UNE Wins PAL Cup Of the three ECAC East tournament winners this past weekend, two are not surprising. Norwich and Castleton both remained unbeaten for the season in winning the Primelink Tournament and Rutland Invitational, respectively. The new kid on the block is the University of New England, which collected its first hardware as a … Read more
Hobart earned the gold medal over the weekend in the inaugural Cape Cod Lighthouse College Hockey Invitational Tournament with victories over Babson and Amherst. The weekend got off to a rough start Saturday when Trevor Hines scored twice in the opening nine minutes to give Babson an early 2-0 lead. The Statesmen rallied and stayed … Read more
It was a week full of jaw-dropping action in the Midwest. There were some surprise upsets of some ranked teams, as No. 4 Adrian, No. 8 Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), and No. 13 St. Thomas were beaten by unranked opponents. Adrian Thanksgiving Showcase Wis.-Eau Claire was crowned champion of the Adrian tournament. The Blugolds … Read more
Charging Castleton Castleton just keeps rolling. This past week, Castleton’s path stormed through the ECAC Northeast and the MASCAC. The Spartans entered last weekend’s game as the No. 3 team in the country in the latest USCHO.com Division III top 15 poll. (Disclosure: I voted them No. 1) and they’re 9-0 so far this season. … Read more
Brockport goes unbeaten in tournament play Brockport may have played in the third place game of the Skidmore Invitational, but the Golden Eagles were the only SUNYAC team not to lose a game over the various Thanksgiving weekend tournaments. That’s because Brockport failed to advance in the first round due to a shootout, which does … Read more
Thanksgiving has turkey, stuffing and football. The day after, people will wake up early and line up outside their favorite local ice arenas waiting for college hockey Thanksgiving tournaments. MCHA vs. NCHA Showcase at Marian Marian will host a Thanksgiving MCHA/NCHA Showcase Friday and Saturday, as Lawrence, St. Norbert, and St. Scholastica will play four … Read more
By the time you read this, you’ll probably be working on Thanksgiving leftovers, or you might be catching up on the sleep you lost after staying up for the Black Friday deals. However, the majority of the ECAC Northeast and MASCAC teams will be preparing for weekend games and tournaments, so I’ll make my picks … Read more
Four teams broke out the brooms; earn weekend sweeps While the Upper Midwest was shoveling out from a pre-Thanksgiving snow, Adrian, Concordia (Minn.), St. Norbert, and St. Thomas won hard-fought sweeps of their weekend games. The NCHA St. Norbert earned two hard-fought road victories this past weekend. The defending D-III national champions defeated Wis.-Eau Claire … Read more
Jumbos Make Big First Impression Since they came into the NESCAC Conference back in the 2002-03 season, the Tufts University men’s ice hockey team has never opened the season with a 2-0-0 conference record. Cross that “never gonna happen” item off the list. With wins over Trinity and Wesleyan on the road this past weekend, … Read more
For the MASCAC and the ECAC Northeast, it’s time to take a break. Somewhat of a break. The 15 teams in both leagues will play this week, both before and after Thanksgiving, but this week’s slate is made up entirely of nonconference games and tournament games. Didn’t I write about tournaments just a couple weeks … Read more
Oswego, Plattsburgh begin to nudge ahead It’s a familiar site. Oswego and Plattsburgh, neck and neck, pulling ahead of the rest of the field. This was helped by both teams sweeping the weekend, including key wins against close pursuers. It also helped that one team which was hoping to make a serious run this year, … Read more
Last week was a respectable 4-4-0 (.500) slate of picks to start the season. If anything, these two conferences have shown me that it is not easy to pick a favorite, and legitimately every team has a shot every night. Finally, everybody is playing games that count, and one nice thing about the new separate … Read more
Game of the Week Without the benefit of a mark-your-calendar game from the preview, combined with a slew of games that will play a key role in the standings, this is a tough week to pick just one game of the week. There are a trio which are obvious contenders. If I really had to … Read more
It’s that time of the week again – pick six games from the two conferences (including the conference crossover games) and make our best predictions. However, each week’s picks come with a little statistical analysis, and this week’s match-ups even come with a few wrinkles – both hockey and non-hockey. Will those factor into the … Read more
The weather may be cooling down, but the on-ice action is heating up in the Midwest. The last weekend before Thanksgiving may clarify the standings as to who will be the contenders in the MCHA, MIAC, and NCHA conferences. Here are some picks for this weekend’s upcoming action. NCHA St. Norbert at Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 7:00 … Read more
Flipping a coin worked pretty good last week, as I went 4-0. However, I heard some grumblings about my picks when I visited Hobart on Saturday. It is hard to make everyone happy. This week, a bit of a bonus as I’m making picks through the Thanksgiving weekend, as teams hit the holiday tournaments. I … Read more
Where Do We Start? This past weekend produced quite an array of results, surprises, and comebacks. Let’s first set up the game of the week I selected, which was Plattsburgh at Buffalo State on Saturday, with the respective games each team played on Friday. Buffalo State did not start out the weekend properly, despite opening … Read more
There was a full schedule on conference games in the west this weekend, as MCHA, MIAC, and NCHA teams started the heart of their respective conference battles. There were two series featuring ranked teams, as No. 4 Adrian traveled to No. 11 Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE), while No. 12 Wisconsin-River Falls played host to … Read more
You had to wonder when it was going to happen for Salve Regina. Last week, I wrote that Salve had won its first game in nearly nine months, as the Seagulls defeated Franklin Pierce, 4-2, last Tuesday, November 8. Four nights later though, the Seahawks lost 10-2 to Curry in their ECAC Northeast opener, and … Read more
This isn’t the lotto, though given our tough economic times, some might long for a chance to get a few extra bucks. But each week, we’ll look at five games in the ECAC Northeast and the MASCAC and take a stab at the outcome. In my first week, I did poorly, going 2-4 (.333). Let’s … Read more