This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Just two weekends left in the regular season and some things are shaping up — we know three teams who will have home ice. Still, a lot of the league continues to be jumbled together so it looks like everything will come down to the final weekend … with two teams — the Badgers and … Read more
Virtual Hardware, Part 2 I’m limiting each all-league team to six players. The Girl Reporter All-CCHA Team Ryan Jones (F, Miami) Chad Kolarik (F, UM) Kevin Porter (F, UM) Kevin Roeder (D, Miami) Brock Sheahan (D, ND) Billy Sauer (G, UM) Porter and Roeder earned this last season as well. Porter, who got my nod … Read more
What We Know, Vol. III Two games left, four points up for grabs. What does it mean to your team? Let’s find out. Clarkson and Princeton are assured of finishing in the top two, but the order is yet to be determined, with the Knights only a solitary point ahead of the Tigers. Can’t wait … Read more
All Hail New Hampshire They left no doubt about it. The UNH Wildcats wrapped up the regular season title in as impressive a fashion as possible, sweeping then-seventh ranked Boston College, a team on a 13-3-2 run itself. “I’m just really excited for our team,” UNH coach Dick Umile said after the Saturday night clincher. … Read more
Welcome To Our Roller Coaster You want wire-to-wire consistency? There’s New Hampshire and then… um… well… nobody. As befits a team challenging for the top spot in the PairWise, the Wildcats have been a model of consistency this season, losing back-to-back games only once while rolling to a 19-7-2 record. Within the league, they’ve been … Read more
What We Know, Vol. II What a difference a week makes While there is still much to be determined, the league is beginning to shake itself out now with two weeks to go. Brown, Dartmouth or Rensselaer — with 11 points apiece — could potentially replace Colgate as the eighth seed, and more importantly, claim … Read more
And the parade of CHA players to the NHL continues. Niagara junior Les Reaney left the team last week, signed a two-year rookie deal with the Edmonton Oilers and was assigned to their AHL affiliate, the Springfield Falcons. Reaney had been a healthy scratch for NU this season, but still piled up 15 points in … Read more
Two Weeks to Go With two weeks left in the regular season, here’s what we know, and here’s what we don’t. We know: • Army has clinched a home-ice spot, the only AHA team to do so at this point. 30 points is the magic number at the moment. Sacred Heart, RIT, Mercyhurst and Air … Read more
Funny, isn’t it, how a weekend following a day for love portrayed little, particularly up in Grand Forks and here at column home base, where I got pasted in predictions by my significant other. Oh, and apparently CC didn’t have the last non-conference tilt a few weeks ago, as the Sioux take on Bemidji this … Read more
Red Carpet Time Now that the writers’ strike is over and the Academy Awards are safe, I think it only fitting to return to what all writers should be doing all the time: handing out hardware. Player of the Year Last year when I gave out this award, I didn’t think anything could top the … Read more
It’s tough to interview people when they can’t hear you speak. This correspondent successfully ditched three solid months of rotating illnesses, but one of them finally caught up to him, just in time to look menacingly infectious in the Beanpot press box. The cold’s run off with my voice, so I’m sorry to say that … Read more
Niagara and Robert Morris each won their CHA series last weekend with the Purple Eagles getting a win and a tie at home against Alabama-Huntsville and RMU sweeping Wayne State in Detroit. As it stands going into this weekend, NU and Robert Morris are tied for second place in the CHA, each five points back … Read more
Happy Valentine’s Day! Enthusiasm? About Valentine’s Day? From this girl reporter? Over the years, I’ve made it clear that Valentine’s Day is every bitter, divorced, middle-aged hockey writer’s least favorite holiday … and yet already I’ve broken with personal conviction and mentioned the Hallmark holiday by name three times in this column. I sense your … Read more
Denver flirts with being back again, Colorado College loses one at home and again, the league race continues to get tighter, with no one wanting to share the love. Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Matt Hartman, SCSU. Why: Led all WCHAers with five scoring … Read more
It Got Ugly Canisius and RIT have a rivalry dating back to the 1970s. The two schools, located just 65 miles apart down Interstate 90 in Western New York, have played 56 times so far, the last 10 as Division I programs. Prior to that, the teams were conference foes in the ECAC West and … Read more
The Latest Hot Team On Jan. 19, the Vermont Catamounts’ record stood at 4-9-6 and it sure looked like a season to forget. They were giving up goals by the bushel and not scoring all that much themselves. A “rebuilding year” seemed like the best euphemism available. Now, just a few weeks later, the Catamounts … Read more
It looks like the new arena to be built in Pittsburgh has the potential to showcase the Frozen Four five years from now. Robert Morris University and VisitPittsburgh, with help from the NHL’s Pittsburgh Penguins, are reportedly getting together a bid to play host to the 2013 event. “It would be a great thing for … Read more
Colorado College sweeps the last non-conference series of the season and the league race gets tighter than ever. But enough from me, we’ve got a lot to talk about … Red Baron Pizza WCHA Players of the Week Red Baron WCHA Offensive Player of the Week: Mike Testwuide, CC. Why: Had four goals, one assist, … Read more
Moving Up, Not Out The Mercyhurst Lakers have their destiny in their own hands as we head down the stretch with just four weeks left in the season. Currently in tied for fourth place with Sacred Heart, Mercyhurst will play the Pioneers, plus league-leading RIT and second-place Air Force. The Lakers have lost just once … Read more
Beanpot Post-Mortem — Northeastern Northeastern came into the Beanpot with higher hopes than usual, only to have them more or less dashed within about eight minutes. Given that Harvard has been a perennial also-ran in the tournament over the last ten years–not to mention their one win in the last 12 games coming into the … Read more