With roughly a week remaining in the unofficial first half of the season, conference races are starting to shape up and heat up, making the New Year look all the more exciting for all fans. Any all points are going to be important coming down the stretch in February, but it may be points gained … Read more
Danny Kaufmann spent the summer in Washington, D.C., where he waited tables and shared living quarters with a childhood friend. Through the course of the summer however, Kaufmann admitted that while they shared the same kitchen, he and John Carlson, a second-year defenseman with the Washington Capitals and Kaufmann’s best friend from growing up in … Read more
Deadlocked rivalries The two rivalry games lived up to their reputation and hype. Perhaps too much so, as both ended up in a tie. “It’s turning into a real special rivalry,” Fredonia coach Jeff Meredith said after a 3-3 tie with Buffalo State. After a scoreless first period, Buffalo State scored twice within 46 seconds. … Read more
Last week was solid at 4-1-1 (.667) slate of picks to build off the opening .500 picks. This week has some big marquee match-ups, and I am not going to shy away from taking a shot at picking the winners. It’s awesome to have a first semester match-up between two undefeated contenders that will surely … Read more
The Thanksgiving tournaments are now memories, and conference battles are back on tap for this weekend. In the MIAC and NCHA, there are some head-to-head match-ups that could tip the balance of power in this season’s standings. MCHA Marian at Northland, 3:05 p.m. Saturday Northland’s Colin McIntosh was a one-man wrecking crew last week against … Read more
Game of the Week I hate the schedule maker. The last few years, the consistently most enjoyable SUNYAC rivalry games have been Plattsburgh-Oswego (well, that’s been consistently exciting for decades) and Fredonia-Buffalo State. So what do they do? Both times these rivalry games take place, it happens on the exact same day. You see why … Read more
Last weekend’s ECAC Northeast/MASCAC slate included a slew of nonconference games, including a handful of Thanksgiving tournaments in which teams got to showcase their wares against out-of-state competition. I went 3-2-1 this week (earning a half point for Framingham’s 1-1 tie Tuesday with Fitchburg), moving to 14-9-5. Here are this week’s picks. ECAC Northeast Curry … Read more
Neumann threw me a curve before Thanksgiving. I had picked the Knights to beat Manhattanville and then lose to Utica but the opposite happened. Go figure. Other than that, my picks were pretty close to dead on, particularly the tournament games of Hobart and Elmira. This week, there is one last round of league games … Read more
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