This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Who is Manhattanville? Manhattanville traveled to the Aud last weekend and swept the Utica Pioneers, moving into a tie with Hobart for second place in the league standings. Normally, a late season four point weekend would make a coach pretty happy, but not so for Valiants head coach Keith Levinthal who came away more confused … Read more
Things are really heating up as the final two weekends are upon us. Only four regular season games remain on the schedule–that’s eight points up for grabs and with things so tight in the standings, a bit of a stumble on the weekend or a strong couple games can make the difference in making the … Read more
Concordia Setback The race for the final playoff spot was shaken up this week with the revelation that Concordia’s lone win in MIAC play, a 4-1 victory over Bethel, was aided by the use of an ineligible player. Concordia used the non-rostered player, an enrolled Concordia student, as the result of a shortage at the … Read more
Not A Word About “That Tournament in Boston” College hockey fans outside of Route 128 often get exasperated this time of year. It seems to them that an inordinate amount of attention goes to That Tournament in Boston, the allure of which escapes them. “Why not write about my team?” they either say or imply. … Read more
Accentuating the Positive Not exactly how you’d expect the annual Valentine’s Day column to begin, is it? After all, this holiday is a middle-aged, bitter, divorced, hockey-loving girl reporter’s dream. Underperforming flagship programs portending gate issues at Joe Louis Arena next month, key injuries to players for the league’s top team, a general sense of … Read more
Less than a month until the playoffs? Already? That’s not fair; I only just realized that “ECAC” is an abbreviation and not an acronym. Referring to “E-Kack Hockey” was getting me a lot of weird looks, and now I know why. What We Know With three weekends to play in the regular season, we take … Read more
Only a week of conference action remains in both the MCHA and NCHA, and amazingly the playoff picture has shaped into one that is rather clear. Before taking a quick look at that, however, it’s time to examine the USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll for the final time this season. St. Scholastica dropped down a … Read more
Wanted: Points “One point is not helping. You need two points. We only have three games left, so we need some points.” Though that was said by Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith after their tie with Buffalo State, it could have been said by a lot of coaches. With teams having either three or four games … Read more
Back to Full Strength After a lost weekend in Colorado Springs, where the Army Black Knights lost a pair of games to archrival Air Force and then 10 players to suspension for violating team rules, Brian Riley’s squad suffered a pair of home losses to Bentley on Feb. 6 and 7. Getting several players back … Read more
According to the folks at USA Hockey, it’s Hockey Weekend Across America this weekend, which means get out and enjoy the game we all know and love. Here at USCHO, on the other hand, it’s hockey day, every day — just the way I like it. Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red … Read more
Andy Williams was off by about two months when he said, “It’s the most wonderful time of the year.” The middle of February always gets both casual and diehard college hockey observers in the mood to figure out the standings and probable playoff matchups. Even in the four-team CHA, this happens. Bemidji State and Niagara … Read more
For a team top-heavy with freshmen, coach RJ Tolan has the Wentworth Leopards firmly entrenched in the playoff hunt, with an eye on getting home-ice advantage. Reached while preparing his squad for an important game against the University of Massachusetts-Dartmouth, the third year coach offered thinks “[i]t’s going all right. We have a young group, … Read more
Still Learning Neumann had a wild up-and-down series against Utica last weekend. The Knights scored four goals in the first period on Friday night and then cruised to a 9-2 victory. Things were looking equally good in Saturday’s game as Neumann found itself on top 3-2 after two periods. But then the wheels came off … Read more
Another week in the books and yet another week of shuffling for NCHA and MCHA teams in the latest USCHO.com Division III poll. No longer do six NCHA teams grace the top 15, as winless weekends by the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point dropped both from the realm of the ranked. Though those … Read more
It’s February! If you canvas most coaches, you probably would hear them respond that their “hockey groundhog†hopefully saw its shadow on the ice and that there are six more weeks of the season for their respective teams. With only three more weeks in the regular season, points are critical and teams starting to play … Read more
The Playoff Push Only three things are assured in life: death, taxes, and a close race among the top teams in the MIAC. Year after year, teams battle it out not just to slide into the bottom half of the playoff ladder, but for crucial positioning at the top that can be the difference between … Read more
With the playoffs looming, each game has more importance as points become more meaningful. One team that realizes this is the Fitchburg State Falcons, currently in eighth place, only four points out of fourth place, but also with two teams nipping at their skates. With four points in their last four games, they now have … Read more
As the season slowly begins to wind down, it’s only natural we keep getting some exciting hockey games, right? Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Kael Mouillierat, MSU, M. Why: Scored two goals and had one assist, including Friday’s game-winner to help his Mavericks to … Read more
Beanpotters Hold Serve For the past decade or so, the Beanpot has been lacking its fair share of upsets. Aside from Boston University winning a handful of games as underdogs (but it’s the Beanpot, that’s expected) and Harvard’s upset of Northeastern in last year’s opening round (but NU’s futility is often expected, as well), “Boston’s … Read more
Out West there’s brawling, the CHA’s falling, the North Country’s calling, pink’s oh-so-dahling, and the temperature’s falling … … my rhymes are appalling. Enough with the stalling! Reactions to Western Incidents Unless you’ve been living in … well, ok, anywhere without college hockey … for the last couple weeks, you’ve doubtlessly caught wind of the … Read more