This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Another Year Over, and What Have You Done? As 2007 winds down and we’re almost to the point at which we can take stock of the first half of the CCHA season, I am haunted by the ghosts of seasons past. In fact, I can’t shake the memory of what I wrote a year ago … Read more
With nine teams in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, one squad has to be the odd one out. This week that distinction goes to the Hamline Pipers. There are plenty of intriguing series for this coming weekend. If you had to pick just one, go see St. Olaf taking on Gustavus Adolphus. There is bad … Read more
Bantam-weight: Trinity Steps Up Plattsburgh … Elmira … Middlebury … Stevens Point … Trinity? That’s right folks, I said Trinity. The Bantams are off to a tremendous start this season with a 5-1-1 record on the year and the USCHO.com voters are taking notice. Trinity received their first top-10 ranking in school history this past … Read more
No Pet Cemetery Here Not that they ever really went anywhere, but you can say this about the Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs. They’re back. You’d certainly have to say so after last week’s Bulldog sweep of two-time champs Wisconsin … in Madison, no less. Sensational Russian freshman Iya Gravrilova was front-and-center (make that left wing), scoring the … Read more
Handing Out the Grades Grades are on the mind of student-athletes this time of year, with finals and midterms looming as the first portion of the season winds down. There are only six league games left in Atlantic Hockey before Christmas (four involving AIC), so this will be my final column of 2007. I’m planning … Read more
Last week we saw all 10 WCHA teams face off against each other — one of only three times that will happen all season. At the end of the weekend, things stayed pretty much the same. Colorado College and Denver remain on top with Alaska-Anchorage and Minnesota State on the bottom. Minnesota and North Dakota … Read more
New Homes In Division III, it is relatively easy for a college athlete to transfer to another school. Whether that’s good or bad is best left for another discussion. For some players, their transfer has worked out for the better for both themselves and their new teams. There are a few players who so far … Read more
As Yogi Berra once said, “90 percent of the game is mental.†For many of the teams starting out this season, they are learning that there is much more in play for their teams than just their physical capabilities and talent on the ice. In fact, both good and bad, the mental approach to how … Read more
By now we’re used to the NCHA standings turning into a disaster zone about this point of the season, but for our enjoyment the MCHA is also shaping up to be a mess. Before we take a look at each, and also finally take the promised looks at Adrian and Concordia-WI, let’s see where everyone … Read more
Gettin’ Blased Billy Blase has played some pretty frustrating hockey for Yale so far. Frustrating, if you’re in Alec Richards’ position. Now I’m not insinuating that there’s anything but the finest camaraderie between the two netminders. But with the way Blase has been playing, it’s suddenly up to the former incumbent Richards to earn starting … Read more
Suffolk Staying Under the Radar. . .for Now Last week we focused on the ensuing battle between powerhouses Curry College and UMass-Dartmouth; a game in which UMass won, 3-1, to remain undefeated in conference play. Overlooked so far this season, though, is another team that has yet to see defeat in league play: Suffolk University. … Read more
Not Our Legacy Gut check time. It has been said so many times in sports that it has almost become cliché. A team finds itself in a certain situation where they need to either dig deep from within to overcome the obstacle, or collapse like a house of cards. Cliché or not, the Utica Pioneers … Read more
Two months into the season and who’d’ve thunk that the Seawolves would be tied with the Badgers and the Gophers would be struggling to get league wins? North Dakota’s also middle-of-the-pack — much lower than they were predicted, but that’s just par for the course for the Fighting Sioux under Dave Hakstol in the first … Read more
Tom Balog says he’s “just†the Wayne State public address announcer, but he’s one of a small handful of people that has been involved with the Warriors’ hockey program since its inception back in 1999. He’s seen the ups and downs, the championships and the rash of recent downfalls that concluded with the program shutting … Read more
Hail the Conquering Heroes With a 2-0-2 record against the WCHA, Notre Dame’s capture of the Rensselaer Tournament crown and Miami’s home-ice domination of Canisius, perhaps “conquering” is a bit of a stretch. But don’t it feel good? With Miami and Michigan at the top of the national rankings and Michigan State and Notre Dame … Read more
Rise and Shine It was college hockey’s equivalent of “the long nightmare”. That 33 game losing streak, the longest ever shouldered by a Division-I women’s team, one that saw 387 sunrises and two Thanksgivings come and go without Union College being able to celebrate victory. It’s over. Finis. The Dutchwomen shed that onerous string on … Read more
On Slippery Slopes Before moving on to look at a few specific teams, two coaches’ comments illuminate the parity within Hockey East. “The margin this year between winning and losing, from my perspective, is very thin,” Boston College coach Jerry York says. “We’ve played 12 games, and seven have already gone into overtime.” Northeastern coach … Read more
So long, unbeaten streak. The St. Cloud State Huskies finally vanquished the Clarkson Golden Knights on their home ice, after 19 games and a year and two weeks without a defeat. The longest current home unbeaten streak in the ECAC now belongs to…you’ll never believe this…Union, who have played four straight at the Achilles Center … Read more
Two Unpredictable Weeks Down … … and more on the horizon? To say a lot has happened in women’s Division III hockey over the past two weeks is an understatement. The top ranked team in the nation went from an ultimate high, winning the Panther-Cardinal Classic, to losing the next weekend and snapping their NCAA … Read more
A Different Approach A month ago, following a sloppy 4-0 win at Brockport, Manhattanville coach Keith Levinthal publicly lambasted his players for exhibiting a noticeable lack of competitiveness. “We have the killer instinct of a small mouse right now,†said Levinthal. “We’ve only played three games, but our commitment to working hard for each other … Read more