It’s the most wonderful time of the year…

When one hears that lyric from the ever-popular 1963 song by Andy Williams, the holiday time is immediately thought of.

However, for college hockey fanatics, its can only mean one thing: PLAYOFFS!

For all of the NCAA D-III conferences, the postseason as begun, with most leagues ready to crown a champion very soon. Let’s not waste anymore time. In case you missed it, here is a run down of all the conference postseason play.

ECAC EAST  
This Friday, March 1, the Norwich Cadets takes on the Castleton State Spartans in the first of the league’s two semifinal games. In the quarterfinals, Norwich got past Southern Maine with a 2-0 win, while Castleton State breezed past New College, 6-1.

In other semifinal action, the Babson Beavers face off against the Massachusetts-Boston Beacons. The Beavers handled Skidmore, 7-1, in opening round action, while the Beacons got past the University of New England, 5-2.

ECAC NORTHEAST
The ECAC Northeast will waste little time continuing its playoff action, as its semifinal round beings this Wednesday, Feb. 27.

The Nichols Bison will face the Salve Regina Falcons, after the Falcons doubled up Western New England, 8-4.

In an upset, the Johnson and Wales Wildcats squeaked past the Curry Colonels, 6-4. The Wildcats will now face the top-seeded Wentworth Leopards.

ECAC WEST
Speaking of upsets, in the ECAC West, the top two-seeds, Hobart and Utica, will not play for the conference title, as both Manhattanville and Neumann knocked them off and will play in the championship game.

The Manhattanville Valiants skated past Utica, 2-1, in overtime, while the Neumann Knights shutout Hobart, 2-0. The title game is this Saturday, March 2.

MASCAC
The storybook season for Westfield State comes to a close, as the Owls lost, 4-3, to Fitchburg State in the opening round of MASCAC play.

Salem State shutout Worcester State, 5-0, to advance to the semifinals, where it will face Massachusetts-Dartmouth.

Fitchburg Sate now takes on the defending MASCAC Champions, the Plymouth State Panthers. Both semifinal games take place Tuesday, Feb. 26.

NESCAC
Bowdoin and Middlebury square off in semifinal action, after both programs just got past their first round opponents.

In other semifinal action, Trinity takes on Williams, after both schools were on the good side of one-goal games. Both games take place this Saturday, March 2.

SUNYAC
Talk about your convincing wins. The Oswego State Lakers and Plattsburgh Cardinals outscored their first round opponents, 10-3, to move on to the championship. The Lakers defeated Buffalo Sate, 5-2, while Plattsburgh moved past Geneseo, 5-1.

These two rivals drop the puck Saturday, March 2, for the right to be called champions of the SUNYAC.

MCHA, MIAC, NHCA
In the MCHA, the semifinals start Friday, March 1, with the first game between Northland and Adrian, followed by the Milwaukee School of Engineering battling Marian.

In the MIAC, Gustavus Adolphus and St. John’s battle in the championship this Saturday, March 2.

And finally in the NHCA, St. Norbert and Wisconsin Eau-Claire drop the puck this Saturday, March 2, in the championship game.

ENJOY!

It is the most wonderful time of the year, playoff hockey time! Midwest Collegiate Hockey Association quarterfinals start this weekend with two exciting match-ups. Lawrence will be hosting Northland in a tight defensive battle, while Lake Forest is traveling to its rival, the Milwaukee School of Engineering Raiders. The winners this weekend will face either Marian or Adrian in the Harris Cup Four at the Arrington Ice Arena in Adrian, Mich.

Last week, I was 5-2-1 (.625) on my picks, which is definitely improving! My total picks on the season are 58-42-4 (.558). I’m excited for the games this weekend; unfortunately, I won’t be able to go with my usual “split” picks. It’ll be tough deciding which two teams out of this bunch make it to the Harris Cup Four.

