CHA season preview: Robert Morris still the favorite
The conference is more competitive than ever, but Robert Morris is still the favorite, as the Colonials return almost their entire squad from last season’s NCAA tournament team.
Conference Season Preview
Season previews for leagues
NESCAC Preview – Will seniority be the difference in the title chase?
What an entrance the NESCAC teams make to the season. As always, the late arrivals but with the most dramatic entrances and battles for playoff positioning amongst any of the other conferences in the D-III ranks. This year will likely be no exception according to last year’s championship coach from Williams, Bill Kangas. “We start … Read more
NEHC: Look to Norwich again
Last year’s champion Massachusetts-Boston defeated regular season champion Norwich 2-0 to win the NEHC Tournament. Favorites Norwich gets the nod to repeat as champions. They are currently ranked no. 6 in the USCHO poll. Holy Cross has a strong defense as well as scoring from the blue line. Dark horse St. Anselm has a potent … Read more
Adrian early favorite in NCHA
With two ranked teams, the NCHA looks to be a race to the NCAA tournament. Adrian and St. Scholastica are early favorites, but other teams like St. Norbert could have something to say about that. Last year’s champion Adrian was the regular season and conference tournament champions. They lost to Elmira in the first round … Read more
Wis.-River Falls early favorite in WIAC
Though it’s a small conference, the WIAC boasts some of the country’s top teams, including Wisconsin-River Falls. Last year’s champion Wisconsin-River Falls won the regular season crown with 18 points and a 9-3 conference record. They defeated Wis.-Stevens Point to win the O’Brien Cup and the WIAC Tournament championship. The Falcons would go on to … Read more
Plattsburgh again the favorite in highly competitive ECAC West
With multiple NCAA tournament teams, including the national champion from last year, the ECAC West might be the toughest conference in the country. It will be changing after this year however, as Elmira, Utica, Neumann, and William Smith have all announced they’ll be joining the new United Collegiate Hockey Conference for the 2017-18 season. Last … Read more
MASCAC Preview: Vikings looking for a repeat
The rest of the MASCAC conference watched a two-team battle unfold last year between Salem State and Plymouth State in determining the conference championship. This year, the battle looks to be again waged between the two rivals with a question around who else is going to emerge as a worthy challenger for the crown. The … Read more
NE-10 Preview: Looking for a champion on the ice
The conference championship game was canceled last season due to a campus outbreak amongst hockey players at St. Anselm, and the title by conference edict was given to the top-seed Stonehill Skyhawks. This year, all of the teams hope the ultimate conference champion will be decided on the ice, and it is no surprise that … Read more
NEHC Season Preview: New Beacons facing big challengers
The conference is going through some upheaval off the ice, what with the departure of the University of New England to the CCC, school solvency issues with the Daniel Webster College program, and, most recently, the decision to not renew St. Anselm and St. Michael’s conference participation for the 2017-18 season, making the conference an … Read more
SUNYAC Conference Preview: Knights will have challenging road to repeat
What better way to look at a conference preview than through the eyes of the coach of the defending champions, who just so happens to be the same guy whose team has the bullseye on them, according to the other coaches in the conference. Geneseo’s Chris Schultz understands why his team was the coaches’ pick, … Read more
ECAC West Preview – “Respect all, fear none!”
For Hobart coach Mark Taylor, the philosophy is pretty simple: “Go out and win as many hockey games as you can and respect all but fear none.” With new conference configurations and new teams entering next season, this final year of play in the current ECAC West brings a new entrant from Stevenson College in … Read more
Endicott and Stevenson early favorites in Colonial Hockey
Last year’s champion Stevenson was the inaugural regular season and CHC tournament champion. Favorites Endicott topped Stevenson in the conference preseason poll by just two points. The Gulls return most of their roster, while Stevenson graduated 13 players. Dark horse If anyone will unseat the top two, it’s Morrisville State College. They made a great … Read more
NCHA preview: St. Norbert and Adrian again the faves
Last year’s champion Adrian and St. Norbert tied for the regular-season championship, sharing the Peter’s Cup for most points (35) in the regular season. Adrian won the Harris Cup, but it was St Norbert that made the deepest run in the NCAA tournament, advancing to the final, where it lost 5-1 to Wis.-Stevens Point. Adrian … Read more
WIAC season preview: Look to River Falls and Stevens Point
Last year’s champion Wis.-River Falls and Wis.-Eau Claire shared the regular-season league championship. It was the 18th time in program history the Falcons have won a title. The Blugolds won their second league crown. Wis.-Stevens Point won the WIAC tourney, though, and enjoyed a memorable postseason run, winning its fifth NCAA championship with a 5-1 … Read more
Augsburg and St. John’s are favorites in MIAC
Last year’s champion Augsburg won the regular season and conference tournament titles last year. The Auggies topped St. John’s 5-4 in a triple-overtime thriller in the MIAC title game and went on to play in the NCAA tournament, where they fell to St. Norbert 6-1 in the quarterfinal round. Favorites Augsburg, St. John’s, and St. … Read more
Hockey East teams make improvements to get results in 2016-17
With the 2016-17 season here, how do the teams stack up in Hockey East? Our columnists make valid points and make bold predictions. Boston College If Boston College were any other program, you might resign to the fact that 2016-17 will be a rebuilding season. It looked like after last season’s run to the Frozen … Read more
Changes in Hockey East mean ‘we’re in a different world now’
Times are changing for Hockey East and a quick look at the league’s coaches poll proves that not only is this no longer your father’s Hockey East, it might not even be your older sibling’s Hockey East. It has been five years since Boston College ripped off four straight postseason titles. And in that time … Read more
Majority of ECAC Hockey teams face uncertainty, but all optimistic
What can we expect in ECAC Hockey during the 2016-17 season? Our columnists have the rundown of all the teams, in alphabetical order: Brown Brown had a rough go of it last season. The Bears’ five wins marked the third straight year the program’s win total had dropped since appearing in the conference championship game … Read more
Dealing with departures and newcomers, who will step up in ECAC Hockey?
Departures are inevitable in college hockey, but the top ECAC Hockey teams seemed to have been hit especially hard last offseason. Most notable were Harvard’s Jimmy Vesey, who ended his four-year career in Cambridge by winning the Hobey Baker Award as college hockey’s top player, and Yale goalie Alex Lyon, who signed a professional contract … Read more
Optimism a shared trait amongst all Big Ten teams
As the Big Ten teams enter the 2016-17 campaign, each club has strong assets returning, but question marks as well. Here are the six team capsules, in alphabetical order: Michigan Last season 25-8-5, 12-5-3-2 Big Ten (second) Lost to North Dakota in the deciding game of the 2016 Midwest Regional. Names to know One of … Read more