The weekend had great match-ups with some conferences seeing a new team holding the top spot in the standings. It will be an exciting month of February as teams start getting in position to make a playoff run! NCHA Wisconsin-Eau Claire and St. Norbert met for the third time this season, with the Blugolds prevailing … Read more
Three series in the conference ended with a sweep last weekend, and I predicted nearly all splits. The sole sweep I did predict ended with the other team getting the wins. Typical. I went 3-5-0 (.375) last weekend, bringing my season total to 40-31-4 (533). Like any good player, I’m going to put that weekend … Read more
How do you like your hockey action? Piping hot? If so, you should probably head to a SUNYAC rink, where on almost all fronts, heated contests with playoff implications will be staged. Who doesn’t love it when the top two teams in the conference hook up? Or when a pair of desperately playoff-hungry squads collide? … Read more
Suffolk coach Chris Glionna entered this season with some optimism. After a year to forget last season, he knew the Rams had some spunk, some spirit, and, more importantly, some motivation to right the wrongs. As the ECAC Northeast heads for its homestretch, Suffolk is well on its way to doing just that. A 5-5 … Read more
Another week of making predictions has arrived, and I own a 44-42 record heading into this week. Not impressive. I went just 3-5 a week ago, but I’m hoping for a big-time turnaround this week. The big match-up of the weekend is the one between St. Olaf and St. Thomas. The Oles and Tommies will … Read more
I am hoping that this past week’s success with the picks is not just a one-week phenomenon. I rallied back with last week’s 5-1-0 (.833) record that clearly shows I can get it right sometimes. The overall season numbers look very strong at 40-14-6 (.717), but I will need to avoid anymore bad weeks if … Read more
In a league as competitive as the NCHA, upsets aren’t too rare, even against St. Norbert, the defending Division III national champs and, as of last week, the top-ranked team in the country. For the first time in almost four years, the Wisconsin-Stout Blue Devils knocked off the Green Knights on their home ice. The … Read more
Rolling! The pursuit of perfection may not be so elusive after all, as a 6-0-0 (.1000) record last weekend leaves me with a 34-12-6 (.712) overall record. Finally have crossed the threshold for the 70 percent success rate, but I am not taking anything for granted coming down the home stretch of the season. Have … Read more
The record stands at 36-7-4 (.808) for the season after going 2-1 last week. The conference stretch run is now in full swing, and everybody in the ECAC West will be jockeying for tournament position with less than 10 games apiece to go. Jan. 25, 2013 Elmira at No. 3 Hobart The host Statesmen (14-2-2 … Read more
A couple of big upsets in the MASCAC last week, including a 4-3 victory for Worcester Sate over Plymouth State. Also, as mentioned before in my previous article, the hungrier Westfield State Owls cruised past Salem Sate, 6-1, to pick up two valuable points in the standings. It is all MASCAC games from here on … Read more
Most teams returned to conference play over the weekend, signaling a race to the playoff finish line. As always, there were some developments that were, shall we say, very interesting. SUNYAC No. 5 Oswego held onto the top spot after notching a solid 5-2 win at Cortland, while Geneseo eased ahead of No. 9 Plattsburgh … Read more
Life and death? Well, perhaps matters aren’t quite that critical. However, with five SUNYAC playoff hopefuls stacked within two points of each other, the coming weekend may put a big crimp in the postseason hopes of at least a couple of these conference rivals. There should be few, if any, dull moments to be seen … Read more
So I was a bit too confident in my conference picks last week, and the conference proved to have more parity than I had expected. I fell below .500, yet again, with a 3-2-2 (.428) pick record. That brings my season record to 37-26-4 (.552). Yuck. This week sees interesting division match-ups. The top dog … Read more
Wow! The pursuit of consistency is elusive, as last week’s 4-3-1 (.563) record clearly shows. The season still looks very strong at 35-13-6 (.704), but I will need to get back on track if I aim to keep my winning percentage over the 70 percent success rate. The bonus games killed me last week, so … Read more
Wow! The pursuit of consistency may not be so elusive after all, as a 6-2-0 (.750) record last weekend leaves me with a 28-12-6 (.674) overall record. Definitely moving in the right direction in terms of success rate, which is something I will have to continue to work on. There were definitely some key upsets … Read more
Last week, St. Norbert earned two crucial wins at Wisconsin-Superior to surpass Norwich as the top-ranked team in the NCAA D-III. Part of me wanted to pick the Yellowjackets to sneak past the Green Knights and get at least one win, but the rational part of me won out. Sometimes, you just have to go … Read more
January is flying by, and it’s time for another week of trying to look smart when it comes to making picks in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Four weekend series are on top in league play as teams continue to battle it out for the conference title and positioning for the postseason. Four teams all … Read more
I finished 5-1 last week, although I didn’t expect Cortland to upset Utica. So far, I’m 34-6-4 (.818) for the season, while ECAC West schools get back to conference action this week. Jan. 17 Elmira at Nazareth The Soaring Eagles (7-9 overall, 2-4 ECAC West) scored 17 goals in a two-step sweep of Morrisville last … Read more
It’s not often you see a first-place team stuck in a winless streak that covers more than a month. Welcome to life in the ECAC Northeast. Western New England (6-9 overall, 4-1 in the league) is indeed in one of those funks, and more than anything else, it’s because the Golden Bears have scheduled up … Read more
Ah, that is more like it! My first true sweep of the season happened last week when I went 3-0 on all my picks! The MASCAC is heating up now, with even more conference games scheduled to take place tonight and this weekend. With only a few more weeks to go, we will see which … Read more