This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
I was originally thinking of keeping this short so you could quickly read through it and get to your turkey. However, I decided that content was more important and figured you could read it in snippets in between football games or something. Oh, and a lot of you liked the NHL thing from last week. … Read more
Happy Thanksgiving, one and all! As is the theme each year with this column, we’ll go over what each team has to be thankful for any why. As is also a recurring theme, the number of teams in the CHA since this writer took over the league beat has been cut almost in half, so … Read more
Thanks…and No Thanks There are plenty of things for the teams in Atlantic Hockey to be thankful for at this point in the season, as well as some things not to appreciate. So in the spirit of the holiday, let’s play a game of Thanks…and No Thanks. Air Force Thanks: Wow. The Falcons are off … Read more
One of the underappreciated rules of good writing is, as one professor said, to “avoid clichés like the plague.” Common phrases — usually similes or metaphors — are such an easy out, and can instantaneously turn a quality piece of work into hackneyed garbage. But some clichés go beyond a simple snippet or a sentence, … Read more
The Sky Is Falling! I suppose I should be writing some sort of feel-good Thanksgiving column about what each team should be thankful for, as I have attempted with little success in years past. I’m sure that there are plenty of CCHA-related things for which to be grateful, but I’ve seen so much mediocre hockey … Read more
On The Rebound Could Massachusetts-Lowell stay afloat? That was the question two weekends ago after the River Hawks lost top goalie Carter Hutton two periods into their game against Boston University. BU outscored them, 4-1, in the third period, inflicting a very tough loss. One night later the Hawks lost to Vermont. With Hutton projected … Read more
Making Hay Can it get any better for Air Force? The Falcons are 10-0 for the first time in school history and ranked No. 12 in the latest USCHO.com/CBS College Sports poll, the highest ranking ever for an Atlantic Hockey program. Air Force has the top offense in the nation (4.70 goals per game), two … Read more
It’s been a fairly quiet week and weekend in the league. Other than the surprises we’ve seen so far, there hasn’t really been anything else. Okay, except the early signing period, as a few teams have already inked some of tomorrow’s future stars … or busts, as it may turn out to be. Red Baron … Read more
Last weekend was a slow one for College Hockey America with just a single game on the schedule, but as famed WWE broadcaster Jim Ross would say about this weekend, business is about to pick up. Niagara hasn’t seen any CHA action yet, but will host Bemidji State Friday and Saturday night in a rematch … Read more
As Firsts Go, This Wasn’t Bad The Western Michigan Broncos finally earned their first CCHA win of the season in the most improbable of places — Yost Ice Arena. “We were extremely pleased with getting the win at Yost Arena on Friday,” said WMU head coach Jim Culhane. You don’t say, Coach. Really? True freshman … Read more
Checking the Planetary Alignments Last weekend, the three ranked CCHA teams playing league games didn’t fare as well as they’d hoped. Michigan split with Alaska in Fairbanks, giving the Nanooks just their seventh win in this all-time series. Ferris State took three points from Miami in Oxford, having “lost” the tie following Friday’s shootout but … Read more
Colorado College no longer holds the top spot in the country or the WCHA — the latter at least goes to the Gophers. Are they a little bit of a surprise? Maybe to some, but not to others. Same goes for the rest of the league, though. Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week … Read more
Playing Dumb “We’re early in the season, and we have to do a better job of being a smarter road team,” began Crimson coach Ted Donato. Harvard dropped both Capital District games for the first time ever last weekend, falling 3-2 at Rensselaer and 3-1 at Union. Donato isn’t sweating the scoring, the special teams, … Read more
Best Ever? Hockey East has long prided itself on its top-to-bottom strength. Unlike top-heavy conferences that might boast comparable teams come NCAA tournament time, Hockey East could claim that most years even its teams that fell short of making the league playoffs provided significant challenges. This season, however, we may be seeing that strength at … Read more
Even with just a single game on the docket this weekend, there is no shortage of news in the CHA. Here are the nuts and bolts of this week’s column: last weekend’s action down south was competitive, attendance in Huntsville is among the nation’s best, Bemidji State may have a shot at the WCHA after … Read more
Getting the “W” The last two winless teams in Atlantic Hockey picked up their first victories last Friday. Mercyhurst defeated Holy Cross 4-3 in overtime, and AIC downed Army, 4-3. Both squads lost the following night. “That particular night (Friday) we really played well,†said AIC coach Gary Wright, in his 25th season behind the … Read more
If last weekend was any indication as to how this year’s College Hockey America season will go, let’s bust out the clichés and buckle up because it should be a wild ride from here on out. The spotlight series last Friday and Saturday was Robert Morris hosting Alabama-Huntsville in a very even matchup that, if … Read more
This is an awkward time of year, when there’s a lot of hockey being played but few reasonable assessments to be made. So let’s go with some less team-specific material this time, and give the league another weekend to clean itself up a bit before we pass any judgments. The Rookie Report Whether you’re a … Read more
A Tale of Two Weekends Army had a rough start to its defense of the Atlantic Hockey regular-season title, getting swept by Connecticut in the Black Knights’ opening AHA series. But Army rebounded nicely last weekend, picking up three points against Sacred Heart. Such are the trials and tribulations of coaching a young team. “Give … Read more
Two for One When you think of a one-two punch in college hockey, you’re usually thinking of linemates who deliver. But what about goalmates who knock them out — or aside, away or back? In the CCHA, six teams are currently rotating goalies on a weekly basis and none with more success than Nebraska-Omaha. Yes, … Read more