First off, hope everyone enjoyed their Thanksgiving. It’s the holiday season, which means tournaments galore at every level off college hockey, but the one game I’m focused on this weekend in a clash between the top two MASCAC teams on Saturday. Salem State currently sits at 4-0, 2-0 in MASCAC play, while UMass-Darmouth has gotten … Read more
Well, my predictions went about as well for me last weekend as the games for the six teams still without a point after opening the season. Frankly a .400 win percentage doesn’t get it done anywhere so I feel like I have nowhere to go but up. The teams are largely playing in Thanksgiving tournaments … Read more
Well week one is in the books for the two conferences playing an interlocking schedule and there are surprises at both the top and the bottom of the leaguie standings. Defending ECAC East and National Champion Norwich opened the season at home with back-to-back wins against UNE and Southern Maine. The 8-0 and 4-2 wins see … Read more
Another weekend in the books. A good weekend for two teams looking to make splash in the ECAC Northeast this year. Johnson & Wales downed Suffolk 3-0 Sunday to move to 2-0 in conference play, while Wentworth pulled even across the board at 1-1-1 with a convinving 7-2 win at home against upstart Western … Read more
What a crazy Thursday night for sports. You have a pair of NHL teams (Tampa and Philly) almost outscore the Thursday night football matchup between the Bears and Dolphins… and oh yeah, Western New England beat Curry in a thrilling, up-tempo 6-5 game in overtime. Check out the recap here. In the words of Jerry … Read more
After a 2-9 start in the prognostication arena, I figure I am a shoo-in for the lead role in a remake of “The Cooler.” For the cinematically challenged, the 2003 film starred William H. Macy as down-and-outer Bernie Lootz, who is sent to gaming tables by his venal casino boss, adroitly played by Alec Baldwin, … Read more
For those of you who have seen Office Space (and shame on those who haven’t), you’ll know what I mean when I say I’ve got a case of the Mondays (clip here). So with the last Monday for a week almost in the rear view mirror, here’s a a brief rundown of the scores over … Read more
A 4-1 midweek run almost brought my picks record to .500, but I’m sitting at 7-8. Bit of a surprise to see Johnson and Wales lose to Southern New Hampshire in the opening round of the Pepperidge Farm Tournament hosted by Worcester State. The Penmen rebounded nicely from a 6-0 loss on opening night at … Read more
More Significant Moments After only the second weekend of SUNYAC play, significant moments continue to pile up in the young season: – Only two teams remain undefeated, Oswego and Morrisville. Not Plattsburgh. Not Geneseo. Not Fredonia. – Oswego defeated Plattsburgh, 5-3, for the fourth time in a row, tying their longest winning streak against their … Read more
University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point is on a four-game roll, but a season-opening loss to Lawrence lit the pilot light for the hot start, coach Wil Nichol said. The Pointers’ fourth consecutive victory came Saturday in a 5-1 thumping of No. 15 Hamline in St. Paul, Minn. The team opened the winning weekend with a 2-0 … Read more
Welcome to the first week of ECAC Northeast and MASCAC picks. There’s only a few games this weekend, but here are those selections. Friday, Nov. 5 Franklin Pierce at Johnson & Wales The Wildcats opened their season with a loss to a Northeast-10 opponent, but I don’t think it happens here. Franklin Pierce is 0-2 … Read more
I’ll post a link to the pretty bracket when it’s put up, but for now, here’s the pairings: First Round: Adrian at St. Norbert St. Thomas at Gustavus Curry at Elmira Quarterfinals: Curry/Elmira winner at Norwich Bowdoin at Oswego Plattsburgh at Middlebury St. Thomas/Gustavus vs. Adrian/St. Norbert Reaction: – The good news for the West … Read more
The Big Day is here, which means it’s time for the final version of Division III Bracketology. As I write this, Bowdoin and Middlebury are about to drop the puck, so there’s still some things up in the air. But since I think both teams get in, I think the result of the game might … Read more
As Selection Sunday approaches, it’s time for version 2.0 of Division III Bracketology. We’ll do one again on Sunday prior to the NCAA announcement, and then a “what the heck happened) postmortem. Again this week, the NCAA has produced rankings based on the process it will use to select the Division III field. Using those … Read more
The conference playoffs are in full swing, which can mean only one thing: It’s time to play Bracketology. As was the case last year, we know the criteria used by the NCAA Division III Men’s Committee to select and seed the teams, but not the weighting used in their evaluation. Starting last week, the NCAA … Read more
Some intriguing matchups this weekend: #9 Adrian at #1 Oswego (1/8) – The Bulldogs come in for a single game. This would have been an even more anticipated game before last weekend, when Adrian was swept by Hamline for its first two losses of the season. The Bulldogs dropped from No. 4 to No. 9 … Read more
Thanks to Dave Moody, former color analyst for Norwich, for sharing this. It really captures the excitement of Division III Hockey. Look for former cadet and current Neumann coach Dominik Dawes, who coached his team to the national title in his first year behind the bench. Norwich Hockey 100 Years
The end of the year and the beginning of the next means another round of Division III holiday tournaments. All the action takes place in the East, with MSOE and St. Mary’s making the trip for a couple of out-of-region games. Here’s a look at the various tournaments, including a rating of the strength of … Read more
Some random D-III observations: East Meets West Thanksgiving tournaments saw three teams crossing the “border” to play some out-of-region games. UW-Stout bussed 1,300 miles to Northfield, VT to play in the Primelink Tournament, while Salem State and Buffalo State went West. The Vikings were in Duluth participating in the St. Scholastica tournament while the Bengals … Read more
If you like college hockey tournaments, there’s much to be thankful for this weekend. One of the many cool things about D-III hockey is the large number of holiday tournaments taking place (Division I has just three tourneys this weekend). Here’s a rundown of the action, which includes a pair of Western Tourneys. Pack the … Read more