The Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) has announced a watch list of 35 goalies who will compete for the Mike Richter Award, given annually since 2014 to the top goalie in men’s NCAA Division I hockey. The 35 goalies come from the United States (16), Canada (12), Sweden (3), Slovakia (2) and one each from Czechia … Read more
It sure didn’t take long for college hockey to start celebrating over the fallen giant. For years, the Quinnipiac-established juggernaut ruled ECAC. The Bobcats won Cleary Cup after Cleary Cup and while they didn’t claim a conference championship, trips to the Frozen Four and the first ECAC national championship since Union and Yale’s consecutive titles … Read more
The college hockey season doesn’t typically shift into overdrive until the calendar shifts into the new year. The “first half,” loaded to the gills with its high-profile nonconference matchups, holiday tournaments and pleasant surprises, doesn’t truly yield its heat until league play and trophy season crests over the horizon. Early-season rivalries aside, coaches and players … Read more
A happy and hearty holiday season to you and yours in the college hockey world. I’ve found through the years that holiday and semester break is well-placed for a college hockey season that rumbles through the fall and early spring with an unsurpassed pace. We spend our weeks in October and November in the same … Read more
Mike Harder looked at his bench during Colgate’s weekend series against Cornell with the realization of how deeply injuries impacted his roster. He was without skaters on his top lines or his special teams, and the Big Red’s vaunted defense made it exceptionally hard to prepare for those individualized situations before the team’s MASH unit … Read more
Ben Syer had been around the block a few times. The first-year head coach possessed no prior experience as the leader behind the bench of a college hockey program – or at any other level, for that matter – but his 20-year journey through ECAC Hockey rinks made him uniquely qualified for Princeton’s forefront position … Read more
One glance through Brown’s men’s hockey record book is all it takes to understand the greatness once possessed by goaltender Yann Danis. The one-time Hobey Hat Trick finalist litters every page of goaltending stats with multiple entries into the program’s top single season numbers for goals against average, shutouts, saves and save percentage, and while … Read more
A couple of years ago, I scanned the Internet and found myself in a wormhole of older college hockey stories. It killed a good couple of hours while I sat in a nursery room with a rambunctious infant refusing to sleep, but it opened the lid on a time capsule capturing how we looked at … Read more
The ride from Dartmouth to Princeton is one of the longest in ECAC Hockey. It’s certainly the longest commute between hockey-playing members of the conference’s six-team Ivy League contingent. The drive is nearly a straight shot traversing the north-south poles at either end of the league’s geographic footprint, but the 315 miles between New Hampshire’s … Read more
Every year, the debate surrounding the Ivy League schools in college hockey ends with one of the more mind-boggling stalemates among the sport’s followers. It seldom advances beyond their unique or quirky scheduling arrangement limiting the six hockey-sponsored schools to six fewer games than the rest of college hockey, a debate that’s almost never accurately … Read more
David “Duke” Snyder, adjunct professor of Physical Education, Emeritus, and former coach of men’s hockey at Wesleyan, passed away on October 25, 2024, at the age of 80. Snyder completed his BA at St. Lawrence, where he lettered in both hockey and baseball. He arrived at Wesleyan in 1970 as the arena director and assistant … Read more
The first Hockey Commissioners Association monthly awards for men’s hockey have been announced for the month of October. Denver senior forward Jack Devine is the player of the month, Union freshman forward Ben Muthersbaugh is rookie of the month, and Augustana sophomore Josh Kotai and Notre Dame junior Owen Say are co-goaltenders of the month. … Read more
The average college hockey fan wouldn’t view Jean-Francois Houle’s career path for a potential return to his alma mater. The former Clarkson scoring wizard in the 1990s returned to the Golden Knights after ending his on-ice career but jumped on an arc within earshot of a bench boss job within the NHL. He spent five … Read more
For 20-plus years, Matt Dubrey’s voice provided the backdrop to Union College’s rise as a college hockey program. The mainstay of the Dutchmen and their Garnet Charger successors, he lived the team’s growth away from ECAC Hockey’s perennial bottom rung, and he’d been with the team as it pinballed through its Cinderella story over the … Read more
Nobody inside the Rensselaer hockey program felt satisfied at the end of last season. The year began with elevated expectations after the 2022-2023 season established the Engineers as a legitimate force on home ice. They’d beaten everyone short of Quinnipiac and Cornell while avoiding sweeps on every weekend at Houston Field House. Struggling to win … Read more
College hockey rinks aren’t the same anymore. They aren’t the old barns built during the 1970s. They’re more antiseptic and devoid of character than the old buildings lacking heat or modern comfort, but they represent the soul and fabric stitched by generations of slap shots and millions of body checks. Even ones owned by corporations … Read more
ECAC Hockey has announced the results of the 2024-25 men’s hockey preseason coaches poll and all-league team selections. In the poll, league coaches have predicted Cornell to lead the conference this season, receiving 10 of 12 first-place votes. ECAC Men’s Hockey Preseason Poll (First-place votes) 1. Cornell – 120 (10) 2. Quinnipiac – 111 (2) … Read more
Even the most casual observer knew ECAC Hockey faced impossible odds at replicating its success last season. The only league untouched by realignment found itself entering the 2023-24 year with a defending national champion that represented college hockey’s truest and latest success story, but watching Quinnipiac finally cap its rise to the elitist class included … Read more
Tommy Hill, who has served as an assistant coach for St. Lawrence since the 2019-20 season, has been promoted to associate head coach. “We are excited to announce that Tommy has been promoted into the role of associate head coach for our program,” said SLU head coach Brent Brekke in a statement. “He has been … Read more
College Hockey Inc. has announced that Chris Meriney has been named its director of men’s hockey athlete relations. He will officially begin his duties Oct. 1. Meriney will fill the position previously held by Sean Hogan, who was promoted to executive director in August. “Chris was impressive from our first conversations with him and throughout … Read more