NCAA hockey stars shine as U.S., Canada win World Junior semifinals; championship game Tuesday night

Arthur Kaliyev (OHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs) scored the game-winner with 1:16 left in regulation to lift the U.S. National Junior Team to a hard-fought 4-3 victory over Finland Monday night in Edmonton in the semifinals of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

With the win, Team USA will play in tonight’s gold medal game against host Canada. Opening faceoff is set for 9:30 p.m. EST and the game can be seen live on NHL Network.

Minnesota stays perfect, NCHC splits, BGSU, Minnesota State, UMass all impress: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 7

Hockey East selects Metcalf, conference races stay hot, PairWise odds: Weekend Review college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 19

Host Ed Trefzger and guest host Dan Rubin look at the past week of college hockey:

No. 1 Minnesota at 9-0 continues to roll. Denver’s split with Colorado College should have the Pioneers concerned in the NCHC, while the Minnesota Duluth-St. Cloud State split shouldn’t surprise anyone.

The ECAC is finally underway, and St. Lawrence is off to a great start. In the WCHA, Bowling Green and Minnesota State remain hot.

While Boston College was a preseason favorite in Hockey East, UMass is right there. And Canisius and Robert Morris have good Atlantic Hockey weekends.

We also look at COVID-19 postponements, how the NCAA tournament selection process might shake out, and reflect on the joy that is the USA WJC team.

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Farinacci scores twice as U.S. defeats Slovakia 5-2, off to World Junior semifinals; Behind Levi, Canada also advances

The U.S. National Junior Team, behind two goals from John Farinacci (Harvard), earned a 5-2 victory over Slovakia Saturday night in Edmonton in quarterfinal play of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

With the win, the U.S. advances to the tournament semifinals where it will face Finland on Monday at 9:30 p.m. EST.

Pickin’ the Big Ten: Jan. 3-4

Happy New Year! When Drew Claussen posted the last picks blog of December 2020, the Big Ten hadn’t yet published the schedule for the rest of the season. Now we know that the rest of the season starts Jan 3. First a look at how Drew and I are doing with picks so far. That … Read more

United States blanks Sweden 4-0 behind Knight’s 27 saves, Zegras’ three points, draws Slovakia in World Junior quarterfinals

Behind a 27-save performance Thursday night from Spencer Knight (Boston College) and a goal and two assists from Trevor Zegras (Boston University), the U.S. National Junior Team earned its third straight shutout with a 4-0 victory over Sweden in its final preliminary round game of the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship in Edmonton to earn first place in Group B.

Minnesota Duluth at St. Cloud State preview with writer Matt Wellens: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 3 Episode 5

No. 8 UMass home-and-home vs. No. 14 UMass Lowell preview with Minutemen head coach Greg Carvel: Game of the Week college hockey podcast Season 2 Episode 20

Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by Minnesota Duluth beat writer Matt Wellens of the Duluth News Tribune to preview the No. 4 Bulldogs at No. 6 St. Cloud State in NCHC play.

Jim and Ed also look ahead to another NCHC series, No. 16 Denver vs. Colorado College, a Hockey East home-and-home series between No. 13 Northeastern and No. 9 UMass, the start of ECAC Hockey play, and Arizona State’s games at No. 1 Minnesota.

The hosts and guest also opine on the proposal by NCHC commissioner Josh Fenton to use historical data to allocate at-large bids in this season’s NCAA tournament.

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Atlantic Hockey Picks: Dec. 31 – Jan. 4

At A Glance: Last week’s record: 3-1-1 Overall Record: 29-16-1 Over-.500 weeks: 4/6 (.667) This Week’s Picks*: *All games are subject to change. Thursday, December 31 Robert Morris at Niagara Fun story: Bentley played Air Force on New Year’s Eve, 2010. I invited my girlfriend at the time to the 5 p.m. puck drop but … Read more

Hockey East picks: Dec. 30-Jan. 4

I feel the need to knock on wood as I type this. But should all of the scheduled games on the Hockey East slate go off as expected, we will see, by far, the busiest weekend of the season as we turn the page from 2020 (can’t do that soon enough) to 2021. So as … Read more

Team USA blanks Czech Republic 7-0, advances to quarterfinals of 2021 World Junior Championship

Trevor Zegras (Boston University) had two goals and three assists, Bobby Brink (Denver) scored twice, and Spencer Knight (Boston College) made 22 saves to help the U.S. National Junior Team to a 7-0 victory over the Czech Republic in Edmonton Tuesday afternoon in the third game of preliminary round play at the 2021 IIHF World Junior Championship.

Pickin’ the WCHA: Dec. 29-30

Robert Morris at Bowling Green Jack: We here in the Midwest are still getting used to single midweek games, but this matchup should be good. Bowling Green is looking for the season sweep of RMU. I think they get it. Falcons win 4-2 Daver: Boy Bowling Green has been off to a great start to … Read more