Season previews for leagues
Such is St. Norbert College’s successful history and perennial depth that the loss of three of its top scorers merely brings a shrug of the shoulders and a reflex check of the pencil at the Green Knights name to repeat as Northern Collegiate Hockey Association champs. They are that good: 11 NCHA titles in 14 … Read more
While the newly-created MASCAC still has one more year to go until NCAA tournament eligibility, there’s no shortage of story lines following what could be considered a successful debut for the conference. Salem State won the initial MASCAC championship in a thrilling 2-1 overtime win over top-seeded Fitchburg State. Overall, the conference was fairly competitive … Read more
Wafer-thin differences between Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference’s upper echelon teams means the title race will come down to a battle of intangibles. MIAC coaches gave Hamline the nod in a preseason poll, but there was little consensus overall. The Pipers received four first-place votes, but Gustavus was second with two and Augsburg, St. Thomas and … Read more
In and of itself, it’s not surprising that Curry took home the 2009-10 ECAC Northeast Championship and the automatic bid to the NCAA. The Colonels have been a force in the conference, and last season was no exception, as they took Wentworth Institute of Technology down the wire for the regular season championship before a … Read more
Adrian’s three-year stranglehold is the Midwestern Collegiate Hockey Association’s storyline entering the 2010-2011 campaign. The Bulldogs are poised to make it a four-year talking point. The perennial league leaders return a cavalcade of proven collegiate players who have claimed numerous honors, like last season’s MCHA Player of the Year Mike Dahlinger (10 goals and 36 … Read more
Welcome to the 10th year of full coverage of Division III men’s hockey on USCHO. The ECAC West traces its history back nearly three times that number of years, but the league’s future is seriously threatened. With the demise of Lebanon Valley’s team, the league now only counts five teams among its ranks. While all … Read more
Last season was a banner year for the SUNYAC, but one that fell slightly short. Two teams made the Division III national championship weekend in Lake Placid — Oswego and Plattsburgh. This is the first time this has happened since 1987, when those two teams faced each other in the championship game won by Plattsburgh … Read more
Can Hockey East go 4-for-4? The league has earned three straight national championships, starting with Boston College in 2008, followed by Boston University and then the Eagles again. Hobey Baker Award finalist Gustav Nyquist’s return makes Maine a more formidable foe this season (photo: Melissa Wade). It wouldn’t be a shock to see Hockey … Read more
“It’s one louder, isn’t it?” asks Nigel Tufnel in “This Is Spinal Tap.” “It’s not 10.” Perhaps it’s just a personal perversion, but every time I think of the CCHA as an 11-team entity, I think of Nigel Tufnel’s magic amp, the one that is one louder. Michigan’s Louie Caporusso scored 10 of his 21 … Read more
“Bigger and Better” would be the way to describe the 2010-11 Atlantic Hockey season. The league has expanded from 10 teams to 12, welcoming Niagara and Robert Morris. Senior forward Chris Kushneriuk and Robert Morris hope to make a big splash in the program’s first season in Atlantic Hockey (photo: Robert Morris Athletics). The last … Read more
The whole point of a playoff series, as opposed to individual games, is to insure — to a certain extent — that the better team actually wins, right? It’s a solid attempt to diminish the number of “fluke” advancements by teams that simply got lucky. So how does one explain Team A, at 8-17-4, upending … Read more
In years past, this space has been used to recap the previous year a bit. In other words, mention how Denver won the MacNaughton Cup, how North Dakota captured the Broadmoor Trophy, how the league got back to the Frozen Four thanks to Wisconsin, etc. Justin Fontaine and Minnesota-Duluth have a lot of expectations to … Read more
Hockey East has officially returned to its glory days. Back-to-back national championships by Boston College in 2008 and Boston University in 2009 coupled with all three of last season’s Hobey Baker “Hat Trick” finalists hailing from Hockey East certainly give the conference a reason to pound its collective chest. Not since the mid-to-late 1990s and … Read more
What do we say about last year’s WCHA season to try to recap it? Do we talk about the ridiculous parity, and how it came down to the final night of play to determine the standings, only narrowly avoiding using a plethora of tiebreaking procedures that would be enough to make anyone cry? Do we … Read more
Most leagues have one or two clear-cut frontrunners and some well-defined strata before anyone even dons a sweater. Yale’s Sean Backman is back after a 20-goal campaign (photo: Melissa Wade). Not in ECAC Hockey. Four teams seem to have legitimate claims to the title of Fall Favorite, but only one squad can be tagged as … Read more
Have you caught your breath yet? Ready for more? It’s certainly going to be difficult to top the 2008-09 college hockey season, which included the most intense, exciting postseason in history. Atlantic Hockey contributed to the madness, with Air Force claiming its third consecutive league title and then knocking off Michigan in the first round … Read more