This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Turnover? Look No Further Than the CCHA I don’t know why everyone’s so excited about what happened Tuesday. Sure, sure, it’s been over a decade since power changed hands in the House and Senate, but don’t people realize that it’s been even longer since we’ve seen that kind of change in the CCHA? Where are … Read more
Wow, talk about a wild weekend. The home teams went 3-7-2 in league play, with no sweeps. RPI was the only home team to take three points this weekend, while traditional powers Dartmouth and Harvard shockingly dropped all four home games between them. Brown went blow-for-blow with visiting Colgate, and nearly doubled up the favored … Read more
Still Undefeated Going into last weekend, Boston College had just lost to Providence, Boston University to Massachusetts-Lowell, and New Hampshire to Massachusetts. With the Hockey East mantra of “toughest league top to bottom” being chanted in rinks throughout New England, you had to figure Maine had no chance against Merrimack. The Black Bears, however, had … Read more
Off the Top of My Head Just when you thought you might be starting to figure things out… • Colorado College turns the tables on Michigan Tech, handing the Huskies their first sweep of the season. • Alaska-Anchorage goes from losing 9-0 to Tech one Friday night to defeating defending national champion Wisconsin eight days … Read more
Comeback College hockey is well known for dramatic comebacks. The wide-open nature of the game means that few leads are safe. But when Scott Champagne scored with 6:33 to play to give Mercyhurst a 4-0 lead over Sacred Heart on Saturday, it looked inevitable that the Lakers would put this one in the “W” column … Read more
The senior class at Robert Morris is a unique class in that all four members are transfers from other Division I schools. Three of those players — forwards Aaron Clarke and Doug Conley and defenseman Bryan Mills — came to the Colonials from fellow CHA institution Niagara. The other is goalie Joe Tuset, who came … Read more
Off the Top of my Head • What has gotten into the water up in Houghton? Four straight wins has pushed Michigan Tech into the rankings, and the Huskies’ five October wins matches the number they had in the last four Octobers combined. • And what has gotten into the water in Colorado Springs? It … Read more
A Quick Start Last season, Cortland won four games. They didn’t even win their second game until past the halfway point. This year, the Red Dragons have already won three times … in their first three games. “When you got four wins the previous season, and get three right off the bat, the guys are … Read more
Get ready for the thunder; league play is under way. The ECACHL schedule features a full slate of games this weekend, each team playing two games with league points at stake. Dartmouth and RPI are rolling, Cornell is heating up, Yale is on an upset-high. Colgate, Union and St. Lawrence are hungry for decisive, streak-starting … Read more
Westward, Pioneers The Sacred Heart Pioneers went West last weekend, venturing to Michigan to take on Wayne State and Michigan State. It was the first meeting ever between Sacred Heart and either of the two schools. Against Wayne State on Friday, the Pioneers trailed 1-0 midway through the third period before getting the equalizer from … Read more
Dave Hendrickson is not available this week because he is modeling for a statue that will stand alongside the Statue of Liberty in recognition of his many accomplishments. While reports have confirmed that he will be holding his laptop case to his chest with his left hand, we have not been able to confirm whether … Read more
If last weekend was any indication what type of season we are in for, don’t change the channel. While not a full slate of NCHA and MCHA teams were in action last weekend, the handful of teams who did play did their best to raise eyebrows across the nation. On Friday, the first shocker of … Read more
Touchdown Jesus 3, U.S. Armed Forces 0, and No. 22 Feel for the United States armed forces, for more than just the usual reasons. Not only did John Kerry botch a joke this week and imply that everyone fighting in Iraq is an idiot, but our servicemen were outdone not once, not twice, but three … Read more
He may not appear much on the score sheet and he won’t be noticed for being a sizeable player on the ice. But that’s not Tim Madsen’s game. The 5-foot-8, 170-pound Niagara junior is a prototypical role player, a third- or fourth-liner if you will. It’s a role he relishes for the Purple Eagles. “My … Read more
Good Start, Bad Start Elmira and Neumann have gotten their seasons off to polar opposite starts, both against SUNYAC opponents. Neumann began by ripping off three convincing wins to start the season before finally dropping a game against Geneseo this past Saturday. The first pair of victories came at the expense of a seemingly hapless … Read more
When it came to picking where he wanted to go to college, Tom Train held out hope Alabama-Huntsville would come calling. The phone rang. Train, a Troy, Mich., native, played four years in the North American Hockey League with the Texas Tornado and won three Robertson Cup championships, two as Texas’ captain. His family even … Read more
Number One In The Country! Maine roared into a number one ranking this week following a road sweep of North Dakota. The wins pushed the Black Bears to a 5-0-0 record that also includes a victory at Minnesota. Arguably, it may be time to call for drug testing of any pollsters who didn’t put Maine … Read more
Multiple Choices “It’s something that stings, and we’ve got address the things that embarrassed us in front of our fans.” Who said this? Is it: A. Michigan head coach Red Berenson, B. Ohio State head coach John Markell, or C. Boston College head coach Jerry York? In spite of the dressing-down OSU received at the … Read more
He’s The Wanderer — Yeah, the Wanderer Winter may be setting in around the WCHA, but Minnesota-Duluth rookie goaltender Alex Stalock is heating things up with his best impression of the Beach Boys’ Wanderer. If you had penciled in your team’s series with the Bulldogs as one that you could miss if you have to, … Read more
At the Top To say that Army is off to a good start would be an understatement. The Black Knights are 3-0-1, their best opening in 30 years. Army’s sweep at Connecticut was its first road sweep against a conference opponent since 1988, when the Black Knights were still in the ECAC. “It feels good, … Read more