This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Of Bandwagons: To Jump On Or Off With all of New England foursquare on the Red Sox bandwagon — and oh how sweet that is! — it’s appropriate to examine one particular bandwagon in Hockey East. Namely, one that I thought I was on. A bandwagon with few members, where I’d be one of the … Read more
Eric LeMarque Sometimes there are events that touch the college hockey community that help us put sport in perspective. In February of this year, former Northern Michigan Wildcat and U.S. Olympian Eric LeMarque lost both of his legs below the knees after surviving seven days in California’s High Sierras without shelter, food, or fire. LeMarque … Read more
Random hockey musings from a writer still coming to grips with the Evil Empire’s massive collapse … Off and Running Yes, it is still October. Yes, half of the ECACHL has yet to play a game. But the Colgate Raiders are 4-0-0 after conquering two Western opponents and you’ll have to forgive them if they … Read more
20 Minutes of Fury Some thoughts this week, while debating whether there’s a good situation to start the third period against Minnesota-Duluth: • So you think there’ll be only two meetings between Minnesota and North Dakota this season? We don’t believe it. • Wisconsin 8, Mercyhurst 0: Apparently, there is an “O” in Wisconsin, after … Read more
The Robert Morris Colonials open their inaugural Division I season this weekend with a pair of games against Canisius, and they’ll be doing it with a contingent of largely unknown players. Twenty of the 25 players on the RMU roster are freshmen, and only two players eligible for opening night (Kurt Wright and Doug Conley) … Read more
Scott Biggar returns with his regular weekly look at the ECAC West. Parity has come to the league, and Scott says that’s a good thing, as he reviews the top four teams in the conference.
Business, Not Hockey No, this isn’t the NHL. We’re not talking about a collective bargaining agreement, a salary cap or players buying one-way tickets to Europe. Still, as we open the Atlantic Hockey season, the second year of the league’s existence under that name, business is on the top of many minds as much as … Read more
Isn’t That Delay of Game? Some thoughts this week, while — oh, wait; there’s a penalty. Some thoughts — another call. Some — ah, forget it. • Let’s get the eye-popping averages from the first 24 college hockey games of the season out of the way first: 22.29 penalties for 47.79 minutes, 18 power plays, … Read more
Welcome to the penalty box. The sin bin, if you will. After attending a couple of weeks’ worth of games, I figured it would make sense to write this column from the confines of this small box. After all, this is where all the action is these days. If you’ve had the benefit of catching … Read more
The NCAA released an open letter to the college ice hockey community earlier this year, announcing to all its intention to cut down on holding, hooking and obstruction infractions. The letter basically put the onus on referees and linesmen to call the game “by the book,” and warned coaches and players that trips to the … Read more
At Last Congratulations to the Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks, who have finally won the Maverick Stampede. “For us, it’s big,” said UNO head coach Mike Kemp. “We’ve been waiting a long time for this. We’ve been close so many times, for us to get over the hump is so very important.” The Mavs beat Connecticut 4-1 in … Read more
Gentlemen, Start Your Special Teams I went to a hockey game and some five-on-five broke out. When the Ohio State — St. Cloud Ice Breaker game reached the three-minute mark, one press box wag observed that perhaps a record for this season had just been set. There had yet to be a penalty call. Some … Read more
With the CHA tournament in the books and Niagara on its way to the NCAAs, Mike Volonnino recaps a thrilling weekend of hockey — and laments how few were there to see it in Kearney, Neb.
Maine and New Hampshire were supposed to be here anyway; Massachusetts proved it belonged; and Boston University is the wild card after a stunning upset in the quarterfinals. Scott Weighart previews the Hockey East championships.
With Atlantic Hockey down to two teams, the NCAA tournament is guaranteed a brand-new participant in either Holy Cross or Sacred Heart. Jim Connelly previews the title game, then speculates on the AHA champ’s opponent in the first round.
After a bruising weekend of quarterfinal action, Harvard, Dartmouth, Clarkson and Cleary Cup winner Colgate gather in Albany for the ECAC championships. Juan Martinez previews the upcoming games.
The WCHA Final Five kicks off Thursday with two underdogs — resurgent Colorado College and upstart Alaska-Anchorage — in the play-in game. That sets the table for a potentially record-breaking weekend of action that could finish with as many as six WCHA teams in the NCAAs. Todd D. Milewski reports.
This year’s CCHA Super Six features traditional powerhouses (Michigan, Michigan State), more recent success stories (Miami, Ohio State) and up-and-comers (Notre Dame, Northern Michigan). Paula C. Weston rounds up this weekend’s action at Joe Louis Arena.
What is your favorite hockey move of all time: Slap Shot or Miracle? In the CHA playoffs this year, you can take your pick. On Friday in Kearney, Wayne St and Alabama Huntsville will faceoff and one team may have to dress the Hanson brothers and in the other contest Findlay will play Air Force … Read more
The Atlantic Hockey tournament begins Friday with host Army taking on AIC in the play-in game. That begins an intriguing weekend that includes traditional powerhouses Quinnipiac and Mercyhurst, regular-season champion Holy Cross and Jim Connelly’s darkhorse, Connecticut.