Season previews for teams
Coach: Keith Levinthal, twelfth season overall and at Manhattanville (187-74-27) 2009-10 record: 20-6-1 overall, 10-4-1 ECAC West (Second) 2009-10 team offense: 4.22 goals/game (first) 2009-10 team defense : 2.33 goals/game (second) 2009-10 power play: 24.0 percent (second) 2009-10 penalty kill: 82.8 percent (second) Key losses: Arlen Marshall (9g, 26a), AJ Mikkelsen (9g, 20a), Niklas Bernstsson … Read more
Cortland was 5-5 overall when they approached the part of the season wrapped around the holiday break. That part of the season is where their coach, Joe Baldarotta, felt the Red Dragons season went into a tailspin. It wasn’t the fact they lost five in a row, it was the fact they missed opportunities to … Read more
Buffalo State was unable to respond on the ice to the NCAA sanctions handed down during the season. The Bengals dropped their last eight games, going 0-fer in the second half of their conference schedule. “One of the toughest years coaching hockey I’ve ever had,” Buffalo State coach Nick Carriere said. However, Carriere is looking … Read more
The highlight of Potsdam’s season last year was winning the always competitive Times-Argus Invitational in Norwich. They also managed wins against Utica and defending national champion Neumann. However, after teetering just above .500 for the first half of the season, they went on a 2-8 tailspin to finish out the year. “There were a lot … Read more
Brockport backed up their 2008-9 season with another home playoff game and another playoff victory, and for the grand slam of repeats, Brockport’s win was again versus Potsdam, and then the Golden Eagles repeated their semifinal loss to Plattsburgh. “I think last year was a successful season for us just to prove to ourselves we … Read more
In their first year of eligibility in their third year as an NCAA institution, Morrisville made the SUNYAC playoffs. Before anyone could shout, “But they only got in because Geneseo was banned from the playoffs,” the Mustangs shut the critics up by beating Fredonia, 3-2. The win came in Fredonia three days after getting shellacked … Read more
After a poor 2008-9 campaign, Fredonia bounced back with a strong season, only to be bounced out of the playoffs by upstart Morrisville. “It was good to get things back on track,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “Disappointing shadow over the season with the way it ended.” The fight for third place this year will … Read more
It was certainly a trying year for Geneseo last season when the NCAA sanctions were handed down. Yet, despite that distraction, the Ice Knights finished very strong. “I used the analogy last year that I wanted us to perform like a good stock,” Geneseo coach Chris Schultz said. “We got off to a rough start … Read more
It’s always risky to pick Oswego second instead of first. Last year it seemed safe — Oswego had 12 new players and an unknown goaltending situation. Instead, they lost just one league game en route to first place and beat Plattsburgh all three times to take the SUNYAC championship. Then, they got to Lake Placid … Read more
“It was a year we didn’t know what to expect,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. “We had unknown goaltending and 12 freshmen. We didn’t have high expectations.” The Cardinals lost to their arch-rivals Oswego all three times, finished second in the regular season and playoffs, but did make it to the NCAA semifinal round. However, … Read more
Just how significant was the 2009-10 season for the Merrimack Warriors? Consider this: • Last year’s sixth place finish was the best league finish for Merrimack since the 1996-97 team that finished fifth in a nine-team league. • Merrimack’s playoff win over Boston University was the team’s first since an eighth-place Warriors team upset top-seeded … Read more
Entering last season, the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks had the highest expectations. Coming off a heartbreaking loss in the 2009 Hockey East title game to the eventual national champion, Boston University, the River Hawks seemed poised to finally climb to the top of the league, boasting an experienced lineup and two senior goaltenders. That season of … Read more
Last year was marked by extreme highs and lows for the New Hampshire Wildcats. They led Hockey East for 16 straight weeks and won their third regular season title in the last four years. On the other hand, they got bounced in the league quarterfinals for the second straight year. In their ninth consecutive NCAA … Read more
Boston University seemingly suffered through a season-long national championship hangover last year, finishing just a game over .500 with a postseason that lasted through only the Hockey East semifinals. “It was like pulling teeth,” BU coach Jack Parker says. “There wasn’t the attitude you wanted. They were satisfied with the year before and the national … Read more
Attention Maine fans: You may remove the paper bags from your heads. The team that you’re used to seeing has returned. Sure, maybe that’s a bold statement, but for a school that expects its team to compete for a national championship year in and year out, the well-document struggles of Maine hockey in the 2007-08 … Read more
So close and yet so far. Northeastern finished four points out of third place in Hockey East last season but also a point out of the playoffs, a single point behind a Vermont team that went on to the NCAA tournament. Just brutal. With a healthy percentage of that so-close group coming back, however, the … Read more
Massachusetts finished only two points out of third place in Hockey East last year, but as the seventh-place team it drew eventual national champion Boston College in the quarterfinals. It was two-and-out for the Minutemen and their season was over. The offseason was worse as their biggest guns — James Marcou, Casey Wellman and Matt … Read more
Last year, Vermont had the prototypical half-empty, half-full season. The Catamounts finished in eighth place, but then upset New Hampshire to advance to the Garden and, thanks to strong non-conference performances, returned to the NCAA tournament. This year, strong defense and goaltending will be counted on to carry the team. Goaltender Rob Madore went through … Read more
Providence enters the 2010-11 season as the perceived doormat. The once-powerhouse program that twice has won Hockey East tournament titles (though none since 1996) has inconceivably missed the playoffs for two straight seasons. This year, the Friars were picked for 10th in the preseason coaches’ poll. Though this might seem like a tailspin to the … Read more
Rarely has a team won a national championship in recent years only to return the next season nearly entirely intact. In the case of Boston College, that is the ultimate luxury heading into the 2010-11 campaign. After BC’s dominant postseason run culminated with the national title last April in Detroit, many wondered if the Eagles … Read more