This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Checking in on a few trends around the league as “Senior Night” season heats up: —Senior forward Nolan Renwick was blunt in his assessment of where the Maine hockey program stood during his freshman season of 2021-22. “We weren’t very good,” Renwick said. “And our record reflected that.” Indeed. Maine finished dead last in Hockey … Read more
Sitting 32nd in the PairWise Rankings, Colorado College isn’t what you’d call a team on the bubble for a NCAA tournament berth this season. But with two regular-season games left, plus however far into the postseason the Tigers get, coach Kris Mayotte wants his squad to look the part. CC’s series split last weekend at … Read more
Bob Daniels knows his Ferris State team will be opening the 2025 Mason Cup playoffs on the road. Considering how well the Bulldogs seem to have played away from Big Rapids, Mich. — they’re 6-8-0 on the road compared to 5-8-2 at home — that’s just fine with Daniels. “We could finish as high as … Read more
Arriving at the last weekend of the regular season is an enjoyable process for me. No, it’s not because I’m finally close to enjoying time off after spending the last five months in full blown college hockey mode (shoutout: the earlier start for half of ECAC Hockey’s teams). It’s not because I’ve spent close to … Read more
It’s hard to believe, but we’re entering the final weekend of the regular season in Atlantic Hockey America. Well, there’s one extra game to be played on Monday, Feb. 24 – more about that later. The format is as follows: First Round, March 1 Single elimination No. 11 seed at No. 6 seed No. 10 … Read more
Magic is a fickle thing. A week ago, the only Big Ten team mathematically capable of finishing first in the conference while controlling its own destiny was Minnesota. Entering the weekend, the Golden Gophers were five points behind first-place Michigan State with two games in hand on the Spartans, who had a bye. In their … Read more
A year and a month after having the interim tag removed, Vermont coach Steve Wiedler is obviously focused on results, but it’s safe to say he’s not as obsessed as he might have been at this point in 2024. “At the end of the day, you go home to your wife and kids and you … Read more
It’s these days, at the business end of the college hockey season, when coaches really bang the drum to get their players geed up for what’s left. On Tuesday, Arizona State coach Greg Powers used his weekly press conference as a soapbox. The Sun Devils are now firmly on the NCAA tournament bubble, 15th in … Read more
Augustana’s first full season as CCHA members is turning out better than most outsiders could have expected. It’s been pretty clear since they started conference play that they were going to be one of the teams to beat in the conference, and have spent much of the season’s second half fighting a handful of teams … Read more
My brother and I used to travel a lot for college hockey. This was way back in the mid-2000s, an era identified by its lack of available video streaming services. Internet broadcasting was still in its infancy, and Brown, his alma mater and the school for which he’d started broadcasting at the turn of the … Read more
Growing up in a hockey family presents challenges and opportunities. For Army West Point defenseman Mac Gadowsky, hockey was always there, but the sophomore never felt pressure to play. “Ever since I could remember, it’s something I wanted to do,” said Gadowsky. “When I was a kid, it was NHL highlights in the morning and … Read more
Oh, Big Ten hockey fans, time is fleeting – and so much can change with just a game or two. While Michigan State remains at the top of the Big Ten standings, the Spartans no longer control their own Big Ten destiny. In their last 10 games, the Spartans have gone 5-3-2 and most recently … Read more
The latest edition of the New Hampshire-Maine rivalry features two programs going in different directions, but in a somewhat unusual way. Maine, No. 5 in the USCHO men’s D-I poll and No. 4 in the PairWise, is unbeaten in eight of its last 10 games since the beginning of 2025, but two of those results … Read more
It’s strange to think the hottest home form in the country, at this point in the season, belongs to a team on the outside looking in with regards to a NCAA tournament bid. But as paradoxical as that is for Omaha, 27th in the PairWise rankings with a month left in the regular season, it … Read more
College hockey is, almost more than anything, a game of momentum. The best teams have the ability to string together wins–even ones in which maybe they aren’t the better team on the night. For Minnesota State, finding ways to win a couple in a row had been eluding the Mavericks in the second half of … Read more
The ride between Clarkson and Princeton is one of the longest bus trips in college hockey’s eastern conferences. It covers more than 300 miles between its North Country and Southern New Jersey locations, and the distance from Potsdam, N.Y., to the Canadian border crossing in Ogdensburg is nearly equal to a Princetonian’s trip to Philadelphia. … Read more
Like a lot of hockey players, Holy Cross senior forward Liam McLinskey’s journey to conference MVP and All-American wasn’t a straight line. After two seasons of junior hockey with the Jersey Hitmen of the NCDC where he put up 119 points in 94 games, McLinskey was recruited by Quinnipiac and entered his freshman year in … Read more
If you need proof of how good the Big Ten is this season, look no further than sixth-place Penn State. Since the start of the calendar year, the Nittany Lions are 5-2-3, having most recently split a pair of games on the road against No. 13 Michigan. The other loss in that stretch came at … Read more
Should Boston University be fortunate enough to win the Beanpot for the 31st time on Monday, freshman forward Cole Hutson knows exactly what he’s going to do with the iconic trophy — figuratively, if probably not literally. “Super excited, obviously,” said Hutson, who is the younger brother of former BU standout Lane Hutson, who currently … Read more
There’s still more than a month left of regular-season hockey yet to be played, but as now, the NCHC is on course to have three of its teams play in this year’s NCAA tournament. That could certainly change, especially if a lower-seeded team goes on a tear at just the right time and wins the … Read more