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This Week in NCHC Hockey: After false positive during 2021 NCAA tournament, St. Cloud State doing ‘everything we possibly could to make sure we can play’ this season

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Plenty of talk surrounded Michigan and St. Lawrence earlier this year, when COVID-19 cases saw those teams withdraw from the 2021 NCAA tournament before it began. Those moves soon became public information. What wasn’t public at the time of the Frozen Four in Pittsburgh, though, was that St. Cloud State briefly worried over a false … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Upcoming Minnesota series with NCHC’s Minnesota Duluth should be ‘just good hockey teams going against each other’

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Minnesota hasn’t played an in-state rival for conference points since March of 2013, but in the middle of back-to-back series against St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth, it feels like we’ve been transported back a couple years. The Gophers and Bulldogs will face off in a home-and-home bout this weekend with Friday’s game being played … Read more

With vaccinations varying across the college hockey community, most schools, leagues helping make this a normal season while still in a COVID world

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Even before the puck dropped on the opening weekend of the 2021-22 season, college hockey felt the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The season-opening series between Alaska and Minnesota scheduled for Oct. 2-3 in Minneapolis was postponed to mid-January because of COVID protocols that involved Tier 1 individuals associated with the Alaska program. Tier … Read more

Monday 10: Michigan the potential new No. 1 in this week’s poll, Bentley gains upset, Denver goes on scoring run

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. Michigan stakes claim to this week’s No. 1 ranking with IceBreaker championship Michigan won the first of what it hopes will be more championships this season by downing No. 1 Minnesota State, 3-2, on Saturday after … Read more

USCHO BETTOR’S EDGE: Despite many top-20 matchups, plenty of heavy favorites according to USCHO staff; all favorites win in Week 1

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Well, if there was a desire to present to you some betting advice in this new USCHO Bettor’s Edge column, week one gave mixed results, depending on how you approach the mission. If you wanted to find out what teams were heavy favorite, congratulations. USCHO Bettor’s Edge properly nailed all of the favorites last Friday … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Minnesota State finding way through tough early-season schedule with nationally-ranked teams

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During this season’s CCHA preseason conference call, Minnesota State coach Mike Hastings was asked about the fact that his team is set to play six consecutive games against top-ranked teams to start the new season. Hastings joked that he wanted to throw former assistant coach Darren Blue under the bus but couldn’t because he also … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: New transfer rule benefiting more schools than normal in 12-team conference

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Transfer players have always played a role in college hockey. But while transfers once served to plug a hole or two on a team’s roster, some schools took advantage of a new rule to help makeover their lineup for this season. Last spring, the NCAA Division I council voted to allow undergraduate players in football, … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Away from the rink, North Dakota’s Driscoll finding pickleball a rewarding, humbling experience

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We can’t all be the Tom Brady of our sport, but North Dakota goaltender Zach Driscoll feels he has a couple of irons in the fire. A graduate student who played the last three hockey seasons at Bemidji State, Driscoll in the summer of 2020 was introduced to the sport of pickleball by fellow Twin … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Michigan facing familiar challenge from Minnesota Duluth at upcoming IceBreaker Tournament

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Their roster makeup is quite different, Mel Pearson hails from Canada and Scott Sandelin is from Minnesota’s Iron Range, and nobody is going to confuse Ann Arbor and the Twin Ports. Even if not much else is the same, Michigan would probably like to emulate Minnesota Duluth’s season-ending results from the last half-decade or so. … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: The almighty transfer portal and rise of the super-senior

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Depending on who you talk to, the new NCAA rules around player movement, the ability to transfer and play immediately plus the extra year of eligibility players have been given due to the pandemic, are making things better…or in some cases, worse for college hockey. Players now have more choice and control over their college … Read more

College hockey community rising to occasion to save teams, but should such a responsibility fall on fans?

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The 2020-21 season was another typical year for the Robert Morris hockey program. The Colonials won Atlantic Hockey’s Western Pod regular-season championship and were within a game of advancing to their seventh straight playoff semifinal appearance. It took an unorthodox playoff format and a double-overtime second game to stop the team, but RMU clearly ranked … Read more

Monday 10: Boston College wins IceBreaker, Atlantic Hockey finds success against Big Ten, CCHA begins again

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Each week, USCHO.com will pick the top 10 moments from the past weekend in our Monday 10 feature. 1. No. 6 Boston College survives opening game shootout, wins IceBreaker Tournament If you look at Saturday’s score, you might think Boston College’s road to the IceBreaker Tournament title was a cakewalk. On the second night of … Read more