Season previews for leagues
Last, but certainly not least every season, the NESCAC conference gets into the fray and starts playing regular-season hockey starting in the middle of November. The conference is playing catch-up with many of their league brethren in New England, but no worries, these teams come up to speed quickly. They will have to do just … Read more
It’s a brand new season for the NCHA and the landscape of the league looks quite different from where it ended last season. It was announced prior to the 2012-13 season that the two remaining schools in the NCHA would join the MCHA. Last spring, the league decided to stick with NCHA as the league … Read more
Avoiding the “sophomore slump” is often referred to a player who’s entering his second year after a decent first year. For Nichols’ Kevin Swallow and Curry’s T.J. Manastersky, they will try to avoid the sophomore slump as head coaches. Both had outstanding rookie campaigns in 2012-13, going 17-9-1 and 11-12-4, respectively. “I think every day … Read more
Wisconsin-Eau Claire enters the season with the biggest target on its back. The Blugolds are the defending national champions and not surprisingly, the favorite to win the WIAC title in the first season where the teams will play only under the WIAC banner. The teams had previously competed in the NCHA as well. The top … Read more
Small, but strong. Such is how the six-team ECAC West is shaping up in the early moments of the 2013-14 campaign. Division III’s next-to-smallest conference (only the WIAC with its five teams is tinier) can be described as both cozy and feisty. “I think as coaches, we all believe day in and day out that … Read more
While some teams have already had a taste of regular-season action this past weekend with non-conference games, the real ECAC East conference play gets into full swing this Friday night. As one might expect, the Norwich Cadets will be searching for their 16th consecutive regular-season title, but this year’s path may be the most challenging … Read more
It’s time for another season in the MIAC and don’t be surprised if the league race is as tight as it was a season ago. A total of three points was all that separated co-champions St. Thomas and St. John’s (21 points) from fifth-place St. Olaf (18 points). Gustavus and Concordia were just one point … Read more
Optimism runs amok at the beginning of every hockey season, with each team insisting that its conference is wide-open and that a league title is there for the taking. This time, they mean it. Really. It’s been a while – four years, to be precise – since anyone other than Oswego has captured the SUNYAC … Read more
The MASCAC could be a multiple horse race for the 2013-14 season. In the league coaches’ poll, last season’s regular-season champion Plymouth State and Westfield State each received three first-place votes. Massachusetts-Dartmouth – last year’s MASCAC tournament champion – is right behind in third place while Salem State is in fourth picking up the other … Read more
Some programs have storied pasts, others have veteran coaches and almost all, the coaches agree, are located in places where the sport remains important.
Teams have seven fewer conference games in 2013-14, and everyone makes the playoffs for the first time in nearly two decades.
Unlike the three other conferences, where the league tournament is all-inclusive, ECAC Hockey leaves four teams on the outside looking in when the playoffs commence. It becomes a mad scramble to get into the field, and last season’s final week saw no fewer than four teams alive for the final berth. That makes it competitive … Read more
With a national stage thanks to the Big Ten Network, the six teams set off on the new conference venture.
Defending national champion Yale and the 11 other ECAC Hockey teams were unchanged by conference and head coaching changes.
In a league as powerful and competitive top to bottom as the new NCHC, it’s tough to tell in preseason how much the eight teams will have left in their tanks come playoff time.
We preview Atlantic Hockey, which last season got two teams into the NCAA tournament for the first time.
For the first time in three years, the lineup of teams in College Hockey America looks exactly the same as it did the year before. How long that will last remains to be seen, but at least for now, the rumors all involve teams joining the CHA, not leaving it. “For the women’s game, … Read more
This promises to be a transitional year in the WCHA, as players like Brianna Decker, Jocelyne and Monique Lamoureux, and Noora Räty that have formed the identity of the conference have completed their eligibility. Their former schools all bring in strong recruiting classes, so while the personnel losses leave the door open a crack for … Read more
“The Olympic year is an equalizer for all of college hockey, not just Hockey East,” said Providence coach Bob Deraney. “There’s increased parity because some of the marquee players throughout the country are with their national teams at this time. I think that’s a wonderful thing, because it really shows the parity in women’s hockey … Read more
Always the last conference to kick off its regular season, the NESCAC comes together this year as maybe the most balanced conference in the nation. Last season saw two new coaches join the conference and add to its illustrious group of hockey minds. This season sees the addition of former Mass.-Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald to … Read more