This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
When Minnesota-Duluth swept then-No. 1 North Dakota two weeks ago, the college hockey world took notice, giving Duluth the unanimous top spot in the polls. Many expected the Bulldogs to fall from that perch after this weekend, when they faced then No. 8 St. Cloud State, but Minnesota-Duluth twice rallied in the third for 5-3 … Read more
It’s been an interesting couple of years for Union. Three years ago, the Dutchmen dominated opponents en route to the program’s first national championship. In the two seasons since, Union has gone 32-32-11, and has been on the road for the first round of the ECAC Hockey playoffs each year. That’s a far cry from … Read more
In September, at Hockey East media day, Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon was very specific in talking about how he liked the maturity of his team. Fast forward a few days later and the team announced that four of its captains and assistant captains would miss the first five games of the season for issues related … Read more
In-season polls don’t mean as much to Omaha coach Dean Blais as other perhaps more quantifiable things do. Take league points, for instance. Earning plenty of those automatically takes care of other potential concerns. A team that’s strong in its own conference is bound to pick up national attention. As UNO prepares to open NCHC … Read more
It was a frustrating three weeks for Ferris State coach Bob Daniels. Each day he’d show up to the rink and have to watch his best player, the WCHA Preseason Player of the Year, walk around like nothing had happened. But Gerald Mayhew still couldn’t put on a skate. He couldn’t practice, he couldn’t play. … Read more
Garrett Hendrickson played through pain during the first weekend of the season for Concordia. The thing is, he had no idea what the source of the pain was until after he had helped the Cobbers open the year with wins over St. Thomas (1-0) and Saint Mary’s (3-2) in the MIAC Showcase. “I was playing … Read more
It’s been a surprising and prolific start to the season for the St. Lawrence Saints. One of just four undefeated teams left, they’ve started the season 7-0-1. They are near the top in both team offense and team defense and junior Kennedy Marchment is the number two scorer in the country with six goals and … Read more
Atlantic Hockey coaches love to talk about parity, that on any given night, etc. Coaches in every league at every level give similar lip service out of respect for their opponents. But for the past four or five years, the scoreboard has shown that, night in and night out, it really happens in Atlantic Hockey. … Read more
With a sizable roster turnover one might have assumed going into the season that Penn State’s trend of improving its win total during the program’s first three seasons might come to an end. On the other hand, maybe not. The Nittany Lions, with a roster that features 10 freshmen and eight sophomores, have gotten off … Read more
With a school schedule that start weeks later than anyone else, the Ivy League schools are always the last ones to take the ice during the women’s hockey season. A full month after Wisconsin and St. Cloud State opened play, the Ivies hit the ice and gave us our first full look at the full … Read more
Hockey coaches want their teams to score. This seems like a statement as obvious as “I want a million dollars” or “I want some chocolate cake.” Of course coaches want their teams to score more goals. But sometimes, when a team isn’t scoring — or is playing a certain defensive style — the outside perception … Read more
Much attention has been given to the early-season abundance of power plays and penalty kills and the impact of high (or undesirably low) percentages in both categories. “I don’t know if there’s anybody in the country that hasn’t had to put special teams at the forefront,” Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy said. “For the first three … Read more
Clarkson started a stretch playing four ranked teams in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll this past weekend with a pair of games against Providence and Massachusetts-Lowell. The undermanned Golden Knights did quite well as youngsters and veterans alike contributed in the 3-3 tie against the Friars and the 4-3 victory over the River Hawks. … Read more
Starting the season at home in the Ice Breaker tournament, Denver was a preseason favorite. However, the Pioneers lost both games in the tournament, 3-2 to Ohio State and 3-1 to Boston College. An 0-2 start wasn’t cause for panic among Pioneers fans, but when that opening weekend followed with an announcement that star forward … Read more
Nobody likes a moral victory. At least, nobody claims to like a moral victory. Sometimes, though, when a team is at a point where progress isn’t yet noted in the win column, a little bit of moral victory can go a long way for the morale itself. It’s more than fair to say that Michigan … Read more
There’s nothing more sacred in hockey than the concept of “the room.” It’s the very heart and soul of every team, a place where souls shed their individuality in favor of a team skin. It’s a place of bonding, a place nobody can understand with any accuracy unless they’ve been a part of one. Building … Read more
It’s exciting, it’s hectic and it gives coaches nightmares. Welcome to 3-on-3 overtime. The WCHA adopted the new overtime format this season, mirroring the 3-on-3 set up in the NHL. Games officially end as a tie in the record book and for NCAA PairWise purposes, but the overtime winner gets an extra point in the … Read more
After North Dakota defeated visiting nonconference foe Rensselaer 5-2 on Saturday, UND freshman forward Ludvig Hoff joked about a “Euro connection” forming on the Fighting Hawks’ roster. Earlier that night, the on-ice chemistry showing between Hoff and linemate Joel Janatuinen was no laughing matter for RPI. Janatuinen, a sophomore forward from Espoo, Finland, recorded his … Read more
The Mercyhurst Lakers have one of the most consistent and impressive resumes in women’s college hockey. They earned an NCAA at-large tournament bid for 10 consecutive seasons, starting in the 2004-2005 season and ending in 2013-2014. They’ve won the CHA regular season title all but one year since its inception and the CHA tournament title … Read more
Mark Morris’ first win as St. Lawrence’s head coach came against a school that didn’t even a have Division I hockey program during his last stint as a collegiate coach. The Saints’ 6-3 win over Penn State on Oct. 7 was Morris’ first NCAA win since 2002. He spent the 14 years since then as … Read more