St. Norbert’s Michael McChesney has established himself as one of the top players in D-III hockey. (Photo provided by St. Norbert Athletics)
Michael McChesney was a multi-sport athlete in high school. And a pretty good one at that.
He was all-state in football, hockey and baseball, and even won a state championship in baseball during his high school career at Dickinson High in North Dakota.
But when it came to playing at the next level, hockey was it for the St. Norbert star.
“I felt there were more opportunities for me in hockey,” McChesney said. “I had some injuries in high school that pushed me away from football and baseball I had done my whole life, and really enjoyed playing it, but it wasn’t something I wanted to continue to do (in college). Hockey has been my favorite sport since I can remember.”
It proved to be a wise choice to go the hockey route.
McCheseny is one of the top scoring threats in NCAA Division III hockey, and he’s part of a Green Knights squad that takes on Aurora Saturday night in an NCHA semifinal battle of two teams both tied for 12th nationally in the USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll.
He scored three goals and dished out nine assists in his first season but didn’t get a chance to build on that following season because of the pandemic.
Last year, however, he came back stronger than ever, scoring 12 goals and 12 assists, and this year he has best numbers yet, racking up 16 goals and 17 assists.
He always knew he could be this kind of player.
“It’s been a long time coming,” McChesney said.. “I think early in my career wasn’t doing what I thought I was capable of doing, but the older I got and the more comfortable I became with the system, I’ve become the player that I’ve always wanted to be.”
Having a solid support system in place doesn’t hurt.
“Having great teammates who are also lifetime friends adds to my success,” McChesney said. “We support each other and push each other to be the best we can be.”
His love of the game has also fueled his success.
“I’ve always been in love with hockey and have always been willing to put in the work on the ice and off the ice,” McChesney said. “I’ve also had the right people around me to push me to be better every day, whether it’s coaches, teammates, family or friends. I feel blessed to have the opportunities to be in a position to be successful.”
McChesney’s 2022-23 season has been made extra special by the fact that he was selected to play in the World University Games in Lake Placid in January with other top players from D-III hockey. That group came away with a silver medal.
“That was quite the experience. I was very honored to be selected,” McChesney said. “It’s an experience I’’ll never forget. I was able to meet a lot of great players and coaches and just had a lot of fun being a part of it.”
McChesney has also enjoyed his opportunity to play the game he loves. He loves the excitement, pace, physicality and lessons learned from the sport.
“I’m extremely lucky,” McChesney said. “I didn’t know how it would go, but to be here, and to be the player I am now, it’s pretty surreal. I’m enjoying every minute of it.”
Merrimack never trailed and broke a 3-3 tie midway through the third earning a 5-3 road win at UMass Lowell, clinching home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals (Photo: Rich Gagnon)
The Hockey East playoff picture may have become more jumbled on Friday but No. 17 Merrimack posted its third-straight victory over a ranked opponent, edging past No. 19 UMass Lowell, 5-3.
The Warriors move up to second place in the Hockey East standings and have ensured themselves a first-round bye and home ice in the Hockey East quarterfinals.
Merrimack never trailed, jumping to a 2-0 lead on goals by Matt Copponi and Mike Brown early in the first. Lowell answered with tallies from TJ Schweighardt in the first and Carl Berglund in the second before Merrimack regained the lead on the power play on Ben Brar’s tally at 10:45 of the second.
The River Hawks again had a bounce back when Bergland netted his second, but a Mac Welsher goal with 11:09 remaining put the Warriors ahead for good. Will Calverley tallied in the final minute for the 5-3 final.
GOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAALLLL!
It's a Mac Attack! Welsher gives us the lead back!
The win not only keeps Merrimack’s hopes alive to capture its first-ever Hockey East regular season title, but also advances their NCAA at-large hopes, elevating them towards the PairWise bubble with he victory.
UMass hasn’t exactly put together the season it hoped, but that won’t prevent the Minutemen from potentially playing the role of spoiler as they did on Friday night, knocking off No. 15 Northeastern, first place in Hockey East entering the game, 3-2, at the Mullins Center.
The Minutemen answered an early Justin Hryckowian goal with tallies by Elliott McDermott later in the first and Reed Lebster 41 seconds into the second.
After Liam Walsh tied the game for the Huskies at 8:57 of the middle frame, UMass had an answer on Scott Morrow’s goal less than three minutes later.
UMass held Northeastern to just six shots in the third as Cole Brady earned the win by making 22 saves.
The loss for Northeastern could be crippling to the Huskies at-large NCAA bid given then entered Friday in 14th, just inside the PairWise bubble.
No. 11 Michigan Tech 2, No. 12 Minnesota State 0
Michigan Tech struck first-blood in the second ending series against Minnesota State that will decide the CCHA champion.
Trailing the Mavericks by two points entering the night, a 35-save shutout for Blake Pietila and third period goals by Kyle Kukkonen and Logan Pietila earned the win for the Huskies propelling them into first place in the CCHA by a single point with one game left between the two clubs on Saturday.
Minnesota State needs a regulation win to clinch the CCHA title outright or an overtime/shootout victory to earn a share of the crown with Michigan Tech. Anything besides a regulation loss for Michigan Tech and it will clinch its first regular-season league title since winning the WCHA in 1975-76.
No. 3 Denver 5, No. 5 Western Michigan 2
No. 3 Denver has brought itself to the brink of clinching the Penrose Cup for the third time with a convincing 5-2 road victory versus No. 5 Western Michigan.
Should the Pioneers earn one point in its final three games, it would minimally earn a share of the regular-season crown.
Mike Benning scored twice and added two assists for a career-high four points, while Denver goaltender Magnus Chrona made 17 saves to earn the win.
Chrona did leave the game late after a collision with Jason Polin with 1:07 remaining. Polin was whistled for goaltender interference while Matt Davis entered the game for the final 67 seconds.
Polin was also assessed a major penalty earlier in the third period with a Pioneers leading, 3-2. During the ensuing power play, Denver scored twice one from the stick of Bending and a second by Massimo Rizzo to put the game out of reach.
Notre Dame and Michigan skated to a 3-3 tie on Friday but the Irish grabbed the extra Big Ten point with a shootout win, keeping alive Notre Dame’s hopes to earn a home ice spot in the Big Ten quarterfinals next weekend.
Though Notre Dame still remains in sixth place in the league standings, they are just a point behind both Michigan State, which is idle this weekend, and Penn State while trailing Ohio State by three points.
Penn State routed Wisconsin, 6-1, on Friday while Ohio State fell, 4-0, in Minnesota.
A regulation victory for combined with losses for Penn State and Ohio State on Saturday could give the Irish the fourth and final home ice spot in next weekend’s best-of-three quarterfinal.
Notre Dame was less than two minutes away from earning a regulation win and a third point on Friday. But Michigan’s Adam Fantilli scored on the power play with 1:57 remaining to force the overtime and shootout.
