Men’s D-II/III in general
Team Overview: The continuous improvement exhibited by coach Jeff Beaney’s squad over the past two seasons has not gone unnoticed around the league — the huskies aren’t sneaking up on anyone anymore. BEANEY “We have a veteran team this year,” said Beaney. “But with the experience and depth, we need to have a better start … Read more
Team Overview: Norwich basically reloaded last season with the offensive emergence of Rick Cleaver and Nikita Kashirsky who each totaled over 40 points. In fact, the Cadets scored 151 goals last season while only giving up 56 so they were able to play well in all three zones and dominate opponents. “We have some good … Read more
Team Overview: Bill O’Neill is in that elite group of coaches with over 400 career wins — all at Salem State. O’Neill like the looks of his returning players and is curious about the mix of some of the new recruits coming in: “You just don’t know what you have before you get on the … Read more
Team Overview: Yes the Hawks still continue to face the dilemma of being a D-II team in a D-III league — so once again they will not qualify for tournament play come playoff time in the conference. While they are the reigning D-II tournament champions, coach Ed Seney would like his squad to focus on … Read more
Team Overview: Back for the third season at his alma mater, head coach Jamie Rice really likes his returning players as well as what the newcomers can bring to his team. “We lost a big class last season that were the primary group that redefined the hockey program here at Babson,” Rice said. “No doubt … Read more
Welcome back to all the fans who love D-II/III hockey in New England! Better late than never as the ECAC East and NESCAC schools are last to officially step on to the ice for real practices and the start of games in mid-November. I actually prefer to think of the late start as a good … Read more
Team Overview: New head coach Peter Belisle finds himself in similar position to Castleton’s Alex Todd. He inherits a team which did not win a game last season although they competed well in certain games during the season. BELISLE “I got the job on June 10 this year and after putting my staff together hit … Read more
Middlebury College, which won’t see action until Nov. 17, is atop the first regular season USCHO.com Division III Men’s Hockey Poll, receiving 14 of 15 first-place votes. Following the three-time defending national champions is St. Norbert, which received the remaining first-place vote. Manhattanville moves from No. 5 in the preseason poll to No. 3 after … Read more
Once again, Bethel will likely be a big-time offensive threat as the Royals return virtually everyone from last year’s squad. Leading the way will be the team’s leading goal-scorer/point-getter from a year ago, sophomore forward Kent Bostrom (18-15-33). He led the Bethel offense that was tops in the league last season, averaging 4.88 goals per … Read more
Last season, where the offense went, so did Gustavus. All of the Gusties’ 14 wins came when they scored at least four goals, and 11 of them came when they scored 5 or more goals. Only once, in the first round of the MIAC playoffs, did Gustavus lose when scoring at least five goals as … Read more
There wasn’t a whole lot that went right for Hamline last season, but this year has a chance to be different as the Pipers return nearly all of their team from a year ago. Hamline’s top three scorers, freshmen forwards Dustin Fulton (10-15-25), Joe Long (7-15-22), Justin Hanna (7-7-14) and Steve Festler (7-4-11), are all … Read more
For the past 18 seasons, the MIAC has been dominated by a pair of teams — St. Thomas and St. John’s. The Tommies have won at least a share of the regular-season title 13 times, while the Johnnies have taken home the crown the other five times. In recent history, the MIAC has become a … Read more
After opening the season with four-straight wins over MCHA opponents, the Cobbers won just one more game. Concordia beat Wisconsin-Superior — which made it to the NCAA Tournament — 4-3 in overtime on Nov. 25. The Cobbers do return their top scorer in senior winger Dan Perry (12-7-19) and all of their goaltenders, including sophomore … Read more
A Quick Start Last season, Cortland won four games. They didn’t even win their second game until past the halfway point. This year, the Red Dragons have already won three times … in their first three games. “When you got four wins the previous season, and get three right off the bat, the guys are … Read more
First-year Wentworth head coach R.J. Tolan has chosen Michael Bertoni and Kevin Crowder as assistant coaches. A native of Franklin, Mass., Bertoni is certainly no stranger to Division III college hockey, having played and coached at the Mass.-Boston. A four-year letter winner who played in 83 games, Bertoni was a captain for the Beacons during … Read more
St. Thomas is in a good position to repeat as regular-season champs in 2006-07, despite losing three of its top five scorers. Gone are forwards Brandon Wilcox (12-26-38) and Dan Krmpotich (12-23-35) and defenseman John Bottoms (6-15-21). Bottoms may be the biggest loss for the Tommies as coach Terry Skrypek said he played probably two-thirds … Read more
Last season, St. Mary’s showed signs of promise in the final weeks of the season, going 7-1-0 in the final eight games of the season. That run included a pair of wins over St. Olaf and one over Bethel. If the Cardinals are going to be the “dark horse” St. Thomas coach Terry Skrypek predicts … Read more
If last weekend was any indication what type of season we are in for, don’t change the channel. While not a full slate of NCHA and MCHA teams were in action last weekend, the handful of teams who did play did their best to raise eyebrows across the nation. On Friday, the first shocker of … Read more
Good Start, Bad Start Elmira and Neumann have gotten their seasons off to polar opposite starts, both against SUNYAC opponents. Neumann began by ripping off three convincing wins to start the season before finally dropping a game against Geneseo this past Saturday. The first pair of victories came at the expense of a seemingly hapless … Read more
A strong start to the 2005-2006 season didn’t amount to much for the Auggies. They opened the season with three-straight wins over Lake Forest, St. Norbert and Wisconsin-Stout. But an eight-game slide at the end of the conference season capped off a disappointing season. First-year coach Chris Brown should be in good shape offensively as … Read more