So, who’s the best in ECAC Hockey conference play after one weekend? Tough to tell. Perhaps we could call it a draw between Union and Dartmouth. After all, those were the only two teams to emerge unscathed from the first league weekend. It was a wild and woolly weekend, as 11 of the 12 league … Read more
Brian: 8-4-2 last week (my picks were on Twitter, didn’t you notice?), 13-6-5 overall. Josh: 6-4-3 last week, 18-7-8 overall. It’s finally a League Week, with not a single non-conference game in sight. Friday Colgate at Brown Ooh, the Raiders’ home loss to Niagara is gonna sting. One night after scoring a TD plus the … Read more
Rocky Iles Yes, sure, of course, we’re only 60 minutes into Cornell’s season, but this may be the only opportunity for me to use this catchy sub-head. While veteran head coach Mike Schafer lambasted his team’s effort, preparedness and decision-making in a stunning 5-4 season-opening loss to Mercyhurst at Lynah on Saturday, it should be … Read more
Josh: I practically broke my nose falling flat on my face last week. Curse Robert Morris for winning and RIT for losing. 4-2-3 last week 12-3-5 overall 5-2-3 for Brian (last week and overall). Brian will be along soon with his picks, folks, and I’ll repost these. Princeton vs. Yale (Friday at Ivy … Read more
… on Scheduling I’ve taken a fair amount of flak in my time manning USCHO’s ECAC Hockey (nee ECACHL) desk. Some of it has been perfectly valid, and I’ve tried to acknowledge as much. Some has been bred of confusion or misinterpretation; some of ignorance; and no small amount has been borne of the bat**** … Read more
Quinnipiac in first First place in Atlantic Hockey, that is. Eight games into their regular season, the Bobcats are 6-2-0… and 5-1-0 against AHA opponents following this weekend’s split at Robert Morris. Will the 10 points be enough to hold off the rest of the pack until QU’s next Atlantic game on December 9 (in … Read more
Last week Josh flew solo (and aren’t we so proud of him?) last week, going 8-1-2. I think I’m in for a dogfight this year… and I’m sure that some of you will prefer his brand of prognostication to my own. Call it a hunch. This week Rensselaer at Notre Dame (Friday) Brian: The Irish … Read more
Here are a few notes to facilitate even greater ECAC Hockey devotion in the upcoming months. Check the Tweets First, for all you Twitter-ers or Tweeters or Twits or whatever you (ok, we) are, Dan Greene – creator of the Union Hockey Blog – has a new, post-grad site called “1989 And Still Waiting”. Along … Read more
You just can’t call a game one way or the other, even if the last nine seconds are ticking down and you’re grabbing your jacket and heading for the door. Don’t try to leave early, you may miss something huge, and that’s a lesson learned by the 10,556 folks at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester … Read more
OK, it’s time to throw my hat in the ring – picks time. Never been a big prognosticator, at least not a good one. Terrible at poker, OK at roulette, never played the ponies. Wish me luck, or comment below to vote against me. Miami at Colgate (Friday-Saturday) I like Colgate in both games on … Read more
Both the season and some facts, that is. Colgate! That pretty much sums up my reaction to the weekend’s results, as the Raiders made it clear that no matter what trials and travails they may endure this year, they are not last year’s team. The story of the 2010-11 Colgate Raiders has been hashed over … Read more
I never used to believe in pulling for another team just because they are from your team’s conference. As a Boston University grad, I could never have imagined rooting for New Hampshire or Boston College once the Terriers’ season ended… that was tantamount to treachery, like cheering on the Yankees if the Red Sox’s summer … Read more
And then there were two… Rensselaer has out-lived cross-Capital rival Union, as the Engineers hope to give North Dakota their best shot later this afternoon. Nothing new on that front, but here’s hoping RPI can give the powerhouse Sioux a run for their money. Union falls to Minnesota-Duluth The Dutchmen did almost everything but bury … Read more
Quick thoughts Rensselaer: nothing to lose Nobody is giving RPI much of a chance against North Dakota, in the Engineers’ first NCAA appearance in 16 years… but really, why would they? The Engineers were the last team into the field and the Sioux are widely considered to be the best team in college hockey (even … Read more
Here are the compulsory “few quick thoughts” on this year’s championship weekend, now that Atlantic City is in the rear-view. Three (thousand)’s a crowd? Looking for attendance figures from the weekend? Me too. Cynical speculations aside, the 9,800 seats were perhaps one-third full each night, with announced figures of 3,357 and 4,126 on Friday and … Read more
Well this is it, people: Cornell vs. Yale for the title game. The Big Red wore the crown last year, while the Bulldogs won it two years ago – over Cornell, to boot. Here they meet again, but under quite different circumstances. That is because these teams have quite different motivations tonight. Yale is already … Read more
Here it is, one of the last ECAC Hockey blogs of the season, as the final foursome prepare for battle on the Boardwalk. Here are some of my last thoughts on the matter! Final picks Friday, March 18 Colgate vs. Yale – 4:30 The Raiders have been riding hot, but will it be enough to … Read more
It’s not a news flash anymore: All four ECAC Hockey semifinal games are going to deciding Game 3’s today. Yale and Dartmouth won Saturday night to avoid embarrassing home-stand sweeps at the hands of St. Lawrence and Harvard, respectively; Colgate and Quinnipiac won squeakers on the road to extend their seasons at Union and Cornell. … Read more
To all my devoted readers (and heck, to the reluctant ones, too), I sincerely apologize for not posting pre-game predictions yesterday as usual. I was (and still am) away from home, and couldn’t get an internet connection until it was too late. I’m hoping to make it up to you with a little bonus blog … Read more
Most sports fans realize that the playoffs aren’t indisputably fair, because they don’t always deliver what they implicitly promise – the best team in the league. The NFL plays a one-game-elimination format, Major League Baseball holds a best-of-five first round then two best-of-sevens to declare a winner. The NBA and NHL offer perhaps the most … Read more