This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
“What’s happening up there in St. Cloud?” was a commonly asked question in the wake of one of St. Cloud State’s more forgettable halves of a season in recent history. The voting media rated SCSU fourth in the preseason poll but the Huskies quickly descended down the rankings with each loss until they were completely … Read more
Clarkson has pursued a season unlike almost any other in ECAC Hockey. It’s not their fortunes or their superlatives that have set the Golden Knights apart, but their immensely intimidating docket. The Knights have played three of their non-conference games against Nebraska-Omaha and Minnesota-Duluth — each of which has earned first-place votes at one point … Read more
Not too hot. Not too cold. This week it’s time to look at two teams that aren’t in the national rankings but are on pace to make the Hockey East playoffs, albeit as road teams. Massachusetts: Back to square one? Absolutely not They’re almost certainly not going to earn home ice in the playoffs, but … Read more
This isn’t the column I planned for this week. Not completely, anyway. By now you’ve heard that Michigan State coach Rick Comley announced his retirement effective at the end of the 2010-11 season. In his press conference Tuesday, Comley touched on a lot of things (some of which I’ve already mentioned in my CCHA blog), … Read more
Isabel Menard has a knack for boiling hockey down to its basics, just as she has a nose for the net. Both involve the simplest route: straight to the heart, and pity the poor defenseman who gets in her way. While the sophomore sniper from Syracuse has talent to burn, it’s her motor that makes … Read more
In the 10-year history of the NCAA sponsoring a Division III women’s hockey championship, only one team has ever gone a whole season unbeaten. The 2007 Plattsburgh Cardinals went 27-0-2 on their way to their first national championship. This season, Plattsburgh will try to play the role of spoiler as the top-ranked RIT Tigers come … Read more
In the 80s, Leonard Nimoy, Spock of “Star Trek” fame, hosted a TV show that featured searches for proof of legends, myths and other creatures of questionable reality, such as the Loch Ness Monster and Sasquatch. While the show was interesting, it often led to inconclusive endings or lack of discovery, so the legends lived … Read more
Lake Forest’s coach hopes to parlay last weekend’s pair of wins over Concordia (Wis.) into a better second-half campaign. Interim coach Seamus Gregory makes the case his Foresters are a better team than their 4-11 overall record indicates. The team (4-6 MCHA) travels to Ashland, Wis., for games against Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association-rival Northland (4-11, … Read more
Over the course of the last six weeks, Neumann has experienced the ups and downs that are college hockey. The Knights have been caught in the rut of inconsistency and their record shows it. The last eight games show a repeating pattern: loss/win/tie, loss/win/tie, loss/win. Neumann started out the season 6-2-1, but hasn’t been able … Read more
Last week’s 4-3 win over Southern New Hampshire represented more then just a milestone for Nichols’ head coach Lou Izzi; it’s also a symbol of the drastic change the program has gone through during his tenure. “It was brought to my attention; I knew I was approaching it,” Izzi said of the win mark. “When … Read more
It’s one of those oddities in sports. Since November 2, 2003, Oswego has 19 of them. Plattsburgh has 15. Fredonia is next with 13. Brockport and Buffalo State each have eight. Cortland and Potsdam each have two. Even Morrisville, which hasn’t been around that long (since 2005-6) has two. Geneseo has none. What are we … Read more
We all knew Denver would be pretty good coming into this season, despite all of its offseason losses in important roster chunks and goaltending. If you had given the Pioneers the benefit of the doubt by looking at their history, their second-place spot in the league makes sense. What’s been surprising, however, is how they’ve … Read more
It’s the third week in January, which means that something’s stirring in the world of college hockey, something that moves people to speculate, to connive, to second-guess, to hope and dream, even to forget about the more immediate prize of a conference championship. I’m talking about a favorable PairWise Ranking, something that indicates that — … Read more
Niagara’s first year in Atlantic Hockey has been a unmitigated success. The Purple Eagles, who won 12 games last season, are 13-7-2 overall and 10-5 in conference, good for a tie for second place with Robert Morris. Niagara has a game in hand on the Colonials and two in hand on first-place Rochester Institute of … Read more
It’s Thursday, Jan. 20. Do you know what that means? It means that with the exception of the Beanpot, ECAC Hockey is done with non-conference play for the 2010-11 season. That makes this an excellent time to take a look at how the conference actually stacked up against “the big boys,” the leagues whose fans … Read more
Two weekends ago, the Maine Black Bears walked into Merrimack a confident team. They were returning two key players — Jeff Dimmen and Will O’Neill — from injury and were ready to tackle the league schedule down the stretch. That Black Bears team left Lawler Arena dejected and shaking its collective heads after losing, 7-1, … Read more
It takes a lot of guts to step in front of an opponent’s slap shot, just like it does to ask for the privilege of doing so. Melissa Perry knows that as well as anyone. Perry, a junior defenseman at Quinnipiac, has gone from being a walk-on hopeful to being a key member of the … Read more
The Amherst Lord Jeffs haven’t seen the friendly confines of Orr Rink in nearly two months for a game. They played their last home game on Nov. 20, which was the opening weekend of the season and resulted in a 5-0 win over Wesleyan. Over the last two months, coach Jim Plumer and his team … Read more
Usually discussions with coaches contain a lot of “coach-speak,” the noncommittal type of responses that evoke many of the usual clichés. “You know we need to get better on special teams.” “I really liked the way we competed tonight; we just needed a little puck-luck.” “We didn’t create enough traffic in front of their net … Read more
No. 8 Adrian holds a 14-0 series advantage over No. 9 Milwaukee School of Engineering heading into this weekend’s clash of the Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association titans. “The record speaks for itself,” MSOE coach Mark Ostapina said. Said coach Ron Fogarty: “What’s happened in the past is irrelevant.” While stating the obvious, both coaches are … Read more