament semifinal at Ridder Arena between No. 5 Wisconsin and No. 6 Minnesota-Duluth might be best served by turning into Maroon and Gold superfans at 4:05 p.m. when the No. 1 … Read more
Well, it wouldn’t be the NCAA selection process without some controversy, and there was plenty this time around, albeit the same complaints that have surfaced the past few seasons. Once again the events of last weekend produced a 6-3 East-West split, forcing the three Western teams, St. Norbert, Wisconsin-River Falls and St. Thomas, to play … Read more
College hockey is in the NHL news … and Michigan State leads a wrapup of another glorious weekend for the sport.
Down to the wire in Division III, and Chris Lerch might have the selections all figured out as we await the official word.
Now that the field has been selected, USCHO takes a forensic look at the decisions made by the NCAA men’s D-III committee.
Big weekend is here, especially for the likes of Hobey candidate Jim Slater and the Spartans … plus: lots on the ECAC plate to ponder.
CSTV broadcast two ECAC games this season, out of the goodness of its own heart, apparently, since the ECAC never actually announced a relationship with the network. This despite the fact that CSTV is falling over itself to get college hockey games on televison, and every other conference signed and announced a deal years ago. … Read more
No matter how long sports are played, watched or coached, the next week is never quite like any other. Many of women’s college hockey’s seniors, even as they’re ritually honored in their final home games of the regular season, nonetheless have plenty of new competitive experiences forthcoming. Even if the seniors were to play forever, … Read more
Championship Week It comes down to this. Twenty-two Division III teams left; there will be just nine standing on Sunday. Seven conference championships to be decided. Does it get any better than this? Let’s take a look at each of the weekend’s tournaments. ECAC East Where: Northfield, VT When: Semifinals are Saturday, March 6, 1 … Read more
One upside to having a small number of teams in the NCAA women’s hockey tournament is that it adds to the importance and excitement of the regular season. This being the most competitive year to date among the top eight teams in women’s college hockey — and perhaps the last year before NCAA expansion — … Read more
While there are some huge games this weekend, including the SUNYAC semifinals, the ECAC East, ECAC Northeast and NESCAC quarterfinals and the MCHA tournament, this is also somewhat of a slow week. Twenty teams have completed their seasons, and playoff-bound squads from the NCHA and ECAC West have a bye week before their final showdowns. … Read more
Here We Go As I’ve said at this time of the year for as long as I’ve been covering D-III hockey for USCHO, the NCAA tournament really starts this weekend. The NCHA and SUNYAC begin playing down to a single team that will claim that conference’s automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament, which starts in … Read more
Since the NCAA Frozen Four and the IIHF World Championships are two of the premier women’s hockey tournaments each non-Olympic year, one would think that the two events could be scheduled so that their training and competition schedules do not conflict. Turns out this year, it was too much to ask for. The competitions themselves … Read more
Some bracket projection, insight into the big games, and the ECAC’s future (and future stars).
Because we just can’t get enough of talking about this film.
A Letter from Bill Bowes This past weekend, I got a call from Bill Bowes, the former Wentworth head coach who was dismissed on January 30. He requested that USCHO.com publish a statement from him to the college hockey community concerning his situation. Here it is, unedited and in its entirety: Dear Chris, As you … Read more
Has any sport ever developed as many great rivalries in such a short span of time as women’s college hockey? This may be women’s hockey seventh season with a national championship and only its fourth with an NCAA-sponsored title, yet there are already several women’s matchups whose mere mention brings back memories of stunning upsets, … Read more
It’s been over two years since the No. 1 and No. 2 teams in the USCHO.com poll met during the regular season, but that’ll change this weekend when No. 1 Dartmouth takes on No. 2 Minnesota at Ridder Arena in a rare late-season East-West showdown. Because the top two teams have typically resided in different … Read more
The Tie’s the Limit Watching the scores come in over the past few weeks in Division III, I’ve been noticing what I thought was an inordinate number of ties. Asking around, other fans and coaches agreed. Time to get out the ol’ slide rule. 1998-99: 53 ties 1999-00: 60 2000-01: 56 2001-02: 64 2002-03: 71 … Read more
Winds Of Change If Harvard’s schedule looks a little different from previous years, there’s a reason. Two items had changed from Beanpots in the Crimson’s past. First, Harvard was playing in the late game in the Beanpot. In the last several years, Harvard has played in the early semifinal on the first Monday in February, … Read more