This Week

This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Last week of regular season here, teams looking to put their ‘best foot forward to make noise come playoff time’

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As ECAC Hockey began the final descent into its postseason tournament last weekend, the element of surprise didn’t totally exist like other conferences. Quinnipiac cruised past Yale and Brown with its second and third consecutive five-goal games, and with Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Bears, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup as the regular-season champions … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: After Minnesota crowned regular-season champs, rest of conference standings still in flux

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Heading into the final weekend of regular-season Big Ten play, we know two things for sure about conference playoff seedings: Minnesota has the first-round bye and Wisconsin travels for that first week of playoff action. Where the Badgers are going, though, remains a mystery for a few days more. First things first. Congratulations to the … Read more

D-III Women’s East Week 16 Recap: Conference tournament play begins!

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This week we’re taking a look at the tournaments that have begun thus far and also taking a look at this current week as some conferences began their tournaments yesterday (Wednesday 2/22). Exciting times as the playoffs are officially underway with more action coming this weekend! We also highlight the regular-season winners from each conference. … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Late Omaha assistant coach Jerrard ‘just a person you want to be around’ as Mavericks mourn loss of ‘PJ’

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Omaha’s players unexpectedly had Tuesday afternoon free. That wasn’t Mavericks coach Mike Gabinet’s idea, but one of his assistants might have had something to do with it. “A puck hit the sprinkler system when guys were just shooting around, so we couldn’t practice,” Gabinet said. “A guy hit the crossbar and the puck went up … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With postseason approaching, leaving out two teams ‘not a level playing field’

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After 15 years of holding the semifinals and finals of the Atlantic Hockey tournament at neutral sites, the conference is moving all tournament games on campus this season. The format will be as follows: Quarterfinals March 3-5 Best-of-three series #8 seed at #1 seed #7 seed at #2 seed #6 seed at #3 seed #5 … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: MacNaughton Cup winner coming down to weekend series between Minnesota State, Michigan Tech

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Head-to-head, winner-takes-all matchups between the top two teams in the conference in the regular season’s final weekend don’t happen all the time. But when they do, they should be savored. In the past decade, we’ve seen this happen once before in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. The last time it happened – the 2019-20 … Read more

D-III Women’s West Week 16 Recap: UW-Eau Claire’s Strand makes history, Adrian’s Coykendall wins as a player & now coach, & more!

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The time has finally come, playoffs! This past weekend was the official end of the regular season even though we had some leagues begin their conference tournaments who finished the previous week. A lot happened out west, UW-Eau Claire has a new all-time winningest Head Coach, Adrian clinched the NCHA after a few wild weekends, … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Minnesota aiming to clinch first place, first-round playoff bye, as Gophers looking to ‘play good hockey’

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In advance of Minnesota’s series in Wisconsin last weekend and two wins away from securing the Big Ten regular-season title, Golden Gophers coach Bob Motzko was asked about how his team had handled a break in the schedule the week before. “The best answer would be Saturday night late,” he said. “We’ll tell you.” The … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Retiring commissioner Hagwell reflects on changes to college hockey landscape, helping ECAC move forward

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ECAC Hockey was a very different league in the mid-2000s. It was, for starters, an actual part of the ECAC, the sports federation that was founded in the early 1930s. It was initially like its parent organization, but college hockey’s realignment in the 1980s saw a division of teams break away to form Hockey East. … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Rivalry re-ignited as Maine, New Hampshire jockeying for home ice in upcoming conference postseason

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New Hampshire coach Mike Souza has had a front-row seat to the rivalry between his school and state-line rival Maine for the better part of three decades, both as a player and a coach. Going back to the 1999 season as a player, when Maine and UNH were the toast of Hockey East, if not … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Colorado College depth boosting players’ confidence, ‘belief in what they can help us do’

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The longer a hockey season goes on, the less that coaches of teams in the bottom halves of their leagues look for perfection on game day. If something’s working, pretty or not, let it work. Such was the case Saturday for Colorado College in its shootout win at No. 16 Omaha, following a 2-2 tie … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: As regular season winding down, Canisius has ‘roster of players that say they’re ready’ for upcoming challenges

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A massive snowstorm hit Buffalo back on Dec 23-24, shutting the city down for days. That prevented Canisius from flying to Air Force for a two-game series scheduled for Dec. 30-31. With no free weekends left for either school, much less the same one for both, Atlantic Hockey was faced with choosing the least terrible … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: With most playoff spots still up for grabs, ‘there’s just so much on the line right now’

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It always feels like this. In the 10 years I’ve spent covering the old WCHA, then the new WCHA, and now finally the new CCHA, it can often feel like I’m writing the same story every year at the season’s end: Nothing is decided, and everyone is pretty close. Michigan Tech leads Minnesota State by … Read more

This Week in Big Ten Hockey: Taking a look at numbers, what they mean for seven conference teams entering stretch run

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With three weeks remaining in the regular season, everything in the Big Ten is a numbers game. Last weekend’s results created the kind of scenario that many sports fans love and coaches hate, the possibility that nothing concrete will be resolved until the last game of the season. Well, maybe not nothing. While results aren’t … Read more

This Week in ECAC Hockey: Dealing with inexperience, fan support a major boost helping Rensselaer climb conference standings

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The conversations surrounding the ECAC postseason have always been divided into three distinct parts. The first four teams, the ones that receive first-round byes, usually lead that discussion, but the next two groupings – the ones that play off in the first round – are just as important for the way they offer matchups and … Read more

This Week in Hockey East: Northeastern readies for fifth straight Beanpot title game, against a first-time opponent

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Since the Beanpot has featured the same four teams for its entire 70-year history and rotates the first-round matchups on a three-year cycle, the law of averages dictates that Harvard and Northeastern should have previously met in the final about a dozen times. But it’s never happened before until this year, and Monday’s championship matchup … Read more

This Week in CCHA Hockey: Ferris State captain Slick says Bulldogs ‘have the ability to win games’ with Bemidji State series on tap ‘if we play our game’

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Matt Slick didn’t know a ton about the CCHA before he arrived at Ferris State this summer, but it didn’t take the Bulldogs long to school their new teammate about the ins and outs of their conference rivalries. And now the defenseman has been in Big Rapids, Mich., for long enough to know exactly what … Read more

This Week in NCHC Hockey: Omaha’s Miller called ‘a great person’ jumping into action at youth practice after roof collapses

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Hockey players keep their heads on a swivel while out on the ice, and not just before their own benefit. On Jan. 30, Omaha junior forward Matt Miller wasn’t just looking out for his own safety, but for that of around 50 five- and six-year-olds. Since last summer, Miller has been involved with hockey training … Read more

This Week in Atlantic Hockey: New commissioner Morgan says new job is ‘a great opportunity’ as hockey ‘has always been my first love’

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On Feb 2. Atlantic Hockey announced the selection of Michelle Morgan as its new commissioner, beginning April 17. She will succeed Bob DeGregorio, who is retiring after 20 years at the helm, dating back to the foundation of the conference. She will also replace DeGregorio as the commissioner of the women’s College Hockey America conference. … Read more