Last Year’s Champion: St. Thomas won the regular-season crown but Hamline prevailed in the conference tournament and earned the league’s automatic NCAA tournament bid. Favorites: St. Thomas, Hamline and St. Mary’s are the favorites in the conference this year. Dark Horse: St. John’s should be a much-improved team and has a great chance of returning … Read more
St. Thomas head coach Jeff Boeser wanted his top assistant, Parker Burgess, to do the inteview about the season ahead. As far as the Tommies are concerned, it really doesn’t matter who does the talking. The resutls speak for themselves. St. Thomas enters the year as the favorite to win the MIAC. The Tommies have … Read more
It’s time for another season in the MIAC and don’t be surprised if the league race is as tight as it was a season ago. A total of three points was all that separated co-champions St. Thomas and St. John’s (21 points) from fifth-place St. Olaf (18 points). Gustavus and Concordia were just one point … Read more
It wasn’t as if the 2-1 win amounted to a major upset, though, as the Gusties were ranked No. 5 in the country. The thing coach Brett Petersen wants people to remember however, is that although his team got the win, it wasn’t the better team on the ice that night. “We got outplayed and … Read more
It was a tale of two seasons in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference last year. St. Thomas was the most dominant team in the league during the regular season, winning the title, but it fell short in its bid to win the conference tournament. The Tommies lost, 4-3, to St. Olaf in the semifinal round, … Read more
Columnist Neal Jensen goes against the grain and picks Concordia to win the MIAC.
St. Olaf’s strategy this season appears to be the classic strategy of lie-in-wait and then attack at dusk. Despite the Oles’ projected fifth place finish in the MIAC preseason coaches poll, coach Sean Goldsworthy expects his charges to garner momentum down the stretch and become a playoff contender. The team has qualified for MIAC postseason … Read more
Cammi Granato, three-time ECAC Player of the Year, two-time Olympian and 15-year member of the U.S. Women’s National Team, was today announced as one of the first two female members in the 65-year history of the Hockey Hall of Fame. Granato will be formally inducted into the Hall on Nov. 8 as part of the … Read more
The NCAA men’s and women’s ice hockey rules committee gets this chance only once every two years, so there’s a little more emphasis to get it right. In the next month, leading up to and through the committee’s meeting June 8-11 in Indianapolis, the dialogue about potential rules changes will lead to debate and then … Read more
No one could have predicted the magical playoff run St. Olaf made last season. In their final regular-season games of the year, the Oles tied Hamline, then, were swept by St. Mary’s before heading into the playoffs. Obviously, it didn’t matter much to St. Olaf as it made it all the way to the first … Read more
First Round, First Times It’s been three years since Wisconsin-Superior has played in the NCAA Tournament. It’s the first time St. Olaf has ever played in the NCAA Tournament. Fittingly, those two teams will square off in the first round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament. The Yellowjackets stunned St. Norbert in the NCHA Playoffs to … Read more
NCAA Tournament Bids on the Line March Madness is upon us. No, not the men’s basketball NCAA Tournament, but the MIAC and NCHA championship games. If anyone from the MIAC wants to be playing in the NCAA Tournament, they will have to win the conference tournament. It doesn’t look as if any team has played … Read more
Coming Down to the Wire After one round of the NCHA playoffs, three teams made it through as expected, but one did not. I’ll give you a preview of the semifinals and what you can expect from the four teams vying for the Peters Cup. The MIAC has one weekend of play remaining and while … Read more
It’s Go Time The postseason is upon us, at least in the NCHA. And how about that nagging question-will MSOE make the NCAA Tournament? I’ll give a quick rundown of the first round matchups in the NCHA tournament and make a case for why the Raiders are for real. NCHA Playoffs No.8 Wisconsin-Eau Claire (2-19-4 … Read more
Changing of the Guard It’s no surprise that St. Norbert is leading the NCHA with one weekend to play, but it may be a surprise to see the Green Knights in the top spot in the recent USCHO.com poll. St. Norbert stole the number one ranking away from defending champ Middlebury after the Panthers lost … Read more
Critical Weekends Last weekend was huge in the NCHA as the top two teams squared off for conference supremacy. The MIAC has its own version this week as two of the top teams battle for the conference title. The St. Norbert Showcase One point separating them. Two critical points on the line. Three weeks left … Read more
The Calm Before the Storm While hockey in the West has hardly been smooth sailing this season, one player has had a calming influence on his team this year, and throughout his career. Johnnie on the Spot For three years, Adam Hanna has been St. John’s saving grace. The senior netminder has posted a 46-9-3 … Read more
Holiday Happenings While most teams had a lengthy layover for the holiday break, there were a couple of teams in the West that played some rather important games-games that could be pivotal in determining where they wind up at season’s end. Surprising Results in Vermont Expectations were high for St. Thomas when they began the … Read more
Midway Madness It’s the holiday season once again and the teams in the West have wrapped up an exciting first half of hockey. After a bumpy start to the season, things have started to smooth out and the perennial powers are sitting on their lofty perch atop the NCHA, MIAC and MCHA. But none of … Read more
The Western Jinx Only one thing is relatively certain in Division III West Region hockey; if I write about a team in one of my columns, odds are they are going to have a terrible weekend. This theory does not apply to the conference previews, but to my first two columns. In the first column, … Read more