This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
I hope everyone had a safe and happy Holiday season. As we head into the second half of the college hockey season, let’s look back at the first half. Here are our midterm awards. Will things change before the league names the actual winners in March? Probably. But these are our picks for the first … Read more
By every metric, the Frozen Confines was a huge success for the Big Ten. The event featured six Big Ten teams plus two WCHA women’s teams from B1G schools and was played in Wrigley Field Jan. 3-4, just days after the NHL’s annual Winter Classic. The Big Ten Network did a fantastic job with coveriage, … Read more
I think we can all agree it’s time for a breather, right? Hockey East just came off a Saturday when it went a perfect 7-0 against nonconference opponents. Four schools scored season highs in goals — Massachusetts and Vermont each put up eight, Connecticut scored seven and Northeastern tied its season high with five goals … Read more
Much of fourth-ranked Western Michigan’s success through the first half of the season had to do with a changed operating dynamic between the pipes. Over the past two seasons, current WMU graduate student Cameron Rowe was the Broncos’ unquestioned starting goaltender. After playing his first two years of college hockey at Wisconsin, he played 38 … Read more
The holiday break is a strange time for college hockey. Some CCHA teams have played four official games since this column was last published about three weeks ago. Michigan Tech, for example, played in not one but two separate tournaments (the Huskies finished third in both the Great Lakes Invitational and the Coachella Valley Cactus … Read more
The college hockey season doesn’t typically shift into overdrive until the calendar shifts into the new year. The “first half,” loaded to the gills with its high-profile nonconference matchups, holiday tournaments and pleasant surprises, doesn’t truly yield its heat until league play and trophy season crests over the horizon. Early-season rivalries aside, coaches and players … Read more
It’s no secret that North Dakota has some work to do if the Fighting Hawks are to make their fourth NCAA tournament appearance in five years. Sitting 22nd in the PairWise Rankings after an 11-7-1 start, more things will have to start going the right way. Kind of like they have in the last couple … Read more
As the holiday break descends upon us, there is one thing that has stood out above all others: Minnesota State is the real deal. This isn’t a particularly “hot take,” in fact, one might argue that it’s the most obvious observation one could make. But sometimes, as a columnist, I’m supposed to take risks, and … Read more
A happy and hearty holiday season to you and yours in the college hockey world. I’ve found through the years that holiday and semester break is well-placed for a college hockey season that rumbles through the fall and early spring with an unsurpassed pace. We spend our weeks in October and November in the same … Read more
While it often seems like the 2024-25 season just got underway, we’re already at the halfway point, with roughly 47% of Atlantic Hockey America’s conference schedule completed. That’s a decent enough sample to look at where all 11 teams stand. My friends at the USCHO Weekend Review podcast have an exercise called “Buy or Sell,” … Read more
The first half of the Big Ten season is in the books and there have been a few surprises along the way, setting up an interesting second-half sprint to the conference playoffs. As we head into the holiday break, here are some thoughts about each team. Minnesota 15-3-2 (8-1-1 B1G) The Golden Gophers had a … Read more
When a team wins a lot, it’s common for players to speak highly of team chemistry. It’s not a popular topic when a team struggles. That’s not the case with Merrimack. Despite wrapping up the first semester with just five wins, the Warriors are feeling nothing but positive vibes entering the winter break. “The biggest … Read more
It was never a secret that first-year Miami coach Anthony Noreen has a project on his hands in Oxford, Ohio. The RedHawks haven’t posted a winning record in nine years, and Noreen got straight to work once he was hired, a day before the NCAA’s transfer portal opened. Four veteran players soon arrived to work … Read more
During his weekly media session, Minnesota State coach Luke Strand was asked about the significance of this weekend’s matchup in Mankato, Minn., between his Mavericks and Lake Superior State. It’s a big matchup. After all, the Mavericks are in first place in the CCHA standings and riding high in the midst of a nine-game unbeaten … Read more
Mike Harder looked at his bench during Colgate’s weekend series against Cornell with the realization of how deeply injuries impacted his roster. He was without skaters on his top lines or his special teams, and the Big Red’s vaunted defense made it exceptionally hard to prepare for those individualized situations before the team’s MASH unit … Read more
The first half of the 2024-25 season has not been kind to Rochester Institute of Technology. Nearing the holiday break, the Tigers find themselves in an unfamiliar position —- near the bottom of the Atlantic Hockey America standings. RIT has won the regular-season title the past two seasons and a playoff championship last year. But … Read more
With one week of hockey for Big Ten teams before the holiday break, Minnesota tops the conference standings with 23 points, eight ahead of second-place Wisconsin. Feeling a little déjà vu? Maybe you’re flashing back to the middle of the 2022-23 season, when the Golden Gophers amassed 30 points in the first half, eight ahead … Read more
If ever there was a team that needed a spark plug, it was UMass Lowell at the end of last season. The River Hawks got it with a 2024-25 roster full of young players that have turned the River Hawks into not just a great comeback story, but a bona fide contender. After an 8-24-4 … Read more
Not that Denver coach David Carle isn’t a sentimental person, but he’s generally more interested in looking ahead than back. His Pioneers have had a week and a half to stew on their first two defeats of the season, at home to new NCHC member Arizona State. A last-minute ASU goal Nov. 22 snapped Denver’s … Read more
When Derek Mullahy arrived in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, for his first year of USHL junior hockey in 2019, he knew the Roughriders were going to be looking for a goaltender. Their previous netminder had just been a workhorse for them in the previous, playing in 47 games and leading them to a Clark Cup playoff … Read more