Friday-Saturday, Feb. 22-23

Northland at Lawrence
In the four times these two teams have met this season, Lawrence has come away with three wins. The lone win for the Lumberjacks came in the last game of series playing in the Vikings’ rink. Last weekend, Northland split a series with MSOE. The Lumberjacks defeated the Raiders, 5-4, before a 10-3 loss the next night. Lawrence beat Lake Forest last weekend by a score of 2-1. The win was followed by a hard-fought 2-2 overtime tie, with Matt Moore netting both Vikings goals. I have a hard time picking either team to advance. Northland has had the better second half, but Lawrence has found a way to beat Northland three times this season. Can they do it twice more? Lawrence 3-2, 2-1

Saturday-Sunday, Feb. 23-24

Lake Forest at MSOE
The history between these two teams this season alone is great. In the first series this season, the teams fought to a 1-1 tie before the Raiders took the second game with a 2-1 win. On Feb. 8, the teams again battled to a 2-2 tie before skating to a 5-4 overtime decision, with the win going to the Raiders again. Lake Forest hasn’t been able to get past MSOE in the quarterfinal round for the past three years, most recently beating them in 2009-10. It will be a defensively-sound series, with the winner capitalizing on their opponent’s mistakes. Lake Forest 2-1, 3-2

I’ve been predicting NCHA games since the beginning of November, and if there’s one thing I’ve learned, it’s this: picking winners in this conference is difficult.

With two top-five teams and two others on the cusp of reaching the USCHO.com Top 15, it’s hard to argue against the NCHA being the most competitive league in the NCAA Division III. Last week, in predicting the first round of the conference tournament, I picked third-seed Wisconsin-Stevens Point to eliminate sixth-seed Wisconsin-River Falls. Well, the Falcons proved me wrong, knocking off the favored Pointers on Saturday.

However, with the second round of the Peters Cup tournament this weekend, the favored teams should escape with victories. … We’ll see.

Saturday, Feb. 23

No. 4 St. Scholastica at No. 2 St. Norbert
The Saints head into De Pere, Wis., after bouncing rival Wisconsin-Superior from the playoffs last week. St. Norbert, meanwhile, survived a scare from Wisconsin-Stout with two 3-2 wins. The Green Knights, (21-5-1) ranked fifth in D-III, have ruled this tournament for the past decade, winning three straight and eight of the last 10. Also, St. Norbert is 12-0 all-time against St. Scholastica in the NCHA tournament. The Saints, after stumbling earlier in the season, have bounced back and turned their season into a success, with a 13-13-1 record, but I can’t see them upsetting the defending national champions on their home ice. St. Scholastica’s hot streak ends in De Pere. St. Norbert 5-3

No. 6 Wisconsin-River Falls at No. 1 Eau Claire
The Falcons (13-10-4) are riding a wave of momentum after upsetting Wis.-Stevens Point. Meanwhile, Wis.-Eau Claire (19-4-2) is fresh off a first-round bye. Did the break help the Blugolds recharge their batteries for a national title run? Or did having that much time off make the second-ranked team in the nation rusty? I think Wis.-Eau Claire wins and will move on for an epic showdown with St. Norbert; however, it won’t be easy. I see the resurgent Falcons pushing the Blugolds until the final minutes of the third period. The key match-up will be in goal, as Wis.-Eau Claire’s Brandon Stephenson, the NCHA Player of the Year, battles Wis.-River Falls’ Scott Lewan. Wis.-Eau Claire 3-2

So, my final regular season picks finished at 4-2-0 (.667). Admittedly I would have never predicted the outcome of the 10-5 Trinity win over Bowdoin in Monday’s make-up game, so I am hoping to really get it right for the playoffs. My overall record finished at 48-19-8 (.693), so I missed the 70 percent target and will need to be perfect in the playoffs to end up there for the season.

