Men’s D-I in general
Last week, we discussed how Bemidji State was becoming mortal again. Last weekend, the Beavers perhaps took notice of their slump and came out with a two-game sweep against then-No. 4 Minnesota-Duluth in a home-and-home series. “This was important because UMD is in the WCHA and they’ve been ahead of us in the rankings,” BSU … Read more
Not-So-Dire Situation After All A week ago, my colleague and friend Dave Hendrickson painted a bleak picture in this exact space for Hockey East prospects for bids to this year’s NCAA tournament. At the time, Dave had every right in the world to feel that way. Hockey East had just three teams inside the top … Read more
With just over a month left in the season, the gap between first place and fifth place is two points. You read that right. Two. League-leading Minnesota-Duluth has 25 points, followed by St. Cloud State and Denver with 24 and Wisconsin and Colorado College with 23. North Dakota isn’t quite out of the hunt for … Read more
It’s funny how different people will see the same situation differently. Take my columns: St. Lawrence fans think I have it in for them, as do Colgate and Cornell fans. RPI backers hate it when I pick them to win, and love when predict a loss. I’ve apparently ticked off supporters of Princeton and Clarkson, … Read more
Buzzer Beaters It’s the most exciting play in basketball: the Buzzer Beater. A last-second basket that wins a game just as time expires. It’s a rare, but not miraculous occurrence in a sport where lots of points are scored and the final minute can take a half an hour to play. Hockey is another matter. … Read more
Jayson Moy’s weekly crunching of the numbers is back, and the big issue to resolve this week is attendance at the East Regional.
USCHO senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski are back to discuss last weekend’s marquee series and to debate postseason formats.
Paul Kelly may have an uphill battle ahead of him when it comes to raising college hockey’s profile, especially in comparison to Major Junior, but with the contacts he has in the game, don’t rule it out. Jim Connelly reports.
It took Miami only two weeks to return to the top of the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll. The RedHawks earned 37 of the 50 first-place votes to claim the top spot ahead of No. 2 Wisconsin and No. 3 Denver. Wisconsin’s win and tie against Denver, the former No. 1, last weekend was enough … Read more
The CCHA on Saturday suspended Lake Superior State forward Will Acton for one game after a major charging penalty in Friday’s game against Notre Dame. The junior was not eligible for Saturday’s game against the Fighting Irish. Related link: Will Acton’s player page Acton was called for a hit on Notre Dame’s Ian Cole, a … Read more
Atlantic Hockey commissioner Bob DeGregorio has signed a three-year contract extension to lead the league through 2013. “We are extremely fortunate and please to continue to have him lead this league,” Atlantic Hockey executive committee chair Bill Bellerose said in a news release. “He has guided us through two expansions and continues to improve the … Read more
Fighting to Death Quick: What’s the roughest neighborhood in the CCHA? If you answered, “Bowling Green,” or, “Big Rapids,” you’d be right — at least as far as last weekend’s action is concerned. In Northern Michigan’s 6-0 win over BG last Friday, the teams combined for 99 penalty minutes, in large part because of a … Read more
A Zero-Sum Game If the season ended today, Hockey East would get three teams into the NCAA tournament but none would be seeded highly. According to the current PairWise Rankings, Boston College would top the league teams at No. 9, followed by Massachusetts (tied for 10th) and Vermont (tied for 12th). On or outside the … Read more
Looks like Bemidji State is human after all. After being swept by Minnesota State five weeks ago, Bemidji State still had hopes of being undefeated in CHA play this season. Niagara, the only team to have ever gone undefeated in league action, wanted it to stay that way and now it will after the Purple … Read more
Playing With Heart Don’t look now, but the hottest team in college hockey is the Sacred Heart Pioneers, who are riding a seven-game unbeaten streak. After a 3-9-2 start to the season and some time in the basement of the Atlantic Hockey standings, Sacred Heart has turned it around by improving on all fronts: offense, … Read more
The gap is expanding. 21 points separate first (Minnesota-Duluth, 25 points, by virtue of Denver’s bye week) and last (still Michigan Tech, still with four points). The gap is still close. Six points separate first from sixth place. Eighth place is six points down from that (for clarity’s sake, eighth-place Alaska-Anchorage is 10 points behind … Read more
Midseason Report Every team in the league has now played at least 10 games of the ECAC Hockey variety, with a few having already passed the 11-game halfway point of their conference schedule. It’s time for a look back at the first half of the 2009-10 campaign. Note: league stats are the focus, but overall … Read more
The WCHA Final Five moniker may hang around, even as the league expands to 12 teams next season, but a handful of changes to the WCHA’s tournament format appear to be in the making. League officials did not come up with any final decisions when they discussed the future of the two-week postseason last Thursday … Read more
Miami has rebounded, but what happened to Quinnipiac? Those are two of the topics up for debate this week with USCHO.com senior writers Jim Connelly and Todd D. Milewski.
Minnesota-Duluth’s rise up the rankings continues. The Bulldogs have jumped nine spots in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll over the last two weeks, placing a season-high fourth in the rankings released Monday. Related link: USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll: Jan. 18, 2010 Denver, Miami and Wisconsin stayed put as the top three teams for … Read more