It’s the most wonderful time of the year! In other words, Big Ten league play begins this week! B1G Hockey is 42-22-9 in nonconference play to start the season, with a Division I-leading .637 win percentage. This is how Drew Claussen and I are doing so far. Last week Drew: 3-4-1 (.438) Paula: 3-4-1 (.438) … Read more
Our scheduled guests for the Nov. 29 edition of USCHO Live! are Denver coach Jim Montgomery, whose Pioneers are at No. 2 in this week’s USCHO.com men’s Division I hockey poll, and USCHO.com correspondent Paula C. Weston, who covers the Big Ten beat. Listen live at 8 p.m. EST or after the show on-demand: http://www.uscho.com/uscho-live/2016/11/29/denvers-armstrong-uschos-weston-join-nov-29-uscho-live/
I hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving weekend. I feel like I need to go on a cleanse until Christmas. Four Big Ten teams followed Turkey Day with some nonconference games this weekend. Here’s how things shook out: Minnesota dropped Friday’s game at Northeastern 6-4 and rebounded by beating Boston College 4-2 on Sunday Michigan … Read more
This is the final week of full-on nonconference play for the Big Ten before league action begins next Thursday, and B1G hockey is in good shape with a record of 38-19-8 and a .646 win percentage. Here’s how Drew Claussen and I are doing so far, too.Last weekDrew: 6-2-0 (.750)Paula: 6-2-0 (.750)This week, it was … Read more
B1G Hockey continues its solid start to the season with a collective nonconference record of 32-17-8 and the second-best nonconference win percentage (.632) in Division I, right behind the NCHC (.635). Drew Claussen and I aren’t doing too badly overall, either. Last week Drew: 6-1-1 (.813) Paula: 5-2-1 (.688) Even though I called the Ferris … Read more
I hope everyone had a great weekend. Four of the six Big Ten teams played nonconference opponents this weekend with Minnesota and Wisconsin taking the weekend off. Here’s how things played out: Michigan State dropped Thursday’s game to Ferris State but rebounded on Saturday to get a split Michigan split a series at home with … Read more
Michigan State kicks off the weekend with a home game against former CCHA rival Ferris State Thursday night. Before we get to the picks, though, let’s look at how Drew Claussen and I have been faring. Last week Drew: 4-3-2 (.556) Paula: 5-2-2 (.667) Season Drew: 22-18-7 (.543) Paula: 26-14-7 (.628) Not bad. This week … Read more
Our scheduled guests for the Nov. 8 edition of USCHO Live! are Penn State coach Guy Gadowsky, whose Nittany Lions moved to No. 12 in this week’s USCHO.com poll, and Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley, whose Colonials gave Ohio State its first loss of the season in a win and a tie with the Buckeyes last weekend. Listen live at 8 p.m. EST or after the show on-demand: http://www.uscho.com/uscho-live/2016/11/08/gadowsky-schooley-to-guest-on-nov-8-uscho-live/
It’s completely my fault that picks for Thursday night’s game between Niagara and Penn State weren’t posted. I have nothing to gain by telling you that Drew Claussen picked the Nittany Lions by a score of 5-2, because he’s going to take a win for that game and I’m going to take one in the … Read more
All six Big Ten teams were in action this weekend against various teams from the East Coast and, aside from a tough weekend for Michigan, things went very well. Here’s how things ended up: Penn State swept Canisius at home, winning 4-1 on Friday and 4-2 on Saturday Ohio State trounced Niagara 10-2 on Friday … Read more
The Big Ten may not have the best inter-conference record in Division I, but B1G Hockey is still floating above .500 — and I’ll take that, all things considered. Let’s see how Drew Claussen and I are floating so far. Last week Drew: 4-4-2 (.500) Paula: 4-4-2 (.500) Season Drew: 12-11-4 (.519) Paula: 14-9-4 (.593) … Read more
The Big Ten went 4-4-2 for the weekend, with the highest-ranked team in the league, Minnesota, dropping two games to St. Cloud State. Even though the only team to earn a sweep was Ohio State, it was still a good weekend for B1G Hockey. Here’s my take on things. 1. The Buckeyes look like they’re … Read more
So far, B1G Hockey has had a solid start to the 2016-2017 season. Here’s how Drew Claussen and I have started. Last week Drew: 3-3-1 (.500) Paula: 4-2-1 (.643) Season Drew: 8-7-2 (.529) Paula: 10-5-2 (.647) This week Five Big Ten teams are in action this weekend, each playing two-game Friday-Saturday series. Wisconsin is playing … Read more
Good morning everyone. I usually try and post these Sunday evening, but I ran my first full marathon yesterday so my motivation to do anything else was very low. Paula also completed the Detroit Free Press Half Marathon yesterday. It’s safe to say we covered more miles than any other columnist duo. Five of the … Read more
The Big Ten had a decent opening weekend. So did Drew Claussen and I, although we were each bitten by picking splits the wrong way. Drew: 5-4-1 (.550) Paula: 6-3-1 (.650) This week All six B1G teams are in action this weekend, although Minnesota plays the U.S. Under-18 team in exhibition tonight. Michigan State and … Read more
We had an interesting first weekend in the Big Ten, with every team picking up at least one win and two teams rewarding the B1G coaches for a little preseason faith. 1. The Nittany Lions, the Wolverines and the Badgers each earned splits. After a decisive 4-2 win over St. Lawrence Thursday night, Penn State … Read more
Last night, Penn State kicked off the Division I season for B1G hockey with a 4-2 win over visiting St. Lawrence, giving me a very temporary edge over my partner-in-writing, Drew Claussen. We’ll factor in last night’s pick with our overall totals from this weekend in next Friday’s blog. This is how we fared for … Read more
Drew Claussen and I nearly forgot that there’s a game tonight. Nearly. St. Lawrence at Penn State Drew: Penn State is going to be an interesting team this year. Teams have handled a large turnover before and been successful, but the Nittany Lions can look within their own conference to find an example of a … Read more
Next Thursday, Oct. 6, the season begins officially for Big Ten hockey when St. Lawrence plays Penn State, but this weekend, five B1G teams are warming up with exhibition play. Victoria at Wisconsin This game at the Kohl Center begins at 7:00 p.m. Saturday and gives Wisconsin fans their first chance to see the Badgers … Read more
This is it, our last Big Ten picks blog of 2015-16. Where did the season go? Yesterday, the top two teams advanced, which means that Drew Claussen went 1-1 and I went 2-0 with picks for the day. Season Drew: 80-54-19 (.585) Paula: 82-52-19 (.598) Big Ten championship game Today’s game begins at 7:00 p.m. … Read more