Conference Season Preview

Only Minnesota made the NCAA tournament last season, and the Gophers’ stay lasted one game.

Whether it was heartbreak at the national tournament, triple overtime in the conference playoffs or by a matter of percentage points in the PairWise Rankings, 2014-15 came to an abrupt ending for several of the league’s teams.

The league sent six of its eight teams to the NCAA tournament in its second season and the competition level figures to be similar this year.

The league’s western teams have been in command in recent seasons; will that continue in 2015-16?

Though Wisconsin will mount a stiff challenge, the WCHA still looks to belong to the Minnesota Golden Gophers.

Expect powerhouse squads Clarkson and Harvard to battle for the ECAC crown once again, with Quinnipiac and Cornell fighting but falling short.

Framingham State’s T.J. Brown thinks so. John Rolli, an institution at Massachusetts-Dartmouth, does too. It is the opinion many, including those two MASCAC bench bosses, that conference title chase will boil down to two squads, Salem State and Plymouth State. Just like last year when they shared the regular-season crown. “I think the league should … Read more

  Still young, still hungry, and until proven otherwise, the best of the bunch in the ECAC Northeast. Such as it is for Nichols, which won both the regular-season and conference tournament titles last year on the way to their second-ever NCAA appearance. The Bison did so with a cast of talented novices – including … Read more

Babson and Norwich. Norwich and Babson. It’s been that way in the ECAC East for just about forever, or so it seems. Between them, the two powers have captured a whopping 13 of the last 15 conference tournament titles, with Norwich going on to win the national title three times (2000, 2003, 2010). What’s more, … Read more

The team to beat in the ECAC West is … Elmira. That notion wouldn’t have put you out on a limb not too many seasons ago. For half a decade, from 2008 to 2012, the Soaring Eagles owned the spot at the top of the league at the end of the regular season. Each of … Read more

Somebody’s bound to say it. “Ours is the toughest conference in Division III hockey.” The thing is, the SUNYAC can make the claim as well as anybody, at least if the gauge is Frozen Four appearances. Last year’s Frozen Four featured two SUNYAC schools, Geneseo and Oswego, and although they both bowed out in the … Read more

St. Norbert won the national championship last year, its fourth in program history, but Green Knights’ coach Dan Coghlin doesn’t see his team as the defending champs. “We don’t look at it as defending a title,” Coghlin said. “It’s a brand new season and every team wants to be a champion. We want another shot … Read more

St. Thomas head coach Jeff Boeser wanted his top assistant, Parker Burgess, to do the inteview about the season ahead. As far as the Tommies are concerned, it really doesn’t matter who does the talking. The resutls speak for themselves. St. Thomas enters the year as the favorite to win the MIAC. The Tommies have … Read more

Wisconsin-River Falls coach Steve Freeman talked about how strong the WIAC really is from top to bottom. He noted that a year ago his River Falls team won the regular-season title, but Wisconsin-Eau Claire and Wisconsin-Superior played for the conference title, with the Blugolds prevailing in the championship game. Yet, it was Wisconsin-Stevens Point that … Read more

Minnesota State and Ferris State made the field of 16 last season, the first of the league’s new look.