This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
For SUNY-Canton coach Alex Boak, life is really focused on one thing: getting better as a program and building the culture for his team to be able to compete hard against all competitors every time his team takes the ice. The second-year coach is building the foundation for what he hopes and expects will be … Read more
Kyle Wagner is playing offense full-time this season at Saint John’s. And it’s safe to say he made quite the impression in his new role. Wagner finished with five points on the opening night of the season, propelling the Johnnies to a 5-1 win over Bethel. He scored a goal and dished out four assists. … Read more
Boston College freshman forward Daryl Watts has had a start to her college career that seems unfathomable. The rookie is averaging 3.00 points per game, had a hat trick in her second ever college game, leads the country in goals, and is tied for third in the country for assists. Per Hockey East, “Watts has … Read more
There isn’t much debate among pollsters about Denver being the top men’s Division I hockey team in the country right now, but the Pioneers are not their own finished product. That’s to be expected only a month into the season, but while DU has yet to lose (4-0-2), not everything has gone perfectly, and not … Read more
Okay, raise your hand if the Big Ten has exceeded your early-season expectations. Just me? I didn’t think so. Six Big Ten teams have overall records above .500 after the first full month of play, and the seventh is an even 4-4-0. The conference is 27-12-3 against nonleague foes with the tiniest of leads over … Read more
They say that progress takes time, that you don’t see radical change overnight. But it’s hard to look at what Niagara (4-2-0) has accomplished over its first six games and not see a significant difference over the past few seasons. It’s early. There’s a lot of hockey to play, at least 30 more games. But … Read more
Alabama Huntsville has one of the most difficult travel schedules in college hockey. Starting with a season-opening series against Notre Dame, a top-10 ranked team, the Chargers travel to Indiana, Michigan’s upper peninsula, upstate New York and Arizona before they play their first home game on Nov. 10. After returning home, the Chargers get a … Read more
A week after two home ties against Rensselaer, Ohio State got things back on track with two road victories at Massachusetts. Buckeyes coach Steve Rohlik said he was happy with the team’s road effort. “If you win a game, you’ve done something right,” he said. “To go on the road and win two, it certainly … Read more
Mark Johnson has been coaching the Wisconsin women’s hockey team for 14 years. The team that takes the ice each week for the Badgers this season is by far the youngest squad he’s ever had. Eight freshman and a transfer goaltender dressed for the Badgers in their exhibition again South Korea to open the season. … Read more
Bye weeks can come in handy for teams on the mend, but being idle is less helpful for a healthy team that’s rolling. Second-ranked St. Cloud State is off this weekend after opening the season with five consecutive wins, three of them against top-20 teams. The two most recent games came at home last week … Read more
In the early 20th century, legendary author Mark Twain once said, “The reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.” Now more than 100 years later, we might be able to use a similar quote to sum up the first month of UMass Lowell’s hockey season. The River Hawks began the season ranked fifth in … Read more
Union got the monkey of its back this past weekend with two victories over RIT and Niagara. The Dutchmen enter conference play this coming weekend. “Our coaching staff was pretty happy for the players,” Union coach Rick Bennett said. “They got a chance to get a couple of wins under their belt, especially going into … Read more
Christian Pomarico never met Derek Hines. They never skated together and never dressed together in the same hockey locker room. They both attended and graduated from the United States Military Academy, but neither man met the other. But to Pomarico, “Hinesy” is still a part of his family. A 2016 West Point graduate, Pomarico hung … Read more
It might have been one of the best road weekends in the history of the program. Minnesota State waltzed into Agganis Arena on the campus of Boston University hoping for just a split. What they got was so much better: A decisive two-game nonconference sweep of the Hockey East powerhouse on their home turf. The … Read more
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: UMass finishes last in Hockey East. The Minutemen finished in the Hockey East cellar the last three years, and in the previous four seasons managed no better than next-to-last or third-to-last. This year, more of the same was projected: Hockey East coaches picked them to share the … Read more
There was something familiar about Michigan State’s 3-2 home win over Bowling Green last Saturday. It couldn’t have been the win itself, as it was the first time the Spartans had registered a home win since Nov. 4, 2016 and the first time Michigan State won its home opener since the start of the 2014-2015 … Read more
Several ECAC teams have faced intimidating early-season schedules, with mixed results. St. Lawrence and Union are both looking for their first wins of the season, checking it at 0-4 and 0-5, respectively. SLU hosted Penn State and then traveled to North Dakota last weekend for a two-game series. The Dutchmen opened on the road against … Read more
Being the defending national champion didn’t get Denver any consideration for easing into a new season. Rather than play at home, or play against an unranked opponent, Denver took to the road last weekend to face No. 4 Notre Dame, the same team Denver routed in the Frozen Four last year en route to the … Read more
It’s been something of a transformation the past few season for Colgate. In 2014-15, they won just seven games, but in each of the past two seasons they’ve amassed 22 wins and berths in the ECAC tournament. But the dream has stalled there. Despite the brilliant season last year that including an overtime win against … Read more
Trevor Large has coached just two games so far, but he and his Canisius Golden Griffins have been through the gamut already. Last Friday, Canisius fell behind visiting Robert Morris 3-0 midway through the second period, but came storming back with three third-period goals to even the score. But RMU’s Spencer Dorowicz got the game-winner … Read more