Jared Christy’s overtime goal sent the University of New England on to the CCC semifinals with a game against Curry on Saturday (Photo by Tristan Durgin)
Well, if the early week’s action was not enough for all you D-III hockey fans out there in the east, then buckle up because the action this weekend is going to further reduce the number of teams competing for conference titles across the regions. While NESCAC, and now MASCAC, play their quarterfinal round, all other leagues are moving to the semifinal round where the teams can see the hardware on the horizon. With the postponement of the MASCAC quarterfinals until the weekend due to weather, my early week’s picks wound up at 7-3-0 (.700) which now brings my season total up to a really solid 130-53-12 (.697). It is definitely harder to pick with the caliber of teams still in the hunt and all bets are off if you are not ready to play sixty minutes or more to earn a win and path forward to the next round. Here are the Saturday picks (including previously selected MASCAC games for a very busy conference tournament slate in the region:
Saturday, February 25, 2023
CCC Semifinals
(9) University of New England v. (6) Curry
If there is a game where home ice matters a great deal it is this one and that is why both teams battled right to the end to earn it. Look for a fast-paced game that will see a lot of chances to test two of the region’s best goaltenders in Billy Girard IV and Reid Cooper. A late goal or maybe even overtime decides this one – Curry, 3-2
Salve Regina v. (4) Endicott
The Gulls didn’t lose a regulation game to the final weekend of the season and re-set quickly in pursuit of the CCC title. Don’t be fooled by the final score which is padded by a couple of empty-net goals for the final count as the Gulls earn their spot in the final – Endicott, 5-2
MASCAC Quarterfinals – Re-scheduled due to weather on 2/23
Salem State v. Fitchburg State
The Falcons have unleashed their offense with Hunter Fortin and Rece Bergman catching fire in recent games which bodes well for a playoff run. Erik Larsson has taken over games for the Vikings in the past month so look for more goals than usual in a playoff game as the home team steals one late – Fitchburg State, 5-4
Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Westfield State
These two teams wrapped up the regular season on the final Saturday with the Owls eking out a one-goal victory. The stakes are higher this Saturday, but the outcome is the same with an overtime goal sealing the win for the home team – Westfield State, 4-3
*MASCAC Semifinals re-scheduled for Tuesday, 2/28 from Saturday, 2/25
NEHC Semifinals
Skidmore v. (2) Hobart
The Thoroughbreds advanced in dramatic fashion at Elmira last week and would love to keep their North Country momentum against the top-seeded Statesmen. Look for Hobart to get off to a far better start than last week’s game against Castleton but they will need the early advantage to hold off a determined visiting team – Hobart, 4-3
Babson v. (5) Norwich
These two teams know each other in this tournament and venue quite well and no one will be surprised to see a very disciplined, low-scoring affair based on the excellence of goaltenders Nolan Hildebrand and Drennen Atherton. The Cadets have been timely with goals and find the one they need in the final period – Norwich, 2-1
NESCAC Quarterfinals
Williams v. Wesleyan
The Cardinals swept Trinity in the final games of the regular season to take the top spot so do not look for any let down from Wiggle Kerbrat, Jake Lachance and Emmet Powell and company as they make sure they are hosting the final weekend to play for the NESCAC crown – Wesleyan, 3-2
Bowdoin v. Trinity
The Bantams must quickly move on from last weekend’s disappointment against Wesleyan and do in the new season that is the conference tournament looking to defend their title. The Polar Bears will be a tough out, but Trinity’s experience is the difference – Trinity, 3-1
Tufts v. Amherst
The Jumbos may be one of the surprise teams, but some would argue that the Mammoths too were among the surprise teams in the conference. Strong history of success in Orr Rink for the home team and special teams ultimately decide the game for the Mammoths – Amherst, 4-3
Colby v. Hamilton
The Mules must take the long bus ride to face the Continentals who have made a habit of winning one-goal games, especially in the second half. No difference here as the home team finds a way to get the winning goal past the excellent goaltending of Andy Beran – Hamilton, 3-2
NE-10 Semifinals
Assumption v. St. Michael’s
The playoffs seemed to be the switch the Greyhounds needed to turn on in February as they exploded in the quarterfinals for seven goals. This game is much tighter, but the result is the same with the visitors earning a spot in the conference final – Assumption, 3-2
Franklin Pierce v. St. Anselm
The Hawks should not be taking the Ravens lightly and as Kyle Martin showed in the quarterfinal round, a hot goaltender can win a game for the team that isn’t supposed to. Nick Howard can do that too and does as the Hawks move on to host the title game next week – St. Anselm, 5-3
SUNYAC Semifinals
Buffalo State v. (14) Oswego
Emil Normann stymied Cortland on Wednesday night and the offense produced an early lead that held up against Cortland. The Lakers can’t get behind early against the Bengals and play with the lead adding a empty-net goal to host the conference championship game next week – Oswego, 3-1
(11) Geneseo v. (7) Plattsburgh
The Knights did enough to take out Fredonia on Wednesday and make the long trip to Plattsburgh in what should be an epic semifinal game. This one has overtime and maybe more than one written all over it as Eli Schiller and Matt Petizian keep things very close in goal. Upset pick here with the Knights winning on the road – Geneseo, 3-2
UCHC Semifinals
Manhattanville v. (1) Utica
The Pioneers are laser focused on taking the UCHC title and now host the Valiants in what should be a very physical game. Physical also equals some power plays that equals goals for Utica on the way to a comfortable win by playoff standards – Utica, 4-1
Stevenson v. Nazareth
The Mustangs and the Golden Flyers have been rolling in the second half and the series split way back in December is a distant memory for where the teams are today. Home ice is important but going with the big-game goaltending of Ryan Kenny who shines in net for the visitors – Stevenson, 4-2
It is the chance to earn a spot playing for the conference championship which seemed so very far away back in October and November last year. It’s here now so time to leave it all on the ice – “Drop the Puck!”
USCHO Edge hosts Jim Connelly, Dan Rubin, and Ed Trefzger pick out five games among top 20 D-I college hockey teams, looking at money lines and over/under as well as a further analysis of the matchups.
This week’s games:
Notre Dame (+180) at Michigan (-220); o/u 6
Ohio State (+170) at Minnesota (-210); o/u 5.5
Denver (-115) at Western Michigan (-115); o/u 6.5
Michigan Tech (+180) at Minnesota State (-235); o/u 6
Northeastern (-115) at UMass (-115); o/u 5
This college hockey podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Jason Polin is serving as Western Michigan’s captain for the 2022-23 season and has been among the nation’s top scorers all season (photo: Ashley Huss).
It was just a week ago in this space that I was saying that bookmakers seem to be getting savvy when it comes to developing the lines across college hockey.
Well, throw that though out the window. If you are able to bet on DraftKings, there are two games that seem pretty far off when it comes to the money line.
Northeastern and Massachusetts are a pick ’em on Friday, despite the Huskies sitting in first place in Hockey East and the Minutemen in 10th. On the other end of that spectrum, Michigan Tech, second place in the CCHA, is a heavy +180 underdog at Minnesota State on Friday.
It feels like these two lines were accidentally juxtaposed.
As any sharp gambler will tell you, these are the times you have to make the wager. Ever if you think that UMass and Minnesota State will win, you’re getting much better value to bet the opponents. You won’t get Northeastern at -115 again this season and the same can likely be said for Michigan Tech at +180.
I’ve said it in this space that I give advice here, so nothing is set in stone. But I always try to look for value in the lines, and both examples here are the best value you will receive.
There should be a level of motivation for Michigan this weekend as the Wolverines look to wrap up the second seed in the Big Ten tournament. But Notre Dame might have even more motivation as the Irish need wins just to keep their hopes alive of earning an NCAA at-large bid.
Two losses for the Irish would drop them two games below .500. Certainly, that would drop them below the bubble line in the PairWise, but more importantly, Notre Dame would have to earn two wins just to return to .500, a qualification requirement for an at-large NCAA bid.
Lose this weekend and the pressure is on the Irish in the Big Ten tournament. This team has been inside the NCAA picture all season, thus it would be tragic to fall apart down the stretch.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 8 Ohio State (+170) at No. 1 Minnesota (-210); o/u 5.5
Minnesota has the Big Ten regular season crown sewed up, so should we expect the Gophers to maybe lay back this weekend, possibly rest some players? That’s doubtful.
While every coach appreciates advancing in a tournament without playing (read: quarterfinal bye), in the Big Ten that also means a weekend off at a time of you year don’t really want time off. That’s what Minnesota will have next week, so expect the Gophers to be putting forth everything this weekend, particularly Friday’s series opener.
That said, Ohio State, like Michigan, is looking to wrap up the second seed in the Big Ten tournament, tied with the Wolverines heading towards the weekend. Expect both teams to have plenty of intensity in what could be a high-scoring game (read: bet the over).
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 3 Denver (-115) at No. 5 Western Michigan (-115); o/u 6.5
Denver can lock up the NCHC title with a sweep of Western Michigan this weekend. Then again, the Pioneers could find themselves in second place should they get swept.
Credit to the schedule makers for placing this matchup this late in the season in what should be an explosive Lawson Arena.
Honestly, I have a difficult time finding an edge in this game. Even the over-under feels perfect. My instincts tell me to stay away from this one, though I’d be going with Denver if I had to bet.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 11 Michigan Tech (+180) at No. 12 Minnesota State (-235); o/u 6
Here is the first of the two games mentioned in the open where it feels like the oddsmakers took the day off.
Sure, Minnesota State is a good team and has historically been excellent at home (though only 9-6-0 this season). But Michigan Tech has been right around the Mavericks all season and enter this weekend knowing it can claim its first regular-season league title since John MacInnes’ team accomplished that feat in 1976.
Yes, Minnesota State needs to be a favorite here, but I’d rate it more like a -130/+100. Thus, betting Michigan Tech at +180, you’re getting 80% more value over expectations. This feels like a must bet.
Jim
Ed
John
Dan
Chris
Jack
Matt
Paula
Nat'l
Nat'l
HEA
ECAC
AHA
CCHA
NCHC
B1G
No. 15 Northeastern (-115) at UMass (-115); o/u 5
See what I wrote above? Ditto.
There is no reason that Northeastern should only be a -115 pick ’em. This team should easily be -250 and UMass should be +190. The fact this line is so off, Northeastern is a must play. Add in the fact that the Huskies are 9-1-2 on the road in Hockey East this season and UMass has just a single Hockey East home win this season… well, you get the point.
The other aspect of this game that seems off is the over/under. UMass is 6-4-1 against an over/under of 5 in its last 11 games. Northeastern is 5-5-1 agains the same stat in its last 11. The edge is a lot more slight than the money line, but this also feels like a game that will go over 5 goals (or minimally push).
There’s a lot to consider here, but it seems like there is plenty of opportunity.
The Adrian Bulldogs face Trine in a semifinal matchup this weekend. (Photo courtesy of Adrian Athletics)
Mother Nature did her best to play spoiler in the postseason, but fear not, hockey will be played in the wake of a winter storm.
MIAC tourney play kicks off this weekend while the second weekend of tournament action in the NCHA and WIAC will take place.
One thing worth noting about the NCHA playoffs, all four teams playing are nationally ranked in the USCHO NCAA Division III men’s poll.
One other ranked team is still playing out west as well, and that’s UW-Stevens Point. It should be another fun weekend of hockey as we get closer to seeing champions crowned in conference tourney play.
MIAC
St. Olaf at Concordia
If this matchup looks familiar, it’s because it happened last year in the MIAC tournament as well. The Oles won on the road against the Cobbers and went on to win the championship.
Does history repeat itself? Maybe. The Oles are certainly capable of another run, but then again, the Cobbers are hardly pushovers and have won their last three games. The Oles have won two in a row.
Concordia won both games against St. Olaf in the regular season by identical 5-2 scores and I could see that trend continuing. Then again, as we learned last year, never count out the Oles. St. Olaf, 4-3
Saint John’s at Augsburg
The Johnnies and Auggies are no stranger to each other, and this could be one of the more interesting matchups of the weekend.
Augsburg used a late-season surge to nearly win the regular-season title in the MIAC and the Auggies could very well be the team to beat in this postseason.
Both games in the regular season between these two teams were a lot of fun. The Johnnies prevailed 5-4 in overtime in one game but lost 6-5 in the other.
