Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
The unwritten rules of polls are explained. Plus Chris looks at Trinity goalie Doug Kiselius, and explains why hockey has it better than soccer, at least in the NCAA. And the picks of the week, including the return of guest picker Artie Burkhart.
Are things out of sorts in the SUNYAC, or is it really just business as usual? Also, the NCHA-MIAC series is competitive, Curry gets hosed, and attendance figures get inflated, in this week’s look back at the weekend.
Some of Chris’ preseason overrated teams have actually turned out not to be, he says. And, after being patient, he’s joining those speaking out about the NCAA’s points of emphasis. Plus, a new name for the baby book.
Though it’s still early, some pivotal games were played last weekend; the MIAC does a little better against the NCHA; and once again, it’s time to retire some dubious traditions.
Chris Lerch welcomes USCHO’s expanded D-III coverage, profiles a coach who has moved to a new program while staying on the payroll at the old one, and takes a look around D-III. And he debuts his weekly prognostications.
More thoughts from the weekend past.
Is officiating in D-III going to be different in the east and west? And if you’re going to be drunk and stupid, why must you also photograph it? Officiating and hazing are two topics of discussion in this week’s column.
Chris Lerch counts down the second half of the USCHO.com/CSTV D-III men’s preseason poll, looks at some overlooked teams, and adds his salute to the no-longer-long-suffering fans in Beantown.
We’re talking about the new rules crackdown, shadiness in Moncton, and more.
As part of USCHO.com’s expanded D-III coverage, Ed Trefzger debuts a Monday D-III column, noting that penalties indeed are up, and fans and coaches are irritated with it.
Chris Lerch starts a new season for his weekly national D-III column by looking at the top half of the USCHO preseason poll. He also points out which teams are ranked too high, and which one had the opposite happen.
Are referees still backing off calling penalties in the third period, or are the players just learning by then?
So Gary Bettman and Bob Goodenow want to fight for the right to be the man who killed the game of hockey? Good for them. What more can you expect out of a Cornell grad and Harvard grad, respectively? They can destroy the NHL all they want, but ice rinks, ice skates, sticks, and Vulcanized … Read more
The United States is in an unfamiliar position entering this week’s annual Under-22 series with Canada-defending champion and favorite. As usual, the three-game series offers glimpses of top U.S. college players from both countries, but what’s been different recently is that the glimpses are of younger Canadians. The average age of this year’s Canadian roster … Read more
If Al Montoya had taken any longer to decide whether or not to return to Michigan, the Maize ‘N Blue Deli would have named a sandwich after him. While it’s not quite the same as New York City’s Carnegie Deli, the place the “Al Cubano” calls home, it’s the best Ann Arbor can do. Fortunately … Read more
Jayson Moy compares the five schools up for a spot in the ECAC, and pulls out a (conditional) winner.
I can remember my first exposure to the NHL Entry Draft. It was 1993 in the hockey hotbed of Old France — Quebec City. I was in Quebec with my godparents, whose son was earmarked as a potential first-round pick. He had just come out of high school having attended one of the better-known prep … Read more
Luke Beaverson’s intuition told him something was up, and it wasn’t positive. A defenseman for the Green Bay Gamblers of the United States League, Beaverson felt uneasy about his hockey future at North Dakota as last season wore on, and his fears were realized shortly after the season ended. Tom Morrow got tired of waiting, … Read more
Mark Mazzoleni’s departure can be picked apart, but it gives Harvard a chance to begin anew, and there is plenty to build on.
First, everyone looked at each other and made sure what they thought they heard was true. Steve Hagwell is being made ECAC commissioner? Haven’t we heard this before? Wasn’t he named associate commissioner in 2000 with the intention of giving him the authority to make the necessary decisions that commissioner Phil Buttafuoco, either because of … Read more