Implications Abound The playoffs are, by definition, huge. These playoffs, however, have taken on an extra dimension based on how the PairWise Rankings have shaken out. Not only are Boston University and Vermont on the NCAA tournament selection bubble, but Providence, Northeastern, and Massachusetts-Lowell are all on the cutting edge of being Teams Under Consideration. … Read more
For those who fear that athletics and academics, strength and service no longer go together like they used to, Mike Scandura has a counterpoint: Providence co-captain Kyle Laughlin.
Maine goaltender Ben Bishop has signed a pro contract with the NHL’s St. Louis Blues and will forego his senior season, team president John Davidson announced Tuesday. Bishop will join the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen for the remainder of the season. The 6-7, 210-pound netminder recorded a 13-18-3 record along with a 2.43 goals against average … Read more
Traditional rivals in women’s college hockey are hard to come by, but the enmity between Providence College and New Hampshire goes back as far as any of them. It predates the six-year existence of the Women’s Hockey East Association. And stretching, as it does, all the way back to 1977, it predates the births of … Read more
Pile-up At The Finish Line I’m not going to even try to figure out all the different possible orders of finish in this absurdly close race as we go into the final weekend of the regular season. If I tell you that BC or Providence could finish as high as second and as low as … Read more
All Hail New Hampshire They left no doubt about it. The UNH Wildcats wrapped up the regular season title in as impressive a fashion as possible, sweeping then-seventh ranked Boston College, a team on a 13-3-2 run itself. “I’m just really excited for our team,” UNH coach Dick Umile said after the Saturday night clincher. … Read more
Welcome To Our Roller Coaster You want wire-to-wire consistency? There’s New Hampshire and then… um… well… nobody. As befits a team challenging for the top spot in the PairWise, the Wildcats have been a model of consistency this season, losing back-to-back games only once while rolling to a 19-7-2 record. Within the league, they’ve been … Read more
The Latest Hot Team On Jan. 19, the Vermont Catamounts’ record stood at 4-9-6 and it sure looked like a season to forget. They were giving up goals by the bushel and not scoring all that much themselves. A “rebuilding year” seemed like the best euphemism available. Now, just a few weeks later, the Catamounts … Read more
When the Boston College Eagles score, they win. It’s a simple enough formula, but the Harvard Crimson tested it Monday night. Dave Hendrickson reports.
Beanpot Post-Mortem — Northeastern Northeastern came into the Beanpot with higher hopes than usual, only to have them more or less dashed within about eight minutes. Given that Harvard has been a perennial also-ran in the tournament over the last ten years–not to mention their one win in the last 12 games coming into the … Read more
Gridiron Club of Greater Boston president Al Robichaud announced Monday that 15 NCAA Division I players are semifinalists for the 56th Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England. The candidates include 12 players from Hockey East and three from the ECAC Hockey League. The slate comprises nine … Read more
When Vermont’s season looked ready to fall apart, the Catamounts fought back. And with a key matchup looming in New Hampshire, Dave Starman says UVM must keep its fires burning.
Six? Yes, you have to account for the tournament champions in the six conferences so being in the PairWise’s top 16 isn’t good enough. That only puts you on the bubble. Even so, what were the odds when the season started that Hockey East would have six teams in the top 16… and those six … Read more
Five Teams When the season opened with a mayday-mayday weekend, Hockey East’s chances of a second straight year with five teams in the NCAA tournament didn’t look promising. Only Merrimack escaped with a win back on that Friday the 12th that felt like a 13th. Not to worry. If the season ended today, New Hampshire, … Read more
Midterm Examination I thought I had done a pretty thorough job in my column of two weeks ago, what with quotes from four different Hockey East coaches, but last week Dave Hendrickson wasn’t content to one-up me… he had to go and six-up me! The result was probably the first-ever Hockey East column with quotes … Read more
Joe Whitney long dreamed of playing hockey for Boston College. The dream is now reality, and Joe Haggerty finds Whitney making the most of it.
And Around The League We Go… It isn’t often that we get a chance to cover all the teams in one column, but here’s pennace for all the New Year’s resolutions already broken. Boston College A major catalyst for BC’s 4-0-0 December was Nathan Gerbe’s 16 points. No, that’s not a misprint: 16 points in … Read more
Lightning Strikes For UMass Several Hockey East teams are having a little happier new year than they might otherwise in the wake of last weekend’s holiday tournaments. Seven of the league’s teams competed in six different tournaments. When the ice chips had settled, Hockey East teams emerged with four championships. Unexpectedly, Boston College didn’t have … Read more
The Boston College Eagles went to the Women’s Frozen Four last season and then went through a tumultuous offseason. But the 2007-2008 season has shown that the Eagles are keeping the train rolling on the track. As the second half of the season starts, the Eagles are ready to get back to the Frozen Four and look for a National Championship. Candace Horgan reports on the ladies of Boston College.
Site: Mark Edward Freitas Ice Forum, Storrs, Conn. Saturday-Sunday, Dec. 29-30, 2007 Participants: Brown, Ferris State, Army, Connecticut Game 1: Ferris State vs. Brown, 4:05 p.m. ET Ferris State Bulldogs (7-8-1, 6-6-0 CCHA) Head coach: Bob Daniels Leading scorers: So. Cody Chupp (4-8 — 12), Jr. Brendan Connolly (5-6 — 11) Leading netminders: Jr. Mitch … Read more