It wouldn’t be a surprise at all if we see another high-scoring affair this time around. Saint John’s Nick Michel ranks fourth in goals (15) in the conference. Gavin Holland of Augsburg ranks fifth (13). Augsburg, 5-4
St. Scholastica vs. St. Olaf/Concordia winner
The Saints won the conference title for the first time in program history. Now they look to capture the tourney crown as well.
With Arkhip and Filimon Ledenkov on the ice together, a win is possible on any given night. The duo has been tough to slow down. And here’s the other thing to consider. St. Scholastica has Carsen Richels and Nathan Adrian in the lineup as well.
They ranked second and third in goals scored with 19 and 16, respectively. Arkhip leads the league with 20 goals. Filimon is the league leader in assists (28). St. Scholastica swept Concordia and St. Olaf in the regular season. It’s hard to bet against the Saints in what has been a special year so far. St. Scholastica, 5-2
NCHA
Trine at Adrian
The Thunder are ranked for the first time in program history, checking in at No. 15. The Bulldogs are used to being ranked. The reigning champs check in at No. 3 this week and received one first-place vote in the latest poll.
Adrian has won its last two and is 12-2 at home. The Bulldogs had mixed results against the Thunder in the regular season, winning in overtime by a 3-2 score and then losing 6-2. Matius Spodniak is one of the nation’s best scorers, tallying 27 goals and racking up 51 total points. The Thunder have to be able to keep him in check. Garrett Hallford is a pretty good goal scorer in his own right, scoring 18 on the season. Adrian, 5-3
St. Norbert at Aurora
The Green Knights and Spartans are tied for 12th in the nation in the latest poll. When these two teams played in the regular season, both games were close. But the Spartans pulled off the sweep, winning 3-1 and 3-2 in overtime.
Defense could be the difference in this one. Colby Entz sports a 1.89 goals against average. Tanner Marshall and Colby Thornton have both shown they can get the job done in goal for the Spartans, boasting save percentages of 90 percent or better. Look for this one to be tightly contested throughout. St. Norbert, 3-2
WIAC
UW-Stout at UW-Stevens Point
The Blue Devils are having one of their best seasons in program history and now face the task of taking on the eighth-ranked Pointers.
The Pointers have won their last three games and are 8-1-3 at home heading into this playoff series. They won two of the three games against the Blue Devils in the regular season.
Between the two teams, five of the top 10 goal scorers in the conference will be on the ice, including league-leader Peyton Hart (18) of UW-Stout and Andrew Poulias of UW-Stevens Point. He has 12 goals on the year.
An upset here wouldn’t be a surprise but I’ll go with the Pointers at home. UW-Stevens Point, 4-3 and 3-2
UW-Superior at UW-Eau Claire
Five of the top 10 scorers will be in action for this matchup against two of the best teams in the conference.
The good thing for the Yellowjackets is they have played well away from home, going 8-3-1 on the road this year. That bodes well for a team looking to move on to the conference final next weekend.
The Blugolds won in a shootout in their final meeting of the year after the two teams played to a 3-3 tie. They also won 4-2. UW-Superior’s lone win came in the form of a 2-0 shutout in December.
I expect both games of this series to go down to the wire and a mini game wouldn’t surprise me. UW-Superior, 4-3; UW-Eau Claire, 3-2; UW-Superior, 2-1 (mini game)
Freshman Jade Iginla was two years old the last time a Brown University skater scored as many goals as Iginla herself has put up this season. It has been 16 years since Haley Moore scored 20 goals in 2006-07.
Iginla’s 17 goals are tied for seventh most in the ECAC among all skaters and first among rookies in the conference. She’s also third among all freshmen nationwide in goals scored despite having played five fewer games than those ahead of her thanks to the shortened Ivy League schedule.
Her 23 points are the most in a season in 13 years for a Brown Bear. Iginla is responsible for 25% of her team’s goals (48 total) and 20% of her team’s points (113 total).
There was no way Jade was going to go unnoticed when she got to college. If you know hockey, you know the Iginla name. Jade’s father Jarome was first-ballot Hall-of-Famer in 2020 after an 21-year, 1500 game NHL career and two Olympic gold medals with Canada.
But Brown coach Mel Ruzzi said that opponents may have underestimated her.
“I think everyone knew who she was, but I don’t think they knew how good she was. You see her play and you think ‘this young woman is the real deal,’” Ruzzi said.
“Early in the season, I don’t think people gave her enough credit and respect. They focused on our top line, but not Jade specifically. I think what’s really cool is the second time around within the league, people were paying attention and even in that moment, she’s still skyrocketing with putting up points.”
The showiest way Iginla has made an impact for Brown this season is on the penalty kill. Her three short-handed goals are tied for fourth in the country. What makes that even more impressive is that Ruzzi said Iginla was not even a part of the penalty kill unit until a third of the way through the season, as the coaching staff didn’t want to overwhelm her. But Iginla has thrived in the position.
“Part of it is our style of play. We are an aggressive team. I feel like that’s how we can thrive. We want to showcase that in our play and that suits Jade really well. When it comes to the puck, we’re hunters. The second we have a beat on something we want to jump and Jade has the explosive skating and power to be able to jump super efficiently. Part of it is great teammates that kill really, really aggressively and can feed her the puck, part of it is making that read and jumping and using her gifts,” said Ruzzi.
Iginla is a dynamic skater who anticipates the play, sees the ice and uses an explosive first couple of strides to create separation. Her comfort in stride helps her to play bigger than her small frame, holding off bigger defenders trailing her while trying to disrupt a breakaway.
There was always going to be expectations and attention on Iginla thanks to her last name, but she has hit the ice at full speed in Providence. There was no easing in and Ruzzi said she was struck by the grit, determination and compete Iginla shows.
“I don’t know if people can see how much of a competitor she is. There’s no question, she has confidence, but it’s confidence coupled with just being an absolute competitor,” Ruzzi said.
That confidence has shown up in an important and underappreciated way, as well.
“Jade is really humble. Elite women athletes are pretty humble. I think there needs to be a little bit of swagger. Swagger is really important. She’s developing that,” said Ruzzi.
Brown won two more games than last season (and six more than the season before Ruzzi took over), but still missed out on their goal of making the ECAC tournament, finishing ninth when the top eight teams advance. But things are brewing at Brown and Ruzzi said she wouldn’t have taken the coaching job with the program if she didn’t think they could win. They’ve started to do that thanks to Iginla and the freshman class.
There’s not a player of the five in the freshman class that hasn’t contributed in big ways for Brown, Ruzzi said. While the lion’s share of the points belong to Jade, she and the three other skaters in her class account for 50% of the team’s goals and 40% of the team’s points. This class gives the team an offensive dynamic the program hasn’t had in a very long time.
While Iginla has started to garner more attention for the goals she’s scoring, Ruzzi pointed out that Iginla has been a difference-maker for the Bears since she joined the team. She plays in every situation on the ice for Brown and has proved herself again and again.
“Going back to September, she stepped on campus and every minute of extra ice time, she was out there whether it was with a coach or by herself. She’s magnetic, so she also has other teammates that are out there with her,” said Ruzzi.
“She’s a special player, but she’s a special player because she works at it. Relentlessly.”
Clarkson’s Alex Campbell posted his second hat trick of the season on Feb. 4 at Brown (photo: Ben Moeller).
As ECAC Hockey began the final descent into its postseason tournament last weekend, the element of surprise didn’t totally exist like other conferences.
Quinnipiac cruised past Yale and Brown with its second and third consecutive five-goal games, and with Saturday’s 5-2 win over the Bears, the Bobcats clinched the Cleary Cup as the regular-season champions for the third consecutive season.
In second and third place, Harvard and Cornell continued a season-long duel to determine seeding for the second round of the tournament, and the Crimson grabbed the inside track by sweeping Union and RPI at home.
Colgate remained the pace-setting program behind those two, and St. Lawrence continued to nip on the Raiders’ heels in a statistical tie for 34 points.
The bottom of the league finally thinned out, and Brown’s losses to Quinnipiac and Princeton all but formally relegated the Bears into a first-round road trip with Yale, which beat Princeton, and Dartmouth.
The last transfer spot into a first-round home game settled nothing between RPI and Union, though it seemed increasingly likely that the Capital District teams would meet up in the postseason.
Nothing felt different, though there was one notable exception when Clarkson rocked the ECAC boat by taking four of a possible six road points from Cornell and Colgate.
A preseason favorite to compete for the Cleary Cup, the Golden Knights languished behind their own standards as a team placed well outside the league’s top-four, and while there is no mathematical route to a home series in the quarterfinals, a trip to Potsdam all but ensures someone from that bottom four is heading for a nightmare matchup against a team finally hitting some stride.
“We had to really make sure that we were in playoff mode [during the season],” said Clarkson coach Casey Jones. “We talked about it [a couple of weeks ago] that we had to be in that mode already. Every game has been so critical to us. We had some games that we probably deserved to win that we lost points on, and that put us in the situation that we’re in. So we’re in a situation where we have to find ways to win hockey games and get the job done and be effective and still trust the process to build trust because we still know what we need to do to be successful.”
ECAC’s last weekend is circling its postseason runway without too many surprising elements, but the number of storylines still hanging in the balance are all centered around the swing spots for either home ice or the first-round bye.
Colgate and St. Lawrence are tied for fourth in the spots directly ahead of Clarkson, and while the Raiders have the inside track to the first-round bye, they’re on the road at Brown and Yale while St. Lawrence plays at home in the North Country. That said, St. Lawrence and Clarkson are drawing Harvard and Dartmouth.
