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FRIDAY ROUNDUP: Del Gaizo’s OT game-winner completes comeback from 2-0 down as No. 9 UMass upsets No. 1 BC, 3-2; Merrimack knocks off No. 8 BU; No. 2 North Dakota scores late to skate past No. 11 Omaha

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UMass junior defenseman Marc Del Gaizo scored while being tripped on a breakaway at 1:59 of overtime as the Minutemen completed a comeback from 2-0 down to upset No. 1 Boston College, 3-2 (File photo: Rich Gagnon)

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Conference embracing involvement with College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion

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More and more, athletes and coaches around the sports world are increasing their commitment to positive cultural changes while making their spheres more welcoming.

The same goes for college hockey, including in the NCHC.

League commissioner Josh Fenton, Omaha assistant coach Paul Jerrard and North Dakota forward Jasper Weatherby are each involved in College Hockey for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, a task force that was unveiled earlier this month but has been meeting since last summer.

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: ‘All of the coaches are in support of’ moving up start of postseason tournament to March 14

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On Tuesday of this week, Todd Milewski wrote in the Wisconsin State Journal that the Big Ten will likely be moving up the start date of the playoff tournament to Sunday, March 14. That is something that Wisconsin coach Tony Granato let slip, apparently, before anything official had been announced by the league.

This Week in Hockey East: ‘Adapting to whatever situation I’m thrown into,’ Boston University goalie Duplessis helping Terriers to national ranking

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Three weeks ago, Boston University freshman goalie Vinny Duplessis wasn’t sure he’d see much — if any — action this season.

Then he was in net against Boston College, the top team in Hockey East, and he shut them down in one of BU’s best wins all season, a 3-1 victory on Feb. 6.

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Army West Point tasting success, figuring out ‘who we want to be as a team’

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The preseason media call is always an exercise in routine.

Coaches talk about their excitement for the upcoming season and touch upon the optimism of their team’s hard work and commitment, and everyone stresses the need to get better as the season advances.

The goal, everyone says, is the same every year: to be playing “your best hockey” when the March postseason rolls around.

This Week in Hockey East: Due to schedule imbalance, new power index assuring teams that ‘every game matters’

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In a very challenging year, one thing was clear to first-year commissioner Steve Metcalf early in the 2020-21 Hockey East campaign

It took just a couple of weekends of canceled games and teams and the league working to change opponents to make Metcalf realize come season’s end, there would be a significant imbalance in both number of games played as well as the strength of opponents each team faces.

Thus, Metcalf turned to a somewhat familiar formula to help determine the Hockey East standings: the PairWise.

With new college hockey initiative out to include all, ‘hockey culture needs to be a place where people from all walks of life feel accepted’

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The romantic image of hockey centers around the notion of the sport as an engine.

Teams can’t win unless they harness the selfless power of individuals, and victory only comes when they work together to control the flow of the game. An unmatched intensity creates this willingness to do whatever it takes to win.

It fosters a bottomless toughness capable of enhancing teamwork, friendship and lifelong bonds. That attitude spills over into the community and helps the sport shine through its brightest moments. This off-ice gentleness can welcome anyone into the inner circle by appreciating what it takes to sacrifice daily for a team.

At its best, hockey permeates that mentality, but the truth is that more sinister aspects exist in the shadows of the game. The same culture and attitude that makes hockey the greatest sport in the world is also capable of excluding others with hostile language, and players, fans, coaches and personnel can feel unwanted or afraid to speak up.