This Week in … columns; weekly columns on a league, region or gender-division
Kyle Looft’s New Years Eve was spent mostly in pain. Bemidji State’s defenseman was attempting to block a shot in the Beavers’ game against St. Cloud State when the puck smashed his wrist, resulting in a broken bone. The Beavers lost that game 6-1, but most importantly they lost Looft. The senior captain required surgery … Read more
The majority of ECAC Hockey teams have spent the second half of the season trying to catch Quinnipiac. As recently as last week, as the last of the regular-season weekends crested on the horizon of college hockey’s last month, six-point weekends sent teams flying towards the top of a league hoping to catch its three-time … Read more
The Big Ten regular-season title is Michigan State’s to lose. What’s also true is that the Big Ten is Wisconsin’s to win. With three weeks remaining until conference playoffs, the Spartans remain at the top of the standings with 46 points after sweeping Michigan last weekend. The Badgers paced Michigan State with a sweep of … Read more
On Jan. 5, Mercyhurst defeated Sacred Heart 7-2, a convincing way to start the 2024 portion of the Lakers’ schedule. Rick Gotkins’ team was 7-9-3 at the time, in the thick of things in the Atlantic Hockey standings. Then the Lakers experienced what Gotkin called a “rut.” It lasted nine games (0-9), finally coming to … Read more
Not long after Northeastern took a twirl on the TD Garden ice, hoisting high the Beanpot trophy before a delirious (not to mention large) student section for the fifth time in the last six tournaments, the focus of the three Boston-based Hockey East teams shifted to what lies ahead — a sprint to the regular-season … Read more
It’s not uncommon for teams to hit a bye week at inopportune times, having been firing on all cylinders and perhaps viewing an extended break between games as a momentum-stopper. Miami is now in its last bye week of the season, with six games remaining. The RedHawks have dropped eight straight and are all but … Read more
Bowling Green is a case study in how quickly fortunes can change in college hockey. With six games left to play in their season, the Falcons are now in fourth place in the CCHA, still very much in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. But that wasn’t always the case. “Coming into the year, and … Read more
There was a time around Christmas when the thought of moving the Cleary Cup away from Quinnipiac felt like a fool’s bet. The Bobcats’ near-perfect 9-0-1 record placed them 11 points clear of their next-closest competitor thanks in no small part to a 5:1 scoring margin against ECAC opponents. They equally dominated the national rankings … Read more
A marathon with potential for a photo finish, run on a treadmill. That’s what this Big Ten season feels like. With a month to go before conference playoffs begin, the standings seem to be nearly standing still. Michigan State remains at the top, Ohio State at the bottom, and any movement in between seems nearly … Read more
With three weeks to go in the Atlantic Hockey regular season, things are looking up for Robert Morris. Derek Schooley had to build his team back from practically scratch after the school unceremoniously canceled its successful men’s and women’s programs at the end of the 2020-21 season. Schooley brought in 16 freshmen plus a few … Read more
You can’t blame Northeastern for entering Monday’s 71st Beanpot championship game feeling a little bit like a neglected sibling compared to their crosstown rivals. Boston University and Boston College have gotten plenty of attention this season — all well deserved — perched high atop both the Hockey East standings and the USCHO.com poll. But Northeastern’s … Read more
Throughout his time in junior and high school-age hockey, North Dakota senior goaltender Ludvig Persson had never suited up against one of his former teams. So when he faced Miami last weekend on the road, the Swedish former RedHawk got maybe his biggest taste of culture shock since he began playing in the United States … Read more
Northern Michigan’s series against Lake Superior State early in January was a wake-up call for the Wildcats. Playing their first series back from the holiday break, the Wildcats had maybe expected to come back to play one of their Upper Peninsula rivals tough after a refreshing vacation. Instead, the Lakers swept the Wildcats 5-1 and … Read more
First-year Colgate coach Mike Harder knew something was amiss with his team when he sent the players home for the Christmas holiday. The Raiders that started the year by raising a 2023 postseason championship banner hadn’t won a game at home in the Class of 1965 Arena before Thanksgiving, and while they’d beaten Cornell to … Read more
“We need Badger hockey to be good. You do in college hockey, but more importantly, we need Gopher hockey to be better.” That sums up Bob Motzko’s mindset as Minnesota travels to Wisconsin to face the Badgers, a team that swept the Golden Gophers in Minnesota at the end of October. Sharing his take on … Read more
Last season, its second under coach Bill Riga, Holy Cross built towards a strong finish that ultimately led to an appearance in the Atlantic Hockey championship game where the Crusaders fell to Canisius, one win away from the NCAA tournament. This season, the Crusaders wouldn’t be sneaking up on anyone, opening 4-0-1 before hitting a … Read more
For Mike Sullivan, the men’s Beanpot is about more than just personal memories of past glory. Not that he doesn’t have plenty of them. The former Boston University forward played in the annual tournament four times, reaching the championship round each time and winning it twice between 1987-90. Before that, the Marshfield, Mass., native made … Read more
Colorado College’s Kaidan Mbereko was named Monday as the NCHC goaltender of the week, and it’s never a surprise when the Tigers sophomore receives that recognition. Sixty-one saves over two 2-1 overtime wins last weekend at then-No. 12 Western Michigan gave Mbereko the conference’s weekly goalie award for the fourth time this season. Also last … Read more
Treat anyone who presumes to say they know who will win the MacNaughton Cup this season with immediate suspicion. Considering how the standings look right now — five teams are within four points of first place — it would be a fool’s errand to try and predict with any certainty who is going to take … Read more
Just under 11 minutes remained in the third period of Saturday’s women’s hockey game between Brown and eighth-ranked Quinnipiac when Bears freshman forward Margot Norehad made a move destined to break the Internet. Her line was on the back end of a stingy forecheck against a Bobcats defense that couldn’t break through center ice, and … Read more