The Saints could lose the No. 4 slot as early as Friday with a regulation loss to the Crimson and a Colgate win in regulation over Yale, but that would eliminate Clarkson from its outside shot at fifth place. Any number of Colgate points would further that elimination, meaning the most likely scenario slots Clarkson into sixth with St. Lawrence sitting in fifth.
That would mean teams from further east would have to travel to the North Country for a single-elimination game in the first round. Princeton is only two points back of Clarkson for fifth, but the Tigers have to contend more with RPI and Union for a home game in New Jersey. In theory, it would take a single point to clinch at least home ice because the head-to-head matchups this week send Princeton into games with those two teams – along with its travel partner, Quinnipiac.
The road trips involved could then send a team like Yale or Brown to either Clarkson or Princeton, with Dartmouth heading to either Colgate or St. Lawrence, while the Capital District teams play one another in a rubber grudge match for the right to meet either Quinnipiac or Harvard in the quarterfinals.
“We have enough guys from a core group that have that experience, that have played in some key moments,” Jones said of his team. “Our freshmen aren’t young players anymore because we’re over 30 games into the season. So we just have to understand that we should be dialed into every team that we play, and we’re going to play down the stretch knowing that you just want to give yourself the best chance to advance in the playoffs. That’s the goal, to put your best foot forward to make noise come playoff time.”
Pairwise Watch
While the ECAC playoff race is obviously front and center, it’s worth taking stock of the teams currently in and around the NCAA Tournament picture. As it stands entering this weekend, Quinnipiac is the No. 2 overall seed in the national tournament and likely won’t catch Minnesota, though the RPI differences aren’t as far apart as the implied strength of the two conferences indicate. The Bobcats are a lock and will likely end up as the No. 1 seed in one of the regionals.
Harvard is also a near-lock to make the tournament as the No. 10 team in the Pairwise. The Crimson have an opportunity to push into a No. 2 seed if they can pass Boston University, though the strength of the Big Ten makes it difficult for them to catch Penn State or Ohio State without a deep postseason run.
Cornell is the team currently sitting in the most precarious position. The Big Red are tied for 14th with Northeastern and Notre Dame, and while the Fighting Irish are teetering on landing under .500, the Huskies are one of the hottest teams in the nation. Given that at least one bid is going to a team guaranteed to land outside the Top 16, the Big Red are then the last team into the tournament, assuming the Atlantic Hockey champion eliminates Notre Dame.
Six Hockey East teams are currently slotted between Nos. 19-30, and the likelihood of those teams making a run through the championship rounds means the Big Red have some huge games this weekend in New England. A loss to either Yale or Brown would prove disastrous, as would a potential series loss in the best-of-three quarterfinals.
Notre Dame goalie Ryan Bischel is a finalist for the 2023 Mike Richter Award as the nation’s top goaltender (photo: Notre Dame Athletics).
Heading into the final weekend of regular-season Big Ten play, we know two things for sure about conference playoff seedings: Minnesota has the first-round bye and Wisconsin travels for that first week of playoff action.
Where the Badgers are going, though, remains a mystery for a few days more.
First things first. Congratulations to the Golden Gophers, who secured their second consecutive regular-season title when Ohio State took a shootout point from Michigan last Thursday.
While winning the title came on a night that they didn’t play, the Gophers put their own stamp on it with a road sweep of Penn State, a team that had previously lost just four home games this season.
Minnesota coach Bob Motzko said that he liked how the Gophers played in both games against the Nittany Lions, which included a resounding 7-2 Friday win and a 3-2 OT tilt Saturday.
“Man to man, shift to shift, I thought we were a pretty darn good hockey team this weekend,” said Motzko.
Maybe Man to Man, Shift to Shift will be the title of the book that someone writes someday about the last decade of Minnesota hockey. This is the sixth time that the Gophers have finished first in Big Ten play since the inception of the conference in 2013-14.
As for Wisconsin, the Badgers can finish no higher than last place regardless of how they fare this weekend on the road against Penn State. For the first-round, best-of-three playoff series, Wisconsin will play the team that finishes in second place.
Heading into this weekend, this is what the rest of the field looks like.
Michigan and Ohio State
Currently tied behind Minnesota with 36 points, the Wolverines and the Buckeyes can each finish as high as second place and as low as fifth. If they remain tied after this weekend – no matter where they are in the standings – Ohio State owns the first tiebreaker because of its 2-1-1 record against Michigan this weekend.
That means that if each team loses twice this weekend and Penn State wins two games (more on that in a moment), Ohio State will host a first-round series and Michigan will travel.
Michigan hosts Notre Dame this weekend. The teams split a pair of games in South Bend in November.
Ohio State travels to Minnesota this weekend. The teams split a pair of games in Columbus in October.
Any bets? I’ve got nothing.
Michigan State, Notre Dame, Penn State
Each of these teams is still technically in the hunt for home ice in the first round of the playoffs.
Having finished with their regular-season schedule, all the Spartans can do is wait. Right behind the Wolverines and Buckeyes with 34 points, the Spartans are mathematically in the hunt for a first-round home playoff series. Michigan State can finish as high as fourth place.
There are only a couple of scenarios in which that happens, including Wisconsin preventing Penn State from earning more than two points at home this weekend.
The Fighting Irish and Nittany Lions each have 31 points. If each team sweeps this weekend and Minnesota takes more than a point from Ohio State, Notre Dame and Penn State would end the season tied in second place.
If that were to happen – if both the Irish and the Nittany Lions sweep the weekend and the Buckeyes earn no more than a point against Minnesota – Notre Dame would be the top seed in the first round of the Big Ten playoffs.
How? Because the Irish would have two fewer conferences losses than the Nittany Lions, and that’s the fourth Big Ten tiebreaker – and that’s how close this season has been.
So there is a possibility that in the first round, Notre Dame hosts Wisconsin, Penn State hosts Michigan State, and Ohio State hosts Michigan.
I’m not wagering on any of that, either.
Season picks vs. this photo finish
In their preseason poll, the Big Ten coaches were confident that Minnesota would finish at the top of the standings and that Michigan State would finish last. They were not alone in those assumptions. Here’s their preseason poll:
1. Minnesota
2. Notre Dame
3. Michigan
4. Wisconsin
5. Ohio State
6. Penn State
7. Michigan State
With the exception of that fourth-place Wisconsin finish, nothing else is exceptionally glaring about that poll.
And how did I do? Surprisingly okay. Sort of. At the start of the season, here’s how I saw the Big Ten regular-season finish:
1. Notre Dame
2. Minnesota
3. Michigan
4. Ohio State
5. Wisconsin
6. Michigan State
7. Penn State
There are several scenarios this weekend – as unlikely as they may be – that make my preseason picks look a little better than they actually were. Heading into this weekend, there are five teams within a five-point span in the middle of the standings. That’s a prediction that I’m sure no one would have made back in September.
Next week, we’ll preview all the first-round matches.
Manhattanville defeats Arcadia 3-2 in overtime to move on to the semifinals of the UCHC tournament vs Utica (Photo by Karin Rosario)
This week we’re taking a look at the tournaments that have begun thus far and also taking a look at this current week as some conferences began their tournaments yesterday (Wednesday 2/22). Exciting times as the playoffs are officially underway with more action coming this weekend! We also highlight the regular-season winners from each conference.
NEHC
The NEHC began conference tournament play this past weekend and three of the top four seeds moved onto the semifinals which take place this Saturday (2/25). This is a conference where the only team with a shot at an at-large bid is Elmira, but it’s not likely, so the winner of this conference will more than likely receive the lone bid.
Elmira (1) vs Salem State (8)
Elmira shutout Salem State 7-0. The goals didn’t come early, but when they did, they didn’t stop. Leading only 1-0 after the 1st period, Elmira scored a trio of goals in both the 2nd and 3rd period to move on to the semifinals. Elmira was overwhelming in the shot totals, outshooting Salem St. 59-9. This game was filled with penalties, Elmira committing the fewer of the two teams with three, however Salem committing eight didn’t exactly help their chances which were somewhat slim to begin with.
Elmira shutout Salem State 7-0 to move on to the semifinals of the NEHC tournament (Photo by Doug Page)
It was noticeable in the game that Head Coach Jake Bobrowski of Elmira was extra careful in terms of his team’s pregame/intermission protocols as his team has been called for a few “protocol penalties” this season. Most recently vs Norwich, who seem to have an extra emphasis on stalking the other team’s actions while entering the ice as they’ve called out various teams for infractions during the game, granting themselves powerplays on various occasions. They got multiple powerplays from this advocacy in their regular-season weekend finale vs William Smith & Elmira. Expect Elmira to maintain their due diligence throughout the NEHC tournament and potentially the NCAA tournament.
Norwich (2) vs Johnson & Wales (7)
Norwich shutout Johnson & Wales 5-0 in a game where the stats were one-sided to Norwich, but not as overbearing as one may have predicted. Shots were 39-15 in favor of the Cadets and the penalty totals were low, three committed by J&W, two by Norwich. Highlighting the day for Norwich was Olivia Boyer who netted a pair of goals, while player of the year candidate Ann Frederique Guay added a goal of her own as well.
Southern Maine (3) vs UMass-Boston (6)
Southern Maine defeated UMass-Boston 3-1 in a game that was very evenly matched. Shot totals were a close 28-25 in favor of UMB, while penalties were even at three apiece. Three of the four goals came in the 2nd period, with USM’s Madison Chagnon scoring first at 6:25 of the period and then her teammate Amanada Crowley scoring the eventual game-winner late in the 2nd period.
