Season previews for teams
Boston University rebounded from a potentially disastrous start to finish second in Hockey East last season but still failed to secure an NCAA berth for the first time since 2004. Don’t count on that happening again this year. The Terriers return a lot of talent and have supplemented that with a strong recruiting class. All … Read more
Three Favorites, Then Anything Goes On paper, Boston College, Boston University, and New Hampshire rank as the clear favorites in Hockey East this season. The three programs contend for the title almost every year — perennial powerhouse Maine usually joins them but has fallen on hard times — and while each has questions that remain … Read more
It was a trying 2007-2008 season in Huntsville as first-year head coach Danton Cole and the Chargers struggled to duplicate their prior season and wound up with just six total wins. That said, UAH returns virtually every player, including all three goaltenders, from last season and it’s with that fact alone that a few more … Read more
Simple math says each CHA team this season has a 25 percent chance to advance to the NCAA tournament in March. But then, each of the four coaches knows that’s the case, but each has chosen to take the philosophical approach when that subject comes up. “The tournament is a different ballgame,” Bemidji State head … Read more
Not one game has been played, yet Niagara has already been picked as the favorite to repeat as CHA champs in the annual league poll. This comes on the heels of the Purple Eagles graduating co-captain and 39-point producer Matt Caruana, seeing big forward Kyle Rogers give up his senior season to sign with the … Read more
With 21 freshmen and sophomores on the roster this season, Robert Morris is in for one of two scenarios this year, according to head coach Derek Schooley. “If we play well, we’ll be reloading,” Schooley said. “And if we don’t, then we’re rebuilding.” The Colonials graduated their first senior class last spring, a class that … Read more
According to Bemidji State head coach Tom Serratore, the Beavers have a lot to prove this season. “We’re young, we have depth and we play 19 games on the road,” said Serratore. “We’ll find out what we’re made of early on against Mankato and Air Force.” Goaltender Matt Climie graduated last spring and used his … Read more
Whereas 2006-07 was a season of unparalleled parity, last season was a year of surprises. Princeton finished six points better than it had since the spring of ’99, and finished a tight second to Clarkson in the regular season — the Tigers’ best-ever league finish. Clarkson may have lived up to its preseason poll position, … Read more
Offense Bruno finished second-to-last in the league in goals scored last year with 50, and saying goodbye to Prough (7-19-26), Hurley (3-16-19) and Poli (6-12-18) isn’t likely to help matters. In total, the Bears parted ways with 20 of their 67 overall goals, and all five seniors ranked among the team’s top 11 scorers. Coach … Read more
Offense The Crimson parted ways with eight seniors over the summer, six of whom were forwards taking frequent and regular shifts. Overall, the Cantab roster (short for Cantabridgian, a.k.a. Cambridge native, somehow) is 52 goals and 68 assists short of where it wrapped up last year. That’s more than half its goal production out the … Read more
Offense The Dutch tied for tenth in the league in both overall and in-conference scoring, but fortunately Union only said goodbye to Coyle (7-10-17) among its top scorers. “There’s a good deal of familiarity with this team,” said coach Nate Leaman. “It’s going to be a fun group; we’re excited to get going.” The surprise … Read more
Offense The Red lost some spunk and some spark in Scott (10-20-30) and Sawada (10-16-26), but returns three of its top five scorers and eight of 10 double-digit producers from last year. Greening (14-19-33) led the team in goals and points, and lined up with Riley Nash (12-20-32) and, by the end of the season, … Read more
Offense The Bulldog offense was middling-to-poor last season, scoring four or more goals eight times but scoring fewer than two 11 times — including four shutouts. Fortunately for coach Keith Allain and his charges, the Eli’s top half-dozen scorers are back on Ingalls’ ice this season. They’re led by junior Backman (18-9-27) and sophomore Little … Read more
Offense Rand Pecknold’s Bobcats have never been hesitant to embarrass a goalie, and last year was just the most recent edition of the QU goal march. Seven players finished in double-digits for goals-scored, and four players — Wong (13-24-37), Nelson (14-21-35), Bates (11-23-34) and Leitch (15-18-33) — topped the 30-point mark over the ‘Cats’ 39-game … Read more
Offense The Knights lost some serious mojo in Zalewski (21-12-33), Dodge (12-14-26) and Cayer (10-12-22), not to mention Clitsome’s offensive bent (5-17-22). When Leggio is thrown in the mix, perhaps you can understand why this correspondent has referred to them as George Roll’s “Miracle Class.” And yet, while Clarkson finished second in the league in … Read more
Offense McBride (12-22-36) and classmate Casey Parenteau (11-8-19) were the only double-digit goal scorers on the Saints last year, so it’s a good thing they’re coming back to Canton for a final round. The team scored 2.78 goals per game overall last time around, but finished in a three-way tie for eighth with only 58 … Read more
Offense For such a rough season, the Green had a surprisingly robust offense. The Hanover hotshots put up over three goals a game overall, and finished third in ECAC Hockey with 64 in ’06-07. Johnson (10-25-35), Wyman (15-15-30) and Grecu (7-14-21) were certainly talented players, holding spots 1, 2 and 4 in the Dartmouth scoring … Read more
Offense Off-what? The ‘Tute finished last in the league with 2.08 goals per game overall, and a league-low 45 in conference play. Helfrich (9-20-29) and Polacek (7-21-28) were the only 20-point scorers, and nobody mustered 10 goals despite a healthy 38-game schedule. Ornelas (9-8-17), Lord (6-10-16) and Jake Morissette (6-8-14) are the big producers who … Read more
Offense Colgate hasn’t bullied anyone in a while, and doesn’t look especially belligerent this year either. Burton (23-18-41) and Winchester (8-29-37) finished one-two on the team scoring chart last season, and accounted for a quarter of the team’s total points. That’s the mark of an unbalanced offense right there. “It is what it is. We … Read more
Offense The Tigers were merciless with the puck last year, scoring nearly three and a half goals per game against league opponents and leading ECAC Hockey in that category. They led their colleagues in overall scoring as well, burying 112 goals in 35 contests for a 3.2 average, and shot with a better than 10 … Read more