So who could see it coming? I bet more than a few Norwich fans went to bed last night with no clue that their Cadets would be lacing up the skates again after bowing out in the ECAC East semifinals. I had them out of the running as well, thinking Neumann and UW-Stout had a … Read more
I’ve been doing a pre-NCAA selection version of Bracketlolgy for several years now. I have more uncertainty this season than any other about what the committee will do. A few years back, when USCHO created the Pairwise Rankings, they did an accurate job of predicting the NCAA field, because the committee basically did the same … Read more
In this fourth edition of Bracketology, we’ll look at percentages and possibilities. In what has become a chicken and egg scenario, one needs not only to speculate on the teams that will make the NCAA Division III tournament, but on the balance of teams in the East and West regions. Because Division III looks at … Read more
We can add the following teams to the list of squads who have finished their seasons: Gustavus Adolphus St. Olaf Augsburg Fitchburg State Curry Now let’s turn our attention to the 22 Division III teams that are still playing, and the four teams on the bench, hoping for an at-large bid (plus a tip of … Read more
As of Tuesday night (prior to the MIAC play-in game), we’re down to just 27 D-III teams and 4 D-II squads. Hats off to the seniors from the following teams, who finished out their colllege careers last week: Southern Maine Salem State UMass-Boston Skidmore Elmira Utica Plymouth State Johnson & Wales Nichols Salve Regina St. … Read more
Things are a little tricky with this week’s version We’re again using the NCAA rankings, but they’re a little out of whack because Castleton is out of the rankings this week as a penalty for not reporting its scores to the NCAA on time. This not only affects the Spartans, but teams that have played … Read more
Is it really almost over? Only the MIAC still has regular season games left, and the following teams have ended their season: Lebanon Valley Suffolk Worcester State Western New England Framingham State UW-Stevens Point UW-Eau Claire Lake Forest Hamilton Tufts Buffalo State Brockport Cortland Potsdam Hat’s off to the seniors on those squads. UW-Superior and … Read more
All set for version 2.0? We’ll be using the NCAA rankings for this one rather than USCHO PWR. See my previous blog post for the details, but to summarize – we can’t figure out some of the reasoning behind the NCAA rankings, but they’re the official ones, so that’s what we’ll use. AS some point … Read more
And here they are. Check back for the latest Bracketology tomorrow. In the meantime, an observation: We know that the NCAA does not apply the selection/ranking criteria equally. You can see this by comparing USCHO’s PWR with the rankings. I’m having a hard time figuring this out. Looking at Mass-Dartmouth, you’d think that the NCAA … Read more
Last year I waited for the NCAA to release its first rankings of the season before attempting to sort out the great cluster-you-know-what that is the selection process. We at USCHO attempt to mimic the process via our Pairwise Rankings. I’m going to use these for the initial attempt and then probably switch to the … Read more
Just wanted to do a brief analysis of the Big Game on Sunday. The way I see it, you have two teams that have had their ups and downs so far this year. Both have shown explosive offenses and stingy defenses at times, but both have struggled as well. It should be a good game … Read more
I’ll make a case for the Cardinals: 9-4-4 record; 8-1-3 in their last 12 games. Beat 11th-ranked Norwich 4-1; first win over the Cadets ever. Beat Williams 3-2; first win over the Ephs since 1982. Tied 12th-ranked Middlebury. Tied 8th-ranked Mass-Dartmouth Is 10th in the Eastern PWR, ahead of Skidmore and Middlebhury, which are both … Read more
The USCHO Pairwise Rankings (PWR) for the 2006-2007 season are out. East Region West Region Combined National This means, or course, that the first iteration of BRACKETOLOGY will be coming along very shortly.
If you’re old like me, you’re thinking of Gomer Pyle right now…. Let’s look at some of the many surprises in D-III to date: ECAC East: What is traditionally Norwich’s title to lose, upstarts Castleton State and Southern Maine are at the top. New England College, bolstered by the return of Mike Carmody, is in … Read more
The list of nominees for the 2007 Hockey Humanitarian Award have been announced. The award, established in 1996 by John Greenhalgh and Jeff Millman goes each year to “College Hockey’s finest citizen” as a way to recognize the good work being done by hockey-playing student athletes. Men and women playing NCAA hockey from all Divisions … Read more
CSI: D-III If you caught the latest episode of CSI, you know that Gill Grissom is taking a sabbatical to teach at Williams College. Maybe while he’s there he can do some sleuthing and figure out just what the heck happened in various D-III rinks in New England/New York on Friday. Riddle me these: Skidmore … Read more
Here’s the recaps: Mine for the Consolation Russell Jaslow’s for the Championship
Two close games today – the championship was closer than the 4-1 score would indicate. The All-Tournament Team: F – Kevin Rollwagen (St. Thomas), Justin Joy (Elmira), CJ Thompson (Oswego) D – Greg Moore (Elmira), Rich Zalweski (Oswego) G – Ryan Scott (Oswego) MVP – Ryan Scott (Oswego) Those were on my ballot for forwards … Read more
Oswego has taken a 1-0 lead over Elmira at the midway point of the first period. Ryan Woodward, behind the Elmira net, banked the puck off a defenseman. Before that, Elmira had most of the scoring chances. Oswego goalie Ryan Scott was shaken up at about the six minute mark, but looks fine. And the … Read more
I’m back in the pressbox in Oswego for the consolation game of the Pathfinder Classic. Just underway between St. Thomas and New England. As opposed to yesterday, I’ll do the game in one long blog entry. Midway thought the first and there’s no score. St. Thomas has had the better chances so far, but Pilgrim … Read more