Castleton (4) vs William Smith (5)
William Smith shutout Castleton 5-0. This game was relatively even on the stat sheet as well, besides the goals category, with the shot total being 26-20 in favor of William Smith. The penalties actually were in Castleton’s favor as they committed one to WS’s five, so the opportunity was there, but WS’s PK-unit showed up, killing off all five penalties. Julianna Gong of the Heron’s led the scoring, netting a pair of goals, one in the 2nd period and the other in the 3rd.
The NEHC semifinals are set, it’ll be Elmira (1) hosting William Smith (5) & Norwich (2) hosting Southern Maine (3) this Saturday (2/25), both games at 3:00 pm EST.
UCHC
The UCHC tournament has begun, here’s a quick recap of the huge weekend series between Utica & Nazareth who sat atop the conference by a wide margin, in front of the next closest Manhattanville. The series was extremely close with Nazareth getting the best of Utica in the end. Nazareth won game one in a shootout which meant the winner of game two would be the regular-season champion. The game was tied 1-1 and headed to OT when Nazareth’s Julia Holmes scored 2:24 into overtime to win the game and most importantly the UCHC regular-season title to secure home-ice throughout the playoffs.
Moving on to the quarterfinals (Wednesday 2/22):
Nazareth (1) vs Stevenson (8)
Nazareth shutout Stevenson 6-0 to advance to the semifinals of the UCHC tournament vs Chatham (Photo by Nazareth Athletics)
Nazareth shutout Stevenson 6-0. This game was one-sided in favor of the Golden Flyers, outshooting the Mustangs by a wide-margin 64-8 and committing fewer penalties as they were charged with one compared to Stevenson’s five. Nazareth’s Nikolle Van Stralen scored two and added an assist, one goal coming on the powerplay. Overall, a dominant performance from Nazareth.
Utica (2) vs Lebanon Valley (7)
Utica shutout Lebanon Valley 4-0, outshooting them 45-13 and scoring a shorthanded goal, the Pioneers handled business as per usual. Interestingly enough, the shorthanded goal came a quick 50 seconds into the 2nd period to give Utica a 2-0 lead. They would add one more in the 2nd and the final goal in the 3rd period at the 15:28 mark. Both teams committed three penalties each, no one scoring on the powerplay, but as mentioned Utica got the shorthanded goal to make up for the unsuccessful powerplays.
Manhattanville (3) vs Arcadia (6)
Manhattanville defeated Arcadia 3-2 in a tight overtime game. Shot totals were 33-19 in favor of the Valiants. Arcadia opened up the scoring, netting a powerplay goal 14:49 into the 1st and would then double the lead early in the 2nd period, scoring at the 1:16 mark. The Valiants then fought back, the comeback began with a shorthanded goal by Gabrielle Cox, she also assisted on the next goal scored at 11:43 of the period on the powerplay. The game went to OT, and it was ended by Virginia Birnie who scored the winner at the 5:52 mark in the Playland Ice Casino (once again, I just genuinely enjoy saying Ice Casino, even though there unfortunately isn’t a casino).
Alvernia (4) vs Chatham (5)
Chatham defeats Alvernia 3-1 to advance to the semifinals of the UCHC tournament (Photo by Chatham University Athletics)
Chatham defeated Alvernia 3-1 in a game where the penalty kill was key. Chatham committed seven penalties to Alvernia’s three, and the Cougars won the shooting battle 34-25. Chatham got out to a 2-0 lead before Alvernia got one back, but it wasn’t enough as Chatham’s Cameron Carmody sealed it, scoring a quick 12 seconds after at the 16:35 mark of the 3rd to put the game away.
The semifinals are set, Nazareth (1) hosts Chatham (5) & Utica (2) hosts Manhattanville (3) this Saturday (2/25), time(s): TBA.
UConn captain Roman Kinal has been a leader this season for the Huskies (photo: Clarus Multimedia Group).
With just four games left in the regular season, Connecticut coach Mike Cavanaugh has no intention of his team taking its foot off the gas.
The Huskies — currently in fifth place in Hockey East with an 11-8-2 record (17-10-3 overall) and 16th in the latest USCHO.com men’s D-I poll — are very much in contention for a first-round bye in the conference tournament and could very well make a deep run. One thing UConn won’t be doing — which Cavanaugh made abundantly clear during a recent press availability — is taking it easy in order to rest for the postseason.
“We’re going to play every game to win them — no one’s going to be getting any rest,” Cavanaugh said. “I don’t approach it, really, by where our seeding is. You’d like to get the bye, that’s for sure, and not have to play in the play-in game, but then it doesn’t really matter.”
The Huskies’ seeding for the single-elimination Hockey East tournament will come down to its performance in its final three league games, starting Saturday night at home against New Hampshire. If it has any NCAA tournament ambitions, however, UConn cannot afford to look past Thursday’s non-conference home contest vs. Alaska Anchorage. A 19th-place ranking in the current PairWise rankings puts the Huskies firmly on the bubble for an at-large bid.
“Every game is really important,” Cavanaugh said. “When you have 34 games (the) non-conference games, sometimes, are more important than the conference games. You look at Penn State (Big Ten) right now, (they’re) 10-0 in non-conference games, and that’s why they’re a top-10 team in the country.”
The Hockey East tournament begins March 8 with seeds 6-11 facing off at the home of the higher seed. The remaining teams will be re-seeded and travel to seeds 1, 2 and 3 with the No. 4 seed hosting No 5 in the quarterfinals on March 11. The four quarterfinal winners will be re-seeded again and meet in the semifinals on St. Patrick’s Day at TD Garden, with the championship game the following night.
Northeastern (currently in first place at 12-5-3), Boston University (second, 14-6-0) and Merrimack (13-8-0) have clinched byes to the quarterfinals. UMass-Lowell, UConn, Providence, Boston College and Maine are all mathematically alive for a bye, while UNH, UMass and Vermont can all potentially finish as high as eighth, which would guarantee a first-round home game.
BU had been ranked as high as No. 3 in the national poll but has since lost four straight and now sits at No. 9 (eighth in PairWise). Coach Jay Pandolfo said his team is focused on getting back on a winning track and isn’t all that concerned about Hockey East tournament seedings entering a two-game set at Vermont this weekend.
“We’re trying to get better every day in practice and worry about our next game. Right now, that’s our focus. We have to get back to finding a way to win again. (We’re) not really not thinking about anything else other than that.”
Last season, the Huskies fell just short of a NCAA tournament bid after losing 2-1 to UMass in the Hockey East championship game. Cavanaugh said a strong showing at the end of the regular season could very well lead to postseason success.
“It gets to a point where it’s one and done,” Cavanaugh said. “You really want to focus on playing your best hockey this time of year, and not so much what’s happened in the past, or what could’ve or what should’ve or what would happen if this team does this, or scoreboard watching. We just have to focus on playing the best hockey we can play.”
Jerry York coaches Boston College in the 2010 NCAA Frozen Four at Ford Field in Detroit, Mich. (USCHO file photo).
The Hobey Baker Memorial Award Foundation has announced its 2023 “Legend of College Hockey’ recipient as Jerry York.
York began his coaching career at Clarkson where he spent seven years and led the Golden Knights to an ECAC championship in 1977. While at Clarkson, he had a 125-87-3 record.
In 1979, York took over the Bowling Green program where he would be at the helm for 15 years (1979-94) and finish with a 342-248-31 record. He led the Falcons to four regular-season CCHA championships (1982, 1983,1984, 1987), a postseason CCHA championship in 1988, and a national championship in 1984.
York later returned to Boston College, his alma mater, and coached from 1994 to 2022, leading the Eagles to four national championships (2001, 2008, 2010, 2012) along with runner-up finishes in 1998, 2000, 2006, and 2007. In Hockey East, York’s Eagles captured nine Beanpot titles, made 18 NCAA tournament appearances, 12 Frozen Four appearances, and won 12 Hockey East regular-season titles, nine postseason crowns, and four national titles.
In his 50-year coaching career, the Watertown, Mass., native went 1,123-682-128 (.614), making him the winningest coach in college hockey and only collegiate coach to have more than 1,000 wins.
York was named the Hockey East Coach of the Year five times (2004, 2011, 2014, 2018, 2021) and received the American Hockey Coaches Association’s Spencer Penrose Award in 1977. In 2004 and 2014, he was named the New England Coach of the Year, and in 2010 was awarded the Lester Patrick Award.
On Nov. 18, 2019, York was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, making him only the fifth coach in NCAA history to be inducted and the first to exclusively coach at the collegiate level. On Dec. 9, 2021, he was officially inducted into the United States Hockey Hall of Fame.
As a player, York was a three-year letterman with the Eagles from 1964 to 1967 and had 134 points (64 goals, 70 assists) in 81 games. His points total also ranks him among the school’s all-time leaders in career points, goals and assists, and single-season points and assists. In 1967, York was named to the All-America First Team, All-New England Team, and won the Walter Brown Award given to the best American collegiate player in New England. The Eagles went 60-26 while York was on the squad, won the Beanpot in 1965, and finished second at the 1965 NCAA tournament. His Boston College jersey was retired April 12, 2010.
York has coached four Hobey Baker Award winners – George McPhee (1980), Brian Holzinger (1992), Mike Mottau (1997), and Johnny Gaudreau (2012). In addition to the award winners, York coached 39 top-10 finalists and 13 Hobey Hat Trick finalists.
York will be honored along with this year’s Hobey Baker Award winner at the annual Hobey Baker Award banquet and golf outing this summer in St. Paul, Minn. Banquet and golf information will be available soon by visiting the Hobey website.
Key Hobey Baker announcement dates for 2023 include:
• Top Ten list of candidates: March 15
• Hobey Hat Trick of three finalists: March 30
• Hobey Baker Award announcement: April 7
The 2023 Hobey Baker Award winner will be announced from a field of three Hobey Hat Trick finalists on April 7 during the NCAA Frozen Four championship in Tampa. The award ceremony will be broadcast nationally on NHL Network and streamed live at hobeybaker.com.
