This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Robert Morris made it official on its end with a press conference Wednesday announcing its admittance to Atlantic Hockey two years down the road. Gary Heeman, USCHO’s arena reporter for RMU home games, talked exclusively with Robert Morris head coach Derek Schooley and athletic director Dr. Craig Coleman about the jump to the AHA and … Read more
The Golden Eagles Are Soaring Brockport’s James Cody fired a shot from the left point that found the back of the net at 12:46 of the third period for a 4-1 lead over Geneseo. Cody immediately skated over to the far glass, jumping up against it to celebrate with the student section as the crowd … Read more
New Kids on the Block My column last week went to press too early to get official reaction to the admission of Niagara and Robert Morris to Atlantic Hockey. The Colonials held a press conference on Wednesday, formally making their announcement. “This is a big day for our program,” said head coach Derek Schooley. “Atlantic … Read more
And Now Back to Our Regularly Scheduled Program First off, I want to thank all of you for your responses to last week’s column. I received a lot of feedback — in person at Yost Ice Arena last Saturday, from colleagues on the campus at Mott Community College this week, by email — much of … Read more
Double Zero Hobart walked into the Aud in Utica last Friday night on a roll. The Statesmen had won each of their last five games, outscoring their opponents 31-12 in that span, and had not lost a game since early December. But as the 2,900 plus fans filtered into their seats, working in the back … Read more
It’s Official Let’s give a warm welcome to Niagara and Robert Morris, the newest members of Atlantic Hockey. At the time this column went to press, neither the league nor the two schools had publicly commented , but AHA officials have confirmed to me that Niagara and Robert Morris will be joining the AHA beginning … Read more
Red Hot Hey, Ben Scrivens: Ken Dryden called. He wants his stats back. Just kidding. Dryden’s goals-against was never as low as Scrivens’ is now. It’s easy to single out the sophomore netminder as the superstar on this edition of the Big Red Machine, but rest assured there’s a little more to this team than … Read more
Well now, wasn’t that an exciting weekend of hockey? Long column ahead, so buckle down and enjoy the ride. Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Drew LeBlanc, SCSU. Why: Scored his first collegiate hat trick and added two assists to help his Huskies take three … Read more
Now the NCAA just has to find new homes for Bemidji State and Alabama-Huntsville come 2010. With reports confirming that Atlantic Hockey voted this week to bring Niagara and Robert Morris aboard in two years when the CHA officially crumbles, and NU and RMU both accepting the invitations, the onus is now on the WCHA … Read more
Rashomon Hockey In director Akira Kurosawa’s 1950 masterpiece Rashomon, the story of a violent crime unfolds in flashback from the perspective of four different characters. A notorious bandit overcomes a husband and wife, killing him and raping her, but at the bandit’s trial, four different versions of the story emerge from four different witnesses — … Read more
Beanpot Heavy Hitters The Beanpot sure is coming along at the right time. As Jim Connelly noted recently, if Michigan sweeps Notre Dame this weekend, Boston University and Northeastern could rank number one and number two in the country. Should both win their semifinal contests this Monday, what a championship game that would set up! … Read more
Do the rest of you ever dream about hockey, or am I the only one here who’s that intense? It’s late January, there’s not a thing to do outside if you don’t have a ski mountain in your back yard, the breweries are smack in the middle of their Winter Brew cycle, and ECAC Hockey … Read more
Okay, we know the WCHA lifted the moratorium on expansion and that everyone and their extended families has Bemidji State winding up there two seasons from now. Fine. That will probably happen. It makes the most sense and it would help keep BSU’s hockey program afloat. But what about the remaining three teams — Alabama-Huntsville, … Read more
Catching Up Back on Dec. 5, Air Force was 11-0 in Atlantic Hockey and 14-1 overall. The Falcons had just defeated RIT 2-0, extending their home unbeaten streak to 14 games dating back to January, 2008. The Tigers fell to 4-4-1 in the AHA and trailed the Falcons by 13 points in the standings. RIT … Read more
Back Where They Belong Back in November, if you looked at the results each weekend or scanned the standings, you’d have wondered what was going on in Durham, New Hampshire. UNH managed only a single win for the month and that came over a Providence squad that went oh-fer the first semester within the league. … Read more
Seemed Like Old Times Bryan Hogan, a victim of Mercury retrograde. In Ann Arbor last Friday, Hogan felt a little bit of the love that senior goaltender Billy Sauer was feeling for the first half of the season when he provided solid goaltending for the Wolverines with absolutely no support from the offense. Hogan, a … Read more
Well, as we get closer to the end, the league standings are finally starting to come into focus. A little. Now, 18 points — a seemingly-insurmountable gap — separate first (Denver) from 10th (Michigan Tech). However, the race for home ice is as thick as ever. Four points separate first from the two teams tied … Read more
To some, this time of year may be the dog days of winter, but for College Hockey America, the opposite couldn’t be truer. With just seven weeks until the CHA tournament in Bemidji, teams have already started jockeying for position to finish the season on a high note. Last weekend’s series between Robert Morris and … Read more
Princeton and Cornell atop the standings? Who would’ve ever predicted … oh, wait. That’s not news. The Blue Streak But Yale is certainly newsworthy. The Bulldogs have won four straight, knocking off three ranked teams in the process: Minnesota State, Air Force and Dartmouth. (The Mavericks, while now mere vote recipients, were 17th when Yale … Read more
New Blood is Net Gain for Friars Often you’ll hear college hockey coaches, when their team is struggling, say, “This isn’t the pros. The players in the dressing room are our team.” That’s a fact. There’s no minor league in college hockey. A few teams may have a rare junior varsity, but for the most … Read more