Here are the selections for the quarterfinals games, where frankly just about anything is possible.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

No. 6 Wesleyan at No. 3 Trinity
The book on playoff success is great goaltending, solid defense, and timely scoring, and both these teams can lay claim to having the key ingredients needed to win. Wesleyan’s Beuhler is the offensive trump card in this game, but Trinity’s Coulthard is the defensive trump card that could make it all moot. It went to overtime last weekend, and guess what, it probably is this weekend too. Trinity 3-2

No. 5 Middlebury at No. 4 Amherst
The Lord Jeffs have owned the Panthers over the past two seasons, winning the last five meetings, most in dramatic come-from-behind fashion. Those are confidence killers to a young team that hasn’t yet put all the pieces together and now faces an experienced playoff foe on the road. Panthers goaltending has been too inconsistent to go very far in the tournament — make it six in a row for Amherst. Amherst 4-2

No. 7 Colby at No. 2 Williams  
Colby has been playing some better hockey since being lambasted by the Ephs, 9-2, a few weeks ago. The Ephs have been getting it done in playoff-style hockey all season, so a close game isn’t going to bother them much in terms of handling the pressure. Sean Dougherty has been one of the league’s best in goal, and Williams’ young defense has matured nicely. Ephs seniors are on a mission. Williams 4-1

No. 8 Hamilton at No. 1 Bowdoin
Sometimes a late-season loss is just the wake-up call a team needs to regain focus and intensity for a strong playoff run. Not that the Polar Bears needed much motivation, but losing 10-5 to Trinity on Monday may be just what coach Terry Meagher can use to make sure that the number one seed takes care of business and stays at home to host the final four next weekend. Too much speed and too many healthy bodies for Hamilton to deal with. Bowdoin 6-2

Nobody is thinking about next week. If you are, you may be going home early. The teams are so closely matched, anything can happen — drop the puck!

Well, the time has finally arrived in not only the MASCAC, but also all of the men’s NCAA D-III conferences. It’s time for playoff hockey.

The MASCAC postseason tournament kicks off this Saturday with six of its seven teams ready to battle (Framingham State did not qualify) for the chance the hoist the MASCAC championship trophy.

Plymouth State, last year’s champ, and Massachusetts-Dartmouth have received first round byes into the semifinals after finishing in first and second place, respectively.

Salem State finished just a bit short of Mass.-Dartmouth to claim the third spot, while Westfield State nabs fourth, even though both finished with the same amount of points (Salem State finished with one more conference win).

Fitchburg State, which turned on the heat at the end of the season, and Worcester State round out the final two spots in that order.

Everything kicks off this Saturday, Feb. 23, as Salem State takes on Worcester State and Westfield State plays Fitchburg State.

Let’s take a look at the picks.

No. 5 Fitchburg State Falcons (10-13-2, 9-8-1) at No. 4 Westfield State Owls (14-8-3, 9-6-3)  
The Owls have been one of the most surprising teams in all of D-III, as they enjoyed one of their most successful seasons in school history.  Westfield State is led by sophomore forward TJ Powers (13-17-30) and sophomore netminder Ian Perrier (2.87 goals-against average). For Fitchburg State, senior forward Joe Caveney leads the league in goals (16) and points (45), while junior goalie Randy Wolcott has been strong of late, finishing with a 2.79 GAA. Look for this one to be a close, but offensive type of game.  With the success the Owls had this year, and the way the Falcons have been playing as of late, I can see this one going back and forth.  It has been a storybook year for Westfield State, and the story continues.  Westfield State 5-4

    
No. 6 Worcester State Lancers (6-16-3, 3-12-3) at No. 3 Salem State Vikings (13-11-1, 10-7-1)    
Salem State finished only a couple games above .500 in both its conference and overall records, but is still a team that can be dangerous, and is experienced in the postseason. However, if the news is true about sophomore forward Chad Goodwin, then that is a big blow to this team offensively. Goodwin has not been in the lineup since Feb. 14, which also the date when an incident took place leading to an arrest. There has been no word from Salem State about Goodwin and his status on the team or involvement.  Junior forward Kyle Phelan has stepped his game up, leading the charge with nine goals and 15 assists for 24 points.

