d3men

The Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association has already produced a few first-half surprises this season. Here is a mid-term look at five developments to keep an eye on as the season resumes. Milwaukee School of Engineering’s invincibility The No. 9 Raiders stormed out of the gate by winning nine of their first 10 games, which was … Read more

Johnson & Wales closed out first semester action in the ECAC Northeast and MASCAC with a 10-2 thrashing of Southern New Hampshire Thursday night. With that in mind, here’s some quick hits on each team and a brief outlook for the remainder of the year. Teams are arranged by current conference standings. ECAC Northeast 1. … Read more

T’was ten days before Christmas, and all through the rink, no games were they playing so the Zamboni did sleep. The skates were hung in the locker with care in the hopes that the new calendar soon would be here. And coaches with game films, more analysis you see, are hoping Santa leaves the gift … Read more

Oswego Finally Losses It was only a matter of time before Oswego finally lost a game. Going undefeated these days in college hockey is a near impossibility. The Lakers dropped a game against always tough Hobart, at the always tough “Cooler” in Geneva, N.Y., 5-2. Hobart outshot Oswego, 42-27, taking 1-0 and 3-1 leads before … Read more

There’s been some lean years recently at Worcester State, but not any more. In what can considered one of the shockers of the opening portion of the season, the Lancers knocked off Salem State 5-4 Saturday to move into a first place tie with Massachusetts-Dartmouth. Worcester State hasn’t had a winning season since 1997-98, but … Read more

Oh where, oh where have the super teams gone? We have just come to the semester break for the holidays and just take a look at the league standings and USCHO Poll – where are the juggernauts this year? Sure, there are a lot of the usual names up top, like Oswego, St. Norbert and … Read more

Forgive me, Wisconsin-Eau Claire Blugolds for having doubted you. I mistakenly attributed your back-to-back wins over No. 7 Adrian and No. 9 SUNY Geneseo to tryptophan-laced turkey and inertia-inducing giblets on your opponents’ Thanksgiving dinner plates. I picked Wisconsin-Stout to prevail. But you showed me, didn’t you? By sweeping Stout last weekend, you cast further … Read more

The final weekend of 2010 is here, at least in terms of Division III hockey.  (OK, so Johnson and Wales plays Thursday, but for all intents and purposes, the next few days will put the lid on the calender year in terms of hockey.) There’s some potential for change in the MASCAC entering the New … Read more

Alright, I think I am feeling like a lot of teams out there that just haven’t felt the magic in the first half of the season but know it’s in there just ready to break out. If anything, this final weekend headed into the semester break is going to have a lot of teams talking … Read more

Oswego increases its lead The SUNYAC schedule is now half over, and Oswego has been the story this semester. The Lakers are undefeated both in the conference (8-0) and overall (11-0), and they are now a unanimous number one pick in the USCHO.com national poll. “It’s a credit to these guys,” Oswego coach Ed Gosek … Read more

It’s not even New Year’s yet, but the conference races in the ECAC Northeast and MASCAC are shaping to be a tightly contested battle down the stretch.  Much of the flux in the standings over the last few weeks can be attributed to the lack of games in hand, but much of the change is … Read more

I am finding the teams in the conferences have the same issue as I do so far this season. Case in point, picking 10 games on Friday night I go 3-6-1 while picking 10 games on Saturday, I go 6-3-1. And if I had just reversed a couple of the split weekend picks I had made for … Read more

A perfect 6-0 midweek record pushed my overall picks mark to 31-18, by far the best it has been all season.   Here’s what is set to go on this weekend. Saturday, 12/4 Westfield State at Salem State A matchup of teams on the opposite end of the spectrum in the early going. Both were expected … Read more

Week three in New England and we are back to league play for the weekend and some interesting games between travel partners during the upcoming week as schools are moving toward finals and the semester break. Nobody wants to head into the holiday break on a downer so several teams need to start some positive momentum … Read more

Plattsburgh Wins The PrimeLink The Cardinals made a statement this past weekend, telling everyone they are indeed still capable of playing top-flight hockey by winning one of the toughest tournaments in Division III hockey. First, they defeated St. John’s, 7-4. They found themselves down 1-0, 2-1, and 3-2 in the first period before scoring four … Read more

Unranked University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire plucked two Top-10 teams in a Thanksgiving showcase, which provided more than a feather in its collective hat. The darkhorse Blugolds finished the Hackett Builders Thanksgiving Showcase in Adrian at 2-0 while raising their overall record to 5-4. On Friday,  Ross Janecyk scored at 2:15 in overtime to lift UW-Eau … Read more

Ok, so if I have learned anything through the first two weeks, it is that this season is already full of surprising game outcomes and unpredictable inter-league matchups. Case in point, this past post-Thanksgiving tournament fest that saw a number of interesting tournament champions crowned and my predictions staying below the .500 level for the season, … Read more

Out-of-conference play wasn’t particularly giving to the teams of the ECAC Northeast, while the lone game in the MASCAC saw a shift at the top of the standings.  ECAC Northeast teams posted an overall mark of 2-6-1 in out-of-conference games and holiday tournaments, with the lone wins going to Curry (6-1 over Trinity Saturday) and … Read more