This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
It’s why we love hockey players so much: Guys like Fredonia’s Mat Hehr. Informed that he was wanted outside for media duty, Hehr hopped on one leg through the dressing room door, bare foot planted on the freezy Tuttle Arena floor and greeted a lone reporter with a smile, one that never left his face … Read more
When you head to the rink to watch your favorite team on the ice versus a conference rival or a team from another league, there is always a third team that takes the ice first, although sadly, seldom to cheers. However, it is tough to have much of a game without on-ice officials. The supervisors … Read more
The Bowdoin women’s hockey team has been one of the pleasant surprises so far in the 2012-13 season. Under alumnus Marissa O’Neil, the Polar Bears are off to their best start since the early 2000s with a 13-2-1 record. Bowdoin’s 13 wins have already surpassed their total from all of last season, where it won … Read more
Kevin Swallow played at Dartmouth and Maine, Division I programs accustomed to certain schedules. There were classes and practices during the week. And there were games during the weekend. Different story in the ECAC Northeast. So, you can imagine that Swallow, in his first season as coach at Nichols College, is still in a bit … Read more
The Utica College Pioneers just keep rolling right along. Fresh off a 6-4 win over Elmira on Friday night, the No. 8 Pioneers topped Hobart, the top team in the ECAC West, by a 5-3 count on Saturday evening. Utica now stands at 14-3-0 overall and 5-2 in the conference, just three points behind No. … Read more
Coach Craig Russell knew that coming into the 2012-13 season that his Panthers would have a target on their back, one that took shape after Plymouth State defeated Salem State in double-overtime to capture the MASCAC title last year. Like any defending champ however, that is to be expected, and one must be ready for … Read more
In a league race where first and sixth place are separated by only three points, a series between WCHA co-leading St. Cloud State and third-place North Dakota in Grand Forks looms large this weekend. “We’re still fighting hard for points,” North Dakota coach Dave Hakstol told the Grand Forks Herald after last Saturday’s 4-4 tie … Read more
Every team wants to peak at the right time, and that time is coming. There are six weekends left in the Atlantic Hockey regular season and just three points separate positions two through nine in the standings. “You play 27 games to settle the regular season and solidify the playoffs [seedings], but where you finish … Read more
When Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy looked at the schedule at the beginning of the year, his team’s three consecutive mid-January games against Maine stood out as potential playoff-caliber contests. After all, the two schools had faced each other in back-to-back Hockey East fourth-seed-vs.-fifth-seed quarterfinal series and although both had suffered significant losses to attrition, they … Read more
Maybe the old westerns were wrong: Whitney Ave. is big enough for the two of ’em. The Bobcats up the hill at Quinnipiac may be hogging the spotlight, but Yale is nonetheless sitting pretty in second place in ECAC Hockey. The Bulldogs are on a four-game winning streak, are unbeaten in five (4-0-1), and are … Read more
Sweeps are tough to come by in the CCHA. For only the second time this season, three teams swept opponents in league play last weekend and each of the victors — Alaska, Ferris State and Northern Michigan — reaped big benefits in the standings. The Nanooks capped a four-game road trip with a two-game sweep … Read more
OK, before anyone gets the wrong idea, this is not about anything unsportsmanlike or involving unclean behavior or uniforms. The bottom line for head coach Matt Greason at Trinity is his team needs to work as hard offensively in creating chances as they do defensively in stopping goals. “All great or championship teams are very … Read more
For the Castleton Spartans, a roster of returning players and recent success in the highly competitive ECAC East did not automatically mean success this season, as the team and their coach have struggled to clean-up their game and play the consistent hockey it takes to produce wins routinely. “It certainly has been an interesting year, … Read more
Take a slow cruise through any of hockey-mad Buffalo’s many ‘burbs and you are bound to come upon a random neighborhood street hockey clash. Wannabe Perreaults, LaFontaines, and Haseks have battled it out for generations for mythical Stanley Cup glory, be it on ice or asphalt. The vast majority of those dreams ended at the … Read more
Wins have been difficult to come by for Hamline this season. The Pipers just haven’t been able to find a victory, at home or on the road, despite playing hard every time they take the ice. However, their fortunes changed slightly over the weekend. Finally, the Pipers nailed down a victory, and a memorable one … Read more
Defensively speaking, the Lake Forest Foresters are a great team. They currently have the 10th best penalty-kill unit in the country, going 66-of-76 (86.8 percent), which tops all other teams in the MCHA. Lake Forest is fourth in the conference in defensive scoring, allowing an average of 2.80 goals a game. They are a disciplined … Read more
The motto of the St. Norbert men’s hockey team could be, “Act like you’ve been there before.” After rolling off eight-straight wins, the Green Knights have battled their way back to the top spot in both the USCHO.com Division III men’s hockey poll and the D3hockey.com poll. St. Norbert’s last loss came on Nov. 16, … Read more
At the start of the 2012-13 season, Westfield State Owls coach Bob Miele preached that his club needed to be consistent with their play on the ice all year long. He knows that his team has been burned too many times by their hot-and-cold streaks, causing the Owls to finish below .500 in back-to-back seasons. … Read more
Manhattanville won its first game of the calendar year on Saturday night when it edged host Cortland, 3-2, in overtime. “It’s a tough place to play,” said Manhattanville coach and former forward Arlen Marshall on Monday afternoon. “We knew going in it was going to be a tough game.” The No. 12 Valiants (10-4-1 overall, … Read more
You’re not going to find many programs that underwent more offseason change in the ECAC Northeast than Curry College. New coaching staff. New attitude. Many new players. However, the goals have always remained the same for the Colonels. Plant yourself in the top echelon of the league, give yourself a chance to win the conference … Read more