Men’s D-II/III in general
No More Sundberg There is no beating around the bush. Niklas Sundberg is gone. One of the top goaltenders ever at Plattsburgh, and in Division III for that matter, has done his four years. Now, Plattsburgh needs to replace the two-time All-American who led it to a national championship in 2001. For now, that burden … Read more
Hobart takes its first in-season tourney title since the ’80s; Elmira defies the trends; and RIT toughs it out on the way to — and from — Potsdam. Scott Biggar rounds up the ECAC West.
A proposal to further limit the Division III hockey season draws plaudits and opposition from coaches; also, Chris Lerch outlines the impact of officiating on sports.
Norwich remained first in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll, earning eight first-place votes despite not having played a game thus far this season. St. Norbert used a two-win weekend, including a 2-1 victory at No. 4 Wis.-Superior, to strengthen its grip on second place. The Green Knights received three first-place votes. RIT captured … Read more
Defending champion St. Thomas is picked to repeat by MIAC coaches in the league’s 2002-2003 pre-season poll. The Tommies received seven of nine first-place votes, with the other two going to last year’s runner-up, Gustavus Adolphus. The Golden Gusties lost to St. Thomas in overtime of the MIAC championship game last season. Not much is … Read more
The D-III season is off to its usual slow start, with just 21 games played during the first two weeks. Things begin in earnest this coming weekend, as league play begins in the NCHA, MICA and SUNYAC. The ECAC Northeast will begin play next week, but we’re still two full weeks away from the season … Read more
Picking up their play at the collegiate level hasn’t been a problem so far for the ECAC West’s crop of freshmen, as Scott Biggar reports. Also: some of Utica’s players learn the importance of academics, and Elmira-Oswego earns Game of the Week honors.
Norwich held onto the top spot in this week’s USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll, but after that, things got significantly more interesting. Two teams, RIT and St. Norbert, finished tied for the No. 2 slot, while No. 4 Wis.-Superior, the defending national champion, got more first-place votes than either No. 2 winners and finished just … Read more
With Division III play just getting under way, Chris Lerch rounds up the offseason news, including the (near-) demise of the minigame, potential NCAA tournament layouts, and the 15-second faceoff rule.
And, they’re off … Wisconsin-Superior may be defending D-III champs, but it’s Norwich again on top of the polls.
It seems like every preseason RIT fans are talking about losing an All-American to graduation. Jamie Morris, Pat Staerker, Steve Toll. A look at the ’02-’03 preseason shows nothing different, as RIT tries to find a way to replace three-time first-team All-American and 2002 AHCA College Division Player of the Year Jerry Galway. “Obviously Galway … Read more
This year is when life gets interesting for the Manhattanville hockey team, its coach Keith Levinthal, and its fans. Manhattanville’s fourth recruiting class enters this year as freshmen. Over the past three years, the team has had a taste of some success and some frustrations. The Valiants reached the ECAC West championship game once (2000), … Read more
It has been five long years since the Soaring Eagles have been invited to the NCAA tournament. Elmira’s last trip to the Big Dance was in the ’96-’97 season, when they lost a two game series to St. Johns in the quarterfinals. That ties the longest such stretch in school history, which first occurred back … Read more
Last year was a learning experience for the Pioneers, as they started from nothing and quickly built a team people noticed. Gary Heenan’s theme last season was that his team of freshmen needed to gain maturity and learn to play like sophomores and juniors in order to achieve their goal of making the playoffs. The … Read more
Not long ago, the ECAC West was in trouble. Left with a barely-functional membership of four, the league’s future was cloudy. Those days are past now. With a solid base to build on, the conference’s partisans look forward to a healthy 2002-03 season. Scott Biggar takes us onto the ice.
Last year was Neumann’s rookie season in the ECAC West. After playing an independent Division III schedule for three seasons, the Knights stepped into league play and received an eye-opening reception, getting thoroughly thumped in most of their contests. “It couldn’t get any worse than last year,” said Neumann coach Nick Russo. “I say that, … Read more
Adding depth is the name of the game this year for Hobart. The Statesmen played all of last season with only 14 forwards and six defensemen. Luckily for Hobart, the team didn’t suffer a lot of injuries during the season, and made it through without the bench shrinking too much. Head coach Mark Taylor is … Read more
Defending ECAC West tournament champion, RIT, is the coaches’ preseason choice to claim the regular-season men’s title based upon results of the 2002-03 preseason poll. Meanwhile, Elmira, the 2002 NCAA Division III National Champion, was picked as the preseason favorite in the ECAC West women’s conference. Coaches could not vote for their own team. RIT, … Read more
St. Norbert has been voted the pre-season favorite to win its conference by NCHA coaches.
A major proposal to have teams play each other three times per season starting in 2003-2004 was struck down by ECAC West athletic directors.