Worcester State can easily play spoiler here. Even though Salem State has won without Goodwin, this can be a nice spot for the Lancers to upset the Vikings. Worcester State has a nice mix of young and old players, with more on the younger side, and will look to freshman netminder Sal Tucci to carry them deep. With everything going on, I don’t think it’ll slow down Salem State with its experience and depth. Salem State 4-1  

Picks to date: 26-10-7 (59 points)

A 3-1-2 (.583) weekend wrapped up the regular season and showcased some of the challenges in picking games right with so much riding on the outcome. The overall season numbers finish at a very respectable 56-19-9 (.720). A pretty solid performance for the regular season is nice, but let’s see if there is any correlation to picking winners in the playoffs.

This is it! It’s win or go home until next year. Here are this weekend’s selections for the quarterfinals.

Saturday, February 23, 2013

No. 7 University of New England at No. 2 Massachusetts-Boston
The fourth meeting of the two teams this season means there should be no surprises in what they bring to the ice in terms of style and ability. The Beacons have not had any playoff success with this current roster, but this is a good time to continue their strong play and start the road toward their goal of three tournament titles this season. Just too much offense for the Nor’easters to handle in this one. Massachusetts-Boston 6-3

No. 6 Skidmore at No. 3 Babson
The Thoroughbreds have had the Beavers’ number this season, so first Babson needs to solve Ben Freiburg in the Skidmore goal.  They won’t get much past him, and the empty-net goal just provides score sheet cushion in what will be a very tight game, despite the speed and skill showcased by both teams. Babson 3-1

No. 8 Southern Maine at No. 1 Norwich
The Huskies have been extremely offensively-challenged by the Cadets in both games this season, where they totaled zero goals and just 21 shots on net in the two regular season losses. Expect more of the same for a team that has a chance to be special in Norwich hockey history, and that is a driver for the focus and execution in this game. Norwich 4-0

No. 5 New England College at No. 4 Castleton
So maybe the easy thing to do would be to pick all of the home ice seeds to advance to next week’s final four tournament. This one makes it tough to do based not only on who is hot and who is not coming into the contest, but the fact that the visitors in both regular season match-ups have been just good enough to take the win away from the host team. Going with recent history repeating itself here by a very familiar score. New England College 4-3

This is what you play the regular season for, so if you aren’t ready to play now, it’s too late to figure it out. It’s the playoffs, enough said — drop the puck!

Playoff prognostications can be positively perilous. After all, who would have thought last summer that the Los Angeles Kings would win the Stanley Cup as a lowly No. 8 seed. Yet that turn of events did happen, with the subsequent message being that if high seeds are going to take lesser ones lightly, they do so at great risk. Such is not likely to be the case this Saturday, when the SUNYAC semifinals take place on two fronts. Will No. 4 Buffalo State write its own Cinderella story en route to a SUNYAC crown? Will form hold serve, with No. 1 Oswego adding a tourney title to it’s regular season championship? Or will No. 2 Plattsburgh or perhaps No. 3 Geneseo be the last men standing two Saturday’s from now. We will, as they say, know when we get there.

Saturday, Feb. 23

No. 4 Buffalo State at No. 1 Oswego
The Bengals threw a scare into Oswego early in the year before the Lakers prevailed, 5-4. Oswego, ranked second in the nation, had little trouble in the rematch two weekends ago, shuffling out of Buffalo with a 4-0 whitewash. Expect this one to be close, but expect the Lakers to prevail. Oswego 4-2

No. 3 Geneseo at No. 2 Plattsburgh
Geneseo has racked up the most wins (17) of bench boss Chris Schultz’s seven-year tenure, but will need to pick up this one against the Cardinals to keep hopes of an NCAA berth alive. Plattsburgh, ranked ninth in the nation, is the stingiest defensive team in the SUNYAC (1.59 goals per game allowed), a full goal better than Geneseo. Defense wins in the playoffs, and will probably decide this one. Plattsburgh 2-0

I went 4-0-1 last week, and was 49-13-5 (.828) for the regular season.

