This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
It’s Decided … For Now One of the wildest seasons in SUNYAC history is finally decided, with some positions coming right down to overtime. When all was said and done, the top four were just like last year with Oswego taking the regular season title followed by Geneseo, Fredonia, and Plattsburgh. The Lakers didn’t make … Read more
Dave Hendrickson is not available this week because he’s enjoying a lucrative new endorsement deal. Will Dave actually tell his readers what he’s endorsing? Depends. Pot Pluck Yes, BU won its 10th Beanpot in 12 years and — thanks to a legendary baseball swing by Peter MacArthur — the Terriers are now batting .500 in … Read more
Love Those RedHawks Congratulations to the 2006 CCHA regular-season champions, the Miami RedHawks! With a 6-3 home win over Ohio State Tuesday night — Valentine’s Day — Miami captured its first regular-season title since 1992-1993. Enrico Blasi, Miami’s sometimes stoic head coach with a very dry wit, said, “For the last 11 seconds, I actually … Read more
Breaking Records Hobart is the hottest team in the ECAC West at the moment, riding a four-game winning streak into second place as other teams continue to knock each other off. The Statesmen snuck out two tough one-goal wins against Utica at The Cooler this past weekend, setting several school records in the progress. On … Read more
The hourglass is running out on the 2005-06 ECACHL regular season, but as time flies by the playoff picture in the league does not appear to be growing any clearer. If anything, the number of teams in contention for coveted spots (the bye teams and teams that will host a first round ECACHL playoff series) … Read more
It’s not often Steve Kovalchik gets noticed on the ice, but in his case, that’s a good thing. The Wayne State senior defenseman quietly goes about his business and has been a stalwart with the Warriors since his freshman campaign in 2002-03. Kovalchik isn’t a player who will put up points, but rather a steady, … Read more
In the Hunt Elmira went into Neumann’s Ice Works rink last weekend and accomplished exactly what it needed to remain in the playoff hunt by sweeping the Knights. “Breaks that we didn’t get early on in the year, we definitely got this weekend,” said Elmira coach Tim Ceglarski. “They were two pretty well-played games. Neumann … Read more
Bloodied But Unbowed Three weeks ago, the story surrounding Vermont was that it was ranked sixth in the country while being sixth in Hockey East. Now, that half-empty, half-full perspective has given way to double half-empties. The Catamounts are still in sixth place, but with the rankings having given way to the PairWise, they’ve tumbled … Read more
A Happy Medium Finally, after months-long confinement, the ankle bracelet came off and I was allowed to travel outside of the zip code to see hockey somewhere other than Value City Arena. Okay, so it wasn’t a court-imposed hiatus from travel, but it felt just as stifling. And the release it provided was enough to … Read more
The single biggest game of the weekend, and the biggest event on any RPI hockey fan’s calendar, is Saturday night’s Big Red Freakout! against Brown. In addition to being a part of the most exciting atmosphere that many college hockey fans will ever experience, this year’s attendees will have a chance to aid RPI in … Read more
Changing of the Guard It’s no surprise that St. Norbert is leading the NCHA with one weekend to play, but it may be a surprise to see the Green Knights in the top spot in the recent USCHO.com poll. St. Norbert stole the number one ranking away from defending champ Middlebury after the Panthers lost … Read more
There is an old expression in New England. If you don’t like the weather, wait 10 minutes. The variability in climate in this part of the country is interesting to say the least and so is a look at the league standings after a single weekend of play at this point in the season. Teams … Read more
First things first: • While Wisconsin is freezing its you-know-what off at Lambeau Field in Green Bay, Denver and Minnesota will have the chance this weekend to do what seemed impossible a short time ago — knock the Badgers out of first place in the WCHA. • The roar of the crowd inside the DECC … Read more
How Tough is Your Schedule Four weeks remain in the Atlantic Hockey regular season. All but two teams have eight games remaining (Sacred Heart and Army each have six). Time to make any sort of standings move is definitely running thin, but with each remaining series for every team a two-game-in-two-nights situation, a lot of … Read more
A Grand Farewell What better way for Oswego to say goodbye to the Romney Field House than with an emotional roller coaster shootout 7-6 victory over archrival Plattsburgh and then blowing out Potsdam, 9-3, to wrap up the sold out weekend. However, it wasn’t easy. Despite the bravado Oswego coach Ed Gosek put on during … Read more
While the single biggest game of the next few days will occur on Monday when the Harvard Crimson faces off against Boston University in the opening night of the Beanpot, there are two more important contests from a league perspective on the schedule for the weekend. Both series are home-and-home affairs between travel partners, and … Read more
Back On Top With a pair of wins this past weekend over Lebanon Valley, Manhattanville has re-staked its claim to the top of the league in the ECAC West. But getting past the Flying Dutchmen certainly wasn’t a cakewalk for the Valiants. Friday night pretty much went by Manhattanville’s game plan. The Valiants played a … Read more
First things first: • Now we’ve really got a race for the MacNaughton Cup. Suddenly, our preseason prediction of a Minnesota-Wisconsin-Denver finish doesn’t sound so improbable. • Phil Kessel said it was just a reaction — probably born out of a weekend full of booing by Wisconsin fans every time he touched the puck — … Read more
Just When You Thought It Was Safe… News flash: Don’t go handing the Atlantic Hockey title to Mercyhurst just yet. The once unbeatable-looking Lakers have returned to Earth and have watched the race for the league’s regular-season title become tighter than the Olsen twins’ meal allowance. What was once a seven point lead over its … Read more
Crank Up The Stress “For all the coaches, I’m sure it’s stressful,” Plattsburgh coach Bob Emery said. I have always written that I believe the SUNYAC playoff system is the best in all of college hockey because it allows for every team-no matter what position they are in-to fight for a spot in the standings … Read more