Denver celebrates the 2022 national championship last April 9 at TD Garden in Boston (photo: Jim Rosvold).
Welcome back to Bracketology, where we try to simulate the process that the NCAA Men’s Division I Hockey Championship committee will go through on Sunday, March 19.
All that said, the PairWise creates the field (minus the six conference champions). Thus, for purposes of this exercise, we will use the top 16 teams in the PairWise and, when necessary, insert each conference’s top teams to occupy that spot. Thus, we get a top 16 of:
Minnesota*
Quinnipiac*
Michigan
Denver*
St. Cloud State
Western Michigan
Penn State
Ohio State
Boston University*
Harvard
Michigan Tech
Minnesota State*
Omaha
Northeastern
Cornell
RIT*
* Indicates conference champion
What is required of the committee is to seed the brackets with the natural selection process – 1 should play 16, 2 should play 15, etc.
That said, there are exceptions that need to be made. The highest seeds should stay as close to home as possible. Also, teams within their bands (1-4, 5-8, 9-12 and 13-16) need to say within their bands.
Host teams must stay at home, which is an issue with just one team currently, Penn State, which is hosting the Allentown, Penn., regional. Otherwise, teams can travel without much restriction.
So here it the bracket, without regional assignments, that would be created based on the seedings alone:
Minnesota
Ohio State
Boston University
RIT
1. Quinnipiac
2. Penn State
3. Harvard
4. Cornell
Michigan
Western Michigan
Michigan Tech
Northeastern
1. Denver
2. St. Cloud State
3. Minnesota State
4. Omaha
When you look at these brackets, we have problems. The first is the first-round matchup between Cornell and Quinnipiac. It may seem wrong, but the easiest swap would be the take RIT away from #1 Minnesota and swap them with Cornell.
But the reality is the top seed earns the opportunity to play the lowest seed. So let’s think about seeding the top seeds into regions.
Let’s place the four regions: Minnesota makes sense in Fargo. Someone has to go to Manchester, which makes sense for the lowest top seed, Denver.
But what about Quinnipiac. They would make sense in Bridgeport, but Yale and Sacred Heart are the hosts. Thus, you technically can move Quinnipiac to Allentown, which when you consider attendance might make more sense. We’ll get back to that. If you do send Quinnipiac to Allentown, you can place Michigan in Bridgeport.
Then we can make some sensible swaps. The third seed makes the most sense. Boston University could move from Fargo to Bridgeport, much closer to help attendance. Harvard could move from Allentown to Manchester (and for all that, you could have BU in Manchester and Harvard in Bridgeport).
Once you do that, there are a lot of options to handle the lowest seeds.
RIT needs to stay in Fargo to maintain the 1 vs. 16 matchup. Omaha could move from Manchester to Allentown, a tiny bit closer to their campus, though not something that moves tickets (that said, Penn State sells out this region).
Cornell heads to Bridgeport with Boston University to give that region some shot at a decent attendance. And Northeastern makes sense in Manchester.
But I’m still left with the mental controversy of putting Quinnipiac in Allentown. When I think about it, even thought it maintains second-round bracket integrity, I can’t do it.
Thus, you have to flip Michigan (No. 3 overall) with Quinnipiac (No. 2 overall). Get a big attendance in Bridgeport and place Michigan in Allentown.
So the final brackets are:
Fargo
Minnesota
Ohio State
Michigan Tech
RIT
Allentown
Michigan
Penn State
Minnesota State
Omaha
Bridgeport
Quinnipiac
Western Michigan
Boston University
Cornell
Manchester
Denver
St. Cloud State
Harvard
Northeastern
That’s what we have for this week. Plenty of time for these regions to shift, not to mention the teams inside the bubble.
Last four in: Omaha, Northeastern, Cornell and Atlantic Hockey champion (RIT)
Last four out: Notre Dame, Alaska, Michigan State, Merrimack
Alina Mueller has been an offensive catalyst for Northeastern this season (photo: Jim Pierce).
Hockey East announced Wednesday the 2022-23 all-rookie team and five other season-long awards as voted by the women’s league’s 10 head coaches.
The 2022-23 Pro Ambitions All-Rookie Team consists of seven players and includes defenders Casey Borgiel (Holy Cross) and Brooke Disher (Boston University) and forwards Lara Beecher (Vermont), Reichen Kirchmair (Providence), Lily Shannon (Northeastern), Lilli Welcke (Maine) and Luisa Welcke (Maine).
Also recognized for their efforts in the 2022-23 campaign and named defender of the year are Northeastern senior Megan Carter and Vermont’s Sini Karjalainen. It marks the second straight year that a Husky and Catamount share the award after Skylar Fontaine and Maude Poulin-Labelle did so in 2021-22.
Providence graduate student Sara Hjalmarsson has been honored as the best defensive forward during the regular season. She is the first Friar to win the award since its inception in 2009-10.
New Hampshire senior forward Annie Berry was awarded the conference’s sportsmanship award. Berry has played 123 games in a Wildcat sweater and taken just 36 penalty minutes in conference play.
Two statistical awards were also formally announced as Northeastern’s Alina Mueller was crowned the league’s top scorer (15 goals, 25 assists, 40 points) for the third time (2019-20, 2020-21). Mueller ends her Hockey East career as the league’s all-time leading point-getter, amassing 175 points on 68 goals and 108 assists in 111 league games.
Boston College netminder Abigail Levy earned the three stars award, accumulating the highest total of points from first-, second-, and third-star accolades during Hockey East league games over the course of the regular season.
The 2023 Hockey East women’s tournament begins tonight with the opening round at Boston University and New Hampshire at 7 p.m. All games will be streamed live on ESPN+ and the title game will air nationally on ESPNU.
Hockey East will announce the 2022-23 all-star teams on Friday at 10 a.m. ahead of the quarterfinals on Saturday. The league will then announce finalists for the player, rookie, and coach of the year awards on Monday at 10 a.m. The winners of those awards will then be revealed prior to the semifinals on March 1.
Hosts Jim Connelly and Ed Trefzger are joined by The Rink Live hockey writer Jess Myers to look at the Big Ten as that league heads into the last weekend before conference playoffs.
This podcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men’s Division I Frozen Four, April 6th and 8th, 2023 at Amalie Arena in Tampa, Florida. Secure your seats at NCAA.com/mfrozenfour
Omaha assistant coach Paul Jerrard (left) served as a coaching inspiration to Mavericks head coach Mike Gabinet (photo: Omaha Athletics).
Omaha’s players unexpectedly had Tuesday afternoon free.
That wasn’t Mavericks coach Mike Gabinet’s idea, but one of his assistants might have had something to do with it.
“A puck hit the sprinkler system when guys were just shooting around, so we couldn’t practice,” Gabinet said. “A guy hit the crossbar and the puck went up and hit a sprinkler head, so it started gushing water all over the rink. Maybe PJ was saying from above, ‘It’s a day off today.’”
“PJ” is how friends and colleagues referred to Paul Jerrard, an Omaha assistant coach of five years who died Feb. 15 following a lengthy cancer battle. He was 57.
It’s been a tough last week for everyone in Jerrard’s orbit, including in the hockey world. The former Lake Superior State defenseman played professional hockey for a decade before going into coaching and was an assistant with the American Hockey League’s Iowa Stars when Gabinet played for them in 2006.
Jerrard went on to become an assistant with the NHL’s Calgary Flames from 2016-18, and when he looked toward the college ranks, Gabinet was glad to bring in a personal mentor.
“He’s a great human being who really cares about the athletes, but still has a great way of demanding a lot from them in terms of development, and a way of helping them get to a potential they maybe didn’t realize they could get to,” Gabinet said. “For me personally, especially as a young coach, he has so much experience and such an understanding of how to support a head coach, and that’s what I’ll really take away from it.
“A lot of times, you hear first-time coaches in interviews talking about, ‘I thought I knew what the job was about, but then I realized there’s a difference from an assistant to a head coach,’ and he helped navigate the good times and navigate adversity, and he reminded you how important family is. He was a calming, steady influence that really helped mold me as a head coach, and I’m really grateful for that.
“He really got it,” Gabinet continued. “He understands the pressures that come with the job, that nobody else really knows about. A lot of times, he had a really good way to understand what you’re going through, and really support you. He didn’t have an ego, and when you don’t have an ego, and you have the work ethic he had, you can be a mentor at certain times and an unbelievable assistant coach, too. There was no job too big or too small, and I think that’s what made him so valuable to the team and the staff, that he could do all those different things.”
Omaha players will wear helmet decals and jersey patches in honor of late assistant coach Paul Jerrard (photos: Omaha Athletics).
UNO honored Jerrard during last weekend’s series at Miami through helmet decals showing Jerrard’s initials. Sweater patches with his initials arrived Tuesday.
Gabinet called Jerrard, an enthusiast for road bikes, golf and general exercise, “just a person you want to be around,” and who spoke glowingly of his family. Jerrard is survived by his wife Cheryl and two daughters, Catherine and Meaghan.
A visitation and funeral service for Jerrard are being held Wednesday in Omaha. The funeral is being streamed for public viewing at Baxter Arena, where a reception and celebration of life in his honor are to be held this afternoon.
During his time at UNO, Jerrard was an NCHC representative for the College Hockey for Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Initiative members from around the country met regularly to share their stories and ideas for making college hockey a safe place that respects people’s differing backgrounds.
