This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
When Brian Idalski became the head coach at North Dakota prior to the 2007-08 season, he inherited a team that hadn’t won a conference game the year before. “When I took the job, I thought four recruiting classes, we could be competitive,” he said. “Now looking back at that, I don’t think that was off … Read more
In the 12 years I’ve been following Division III women’s ice hockey, I don’t think I’ve ever seen a weekend quite like what will be taking place this weekend. In four out of the five conferences, the current top two teams in the standings will be playing each other. No. 1 and undefeated Plattsburgh hosts … Read more
At the beginning of the season, I talked to every Atlantic Hockey coach and all but one predicted a finish similar to 2011-12, which was so close it bordered on a statistical anomaly. Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl went against the grain and told me, “Statistically that’s not going to happen again. It was absurd … Read more
The series circled in red on most every WCHA fan’s calendar is finally here and as usual, the league title may be determined by its outcome. No. 1 Minnesota hosts No. 6 North Dakota in the final WCHA series between two fierce rivals who are tied for third place in points but tied for first … Read more
While it has been easy to talk about Boston College, New Hampshire and Boston University this season, the fourth spot in Hockey East remains up in the air. One team that put a stake in the ground last weekend in hopes of gaining the final home ice spot — if not more in the Hockey … Read more
Could this last season of CCHA hockey come down to goaltending? Is there such parity in the league that the difference between games in a weekend, between staying home and traveling in the first round of the playoffs, between a regular season title and second place — perhaps one point behind first — will be … Read more
Friday’s game against Cornell marks the first home game in 47 days for Union. Messa Rink has probably never been a more welcome sight for the Dutchmen, who have won two of their last eight games, all on the road. Still, coach Rick Bennett is optimistic the long stretch away from Schenectady will help prepare … Read more
In just over two months, at the NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship banquet, the 2013 Laura Hurd Award winner will be announced. The award is given annually to the best D-III women’s ice hockey player as voted on by the American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA). Last year, Norwich’s Julie Fortier earned the prestigious … Read more
There are only six weekends of games left, with all weekends seeing conference play. With almost a month off from the conference schedule, this is a perfect point in the season to evaluate what happened in first half, and show what teams need to compete when playoffs come around. Right now, Adrian is still unbeaten … Read more
Coach Mike McShane had them circled on the calendar long before the New Year’s ball dropped and 2013 was upon us: Five key games on the schedule that he knew would be key in refining his team and perhaps defining a season based on the outcomes, beginning with the Northfield Bank Tournament right after the … Read more
“Seamless,” said coach Bill Kangas. “That is the word I would use to describe how this team flows and appears to anyone looking in from the outside. It just works almost effortlessly and without any perceived hierarchy. You could see a bunch of hockey players having lunch together and not know what class they were … Read more
Despite battling through the toughest schedule in NCAA D-III, the Wisconsin-Stevens Point men’s hockey team is rolling, having won six of its last seven games, including memorable victories over two top 10 teams. The Pointers (10-6-1) have surged to the No. 15 spot in this week’s USCHO.com D-III poll. A major reason for Wis.-Stevens Point’s … Read more
The mighty fell in the Green Mountain State on Saturday night. That was when the Knights of Neumann University downed the No. 1 team in the nation, the Norwich University Cadets, in the championship game of the Northfield Bank Tournament in Northfield, Vt. Sophomore forward Chris Bournazos scored two goals in the title game against … Read more
At first glance, the record isn’t flashy. St. John’s is 6-6-1 overall and only 1-3 in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. However, the record is deceptive. The Johnnies have won five of their last seven games, and appear poised to make a run for a conference playoff berth, and perhaps if the hockey gods smile … Read more
Closing out the 2012 year could have been the best thing that happened to the Framingham State Rams this season. Head coach T.J. Brown and his club started out the first half of the 2012-13 campaign with nine losses in 10 games, which put the Rams dead last in the MASCAC standings. For any program … Read more
“Is there a doctor in the house?” That old catchphrase of vaudevillian vintage could have ricocheted throughout the Buffalo State Ice Arena after Bengals captain Mike Zannella suffered a gashed leg while taking the twirl before Friday’s clash with New England College. It wasn’t, and there wasn’t, and Zannella, doing what comes naturally to a … Read more
Andrew Boschetto isn’t afraid to schedule up. He believes in challenging his Salve Regina Seahawks. He believes that kind of a tough trek will only prepare them for the final sprint in the ECAC Northeast. Along the way, he can live with some of the bumps in the road. Because when you’re a team on … Read more
Many columnists do an article at about this point of the season predicting events that they believe will happen. Those that read our weekly picks contest already have an idea of just how much value there is in any prediction of mine. So rather than tell you what I think we’ll see by the time … Read more
It’s probably too early to call this the “home stretch,” but things are getting serious in Atlantic Hockey. This Friday will be the first time this season that all 12 teams are in conference play on a single day, and they’ll do it the next night as well. Almost all the odd single games against … Read more
Most people figured this would be a rebuilding year for Maine, but last place hardly seemed a part of the equation. In the preseason, Hockey East coaches picked the Black Bears to finish fifth. Yours truly also picked them for fifth; Jim Connelly pegged them for fourth. All of those projections seemed reasonable despite the … Read more