This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Travis Roy Jersey Retirement The latest chapter in the Travis Roy story will be played out at Walter Brown Arena this Saturday when Boston University retires his number. The unprecedented tribute will take place during pregame ceremonies that will also include the hoisting of another Beanpot championship banner. "We’ve never retired a number here," says … Read more
And Now For Something Completely Different… Welcome, Metro Atlantic hockey fans, to this installment of This Week In The MAAC. As you might have noticed from the byline up above, I’m not Jim Connelly, but rather an astonishing likeness. I’ll be your host for this weekend’s tour of the MAAC, before Jim returns Monday with … Read more
The ECAC And In-Season Tournaments To say that last weekend’s ECAC/Crowne Plaza Faceoff Classic in Albany was a success would be true. There were four spectacular games and the hockey was riveting. To say that it was a failure would also be true, since the Classic wasn’t the best-attended showcase in college hockey history. A … Read more
Coaches trying to fit in Little things always make the biggest difference. For some, it’s a different practice time. For others, it’s a difference in scheduling. And then there’s getting used to the team on the ice. A coach coming into a new situation has a lot to learn. Quickly. And in the Western Collegiate … Read more
The NCAA and major juniors Hey kid–you wanna play hockey? You already play major junior? Not a problem. Just come south of the border and sign this letter of intent… The NCAA is considering passing legislation that will allow professional athletes to pursue careers at U.S. colleges. The sport this would affect most in Canada … Read more
Hockey East’s Pedro vs. Clemens Matchups Last Saturday, major league baseball featured one of the most exciting pitching clashes in a long, long time when Pedro Martinez faced Roger Clemens in Fenway Park. (A partisan note: Pedro is our hero while Clemens is a Benedict Arnold who nearly flattened the tires on the New York … Read more
So we’re only one week into the 1999-2000 season, and already it’s time to play "who beat who." Our first contestant is defending MAAC champion Holy Cross. Last week, the Crusaders battled hard against the preseason favorite for cellar-dweller in the nation’s strongest conference, Hockey East: Merrimack College. The Crusaders eventually dropped the game, 5-2, … Read more
Showtime! Since the first announcement of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference’s existence, people around the college hockey circles have questioned, "Can this league compete?" By the end of last year’s inaugural season, folks bellowed that question even louder as four teams, Quinnipiac, Holy Cross, UConn and Canisius, were all under consideration for the NCAA tournament. … Read more
Denver’s Dream Home Opens You can tell the athletics department at the University of Denver has been looking forward to this weekend for quite some time. On the cover of last season’s hockey media guide, where the school most often showcases its premier player or group of players, Denver had a picture of construction workers … Read more
Fanter Leaves The ECAC The ECAC has been a whirlwind of activity over the last week and a half, preparing for the first-ever ECAC Faceoff Classic to be held this weekend at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, N.Y., and also looking to fill the shoes of an ice hockey Director of Operations. ECAC ice hockey’s … Read more
Calling Dr. Kildare… Stop the presses! Hold all tickets! With one week of official play on the books, the CCHA looks a bit different than it did just ten days ago. When Josh Blackburn slipped on a Buckeye–at least according to the Michigan daily student paper–and tore ligaments in his left foot, Michigan’s defense took … Read more
A No-Win Situation Do you pitch to Nomar Garciaparra and let him hit a first-inning home run, or do you walk him intentionally in the third and seventh innings and let Troy O’Leary follow him with a grand slam and then a three-run homer? Cleveland Indians manager Mike Hargrove faced just such a no-win situation … Read more
Those five teams are left to battle it out for the Scotty Whitelaw Trophy on the Olympic ice sheet at the 1980 Arena this Thursday through Saturday. Here’s to fun, and especially to the crowning of the 1999 ECAC champions! ECAC Preliminary Game No. 6 Colgate Red Raiders (19-11-4) vs No. 4 Princeton Tigers (19-10- … Read more
The top four seeds — Quinnipiac, Holy Cross, Connecticut and Canisius — have all advanced to the MAAC Final Four, to be played this weekend at the Hart Center on the campus of Holy Cross in Worcester, Mass. Each of the four seeds advanced in their own unique ways. There were blowout and nail-biters, hard-fought … Read more
But then again, how many of you thought, "No way!" almost immediately thereafter? Somehow you knew North Dakota wasn’t going to go out like that. Still, it was interesting to see the Fighting Sioux taken to the limit by Mankato, and proves the Mavericks should be more-than-ready to enter the Western Collegiate Hockey Association next … Read more
At The Joe this weekend, Michigan State is the number-one seed, Michigan is second, Ohio State is third, and Northern Michigan is fourth. A year ago, Michigan State was first, Michigan was second, Ohio State was third, and Northern Michigan was fourth. This is the first time the same four teams have appeared in back-to-back … Read more
Fans at the FleetCenter should get their money’s worth this weekend. Maine vs. Boston College looks like a photo finish, and anyone who watched Providence’s domination of BU on Sunday had to conclude that the Friars have a shot against New Hampshire. I may have gone 9-0 in my picks last week — no applause, … Read more
With only two weeks left in the regular season, the ECAC is, as usual, a jumbled mess. Or is it? Hopefully we can try to clear things up for you. With that in mind, we will dispense with the regular "style" of the preview and bring you something that might put things in a little … Read more
It’s coming down to the wire, CCHA fan, just as it does every year in this tight, competitive league. Congratulations to the No. 2 Michigan State Spartans, who clinched the regular-season CCHA title and the NCAA bid that goes with it. Congratulations to the No. 10 Ohio State Buckeyes, who secured home ice for the … Read more
This is just about the time of year when people in college hockey start wondering "What if?" What if we win our last four games and team X loses its last four games? What if we split our games and team Y wins three? It’s commonly called scoreboard-watching. Coaches hate talking about it because they … Read more