Preliminary Round Picks

No. 6 Nazareth at No. 3 Neumann
Neumann has been playing well since early January and will be at home, where the Knights are 9-1-2 this season. Nazareth has shown some growing pains the last few weeks, and is facing a tall order against the 13th-ranked team in Division III. Neumann 4-1
 
No. 5 Elmira at No. 4 Manhattanville
The Valiants have had to play all their “home” games in Connecticut since Hurricane Sandy struck, but still managed to go 7-2-1 away from the road. The Soaring Eagles have struggled in recent weeks, and were 0-3 against Manhattanville this season. Manhattanville 4-3
 
Semifinal Round Picks
 
No. 4 Manhattanville at No.1 Utica
The Pioneers have lost just twice at home all season, went 2-0-1 against Manhattanville this winter, and are averaging nearly five goals per outing. The Valiants played the Pioneers tough last weekend, but Utica should have just enough to advance to the league final. Utica 5-4
 
No. 3 Neumann at No. 2 Hobart
The host Statesmen are allowing less than two goals per game, but the visiting Knights topped them two weeks ago by a 3-1 count behind netminder Braely Torris. The Knights might be able to turn the trick again, if they get the goaltending once more. Neumann 2-1

Last weekend in NCAA Division III teams were either wrapping up the regular season or beginning the postseason. Here’s a look at some of the highlights:

Semifinals set in NCHA

After an exciting first round of the Peters Cup tournament, the semifinals of the NCHA playoffs are set for Saturday, Feb. 23.

Sixth-seeded Wisconsin-River Falls upset Wisconsin-Stevens Point to earn a trip to No. 1 Wisconsin-Eau Claire. After falling 2-1 in Friday’s opener, the Falcons rebounded with a 4-1 victory on Saturday. River Falls went 2-for-4 on power play opportunities while the Pointers went 0-for-3.

The key to the Falcons’ impressive series win was the steady play of goalie Scott Lewan. Lewan allowed only three goals plus one in the 3-1 minigame victory and recorded 51 saves.

Higher-seeded St. Scholastica and St. Norbert also survived their first-round series. No. 4 St. Scholastica swept No. 5 Wisconsin-Superior, while defending D-III champion St. Norbert took care of Wisconsin-Stout, setting up a semifinals series between No. 2 St. Norbert and No. 4 St. Scholastica.

The Green Knights topped the pesky Blue Devils by identical 3-2 scores. In Friday’s opener, St. Norbert’s Kyle Stroh cashed in with two goals. On Saturday, defenseman Reid Campbell scored his first goal of the season to lift the Green Knights.

For St. Scholastica, Brandon Nowakowski kept his hot streak alive, scoring in both games to stretch his goal-scoring streak to five games.

St. Thomas, St. John’s share MIAC title

The race for the MIAC title came down to a wild finish with rivals St. Thomas and St. John’s forced to share the league title after completing regular season play last weekend.

St. Thomas earned the No. 1 seed for the upcoming MIAC playoffs thanks to a sweep of St. John’s earlier this season. For the Tommies, (13-10-2, 10-5-1 in the MIAC) it’s their record 29th league title. The first round of the MIAC playoffs begins Friday, with quarterfinals slated for Saturday.

Oswego claims SUNYAC crown

Despite falling to Plattsburgh in its regular-season finale, Oswego (21-4, 14-2 in SUNYAC) secured the league title and the top seed in the SUNYAC playoffs.

