This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Consistency: n.1. firmness or thickness, as of a liquid 2. agreement; harmony 3. conformity with previous practice. How many CCHA coaches can use this word — in any of its forms — in this week’s preview? John Markell says, "We’re still trying to establish respect, and we do that by playing more consistently." Red Berenson … Read more
League action kicked off this past weekend, and three teams came out perfect. Rensselaer, Yale and Cornell all swept their weekend series, while Princeton won one and tied one. The Engineers disposed of Dartmouth and Vermont, 7-1 and 7-2; Yale dispatched Clarkson and St. Lawrence, 2-1 and 3-0; Cornell took care of Harvard and Brown, … Read more
Freshmen netminders Boyd Ballard of Providence and Scott Clemmensen of BC shared league Rookie of the Week honors. On a more depressing note, this column’s 1-900-FAT-HEAD Pick of the Week phone line has been changed to 1-900-CLU-LESS after last week’s 3-6 debacle. After taking the weekend off to be in Ottawa — during which a … Read more
Not surprisingly, Merrimack and Maine — last year’s two hottest teams down the stretch — garnered the league’s weekly awards. Merrimack forward Martin Laroche earned Karhu Player of the Week honors for his three-goal, seven-assist weekend. Maine forward Matthias Trattnig got the Rookie of the Week nod for his two power-play goals against Lowell that … Read more
So far this young season — not counting exhibitions, games against independents and games against non-Division I opponents — the ECAC is 7-13-1. Of those seven wins, Clarkson has two of them over Bowling Green; Rensselaer defeated UMass-Lowell; Vermont beat Lake Superior State; Colgate and Cornell both upended Northeastern; and Colgate has the upset of … Read more
Further proof that something mysterious is taking place in the CCHA: Northern Michigan head coach Rick Comley says that this week’s series in Marquette against Michigan will be "fun." Fun. And did you know that Comley takes fillings without anesthesia and regularly rents the movie Camille Claudel, just for fun? All funning aside, there’s some … Read more
Colorado College is proving itself to be a hard charger in the Western Collegiate Hockey Association, having climbed all the way up to No. 2 in the U.S. College Hockey Online poll this week after a pair of victories at surprising Michigan Tech. CC is now 3-0-1 on the season, one of only two undefeated … Read more
Last weekend, heavy interconference action was the name of the game. The two teams just beginning their seasons — Union and St. Lawrence — also suffered their first defeats of the season. Union lost in overtime, 5-4 to Providence, while St. Lawrence was walloped by Colorado College 12-3. St. Lawrence came back the next day … Read more
In recognition of this brilliance, readers will now have the option of calling 1-900-FAT-HEAD for a special Absolute Lock of the Week and a guaranteed Shocking Upset of the Week. Impress your date. Wow your friends. Put my kids through college. On a more serious note, Hockey East now stands 11-3-1 in its interconference record. … Read more
St. Cloud State, which dropped a pair at home to CCHA opponent Notre Dame two weekends ago, came back to earn three points against Mankato State, which had just split a pair in Duluth against the Bulldogs. Those selfsame ‘Dogs then turned around and put a whipping on big brother Minnesota Friday, before losing the … Read more
Are you scared yet? As the CCHA enters its third week of play, spooky things are happening all over the league. Ferris State split a series with Western Michigan. Notre Dame lost yet another game by one goal. Michigan State beat Michigan in Yost, for the first time since the 1993-94 season. And for those … Read more
St. Cloud State, bereft of much of last year’s good-for-third-place talent, was swept by lightly-regarded CCHA opponent Notre Dame, and Minnesota-Duluth lost to upstart Mankato State on Friday before clawing back for a 7-6 goalies-optional victory the next day. In the same vein, Minnesota’s early-season showdown with Maine started out disastrously with a 6-1 thrashing, … Read more
In Boston, ECAC preseason conference favorite RPI was shellacked by the Hockey East preseason number-one, Boston University, by a score of 6-0. This week, more teams get into the swing of things, including the first "real" games for St. Lawrence and Union. J.C. Penney Classic St. Lawrence (0-0-0) vs. Colorado College (0-0-0) Friday, 5 pm, … Read more
Except for two Friday night games — UMass-Lowell hosting UMass-Amherst and Northeastern traveling to Providence — the nonconference fare continues, led by the J.C. Penney Classic, which potentially pits No. 5 Colorado College and No. 6 Maine in the championship game. Last week’s record in picks: 8-2 Season’s record in picks: 10-2 J.C. Penney Classic … Read more
After a week of nonconference play, it’s difficult to say who’s at the top of the CCHA heap, but because Michigan State won the Ice Breaker Invitational, the Spartans get the honors. The Spartans beat Boston University 3-1 and Wisconsin 2-1 to take the first tournament of the season, and the first tournament title of … Read more
The Red Raiders of Colgate travel to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines of Michigan, the Catamounts of Vermont travel to take on the Wildcats of New Hampshire, and in the matchup of the week, two top-ten teams face off against each other in Boston. The highlight of the young season will be the tenth-ranked … Read more
For the rest, it’s game time once again as the first (near-)full weekend of play is finally upon us. Four of the eight — North Dakota, Denver, Colorado College and Minnesota-Duluth — hit the ice for the first time this season (though UND, CC and DU’s games are exhibitions against Canadian schools). The rest — … Read more
Although the season has barely begun, injuries to BU’s Chris Heron and both of Boston College’s goalies could have a significant impact on both teams’ chances this week. And be sure to check out the Northeastern preview for some interesting developments in Husky-land. Last week’s record in picks: 2-0 Season record in picks: 2-0 No. … Read more
CCHA Playoffs: Championships CCHA Playoffs: Championships by Paula C. Weston The states of Michigan and Ohio are equally represented in this year’s CCHA Championship Tournament. It’s no surprise that Michigan, Michigan State, and Miami advanced to the semifinals, but Bowling Green had to win two on the road to earn the right to travel north … Read more