“I asked him about it quite frequently, and just asked about stories of his growing up,” Gabinet said. “When he was with the Flames, he was I think the only coach of color in the NHL and was of a minority growing up playing the game. He conducted himself with a lot of class, and he credits his mom a lot for how he was brought up, and how he was taught to handle certain situations.
“He’s a real inspiration in that department, and people are getting more of an appreciation for what somebody like that goes through, and for PJ as a trendsetter who really forged a path throughout his career. His DEI work is important to us, and we’ve been fortunate at Omaha here to have a lot of people of different backgrounds in our program. That’s close to us, and I want to make sure we continue to honor the groundwork PJ did.”
Jerrard’s impact in hockey will be remembered long into the future, far and wide.
“I’ve had coaches pop up to see me and pass along their regards, and it’s a lot of similar comments about, ‘Hey, I was an up-and-coming coach who had a guy with NHL experience come up, introduce himself and make me feel comfortable and part of the coaching fraternity,’” Gabinet said.
“That’s what Paul did, making people feel comfortable and helping them out. There’s not many people in the game like him, where any time you run into people he’s known, they always ask, ‘How’s Paul doing?’ It’s neat to see how many people whose lives he’s touched.”
Sacred Heart is looking forward to home ice in the upcoming AHA playoffs (photo: Meg Stokes).
After 15 years of holding the semifinals and finals of the Atlantic Hockey tournament at neutral sites, the conference is moving all tournament games on campus this season.
The format will be as follows:
Quarterfinals March 3-5 Best-of-three series
#8 seed at #1 seed
#7 seed at #2 seed
#6 seed at #3 seed
#5 seed at #4 seed
Semifinals March 10-12 Best-of-three series
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
Second-lowest remaining seed at second-highest remaining seed
Championship Game March 18
Lowest remaining seed at highest remaining seed
Unlike past tournaments, there isn’t a “Final Four” at a single site. Instead, the semifinals will be best-of-three series and held at separate on-campus locations.
With the semifinals and finals on different weekends, in order to hold the tournament over three weekends as usual, something had to give. The league’s Athletic Directors voted to cut the field down from all ten teams to 8 and eliminate the first round as well as byes for the top teams.
That means the bottom two teams (three next year when Robert Morris rejoins the league) will have their seasons end this weekend. We already know that it will be Bentley and Air Force missing the postseason.
Not a popular idea
I polled Atlantic Hockey coaches throughout the season on the new playoff format, and their response was unanimous among the ones I talked to: a hard no.
“We’re supposed to be about the student experience,” said Army West Point coach Brian Riley. “And here we’re leaving 60 or so guys out of that.”
“The playoffs are something that every player looks forward to,” said Mercyhurst head coach Rick Gotkin. “I don’t like it.”
Besides the impact to players, several coaches brought up the unfairness of leaving anyone out when teams are playing an unbalanced schedule.
“Leaving teams out if you’re not playing the same schedule is not equitable,” said Sacred Heart coach CJ Marottolo. “It’s not a level playing field.”
And while there currently is an eight-point gap separating Bentley and Air Force from the rest of the pack, both teams have had respectable wins over the top teams in the league. Air Force and Bentley have each beaten regular season champions Rochester Institute of Technology as well as second-place Sacred Heart.
Who’s to say that couldn’t happen in the postseason?
Unfortunately, we’ll never know.
The final stretch
With one weekend to go in the regular season, the top and bottom positions in the standings have been determined, but there’s still a lot to be decided.
What we know:
– RIT has won the inaugural DeGregorio Cup as regular-season champs and is the top seed. The Tigers will host the No. 8 seed in the quarterfinals.
– Sacred Heart and American International will host quarterfinal series.
– Holy Cross, Army West Point, Canisius and Niagara are still in contention for home ice in the quarterfinals.
– Mercyhurst will be on the road in the quarterfinal round.
– Bentley and Air Force have been eliminated from postseason contention.
After this weekend’s games, expect tiebreakers to come into play to determine tournament seedings. They are:
1. Head-to-head winning percentage (note: this is different from points won as overtime wins count as wins and shootouts count as ties regardless of the outcome).
2. Conference wins (note: includes overtime wins).
3. Head-to-head goal differential.
4. Goals allowed in head-to-head competition.
5. Head-to-head winning percentage in games against teams starting with the No. 1 seed down to the No. 10 seed.
6. Goal differential in games against teams starting with the No. 1 seed down to the No. 10 seed.
Here’s my take on possible outcomes this weekend. Any errors in calculations are mine.
ROCHESTER INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
Currently: First
Games remaining: Home vs. Air Force (2)
Possible seed: Has clinched first
Outlook: The Tigers have wrapped up their first regular season title since 2011 and are the inaugural winners of the DeGregorio Cup.
SACRED HEART
Currently: Second
Games remaining: At AIC, home vs. AIC
Possible seed: Second-Third
Outlook: SHU leads American International by two points heading into its final series with the Yellow Jackets. The Pioneers need three points in the two games to clinch second. In any case, SHU will host a quarterfinal series.
AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL
Currently: Third
Games remaining: Home vs. Sacred Heart, at Sacred Heart
Possible seed: Second-Fourth
Outlook: The Yellow Jackets saw their streak of four straight regular season titles come to an end but are in the hunt for their fourth consecutive playoff crown. Their series this weekend with Sacred Heart will determine the No. 2 seed. AIC has clinched home ice in the quarterfinals.
HOLY CROSS
Currently: Fourth
Games remaining: Home vs. Canisius (2)
Possible seed: Third-Seventh
Outlook: Five points will ensure home ice in the quarterfinals for the Crusaders, who hold a two- or three-point lead over the rest of the pack still in the running for the fourth seed.
CANISIUS
Currently: Tied for fifth
Games remaining: At Holy Cross (2)
Possible seed: Fourth-Eighth
Outlook: The Golden Griffins can clinch home ice with five points against Holy Cross and Army getting less than five points against Bentley.
ARMY WEST POINT
Currently: Tied for fifth
Games remaining: At Bentley (2)
Possible seed: Fourth-Eighth
Outlook: The Black Knights need to finish a point better than Holy Cross and with at least as many points as Canisius and Niagara to end up fourth.
NIAGARA
Currently: Seventh
Games remaining: At Mercyhurst, home vs. Mercyhurst
Possible seed: Fourth-Eighth
Outlook: Niagara has a (very) distant shot at home ice but has qualified for the postseason.
MERCYHURST
Currently: Eighth
Games remaining: Home vs. Niagara, at Niagara
Possible seed: Fifth-Eighth
Outlook: The Lakers can finish no higher than fifth, so they will be on the road for the quarterfinals.
BENTLEY
Currently: Ninth
Games remaining: Home vs. Army West Point (2)
Possible seed: Ninth-Tenth
Outlook: The Falcons are eliminated from postseason contention and will play their final games of the season this weekend.
AIR FORCE
Currently: Tenth
Games remaining: At RIT (2)
Possible seed: Ninth-Tenth
Outlook: Air Force is also eliminated and can’t be spoilers as its final opponent, RIT, has already locked up first. Pride will be on the line this weekend.
MTU’s David Jankowski and Minnesota State’s Connor Gregga battle for position during the teams’ game on Nov. 25, 2022 (photo: Michigan Tech Athletics).
Head-to-head, winner-takes-all matchups between the top two teams in the conference in the regular season’s final weekend don’t happen all the time.
But when they do, they should be savored.
In the past decade, we’ve seen this happen once before in the race for the MacNaughton Cup. The last time it happened – the 2019-20 season – Minnesota State had clinched at least a share of the title entering the final series but needed to sweep second-place Bemidji State to clinch outright. Instead, the Beavers won 3-1 in Bemidji and the season came down to Saturday’s finale – a 4-1 MSU win.
That was the penultimate year of the old WCHA, a season cut unceremoniously short by the pandemic. You’d be forgiven for forgetting the details of how that season played out. Luckily, we haven’t had to wait long for another similarly-exciting end-of-season series.
This weekend’s CCHA series between first-place Minnesota State and second-place Michigan Tech in Mankato – in the midst of a late-winter blizzard raging across much of southern Minnesota – has all the hallmarks of an instant classic. Either team could win the MacNaughton Cup outright, adding to the intensity of the occasion.
“I think if you looked at the voting at the beginning of the year, everybody in our league, maybe we didn’t know who, but we just knew that at the end of the day, it would be close,” MSU coach Mike Hastings said. “It’s following that script. At the beginning of that year, you hope you’re in that situation. Our first goal is to get home ice, and then your second goal is to hopefully be competing for the league championship and we’re in that position now.”
The Mavericks (20-11-1, 15-8-1 CCHA) currently lead the Huskies (21-8-4, 14-6-4 CCHA) by two points in the league standings. A regulation win on either day will clinch the MacNaughton outright for the Mavs, while the Huskies need five points to take it for themselves. A four-point weekend for Tech — say, a win and an overtime loss — and the teams share the cup.
Tech already took four points from the Mavericks earlier this season in Houghton, which the Huskies say gives them some confidence going into this weekend.
“My previous freshman and sophomore years, we didn’t really get a sniff against Mankato, (so knowing we’ve already beat them once), there’s a mental side of things, thinking and knowing we can do it,” Michigan Tech captain Brett Thorne said. “This year, we have a really deep team, and we know we can compete with some of the top teams in the nation like BU and Michigan State, teams like that, and obviously Mankato is right up there. So I think we’re a little more confident this year, so we can bring that mental game to what we bring to the ice and see what happens.”
Both teams seem to be playing their best hockey down the stretch in 2023: Michigan Tech is 9-2-1 while Minnesota State is 10-2. And both have been getting superb goaltending in Keenan Rancier and Blake Pietila.
