Double-Barreled Pop quiz, hockey nuts: Who is the only ECAC Hockey freshman to currently leading his team in scoring outright? St. Lawrence’s Kyle Flanagan? Almost; he’s tied with senior Mike McKenzie atop the Saints’ scoring list. Brandon Pirri? Jerry D’Amigo? Nice try, but Chase Polacek has ’em beat by a half-dozen points. Andrew Miller? Well, … Read more
Does Bemidji State answer to the name David anymore? That’s one of the topics as USCHO.com senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski debate.
I know there is a lot of Thanksgiving-related material these days, but don’t be a spoil-sport if you’re Canadian: You already had your Thanksgiving. Cut us a little slack; things move slower down here. Home Work We are all blessed, at least in some small way, to be part of a league that values the … Read more
Welcome to the top 10, Quinnipiac. And that’s not the only bit of history in this week’s USCHO.com/CBS College Sports Division I Men’s Poll. The Bobcats made the program’s first appearance in the Division I top 10 on Monday, checking in at No. 9 after improving to 10-1. Related link: Full rankings They improved four … Read more
‘Gate Crashing Colgate University. You remember it, right? Hamilton, N.Y., … the Raiders. They used to win stuff back in the day. Bulletin: The Raiders are back, and big-time. The Maroon & Gray are 5-2-4, but more pertinently, they’re 3-0-1 in ECAC Hockey and riding the nation’s second-longest unbeaten streak (six, one behind Michigan State). … Read more
Here’s an old tried-and-true column format: the hot-and-cold list. Join me as we narrow a big-picture view of ECAC Hockey down to a few noteworthy teams, units, and players. Who’s Hot … Colgate Specifically, the offense and Charles Long. The Raiders have scored 16 goals in their last four games, and eight in each of … Read more
Boy, oh boy, it’s that time again … every team’s in the game, and every game’s a big one! Harvard kicked off the 2009-10 ECAC Hockey season with a statement win in Hanover, N.H., but there were plenty of other ECAC domestic disputes this weekend as well. Lots to look at, so let’s get down … Read more
The league’s half-dozen non-Ivy programs have been stamping their timecards for a few weeks now, so let’s check in on a few percolating trends. Wild Knights Up in Potsdam, coach George Roll predicted growing pains for his young defensive unit, but also foresaw significant offensive depth that would allow for a rolling Green and Gold … Read more
Annual “Fear the North Country” Warning This is your official public service announcement: The North Country trip will never be “just another road game.” Clarkson and St. Lawrence swept last weekend against fellow upstaters Niagara and RIT, and now sit at a combined 5-3-0 despite widespread preseason dismissals from the ECAC Hockey community. But before … Read more
Every year, in every league, folks say that “this year looks even more competitive and balanced than last year, or any other year for that matter.” Every single year, without fail. It’s what they — the coaches, administrators and players — are expected to say. It’s a way of showing a little “aw, shucks” humility … Read more
Last Year The Bobcats just couldn’t keep the wheels on the track last year. First, the typically explosive offense went AWOL as the Q suffered through nearly 195 minutes without a goal in three consecutive shutouts … all in league play. Then, standout freshman goalie Nick Pisellini (.948 save percentage) had to leave the team … Read more
C.J. Marottolo is getting his chance at a head coaching position after 13 seasons at Yale. Sacred Heart named Marottolo its fourth head coach Thursday, filling a vacancy created when Shaun Hannah resigned last month. “It is an honor and privilege to be named the next head hockey coach at Sacred Heart University,” Marottolo said … Read more
Last Year For the second year in a row, a promising start was massively derailed by a midseason skid. Following a 4-2-0 start to the year, the Crimson fell flat on their faces for the better part of a financial quarter as the Cambridge club hit a 1-12-4 wall across the end of 2008 and … Read more
Last Year The Tigers, unanimous No. 1 picks to enter the season, got off to a white-hot start in going 9-1-0 in their first 10 games and 13-2 after 15. Then the wheels began to wobble a bit. Three straight losses in early January precipitated a 7-7-0 conclusion to the regular season, and after edging … Read more
Last Year The Dutchmen had a fairly successful campaign last season, in no small part because they finally ditched their postseason albatross. On the way to vanquishing Clarkson in the first round, Union also came across some young point-producers and didn’t stumble through many prolonged ruts. The team endured only four losing streaks, the worst … Read more
Last Year Yale was simply magical last season. The Bulldogs wrested their first-ever league championship in the same year that they claimed the regular-season crown. The Elis featured four 30-point scorers despite the abbreviated 34-game Ivy schedule, and three players who averaged better than a point per game. The Blue and White dropped consecutive games … Read more
Last Year The Bears struggled mightily in what was to be Roger Grillo’s 12th and final year behind the bench. A shocking first-round sweep at fifth-place Harvard did little to ease the pain of a three-win regular season, a campaign in which the team scored fewer than two goals a game and featured only one … Read more
Last Year Despite formulating a single set of back-to-back wins through the entire regular season, the Engineers whipped up three straight W’s to open the playoffs to off Dartmouth and agitate Cornell. The Big Red finally ditched the pesky ‘Tute, but not before RPI had finally reached the 10-win mark on the season. The offense … Read more
Last Year A 4-1 record after five games had folks hopeful in Hamilton, but that was just about all she wrote for the Raiders in 2008-09. Colgate’s 3-0 start wound up being the only winning streak of the Raiders’ whole season, as the team bellyflopped into an 8-17-7 tumble following the early five-game burst. The … Read more
Last Year Cornell was just about as good as you could hope for, dropping consecutive games only once all year during a single three-game losing streak in early February. The only problem was, Yale was just slightly better. The Big Red played classic Big Red hockey, scoring modestly but defending with ferocious efficiency en route … Read more