Columns, excluding “This Week” columns
I’ve not been around the sport as long as some, but I believe I’ve been involved with it enough to say once again that we’re at the best point the sport [D-III Hockey] has ever been in terms of parity from what we’ve seen. Week-after-week, we continue to see upset-after-upset, something that wasn’t as common … Read more
Aurora has been one of the better teams in the NCHA this season. And the Spartans made a statement Friday with a 4-3 win in overtime over then No. 12 Trine. The Spartans led 3-1 going into the third before the Thunder rallied to force overtime. It was there that Chayce Schmidt delivered the game … Read more
Another great weekend of hockey that continued to produce some big upsets where four ranked teams (Geneseo, Norwich, Trinity, and Salve Regina) in the east lost, playoff caliber hockey in several conferences where the races continue to tighten and a host of overtime games that produced a few sudden victory moments. Here is this week’s … Read more
(7) Minnesota Duluth at (1) Ohio State Nadine Muzerall became the winningest head coach in Ohio State program history with the Buckeyes’ 3-0 win on Friday. OSU outshot UMD 38-14 as they scored once per period to earn the win with goals from Kelsey King, Joy Dunne and Kenzie Hauswirth. The Bulldogs pushed back at … Read more
Carsen Richels wasn’t sure what he was going to do from a hockey standpoint after leaving New Hampshire, where he had played the first two seasons of his collegiate hockey career. Returning to his home state of Minnesota made sense. “I definitely wanted to be close to home and in a more comfortable setting,” Richels … Read more
A look at the national rankings finds a number of New York-based teams among the very best in the nation and logjammed in the top 10. While a lot of focus and discussion has included teams like Hobart, Elmira, Plattsburgh, Utica and even Skidmore, a very strong Geneseo has sort of flown under the radar … Read more
Conference playoffs are almost here, approaching faster than you may think, but also, this thing called Pairwise, it’s now becoming more accurate. By accurate, I mean accurate in terms of showing us the projected field for potential at-large bids or auto-bid seedings and so forth, by no means do I mean it’s an accurate representation … Read more
We’re quickly approaching conference playoff time in D-III hockey and we had many good conference-play matchups this past week. We had some games moved back a day or two, mostly out west due to the winter storms wandering their way through, but here’s your east recap highlighting the main events from each league! CCC Western … Read more
And we are back to chaos following a weekend where multiple ranked teams fell, 15 overtime games were played and things tightened up across several conference races as the second half action across the east heated up as expected. While bonus hockey was in abundance, not all the games were decisive with overtime played. Elmira, … Read more
The two-game losing streak is history and one of the best seasons in program history continues for the Bethel Royals. Winners of just 10 games a season ago, Bethel is 11-4-2 overall and tied for first in the MIAC (5-2-1) after dominating Augsburg 5-0 Saturday night to salvage a split in their weekend series. The … Read more
Week two of January is here and we’ve got a full slate of games on tap, including some non-conference matchups. The weekend will be highlighted by a showdown of nationally ranked teams as St. Scholastica takes on UW-Eau Claire. Time to take a look at some of my predictions for the weekend. Friday Concordia (7-5-1) … Read more
Kyle Kozma’s dad used to be a goalie but he was told at a young age by his father to not play the position. “He told me don’t be a goalie,” Kozma said. “He told me to be a player, to go score a goal, get an assist, and then if I still wanted to … Read more
Currently sitting atop the NE-10 standings and with an overall record of 13-3-0, the Assumption Greyhounds have had early success with a foundation of strong team play, great offensive talent and a legacy coaching staff that includes all former players at Assumption dating back to former head coach Lance Brady. Head coach Michael Looney played … Read more
We had an exciting week of D-III Women’s hockey this past weekend and earlier this week, one team made a run and some other upsets occurred! The second half is officially upon us! Trinity? Where’ve you been? The Bantams had a trio of tall tasks in their way this past week, visiting #8 Norwich on … Read more
We’re back in action out west, where it currently looks like at this rate, we may be headed west come March. UW-River Falls holds a commanding undefeated record of 15-0-0, while Gustavus sits behind them in pairwise, their only losses coming to the Falcons. Will we see a west winner for the second-straight season? Back-to-back? … Read more
What a weekend with a plethora of great hockey in conference action with ranked teams battling for crucial points; tournament action where hardware was a clear focus and terrific non-conference games that produced the usual number of close contests if not upsets. There is always something new and exciting in the D-III hockey scene and … Read more
Facing one of its biggest tests of the season, Concordia found a way to pass it. Up against the second-ranked team in the nation in St. Scholastica, which had lost only once all season, the Cobbers scored two second period goals that propelled them to a 2-1 win at home on Friday. Concordia had dropped … Read more
With Friday night’s matchup between No. 1 ranked Hobart on the road to face No. 10 Skidmore, there was a definite opportunity to put the spotlight both teams contending near the top of the NEHC standings. While Hobart won a non-conference game over Middlebury last weekend, the Thoroughbreds have been waiting nearly a month to … Read more
After dispatching non-conference foe Middlebury by an 8-1 score last weekend, No. 1 ranked Hobart enters 2024 with an 11-2-0 record and a remaining schedule that is strictly composed of NEHC opponents. The Statesmen know they face everyone’s best game as defending conference champions and national champions but may have their best team performing at … Read more
Here we go. The first first full weekend of hockey for 2024 and it should be an entertaining one to say the least. Friday and Saturday No. 2 St. Scholastica (10-1, 4-0) at Concordia (6-4-1, 2-2) The Saints lost their first game of the season last weekend but hope to shake that off and maintain … Read more