MIAC 2011-12 Season Preview
Columnist Neal Jensen goes against the grain and picks Concordia to win the MIAC.
Conference Season Preview
Season previews for leagues
MCHA 2011-2012 preview
Adrian is picked once again to finish first in the MCHA.
MASCAC 2011-2012 season preview
This year, there’s a bigger incentive to play for in the MASCAC. An automatic bid to the NCAA tournament is up for grabs for the first time in the league’s three years as an organized Division III hockey conference, and the winner of the MASCAC postseason tournament has a chance to make history as the … Read more
ECAC Northeast Preview
At Curry College, the expectations are no different than they have been in years past. Last season, the Colonels won the ECAC Northeast tournament championship and earned a berth in the NCAA Division III tournament, and Curry coach Rob Davies believes that success will provide the foundation in creating a stronger team environment. However, Davies … Read more
SUNYAC 2011-2012 season preview
Once again, a SUNYAC team made it to the Division III national championship weekend. Once again, it was Oswego, but once again, they fell in the semifinal round. The season also saw Geneseo and Buffalo State recover very nicely from NCAA sanctions, Plattsburgh stumble only to come back and win the SUNYAC championship, Fredonia make … Read more
ECAC West 2011-2012 Season Preview
Although there was plenty of exciting hockey around the ECAC West last season, there was almost a feeling of the walking dead as well, as fans waited for the final shoe to drop signaling the dissolution of the league. Hope springs eternal however, and the feeling around the league is much more upbeat this October … Read more
Veteran goalies set to take WCHA’s center stage in 2011-12
It’s easy to pick out strengths and flaws, looking at the leftovers of all the WCHA rosters from last season going into 2011-12. Colorado College and Denver both have the personnel up front to light up the scoreboard on a nightly basis. North Dakota, meanwhile, lost a ton of offensive production in the offseason. So … Read more
Offseason of change means new faces around ECAC Hockey in 2011-12
In the wake of the most tumultuous summer in college hockey history, even insular ECAC Hockey has a few changes to adjust to. Gone is George Roll, fired by Clarkson and now coaching at new Division III program Nazareth in Rochester, N.Y. Gone is Guy Gadowsky, who hopes to replicate his Princeton successes with Penn … Read more
Not quite the end of the world as the CCHA knows it in 2011-12
According to people who have time to claim an expertise in such things, the ancient Mayan civilization predicted that 2012 will bring a giant shift for humanity. Some claim that Armageddon is approaching, that when our sun aligns with the center of the Milky Way on the solstice in December 2012, civilization will cease to … Read more
Amid uncertainty off ice, Atlantic Hockey hopes to take another step in 2011-12
After a summer of uncertainty and tragedy in the hockey world, it’s good to be able to finally focus on what’s happening on the ice. The deaths of three NHL players as well as the Locomotiv plane crash disaster cast a pall over all of hockey. And while college hockey was spared that kind of … Read more
Early exits last season fuel Hockey East teams for 2011-12
When the books were closed on the 2010-11 season for Hockey East, few would say it was one of success. Coming off three straight national titles — Boston College in 2008 and 2010, Boston University in 2009 — there were inflated expectations that this league was poised to become the dominant conference in college hockey. … Read more
Expect St. Norbert to reign once more in the NCHA
Such is St. Norbert College’s successful history and perennial depth that the loss of three of its top scorers merely brings a shrug of the shoulders and a reflex check of the pencil at the Green Knights name to repeat as Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champs. They are that good: 11 NCHA titles in 14 … Read more
MASCAC should be a battle
While the newly-created MASCAC still has one more year to go until NCAA tournament eligibility, there’s no shortage of story lines following what could be considered a successful debut for the conference. Salem State won the initial MASCAC championship in a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over top-seeded Fitchburg State. Overall, the conference was fairly competitive … Read more
Hamline expected to win extremely competitive MIAC
Wafer-thin differences between Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s upper echelon teams means the title race will come down to a battle of intangibles. MIAC coaches gave Hamline the nod in a preseason poll, but there was little consensus overall. The Pipers received four first-place votes, but Gustavus was second with two and Augsburg, St. Thomas and … Read more
Curry the early favorite in competitive ECAC Northeast
In and of itself, it’s not surprising that Curry took home the 2009-10 ECAC Northeast Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA. The Colonels have been a force in the conference, and last season was no exception, as they took Wentworth Institute of Technology down the wire for the regular season championship before a … Read more
Adrian should once again rule the MCHA
Adrian’s three-year stranglehold is the Midwestern Collegiate Hockey Association’s storyline entering the 2010-2011 campaign. The Bulldogs are poised to make it a four-year talking point. The perennial league leaders return a cavalcade of proven collegiate players who have claimed numerous honors, like last season’s MCHA Player of the Year Mike Dahlinger (10 goals and 36 … Read more
ECAC West struggles for survival
Welcome to the 10th year of full coverage of Division III men’s hockey on USCHO. The ECAC West traces its history back nearly three times that number of years, but the league’s future is seriously threatened. With the demise of Lebanon Valley’s team, the league now only counts five teams among its ranks. While all … Read more
Expect two team races in SUNYAC
Last season was a banner year for the SUNYAC, but one that fell slightly short. Two teams made the Division III national championship weekend in Lake Placid — Oswego and Plattsburgh. This is the first time this has happened since 1987, when those two teams faced each other in the championship game won by Plattsburgh … Read more
In 2010-11, Hockey East looks like Boston College, and everybody else
Can Hockey East go 4-for-4? The league has earned three straight national championships, starting with Boston College in 2008, followed by Boston University and then the Eagles again. Hobey Baker Award finalist Gustav Nyquist’s return makes Maine a more formidable foe this season (photo: Melissa Wade). It wouldn’t be a shock to see Hockey … Read more
It goes to 11: New faces, questions part of CCHA landscape in 2010-11
“It’s one louder, isn’t it?” asks Nigel Tufnel in “This Is Spinal Tap.” “It’s not 10.” Perhaps it’s just a personal perversion, but every time I think of the CCHA as an 11-team entity, I think of Nigel Tufnel’s magic amp, the one that is one louder. Michigan’s Louie Caporusso scored 10 of his 21 … Read more