How Tough is Your Schedule Four weeks remain in the Atlantic Hockey regular season. All but two teams have eight games remaining (Sacred Heart and Army each have six). Time to make any sort of standings move is definitely running thin, but with each remaining series for every team a two-game-in-two-nights situation, a lot of … Read more
Just When You Thought It Was Safe… News flash: Don’t go handing the Atlantic Hockey title to Mercyhurst just yet. The once unbeatable-looking Lakers have returned to Earth and have watched the race for the league’s regular-season title become tighter than the Olsen twins’ meal allowance. What was once a seven point lead over its … Read more
Home Sweet Home (Ice) Generally, as the season winds down, talk on most media space, this included, swings towards the battle for the regular-season championship. Indeed, I could fill a thousand words talking about how evenly-matched Mercyhurst, Sacred Heart and Holy Cross are. To me, though, that’s become a broken record. Save Quinnipiac, those four … Read more
The East regains the top spot in the polls — but not in the PWR or the NHL draft rankings, Jim Connelly notes. Also: ECACHL parity and AHA home ice.
The Hockey Humanitarian Foundation today announced seven outstanding student athletes who were selected as finalists for the 2006 Hockey Humanitarian Award. The finalists, listed in alphabetical order, are: Janelle Armitage, Sr., University of Connecticut Eric Leroux, Sr., Princeton University Drew Miller, Jr., Michigan State University Mason Oakes, Sr., Lawrence University Jaime Sifers, Sr., University of … Read more
Mercyhurst Goaltending: No Small Problem I’ve written a good bit about Mercyhurst’s goaltending situation this season, mostly because it’s unique to see a school put itself in the situation the Lakers currently are in. Mercyhurst began the season with four — yes, four — goaltenders, all of whom the coaching staff believed could play at … Read more
Ever wonder what a college hockey team goes through on a road trip? Vince McConeghy lifts the curtain on Niagara’s visit to Minnesota, in an USCHO Extra feature currently available to everyone.
The Ultimate Upset “All year we’ve been playing really well and haven’t had a lot to show for it.” The words of Army head coach Brian Riley show the frustration the second-year coach has had to this point in the season. To win any game is big at this point. So how do you classify … Read more
Jim Connelly debuts TMQ 2006 with a look at the Hockey East standings, a salute to a newborn rivalry, and a suggestion for the top teams in Atlantic Hockey.
A clash of 2005 conference champions between Mercyhurst and Providence leads off the 2006 broadcast schedule, Sunday at 1 p.m.
Center Stage Atlantic Hockey takes center stage this weekend as defending tournament champion Mercyhurst travels to Army for a pair of games, the first of which will be broadcast nationally on CSTV. Friday’s game marks the first time that an Atlantic Hockey league game will be broadcast on CSTV. Army has, in the past, had … Read more
The Pittsburgh Penguins will host the “Pittsburgh College Hockey Showcase” next season, featuring an NCAA Division I game between Robert Morris and Notre Dame at Mellon Arena on Friday, Jan. 5, 2007. “The Penguins are excited to bring NCAA Division I hockey back to Mellon Arena,” said Dave Soltesz, the team’s vice president of sales … Read more
Perennial D-II and D-III power RIT is new to Division I this season, and Scott Biggar finds that the long-awaited move is going well.
With Santa on his way, Jim Connelly hands out his (slightly tongue-in-cheek) holiday awards to the East.
Midterm Exams While college kids may be taking finals, it’s time to look at how each Atlantic Hockey team is doing on the ice and hand out our midterm report cards. The first half of the season has definitely been exciting. We’ve seen some stellar performances both by teams and by individuals. Mercyhurst, Holy Cross, … Read more
365 Days of Hell When Saturday arrives, those who follow Canisius hockey may want to light a candle, do some sort of chant. Anything that might move the black cloud from over the school’s head. Saturday marks the one-year anniversary of the firing of coach Brian Cavanaugh. Since that day, the Griffs program has been … Read more
Problems in Buffalo … Again It was nearly a year to the day since head coach Brian Cavanaugh was fired by Canisius College. Things seemed like they were on track for the Griffs, which boasted a new head coach, new athletic director and new attitude. But the housecleaning at Canisius following months of discipline problems … Read more
Canisius announced Friday that sophomore forward Mike Ruberto, sophomore defensemen Matt Ruberto and Craig Nooyen and freshman goalie Ryan Hatch have been dismissed from the hockey team for violations of that college’s athletics department policies. “The Department of Athletics has a clear set of expectations for all of our student-athletes,” said Canisius director of athletics … Read more
Winning the Recruiting Battle Ask any college hockey coach. The biggest day-to-day worry generally isn’t how their team is playing on the ice. Nope, the top concern of most teams is building for the future. College hockey recruiting at the Division I level has become a business for most programs. Assistant coaches spend weeks, if … Read more
Time to Give Thanks For eight years I have been writing this column for USCHO.com, and over that time there have been few traditions that I’ve developed. One, though, has to do with Thanksgiving. Each year, my column published on Thanksgiving day takes a bit of a tongue-in-cheek look around the world of Atlantic Hockey, … Read more