In 2007, I attended my first Sacred Heart game as part of Rochester Institute of Technology’s radio broadcasting crew. The game was played at SHU’s home rink at the time, the Milford Ice Pavilion. The place, to be kind, wasn’t up to the standards of a Division I Hockey program. In 2016, SHU upgraded and … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced a watch list of 41 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey since 2014. The 41 goalies come from the United States (18), Canada (13), and Sweden (6), along with one each from the Czech … Read more
Last April, Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio announced that this season, his 20th, would be his last at the helm. He will also retire as commissioner of the College Hockey America women’s conference, which he has led for 13 years. At age 76, and after 40 years in college athletics, DeGregorio said that it was … Read more
Atlantic Hockey today announced a pair of changes to its 2022-23 conference schedule. The previously-postponed Canisius at Air Force series originally scheduled for Dec. 30-31 will now be played Feb. 13-14 at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs. Both games will start at 7:05 p.m. MST. Additionally, the Sacred Heart at Canisius series scheduled for … Read more
March Madness for men’s Division I college hockey could look a little bit like college basketball in the very near future. The Gazelle Group, a sports marketing and events company in New Jersey, has distributed memorandums to each of the men’s college hockey coaches to gauge interest in the establishment of a second postseason national … Read more
The Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off returns to Fiserv Forum in Milwaukee with Air Force, Minnesota Duluth, Northeastern, and Wisconsin comprising the third annual event from Dec. 28-29. Wisconsin won the inaugural event in 2021 and advanced to the title game of the 2022 tournament last week. An on-sale date for tickets to the event as … Read more
In the last Atlantic Hockey column, we handed out midterm grades for each Atlantic Hockey team. As we head into the second semester, what players are in the running to make the dean’s list? Here are my midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? They sure will. But … Read more
This weekend’s Atlantic Hockey series between Canisius and Air Force scheduled for Friday, Dec. 30 and Saturday, Dec. 31 at Cadet Ice Arena in Colorado Springs, Colo., has been postponed. The postponement is due to the weather-related closure of the Buffalo, N.Y., airport this week, which will prevent Canisius from traveling to Colorado. Makeup dates … Read more
With the first half of the Atlantic Hockey season in the books, let’s hand out some mid-term grades: Air Force (6-10-2, 2-7-1 AHA) Atlantic Hockey Standings: Ninth Points Per Game: 0.70 (Ninth) PairWise Ranking: 55 The Lowdown: The Falcons have some quality wins, including over Colorado College and RIT. But they’ve dropped five in a … Read more
The first half of Army West Point’s 2022-23 season came in two parts, according to coach Brian Riley. And his team needed to go through some rough times in Part One to get to Part Two. “I saw somewhere that we have the second-youngest team in college hockey,” said Riley, in his 19th year behind … Read more
Niagara coach Jason Lammers has signed a contract extension to coach the Purple Eagles through the 2026-27 season. Lammers is currently in his sixth season behind the bench for the Purple Eagles. “Ice hockey is not only an anchor on the university’s campus, it is also a part of the fabric of the western New … Read more
There have been some growing pains for Holy Cross in the first half of this season. A challenging schedule has meant more losses than wins so far, but the consistency that coach Bill Riga has been looking for is starting to emerge. “We’ve been up and down, especially early in the season,” Riga said. “We’ve … Read more
The Hockey Commissioners Association has announced the four men’s college hockey award winners for Nov. 2022. Western Michigan’s Jason Polin and Quinnipiac’s Collin Graf are co-players of the month, while WMU’s Ryan McAllister is rookie of the month and Niagara’s Chad Veltri is goaltender of the month. Polin scored 10 goals in November as part … Read more
Michael John Addesa, Jr., known to most as the original “Coach Addesa,” passed away peacefully on Nov. 29, surrounded by his loving family. He was 77. Born in West Roxbury, Mass., to the late Michael John Addesa, Sr. and Irene Guidi Addesa, he attended Boston English High School and matriculated to the College of the … Read more
Mercyhurst wasn’t getting a lot of puck luck earlier in the season. Coach Rick Gotkin, in his 35th season behind the Lakers’ bench, felt that his squad was better than its 1-9-2 record indicated. “I think that our early record said as much about our opponents as it did about us,” he said. “We played … Read more
It’s been a strange couple of years for Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. On May 26, 2021, with no warning, RMU’s president and board announced that effective immediately, it was canceling their men’s and women’s hockey programs. Coaches, players, alumni, and fans were in shock. But quickly, Schooley helped lead a massive effort to restore … Read more
The Ice Breaker Tournament, the traditional start to the NCAA Division I men’s hockey season, will be co-hosted by Bemidji State and North Dakota in 2023-24, it was announced jointly this week by the host schools and College Hockey Inc. Army West Point and Wisconsin will also participate in the event, scheduled for Oct. 13-14 … Read more
Niagara announced Thursday that Saturday’s home non-conference game with St. Lawrence has been postponed due to inclement weather. The game has been rescheduled for Thursday, Jan. 5, 2023 at Dwyer Arena. The start time for that game is to be determined.
For a league where sweeps have historically been hard to come by and splits are the norm, so far this season it’s been feast or famine in conference series in Atlantic Hockey. There have been 15 conference series so far, with nine ending in sweeps. Another three series saw one team take five of six … Read more
I had the chance recently to talk to Pierre-Luc O’Brien, who starred for Sacred Heart from 2004 to 2008. O’Brien was a three-time Atlantic Hockey all-star as well as a Hobey Baker finalist. He holds the school’s record for career points (156). When asked about his favorite college hockey memory, O’Brien related the “Miracle at … Read more