The Lakers received a bye and won’t play until Saturday when they host the winner of No. 6 Potsdam and No. 3 Geneseo, who kick off first-round action on Wednesday. Also on Wednesday, No. 5 Fredonia tangles with No. 4 Buffalo State. The winner will travel to No. 2 Plattsburgh on Saturday.

Barring any upsets on Saturday, we could have another Oswego vs. Plattsburgh battle for the SUNYAC tournament championship on March 2.

Hello, Neumann

After surging back into the USCHO.com Division III Men’s Poll last weekend, the Neumann Knights ended the regular season with a sweep of struggling Nazareth.

Neumann (16-6-3, 8-6-3 in the ECAC West) earned the No. 3 seed in the ECAC West playoffs and hosts No. 6 Nazareth in the opening round on Wednesday.

Utica, meanwhile, clinched the league crown and earned the No. 1 seed in the ECAC West tournament. While Utica and No. 2 seed Hobart finished with the same record (11-3-1), the Pioneers took the conference title based on a tiebreaker.

Norwich set for title run

The battle between Norwich and Babson, two strong squads from the ECAC East, lived up to its billing on Friday with the teams skating to a 2-2 tie.

Norwich (21-2-1) ended the regular season on Saturday with a victory and sewed up the ECAC East title (16-1-1). Norwich enters the postseason as the No. 1 team in the poll, but can it finish on top when the D-III season ends on March 16?

Last year, the Cadets fell to St. Norbert in the national semifinals so they have to be giddy about a chance to avenge last season’s loss. The next few weeks will be very interesting across the D-III landscape.

We’re heading into the final weekend of the SUNYAC regular season, which for three disappointed squads will be their last action, period. There are few givens as the rinks open their doors in four SUNYAC centers on Friday night. One is that Geneseo will finish in third place and will host an as-yet-to-be-determined sixth seed in a quarterfinal tilt next Wednesday. Beyond that, we know very little, and may not know much more until the final horns blow Saturday night. By then, we’ll know whether Oswego will have wrapped up its fourth consecutive SUNYAC regular season crown, or whether the Lakers will be nosed out by Plattsburgh when those two perennial league powers meet in the North Country on Saturday. By then, we’ll know whether Potsdam — currently sitting in the sixth and final playoff spot, and no more than two points ahead of its three pursuers — will have enough gas left in its proverbial tank. One thing we do know, the hockey action should be fast and furious on all fronts.

Since so much rides on the four games on the slate for Friday — only Geneseo is idle — we will focus our picks strictly on those tilts.

Friday, Feb. 15

No. 2 Oswego at Potsdam
The Lakers can sew up the title with a win. Potsdam, which found the ripcord in the nick of time with two overtime wins last weekend, does control its own fate, but has to keep winning. The guess here is that Oswego is just too strong. Oswego 5-2

Morrisville at Brockport
Morrisville, which started out with six consecutive SUNYAC losses, has been one of the league’s best stories of late, with three wins and two one-goal losses in its last five starts. This will be the Golden Eagles’ last chance to gain points, as they finish up on Saturday with nonconference foe Franklin Pierce. Morrisville won the first meeting (interim coach Kevin Krogol’s first win), but Brockport will rise to the challenge on a night dedicated to their “Saves For A Cure” charity. Brockport 2-1

Cortland at No. 9 Plattsburgh
Cortland does have a win over a ranked-team (nonleague Utica) to it’s credit, but still has to hope that it catches Platty looking too hard to Saturday’s clash with Oswego. The guess here is that the Cardinals will be fully focused. Plattsburgh 5-3

Fredonia at Buffalo State
The final game for both teams, and this is more a battle for fourth (and home ice in the quarterfinal) than for outright survival. In fact, there could be a rematch on Wednesday. The Bengals won big (7-3) in the previous meeting, and Buffalo State bench boss Nick Carriere — who began his coaching career under Fredonia’s Jeff Meredith — would love to hand his mentor another loss. The guess here is that he will, in overtime. Buffalo State 4-3