This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
In October, everyone had dreams. Fans were hopeful, players were eager, coaches were strategizing. Now, it’s February, and in just one weekend, the regular season will come to an end. Some dreams have already been shattered. Others are still within reach. Players will have to dig deep to find that second reserve. Coaches are making … Read more
The regular season winds up this weekend. While every team is still playing for something, clarity has come to the regular season standings and the upcoming playoff picture. It has been a wild ride again this season. With only five teams in the league, each team’s schedules have been composed of a 50/50 mix of … Read more
Rochester Institute of Technology goaltender Shane Madolora’s first start this season was a baptism by fire. Struggling with an ankle injury, the sophomore was competing in what was then a three-goalie rotation to see who would fill the shoes of the departed Jared DeMichiel. In front of a record 10,556 fans at Rochester’s Blue Cross … Read more
With three weeks left in the regular season, I’m left with a puzzling question that I’ve had a difficult time answering: How good is Northeastern? In days prior to the Beanpot, which saw NU advance to the championship game and put up six goals, only to lose to No. 1 Boston College, which netted its … Read more
There is one team in the CCHA that controls its destiny, and one whose destiny is now predetermined. If Notre Dame wins its last four games, no one else can capture first place. No one else can capture last place, either; that belongs to Bowling Green alone. The top three teams in the CCHA — … Read more
There are four games left for most teams in ECAC Hockey; five for Harvard and Brown. Here’s the state of the chaos in the regular season’s penultimate week. • Colgate (six points) can’t finish higher than ninth place. • Harvard (seven points) and St. Lawrence (11 points) can’t finish higher than seventh. • Brown (13 … Read more
This weekend, Minnesota and Wisconsin face off for the second go around this season in the Border Battle. When the two teams played at Mariucci Arena back in early November, Wisconsin came out on top, taking three points from the Gophers, winning on Friday and tying on Saturday. The teams take to the ice at … Read more
It’s the last week of play in the ECAC Northeast, but there’s still much to be decided. With each team having two games left, here’s a breakdown of where things stands. What We Know Curry, Johnson and Wales, and Wentworth have all clinched somewhere among the top three seeds, although the order has yet to … Read more
During the first four years of the NCAA sponsoring Division III women’s hockey, the Bowdoin Polar Bears made it to every NCAA tournament, including two Frozen Fours. However, since 2005, Bowdoin hasn’t made the NCAA tournament again. The Polar Bears hit rock bottom in 2007-08, struggling to a 5-12-6 record, which was the second worst … Read more
After sneaking into the conference championship game as the sixth seed last year, Johnson and Wales isn’t surprising anyone this season. With a wild 6-4 win at Becker Wednesday night, the Wildcats moved to 9-2 in conference play to jump ahead of Curry for the top spot in the ECAC Northeast, and could be in … Read more
Yes, Oswego won the regular season last year, and they won it again this year. However, the team that won it this year is a bit different than the team that took the points title the previous season. They are still one of the most talented squads in the SUNYAC, capable at any moment of … Read more
British author Oscar Wilde once noted that we are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars. When looking above, Finlandia first-year coach John McCabe only sees a brighter future for his Lions in the constellations. At 2-18, skeptics would suggest the former Alabama-Huntsville assistant is looking through the lens … Read more
Utica travels to Neumann this weekend to take on the Knights in a pair of games, but the teams have been headed in opposite directions lately. Utica is riding a four-game winning streak, including sweeps of Hobart and Manhattanville. Meanwhile, Neumann has gone 1-2-1 in its last four games against the same competition. One potential … Read more
It is now the standard by which all women’s hockey scorers will be measured. Until someone comes along to break it. Who knows when (or if) that will ever happen. Until then, Mercyhurst’s Meghan Agosta will be the name at the top of the NCAA career scoring leaderboard. Her four points last Friday against Wayne … Read more
The battle is upon us. It’s Spartans vs. Cadets, and no, this not a reenactment of the legend of the 300, nor The Charge of the Light Brigade. With just four games remaining in the regular season, this is to get a leg up on the other team for first place in the ECAC East … Read more
This weekend is the closest of the season to Valentine’s Day, and every longtime reader of this column knows what that means: a bitter, divorced, middle-aged woman is doing the writing this week. Of course, that differs very little from any other week in the season, but at this time of year, the Ghosts of … Read more
When I talked to Holy Cross coach Paul Pearl this week, he took me to task for worrying too much about pods and standings. I’ve been harping for a while now on my low opinion of the new Atlantic Hockey playoff format, while Pearl’s team has been just going out and playing good hockey. “You’ve … Read more
It’s been one setback after another for Michigan Tech this season. Jamie Russell talks of a timeline started in October, stained with injury and adversity. There’s been “no continuity” in the Huskies’ lines, the power play “changes daily” and the penalty kill has been “a revolving door.” “A couple weeks ago, we get one guy … Read more
Going into last weekend, New Hampshire had the toughest remaining schedule of Hockey East’s top five teams. The Wildcats had six league games remaining against nationally ranked opponents (two each against Maine, Merrimack, and Boston College) compared to four for Merrimack and Maine, two for BC, and none for Boston University. Well, the Wildcats took … Read more
Three weeks left. That’s it. Only three weeks remain in ECAC Hockey’s regular season, so the annual segment snuck up on me a bit, to tell you the truth. But without further ado, let’s take a look at … What we know Most teams have six games remaining, but a few have five or seven. … Read more