Candace and Arlan talk about the lessons learned from Minnesota’s sweep of Bemidji State and Ohio State’s win over North Dakota, preview the first clash of Alex Carpenter and Kendall Coyne, look at home ice candidates in the ECAC, what Penn State’s series win over Robert Morris does to the CHA, and the use of four-on-four OT in Hockey East.
When I started this column on Northeastern’s Kendall Coyne and Alex Carpenter of Boston College last week, Carpenter had 104 career goals. In the world of the Eagles’ star, information that is a week old is already outdated. In her two games over the last week, Carpenter scored three times. Her 107 career goals leads … Read more
Candace and Arlan look at RPI’s upset of Clarkson, the too-hard-to-call CHA and ECAC, the results of Boston College and Boston University, what Bemidji’s win over Ohio State does for the Beavers, and what players are standing out that might not normally get accolades.
In a two-part feature for his column, Arlan Marttila looks at two seniors in Hockey East, Kendall Coyne and Alex Carpenter, who are once in a lifetime players.
Candace and Arlan ponder whether new top 10 team Princeton can return to the NCAA tournament, what North Dakota’s win over Minnesota means, Wisconsin’s defense, whether anyone in Hockey East can push Boston College and Northeastern, and the Four Nations Cup.
Traditional powers like Mercyhurst and Boston University are struggling after one month, Cornell and Harvard are winless after one weekend CHA teams are heading toward mediocrity, several squads are trying to figure out their goaltending, and the second tier of the WCHA is in a battle. Candace and Arlan look at teams searching for answers.
Candace and Arlan ponder the state of defense and goaltending on some teams, compare this year’s iteration of Clarkson with the championship team of two years ago, wonder about Boston College’s offense, who has the inside track in the CHA, and look at Bemidji State and North Dakota.
After a few weeks of play, Candace and Arlan take a look at which teams are looking good and which have some work to do in their first Wednesday Women of the year.
The chorus of the Imagine Dragons song “Warriors” contains the line, “We are the warriors that built this town from dust.” While things aren’t quite as bleak as all that at Merrimack — there was an entire college campus and a perfectly good arena with an ice sheet and everything so nobody had to skate … Read more
Merrimack Warriors USCHO prediction: Ninth Coaches’ prediction: Ninth Last season: This is Merrimack’s first season as a varsity program The names Merrimack becomes the latest school to join the list of full-time Division I programs, bringing the number to 35. “I had a lot of conversations with different coaches that have started programs, including BU … Read more
Providence Friars USCHO prediction: Eighth Coaches’ prediction: Eighth Last season: Eighth (6-25-4, 5-15-1 Hockey East) The names Last year, I didn’t have much confidence in Providence, having failed miserably in picking them to finish an overly-optimistic second in 2014, so I slotted the Friars seventh. Even that proved to be too high. “Last year was … Read more
New Hampshire Wildcats USCHO prediction: Seventh Coaches’ prediction: Sixth Last season: Sixth (10-23-3, 6-13-2 Hockey East) The names A lot of teams start the season with similar goals, but this year, only New Hampshire knows that it will be hosting the Frozen Four. “I think there’s a lot of reasons to be excited about the … Read more
Vermont Catamounts USCHO prediction: Sixth Coaches’ prediction: Seventh Last season: Seventh (15-19-2, 6-14-1 Hockey East) The names “We’re still in the building process here, and I think in a lot of ways, we had high expectations for last year and coming off our record-breaking season the prior year,” coach Jim Plumer said. “It’s difficult to … Read more
Connecticut Huskies USCHO prediction: Fifth Coaches’ prediction: Fifth Last season: Fifth (11-18-8, 5-11-5 Hockey East) The names Connecticut closed the regular-season with a sweep at Maine, and then the Huskies reprised that performance in a Hockey East quarterfinal. “It was a nice run at the end, advancing in the playoffs,” coach Chris MacKenzie said. “People … Read more
Maine Black Bears USCHO prediction: Fourth Coaches’ prediction: Fourth Last season: Fourth (10-20-3, 9-11-1 Hockey East) The names Both the league coaches and I underestimated Maine last year. The Black Bears may fail to reach the fourth spot, but it won’t be for lack of effort. “I think for the coaching staff, it was a … Read more
Northeastern Huskies USCHO prediction: Third Coaches’ prediction: Third Last season: Third (14-17-5, 11-8-2 Hockey East) The names College hockey doesn’t have a disabled list, or it would be easier to track why the losses start to mount at Northeastern. “This year, I’m excited for the fact that we have, as of right now, a healthy … Read more
Boston University Terriers USCHO prediction: Second Coaches’ prediction: Second Last season: Second (25-9-3, 15-5-1 Hockey East) The names Marie-Philip Poulin is gone and is impossible to replace in the short term, so a team has to find other recipes for winning hockey games without her. Minus her firepower, one approach would be to find ways … Read more
Boston College Eagles USCHO prediction: First Coaches’ prediction: First Last season: First (34-3-2, 20-0-1 Hockey East) The names Not long ago, Boston College had never won the Hockey East season trophy. Now it has claimed two straight and is a huge favorite to make it three in a row. To some extent, the Eagles are … Read more
The first weekend of play brings excitement and uncertainty for the coaches and teams. Arlan Marttila takes a look.
Boston College garnered eight of nine first-place votes in the Hockey East women’s coaches’ poll announced Monday. Boston University earned the other first-place nod.