Men’s D-II/III in general
Playoffs? You want to talk playoffs? If you can picture the opening lines with the voice from the NFL’s ex-Indianapolis Colts coach Jim Mora you can kind of imagine that sense of incredulousness that accompanies the rapid end to the regular season once we hit February and the dramatic “win or go home†aspect that … Read more
Rolli Hits Milestone, Prepares for Playoffs With the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth’s 4-2 victory over Johnson & Wales Saturday night, coach John Rolli earned his 500th victory. In his typical fashion, he downplayed the milestone. “It’s a longevity milestone, I think,†chuckled the affable coach. “We’ve had great players and great teams over the years. We’ve … Read more
A First And A Return Brockport did something never before accomplished in school history and Geneseo returned to their winning playoff ways after a three year drought in the SUNYAC play-in round. Brockport not only hosted their first playoff game ever, they won their first playoff game in school history, defeating Potsdam, 3-1. “It feels … Read more
â€Rise and Shine, It’s Playoff Time†That’s how Elmira coach Tim Ceglarski greeted me when we talked early on Tuesday morning. It may have been the case of too many cups of coffee, but he definitely has a point. It is time for playoff hockey in the ECAC West and teams either win or see … Read more
Make that an even dozen. Twelve straight polls–stretching out nearly four months–have now had the Plattsburgh Cardinals atop Division III hockey. Yet despite convincing wins on the road over archrival (and then-ninth ranked Oswego) and Cortland, their first place vote total shrunk from 19 to 17. The beneficiary of those defections? The University of Wisconsin-Superior … Read more
The pieces of the jigsaw puzzle are finally falling into place. Last week’s action solidified playoff positions in the NCHA and MCHA, and the end result is a host of interesting first round match-ups in both leagues. In the NCHA, nothing is more intriguing than the 4/5 tilt between the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and … Read more
Cadet’s On The Rise With R.I.T.’s departure two seasons ago from the ECAC East, many people, myself included, figured penciling Manhattanville in as the conference champion was going to be a forgone conclusion for the next few years. Somebody forgot to tell Norwich that. The second year Norwich Cadets have quickly scaled up the ECAC … Read more
Win Or Go Home For several MIAC teams, the playoffs begin this week. Only two of the league’s five playoff spots are spoken for, and seven of the conference’s nine teams still have a shot at earning a berth to the postseason tournament. For those teams that advance, a chance at earning the MIAC’s automatic … Read more
Quick someone find me a mathematician–the possible playoff permutations are mind boggling as we head into the regular season’s final weekend. What we know about next week’s conference playoffs won’t fill a thimble compared to what is completely up in the air including: who is in, who is out, who can win the regular season … Read more
With five points separating the top three teams in the ECAC Northeast, it’s obvious that this race is going right down to the final buzzer. Right at the top of the pile is Curry College, one point behind front runner Nichols, and coach Rob Davies is happy with where they are at this juncture. “If … Read more
Logjam The stress level just keeps increasing as no one has been able to pull away from the rest in the middle of the pack. Heck, not even Plattsburgh has clinched first place. To wit: if Oswego wins their match-up on Friday and beats Potsdam, and if Plattsburgh losses to Cortland, the two teams will … Read more
Who is Manhattanville? Manhattanville traveled to the Aud last weekend and swept the Utica Pioneers, moving into a tie with Hobart for second place in the league standings. Normally, a late season four point weekend would make a coach pretty happy, but not so for Valiants head coach Keith Levinthal who came away more confused … Read more
One more and it will be an even dozen. For the 11th consecutive poll, the Plattsburgh Cardinals are the top team in Division III college hockey. This time, however, it is not unanimous. The University of Wisconsin-Superior received the lone dissenting vote and moved up one slot to second, after edging then-second ranked St. Scholastica … Read more
Things are really heating up as the final two weekends are upon us. Only four regular season games remain on the schedule–that’s eight points up for grabs and with things so tight in the standings, a bit of a stumble on the weekend or a strong couple games can make the difference in making the … Read more
Concordia Setback The race for the final playoff spot was shaken up this week with the revelation that Concordia’s lone win in MIAC play, a 4-1 victory over Bethel, was aided by the use of an ineligible player. Concordia used the non-rostered player, an enrolled Concordia student, as the result of a shortage at the … Read more
Only a week of conference action remains in both the MCHA and NCHA, and amazingly the playoff picture has shaped into one that is rather clear. Before taking a quick look at that, however, it’s time to examine the USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll for the final time this season. St. Scholastica dropped down a … Read more
Wanted: Points “One point is not helping. You need two points. We only have three games left, so we need some points.” Though that was said by Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith after their tie with Buffalo State, it could have been said by a lot of coaches. With teams having either three or four games … Read more
With just two weeks remaining in the regular season, the race for the NCAA Tournament is as wild as ever. After all the game games are over, the NCAA committee will convene in their yearly conference call and announce the seven teams that will make it to the 2009 Division III women’s ice hockey NCAA … Read more
For a team top-heavy with freshmen, coach RJ Tolan has the Wentworth Leopards firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt, with an eye on getting home-ice advantage. Reached while preparing his squad for an important game against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the third year coach offered thinks “[i]t’s going all right. We have a young group, … Read more
Still Learning Neumann had a wild up-and-down series against Utica last weekend. The Knights scored four goals in the first period on Friday night and then cruised to a 9-2 victory. Things were looking equally good in Saturday’s game as Neumann found itself on top 3-2 after two periods. But then the wheels came off … Read more