This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
What in the name of Nate Silver is going on? The first full weekend of conference play in ECAC Hockey was anything but predictable. Quinnipiac entered the weekend having scored just six goals in its last five games, while Cornell had allowed five goals over its first four games en route to a 3-0-1 start. … Read more
T.J. Manastersky has pondered and plotted and gone through all of the motions, both in his head and on the ice. What to do at even strength, on the power play, on the penalty kill, trailing in the game, leading in the game, you name it. It’s understandable, of course. Manastersky, named the coach at … Read more
In a week following the devastating impact of Hurricane Sandy along the Northeast corridor, it seemed a bit ironic that a team with a Nor’easter mascot claimed responsibility for one of the biggest early season upsets last Saturday evening when the University of New England defeated Castleton, 3-2, in overtime. Castleton came into the game … Read more
Arguing against Adrian’s dominance in the MCHA is nearly impossible, but as the competition gets stronger in the west, the Bulldogs may have to look over their shoulder to maintain the top spot. Yet the team shows no signs of slowing down. It has been five short years of history for the Adrian Bulldogs, and … Read more
It wasn’t as if the 2-1 win amounted to a major upset, though, as the Gusties were ranked No. 5 in the country. The thing coach Brett Petersen wants people to remember however, is that although his team got the win, it wasn’t the better team on the ice that night. “We got outplayed and … Read more
The Wisconsin-River Falls Falcons moved up three spots in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll on the strength of an impressive 4-0 start. In the latest poll, released Monday, Wis.-River Falls climbed to No. 9, and is the second-highest ranked team in the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association, behind No. 3 St. Norbert. Okay, you could … Read more
Westfield State Owls coach Bob Miele is ready to get his hockey team on the right path this season after only putting together 13 wins in the past two years. Starting slowly then finishing strong, or vice versa, had Miele looking for answers on why his team could not put together a full season in … Read more
Is it too early to look at the results to date and try to project them forward to the end of the season and speculate about tournament brackets and award winners? Yes, far too early; even I must concede as much. I’m going to do it anyway. We’re about a quarter of the way through … Read more
Hockey players will eagerly go the extra mile to get ahead. In Todd Graham’s case, those miles have often come about 10,000 at a time while wedged for hours and hours in the seat of an airplane. Then again, when you’re large, Australian, and itching to play hockey, you’ll range as far afield as you … Read more
The long-awaited announcement of the location of the 2013 NCAA Division III Women’s Ice Hockey Championship site broke late last week, and the University of Wisconsin-Superior’s Wessman Arena was selected as the first pre-determined site hosts in the D-III women’s championship’s 12-year history. At the beginning of the 2011-12 season, rumblings of a pre-determined site … Read more
In what is already turning into an another “on any given night” season, Niagara has managed to fly above the fray, opening 3-0 in league play after beating contenders Connecticut and Mercyhurst by a combined score of 10-1. Most of the damage inflicted by the Purple Eagles was last weekend, when they beat the Huskies … Read more
This time last season, Denver coach George Gwozdecky was looking to the student section for goaltending help. He’s fortunate to have better options this season. So far, junior Sam Brittain started each Friday game for the third-ranked Pioneers with five goals allowed. Senior Adam Murray started the first two Saturdays with 2011-12 All-WCHA Rookie Team … Read more
Although Providence couldn’t pull off a second consecutive weekend sweep, dropping last Saturday night’s game at Vermont 2-0, the Friars still look like a team on the rise. “What’s encouraging is we’ve been playing eight to nine freshmen a night,” Providence coach Nate Leaman says. “I really like what the potential of our team can … Read more
The Cornell Big Red got to 3-0-1 the hard way. The program’s traditional defense-first, defense-last, goaltending-everywhere-in-between mantra has begun to evolve in recent years but the time-tested approach is what got the Red through their first four games unbeaten. The team is averaging two-and-a-half goals a game — it hasn’t scored more than three in … Read more
How does a coach whose team was the winner of its regular season conference championship and a national runner-up in 2011-12 react to preseason polls that have his team finishing in either fourth or fifth place in the his own league? With typical Bob Daniels perspective, of course. “I still don’t know how we’ll be … Read more
The 2012-13 season marks the debut of three new teams to the Division II/III hockey scene: Stevenson (Maryland), along with Franklin Pierce and the University of New England. Stevenson split on the road with Buffalo State last weekend, while the University of New England in Biddeford, Maine (not to be confused with New England College … Read more
Goaltender Eric Howe arrived at Clarkson in the fall 2010 as part of a freshman class of eight. The Golden Knights had competed in the NCAA tournament for the first time in March of that year and graduated several key players, but based on the quality of talent being added, Clarkson was ranked No. 7 … Read more
Expectations are always high at St. Thomas. It comes with the territory of being one of the top Division III programs in college hockey. The Tommies tallied their 30th consecutive winning season a year ago, winning the regular season crown in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference and advancing to the NCAA tournament, where they lost … Read more
The opening week of SUNYAC play featured some middle-of-the-season-like individual performances. For instance, Cortland forwards A.J. Moyer (two goals, one assist) and Michael Lysyj (one goal, two assists) each enjoyed three-point nights in the season-opening 7-4 loss at Oswego. It was the most goals ever put up by the Red Dragons at Oswego. “To … Read more
Two WCHA programs — Colorado College and Wisconsin — that owe a lot to the late Bob Johnson will get an opportunity to pay respect to the coaching great when UW names its ice sheet at the Kohl Center as the “Bob Johnson Rink.” Johnson passed away Nov. 26, 1991, at age 60 in Colorado … Read more