This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
We’re almost at the point of handing out postseason awards (see below). Before I even think of a player or coach who deserves an award, I think we have to recognize the folks at the Hockey East office who have, once again, assembled a schedule that will allow the league regular-season championship to be played … Read more
No. 2 Neumann at No. 1 Elmira Elmira coach Aaron Saul returned home earlier this week after visiting his brother Adrian in Germany. Adrian suffered a serious neck injury last week in a hockey game, but fortunately is doing well. “Adrian’s doing great,” said Aaron Saul. “He walked around the whole lobby of the hospital. … Read more
All Rookie Team and Defensive Awards This is the sixth year we’ve been helping out with these awards. I’ll repeat what I always do — I only coordinate this effort. I do not select these awards, nor does USCHO. The coaches do, in the same way they select the other SUNYAC year-end awards. I just … Read more
Back in October, the Oswego State women’s hockey team began its preseason practices with one goal: a breakout season. Fast forward to present day and the Lakers are now preparing for the ECAC West Tournament coming off their best regular season record in program history at 13-9-3 and an 8-7-3 conference mark. This year also … Read more
What if the Rocket had used a curved stick? How many goals would he have scored? How many goalies’ heads would he have taken off? What if Bobby had even one good knee, much less two? Would there be any point in arguing about who was the best of them all really was? If you … Read more
No. 4 Hobart at No. 1 Elmira Until last weekend, Elmira was the hottest team in Division III men’s hockey. The Soaring Eagles were undefeated in their last 12 contests, and hadn’t lost a game since Thanksgiving. Elmira lost to Neumann and tied Utica last weekend, but the late season stumble doesn’t worry the Soaring … Read more
There’s so much at stake this weekend that there promises to be drama that affects the standings in every rink this weekend. Even the battle for last place — between Bowling Green and Michigan State in East Lansing — sees the end of an era with MSU’s Rick Comley’s imminent retirement. One point separates first-place … Read more
Prior to the announcement of Northeastern coach Greg Cronin’s suspension (along with assistant Albie O’Connell), I was going to offer the following words to Huskies fans still in shock over how close they came to ending their Beanpot drought. The words still apply, albeit with an asterisk. Red Sox fans prior to 2004 heard a … Read more
Dean Blais’ exact quote was “It’s like jumping from the frying pan into the fire. … With 11 freshman in the lineup, we could be in for a real tough start.” That was before the season. Before Nebraska-Omaha went 9-1-1 to begin the year and catapulted the Mavericks into the center of regional and national … Read more
There’s a bounty crop of Atlantic Hockey players finishing up their college careers this season, especially when it comes to forwards. Several teams are going to have to replace a lot of points after this season. As the final weekend of the regular season approaches (a look at the playoff picture for each team can … Read more
For those of you who may be new to the Playoff Quotes game, let me save you some trouble: Here’s a time-tested breakdown of what your coach will say depending on his team’s position in the standings. Bottom four: “There’s no question, we’ve had a difficult season. We really struggled to play a full 60 … Read more
Ben Waldman – 3, Shane Avery – 2 Who needs your leading scorer when you got Ben Waldman? Fredonia rode Waldman’s second period hat trick to defeat Buffalo State, 3-2, with all the scoring in the middle stanza. Shane Avery got both of Buffalo State’s goals. After a scoreless first period which saw neither team … Read more
First they ran the gauntlet. Then, they ran the table. Curry entered conference play in January coming off a brutal stretch of nonconference games that included four ranked teams. They understandably struggled, winning only one game during that six-game period. However, the Colonels ran off a 10-game unbeaten streak since then and have clinched the … Read more
I was 6-2 in predicting the Northern Collegiate Hockey Association’s first-round playoff outcomes last weekend. Good, right? Well, this is where the old saying about statistics never lying but liars using statistics comes into play. Yes, I perfectly forecasted results in six regulation playoff games, but missed the mark entirely on two mini-games that eventually … Read more
Absolutely nothing beats the excitement of playoff hockey. After an incredibly exciting regular season, the stakes are much higher now, as it is now win or go home for the teams remaining in the conference tournaments. This week I thought it important to focus on how the teams are preparing for Saturday, the playoff prep. … Read more
Home Ice, No Advantage? You work all year for home ice advantage in the playoffs, and then you end up playing a team that beat you on your home ice earlier in the season. “I think when you look at the two first round games, you are splitting hairs,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said. “Let’s … Read more
The list of finalists for the Hockey Humanitarian Award was announced a couple of days ago. One of the names of the 12 college hockey players on it is Yale’s Aleca Hughes, to the surprise of absolutely no one, and, not surprisingly, to the chagrin of Aleca Hughes. “I’m definitely honored,” said the junior winger, … Read more
And then there was one. Since late October, the RIT and Wisconsin-River Falls women’s hockey teams have been battling back and forth, matching each other win for win. Heading into last weekend, both teams remained unbeaten. However, unranked Oswego State tripped up RIT with a 2-1 upset win over the previously top-ranked Tigers to hand … Read more
Suddenly, coaches have started speaking in code, player body parts are now only referred to as upper and lower hemispheres, and if someone is clutching so much as a rabbit’s foot for a measure of good luck, not even Wikileaks is going to find out about it. Yes, the playoffs are here. This weekend, the … Read more
Alphabetically and every other way, a look at the top of the standings in the NESCAC finds Hamilton atop the conference and looking to stay there through the final weekend of the regular season. “One of our goals this season was to earn a home-ice slot for the playoffs,” said third-year coach Norm Bazin. “We … Read more