This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
USCHO.com Big Ten columnists Paula C. Weston and Drew Claussen discuss what transpired over the first “half” of the 2020-21 season, and also prognosticate what to expect once play resumes after the holidays. Drew: Well, Paula, it is finally time to say goodbye to the year that was 2020. My wife and I welcomed our … Read more
It would be hard to call any team’s experiences this college hockey season “normal.” But if one were to look at Bowling Green’s schedule in a typical year, it would perhaps be the one more than any other in the country that wouldn’t look too out of place. The Falcons, unlike virtually every other team … Read more
The NCHC pod is entering its final weekend of play, and even a skeptic would have to admit it’s been a success, with some incredible games so far. For No. 8 Denver, the pod has presented a particularly brutal schedule, with two games each against No. 3 Minnesota Duluth and No. 4 North Dakota, plus … Read more
While over the last two weekends, more Hockey East games have been played on the ice than in the previous two, the biggest news across the league continues to come from decisions of the league’s commissioner and the athletic directors. Such was the case on Tuesday when Hockey East announced that any and all games … Read more
College hockey season is supposed to be formulaic. There’s a comforting structure to the way games are played and the way the season flows naturally through stages. The early season non-conference games offer first looks at potential contenders, and initial league games offer critical points at a time when teams are mostly unknown. The initial … Read more
Like many other teams across the country, Notre Dame’s first half has had its ups and downs. The Irish have a 4-4-0 record and will get a chance to add to their Big Ten wins column when they host Michigan State this weekend. The season started with a sweep at the hands of Wisconsin before … Read more
When former Omaha coach Mike Kemp became the school’s associate athletic director for events and facilities in March of 2019, he couldn’t have anticipated the kinds of hours he’s working these days. Under normal circumstances — remember those? — Kemp would keep regular weekday hours at his Baxter Arena office and show up a couple … Read more
No one should be terribly surprised Boston College is off to the start it is. A 9-0 win over a decent Providence squad, without Alex Newhook, though, tends to stand out. For the first time in 18 years, the Eagles are 4-0 to start a season. It’s a weird time to be celebrating anything, especially … Read more
As Michigan was preparing to host Minnesota in a marquee Big Ten match early this week, Wolverines coach Mel Pearson had a thought or two about his young, talented, and inconsistent team. “We’ll be fine,” said Pearson. “We’ll be more than fine. Just give us another month together as a team, and we’ll be alright.” … Read more
The Air Force home-ice advantage is a mythical piece of Atlantic Hockey lore. The geographical outlier in the conference is nestled more than 7,000 feet above sea level, and the very real impact of Cadet Ice Arena and its legendary altitude enabled six consecutive seasons with nine regular seasons in league play. That changed three … Read more
As Michigan Tech and No. 6 Minnesota State took the ice Sunday, neither team had played a game in at least two weeks, which appears to be part of a new normal during the coronavirus pandemic. The Mavericks lost the chance to play the second game of their season-opening series with Bemidji State due to … Read more
To say that the start of the Hockey East men’s season has had some bumps in the road may be an understatement. But you might not know that by talking to first-year Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf, who is still upbeat and very positive that the season is close to getting back on track. “It’s … Read more
When Penn State hosts Michigan this week, the Nittany Lions will be looking for their first win of the season. With sweeps at the hands of Minnesota and Wisconsin to start this current campaign, Penn State appears to be very different from the team it was last March, when the Nittany Lions ended 2019-20 as … Read more
Eric Lang woke up last Friday morning with butterflies singing a familiar tune on his nerves. It felt distant from the last time he heard them, but the traditional rite played music he instantly recognized. The anxiety cranked up the volume as he got closer to the MassMutual Center, and they peaked right before the … Read more
On the morning of March 12, I got a text from Matthew McGreevy, assistant director of athletic communications at Denver. He simply asked, “Are you planning on coming if we play this weekend?” At that time, the plan was still for the NCHC tournament to hold its quarterfinal games sans spectators, and then do the same for the Frozen Faceoff in St. Paul, Minn., an announcement the conference made on March 11 (photo: Candace Horgan).
“We’ll move forward and we’ll get everybody through it, hopefully. Maybe it’s nice to slow down a little bit. We’re so busy. We’re so caught up in everything” (photo: Jim Rosvold).
For Bowling Green, the 2019-20 college hockey season ended, not with a goal or a buzzer but, of all places, a mall parking lot (photo: BGSU Athletics).
It started out slowly, but then the hits kept on coming (photo: Jim Meagher).
Words like “historic” and “unbelievable” get thrown around a lot in the sports world, often at things that aren’t really that historic or unbelievable. But in the case of the end of the 2019-20 college hockey season, they’re absolutely appropriate, along with “gut-wrenching,” “painful” and “devastating” (photo: Omar Phillips).
Little more than a month ago, Northeastern and Providence were riding high (photo: Rich Gagnon).