Season previews for teams
George Gwozdecky looked into the eyes of his players and saw shock and disbelief. Looking back six months later, he’s glad he did. The Denver players never suspected their 2002-03 season would end the way it did — with them falling short of their goals. So when the Pioneers were ousted from the first round … Read more
The refrain is familiar: How is Minnesota State going to deal with losing two big-name scorers? A year ago, it was Tim Jackman and Jerry Cunningham. The Mavericks got along just fine, thank you. Went 17 games without a loss. Tied for second in the WCHA. Made the school’s first trip to the NCAA Division … Read more
The risk a team runs after a successful season is the misguided notion that the next season’s success will be easy to come by. Offseason conditioning and preseason training usually are fueled more by bad memories than good ones. So Minnesota-Duluth coach Scott Sandelin, fresh off the Bulldogs’ first trip to the WCHA Final Five … Read more
Amid the ruin that was the 2002-03 season for Alaska-Anchorage, John Hill offered a bit of perspective. The second-year coach mentioned last year that he thinks the 2004-05 season is when the Seawolves finally will be able to pull it all together. It might have been hard to see that through the destruction of a … Read more
The cyclical nature of mid-major college hockey programs might be coming around to disrupt St. Cloud State’s standing as one of the recent fixtures in the NCAA tournament. Only Michigan and Maine have longer current streaks in the NCAA field, but the Huskies’ four-year run is in danger unless they can: Reverse the downward trend … Read more
Two-time defending national champion Minnesota might come from the WCHA, but winning the league title is a whole different matter, it seems. Todd D. Milewski previews the conference’s 52nd session.
You don’t enter college expecting to play for three different coaches in your four years. The NHL, maybe, but not college, where coaches get the time they need to try to rebuild a program that has lost its way. This season’s seniors at Michigan Tech, however, will be playing for head coach No. 3 as … Read more
The Obvious When you are coming off a year in which you got less than two goals a league game and had the league’s worst power play at 10.8%, it’s fairly easy to spot what needs improvement. “Obviously, we need to score some goals to be there at the end,” said Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith. … Read more
Looking For More The Buffalo State Bengals achieved a first last year — a SUNYAC playoff spot. Now, they will be looking for more, such as home ice in the postseason and a winning record. It won’t be easy, as they lost 10 players, many of them key personnel, and their Western New York rival, … Read more
Strong Tandem Of the teams with strong goaltenders, Oswego may be in the best position of all. The Lakers have the best tandem in net, each of whom would probably start for any other team. Instead, they will most likely get to share the starting role, as they did last year. Senior Joe Lofberg comes … Read more
On The Right Path The 2001-2 season was a turnaround for Cortland, which finished tied for third place at 7-5-2 and sported an overall record of 14-11-4. The Red Dragons will be looking to continue on that road, as second year coach Tom Cranfield continues to put his mark on the team. “We’ll need to … Read more
Lost A Lot Last year was a successful one for first-year coach Brian Hills. His Geneseo Ice Knights worked out early-season kinks, then went 11-7-2 for the rest of the year, finished tied for third, defeated Potsdam in the first round in a thrilling mini-game, and stretched Plattsburgh to a mini-game before losing. With that … Read more
The Year of the Goaltender may be here in the SUNYAC, and that’s despite the graduation of All-World Niklas Sundberg. Plattsburgh might be the favorite once again, but faces old and new at other programs will have something to say about that.
A Change At The Helm In Potsdam’s 24 years as a varsity hockey program, the Bears have had only two coaches. John Horan led the team from club to varsity to playoff status while earning three SUNYAC Coach of the Year awards. Then, he stepped down from coaching (but remained employed by the school), and … Read more
It’s Been A While February 15, 2000, to be exact. That was the last time that Brockport won a league game. Since then, it has gone 0-25-3 in SUNYAC regular-season play (and 0-1-1 in the playoffs right after that last win). With that kind of streak, you set modest goals. Brian Dickinson told his players, … Read more
No More Sundberg There is no beating around the bush. Niklas Sundberg is gone. One of the top goaltenders ever at Plattsburgh, and in Division III for that matter, has done his four years. Now, Plattsburgh needs to replace the two-time All-American who led it to a national championship in 2001. For now, that burden … Read more
Providence coach Bob Deraney doesn’t want to look at 2002-03 as a whole new season but rather a continuation of the last one. And who can blame him? Providence closed out last season with a run through the ECAC East tournament that included an upset of eventual Frozen Four participant Niagara, followed by a 1-0 … Read more
Eighteen years after the men’s teams did the same, Hockey East breaks out on its own this season, and ‘parity’ is the buzzword.
Fourteen sophomores and five freshmen make up the bulk of Connecticut’s ever-developing women’s hockey program. There are two juniors as well, and naturally, with no seniors, they’re both captains. Such are the circumstances Heather Linstad faces in her third year as UConn head coach, her second with a full recruiting class. “I wouldn’t have taken … Read more
Of the six coaches in Hockey East, five of them have been with their programs for at least two years. The only new guy in town is New Hampshire’s Brian McCloskey, who steps over from the associate men’s coach position to become just the third coach in the 25-year history of the women’s program. McCloskey … Read more