Long Island, the 2023-24 regular-season champion, has been selected as the preseason favorite to repeat, according to the NEWHA preseason poll in a vote by the NEWHA head coaches. “It’s exciting to get this kind of recognition going into the season,” said LIU coach Kelly Nash in a statement. “We have a lot of returners, … Read more
Wisconsin and Ohio State have faced off for the past two national titles with each team winning one. The two teams seem destined for a crash course of a rematch, but several ECAC teams as well as Minnesota right here in their own conference hope to have a say in the matter. The Buckeyes had … Read more
Connecticut won their first conference title last season and I see no reason to think they won’t repeat this year, particularly as they return their stellar goaltending tandem. If they can add some consistent scoring, they’ll be in the driver’s seat. That being said, this is probably one of the most wide open years for … Read more
Thanks to the pandemic, this is a particularly interesting year in the ECAC thanks to the presence of the Ivies, who basically have a double senior class. A number of schools graduated players who rewrote their program’s record books. Maybe more than any other conference, ECAC teams took to the portal to round out their … Read more
While there was always crossover and shared staff among the men’s Atlantic Hockey Conference and the women’s CHA, things were made much more official this year and the two have combined to be called Atlantic Hockey Association and thus the CHA is now the AHA. The conference will expand to seven teams next year as … Read more
USCHO’s Nicole Haase (@nicolehaase) and Todd Milewski (@ToddMilewski) are back to launch Season 2 of the PodKaz with a few quick items on all 44 teams before the 2024-25 season begins. Penn State, Colgate, UConn, Long Island and Ohio State are looking to defend conference regular-season championships, and the Buckeyes are going for their third … Read more
Tina Ciraulo has accepted an assistant coaching position with the Union women’s hockey team. Ciraulo had been working in the Detroit area with the USPHL’s Metro Jets in many roles since 2020. Most notably, she was the first woman to win a junior hockey game in which she was the head coach when on Nov. … Read more
Hockey East announced Wednesday that UConn will host the 2025 Hockey East women’s championship game on March 8 at noon. The title game will once again be broadcast live nationally on ESPNU. “In 2024, UConn hosted the most-attended Hockey East women’s championship game in league history and provided a first-class experience for the teams, fans, … Read more
2024-25 WCHA Coaches Poll (Coaches could not vote for their own team. First-place votes are in parentheses) 1. Wisconsin (5) 46 points 2. Ohio State (2) 43 3. Minnesota (1) 40 4. Minnesota Duluth 31 5. St. Cloud State 25 6. St. Thomas 17 7. Minnesota State 15 8. Bemidji State 7 WCHA Preseason Player … Read more
ECAC Hockey has announced the results of the preseason women’s hockey poll and preseason all-league selections. ECAC Hockey Women’s Preseason Poll 1. Clarkson – 113 points (6 first-place votes) 2. Colgate – 109 points (6) 3. Cornell -103 points (2) 4. St. Lawrence – 92 points (1) 5. Quinnipiac – 82 points 6. Yale – … Read more
New Colgate women’s hockey coach Stefan Decosse has rounded out his staff for the 2024-25 season, hiring Trevor Coykendall earlier this month as an assistant coach and director of hockey operations and Alex Gettens as an assistant coach in August. A national champion as a student-athlete at Adrian, Coykendall spent the past two years as … Read more
The Division I women’s hockey season is just around the corner. It was another busy offseason with a lot of movement through the transfer portal as well as coaching changes. Most every team in the country has experienced changes on their roster beyond graduation and incoming freshman classes. There are also a number of fifth … Read more
Atlantic Hockey America has announced the results of the 2024-25 women’s coaches poll and preseason awards. Coaches could not vote for their own teams or players. 2024-25 AHA Preseason Coaches Poll (First-place votes) 1. Penn State (5) 30 2. Mercyhurst (1) 26 3. Robert Morris 22 4. RIT 16 5. Syracuse 13 5. Lindenwood 13 … Read more
Taylor Wenczkowski has joined the Princeton women’s hockey staff as an assistant coach ahead of the 2024-25 season. “I am honored to join the Princeton staff and coach at such a prestigious university,” Wenczkowski said in a statement. “The combination of academics and elite athletics set the university apart. I am excited to work alongside … Read more
NCAA hockey alums Matt Cullen, Brianna Decker and Kevin Stevens will be enshrined into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame as the class of 2024. The trio will be joined by Frederic McLaughlin and the gold medal-winning 2002 Paralympic sled hockey team. “The impact of the class of 2024 spans across the sport and … Read more
Maine has announced the hiring of McKenna Wesloh as an assistant coach for the women’s hockey team. Wesloh’s most recent experience includes a part-time assistant coaching role at Hamline and head coach responsibilities for the Monarchs U16 AAA team in Minnesota. She was also a volunteer coach for the Maple Grove High School girls team … Read more
Shawn Skelly has been named an assistant coach with the Union women’s hockey team. Skelly comes to Union after serving six seasons as the head women’s hockey coach at Adrian. “Shawn and I have been friends with one another for over a decade and I’m extremely excited to have Shawn join our program,” said Union … Read more
Lawrence women’s hockey coach Kevin Dessart is climbing up to the NCAA Division I level. Dessart, who took the reins of Lawrence’s program in June 2022, has been hired as the associate head coach at Vermont, taking over for Alex Gettens, who departed for Colgate earlier in August. “I am extremely excited to become the … Read more
The CCHA and WCHA announced today the hiring of Byron Synstegaard as assistant commissioner of operations. He joins the respective conference offices bringing six years of administrative experience in sport and event operations. “To borrow a hockey term, Byron’s hiring puts our staffing plan back at ‘full strength’ in the WCHA and CCHA,” said Minnesota … Read more
Clarkson has announced the addition of Sebastian Ragno to the men’s hockey coaching staff as a new assistant coach. In addition, Cam Basarab has been named an assistant for the Clarkson women’s hockey team. In the summer of 2023, the NCAA expanded the size allowable for college hockey programs from two paid assistants to three … Read more