Everyone knows about Tech’s Pietila. He’s a Mike Richter Award finalist with eight shutouts on the season, has a 1.98 goals-against average and a .928 save percentage.
“Blake is the best goalie I’ve ever had the pleasure of playing with,” Thorne said. “His work ethic is insane. Playing in front of Blake, knowing you have a goaltender that’s so reliable and able to win you games by himself, it increases the confidence of the D core and the forwards in front of us. Knowing we can make mistakes and he’s going to be there. Us on the D core have talked about it, we want to play for him. He has a really good chance of winning that award this year, and I think he should win it. We have a lot of respect for Blake and what he’s been able to accomplish.”
Rancier, on the other hand, has been a revelation since the calendar turned to 2023. He struggled in the first half of the year but has started every single game for MSU in the season’s second half. His goals-against is No. 4 nationally at 1.89 and has a respectable .912 save percentage.
“If you don’t have (good goaltending) you can do a lot right and not find ways to win hockey games,” Hastings said of Rancier. “If you do have that, it provides you some flexibility in your game, whether it’s more survival, more confidence, and he has been that guy for us. There’s been some peaks and valleys from the start of the second half until now, but not nearly as many as there were in the first half. And I think that’s been a big difference for us (in the second half). We’ve defended better, he’s done a really good job between the posts for us, and that combination has allowed us to garner a little bit more confidence.”
So what should we expect this weekend?
“We’ve done a good job to get ourselves in opposition to possibly take home first place at the end of the season,” Thorne said. “So mentally, it’s a bit different this week. We know what’s riding on this weekend, but in the room, we are basically doing the same thing that’s brought us success over the past couple months. If we just stick to our game and do stuff the right way, I think we’re going to get a good outcome.”
Whatever happens, both teams know this isn’t the end of the journey. In most ways, it’s just the beginning. Both MSU and Tech have home-ice advantage for the first round of the CCHA’s Mason Cup playoffs, and both are on the Pairwise bubble.
“We want to enjoy the opportunity, but understand that it’s just the next step,” Hastings said. “Whether we do or we don’t, our season isn’t over, nor is Tech’s. Is it important, absolutely. But we’ve got hockey ahead of us also.”
In the playoffs a hot goaltender can steal a game and carry his team a long way as Cortland’s Luca Durante looks to do in the SUNYAC tournament starting on Wednesday against Buffalo State (Photo by Darl Zehr Photography)
This week is all about the conference tournaments as we enter the official win-or-go-home portion of the 2022-23 season. I will be doing this week’s extensive picks in two parts starting with the quarterfinal rounds taking place Tuesday through Thursday and re-calibrating for the weekend’s quarterfinal and semifinal rounds across the conferences. Last week’s volume-based picks showed playoff caliber excellence at 14-1-0 (.933) which now brings my season total up to a robust 123-51-12 (.694). It is time to pick the winners that will contend for the conference titles but if the season was any indication, expect some upsets among these games too. Here are the early week picks for the quarterfinal rounds:
Tuesday, February 21, 2023
NE-10 Quarterfinals
Post v. Assumption
February has not been a good month for the Greyhounds as they dropped from first in the standings to third over the final weeks of the regular season. If you are going to do a reset, no time like the playoffs to get your game back with everything to play for. Home ice is the one-goal difference here – Assumption, 3-2
Franklin Pierce v. Southern New Hampshire
The Penmen have been playing their best hockey over the past several weeks including a pair of sweeps that helped them capture home-ice for the opening round of the playoffs. Looking for continued good play and some special team’s excellence that advances the home team to the semifinals – SNHU, 4-2
Wednesday, February 22, 2023
CCC Quarterfinals
Wentworth v. (9) University of New England
The Nor’easters are the defending champions but open the tournament with a quarterfinal matchup with the Leopards who will not be an easy out. Lots of experience from last year’s Frozen Four run to lean on for the home team who starts fast in route to the win – UNE, 5-2
Western New England v. Salve Regina
The Seahawks could be a dark horse with solid goaltending and the talents of Johnny Mulera and Mitch Walinski generating offense in tight playoff-style play. The Golden Bears have had a good season but will need to be at their best to upset the Seahawks and an overtime goal is what keeps the home team playing on Saturday – Salve Regina, 3-2
SUNYAC Quarterfinals
Buffalo State v. Cortland
The Red Dragons has something every team wants entering the playoffs and that is a hot goaltender. Luca Durante always has the ability to steal a win for his team but so too can Emil Normann for the Bengals. Expect an empty-net goal to provide the final margin for the home team – Cortland, 3-1
Fredonia v. (11) Geneseo
The Knights are four-time defending champions and only need to look back a couple of weeks to a loss against Fredonia that has them playing in the quarterfinal round for the first time in years. Strong motivation to win and advance to the next round – Geneseo, 5-2
UCHC Quarterfinals
Arcadia v. (1) Utica
The Pioneers are on a mission and coming off back-to-back wins over the same Arcadia team this past weekend. There will be no looking past the quarterfinal opponent as the home team looks to stay unbeaten against UCHC teams. More of the same for the Pioneers – Utica, 7-1
Alvernia v. Nazareth
The Golden Flyers worked exceptionally hard on the ice to capture the No. 2 seed but should not look past the Golden Wolves who can score goals. Home ice record has been impressive for the Golden Flyers, and they take advantage of it with a late spurt that earns a comfortable win – Nazareth, 5-2
Chatham v. Stevenson
It took a while for the Mustangs to get their game kicked into high gear but with the return of Austin Master and Ryan Kenny from the World University Games, Stevenson has all the pieces to make a run at the UCHC title. Step one achieved in a hard-fought win over the Cougars – Stevenson, 4-2
Wilkes v. Manhattanville
The Colonels have had a good second half of the season but find themselves on the road to face a resilient Valiants squad. No. 4 vs. No. 5 is always a coin toss game and in this case, it is the Colonels who pull the “upset” with an overtime thriller – Wilkes, 3-2
Thursday, February 23, 2023
MASCAC Quarterfinals
Salem State v. Fitchburg State
The Falcons have unleashed their offense in recent games which bodes well for a playoff run. Erik Larsson has taken over games for the Vikings in the past month so look for more goals than usual in a playoff game as the home team steals one late – Fitchburg State, 5-4
Massachusetts-Dartmouth v. Westfield State
These two teams wrapped up the regular season on Saturday with the Owls eking out a one-goal victory. The stakes are higher on Thursday night, but the outcome is the same with an overtime goal sealing the win for the home team – Westfield State, 4-3
It is the chance to play for the conference championship which seemed so very far away back in October and November last fall. It’s here now so time to leave it all on the ice – “Drop the Puck!”
RIT is the 2023 Atlantic Hockey regular-season champions (photo: RIT Athletics).
Each week during the season, we look at the big events and big games around Division I men’s college hockey in Tuesday Morning Quarterback.
Dan: Hey everyone, and Happy Tuesday!
Well, Paula, we finally made it. The last week of the regular season (well, for some leagues). A season that started in October with hopes and dreams is now in a position to sort out its playoff stretch. This is the time of year we all live for…unless you’re one of the teams that’s out of the postseason already.
As I dive in, that’s the story here out east with Atlantic Hockey, where the league introduced a new postseason format where eight of the 10 teams make the field. This weekend formally eliminated the two that will miss – Bentley and Air Force – while RIT, which lost to Bentley on Saturday night, clinched the regular-season championship as the winners of the Robert DeGregorio Trophy.
Atlantic Hockey is the only league that eliminates teams prior to its playoffs, but the format has been in college hockey for a number of years. When Hockey East was a 10-team league, it eliminated the bottom two teams and went to an eight-team format, and a number of the women’s leagues had formats that eliminated various teams from the postseason for years. The trend in recent decades has been to include everyone, but the conference is bucking it this year with a three-weekend format that allows for the best-of-three quarterfinals and the single-elimination semifinals and championship to be played at the better seed all the way through the finals.
This brought up an age-old conversation piece for me because “every team making the playoffs” is becoming increasingly common. It’s not singular to hockey, but I know ECAC specifically made it a point of pride to include every team in its women’s postseason for the first time this year. Hockey East, the league that used to eliminate the bottom two teams, uses a format that includes everyone. Outgoing commissioner Robert DeGregorio told Chris Lerch earlier this year that he wanted to include every team.
Where do you stand on postseason formats? I see the positives and negatives of both sides, and while I’m picking on Atlantic Hockey here (and it’ll seem like sour grapes because Bentley missed the postseason), I want to make sure that we’re discussing the format more so than the league, even though I took a very longwinded way to get there.
Paula: As cold as this sounds, I like seeing some teams eliminated from playoff contention. I think that the possibility of not making conference playoffs contributes to the fan interest in regular-season play and heightens the drama, especially in the final weeks.
Let me be clear: this isn’t an anti-participation trophy rant. I’m in favor of rewarding people for participating in many different situations. Not making the playoffs is heartbreaking for players, and I’m not one who subscribes to the toughen-up philosophy of life that claims that a good knocking-down is a valued experience. My take has nothing to do with that kind of thinking.
I appreciate good stories, and from a fan’s perspective, whether or not a team is going to make the playoffs is good storytelling and I’m hooked.
I remember the days of the old CCHA, which went back and forth between including everyone and eliminating some. For most of the time I covered that league, though, everyone was included. That created some economic hardships for some schools – not just those who traveled, but those who hosted. If a league is going to expect everyone to play, there should (in my opinion) be some financial support where it’s needed.
Because the Big Ten has only seven teams, the league has arrived at the perfect solution with the top team getting a bye for its three best-of-three first-round series. This season, Minnesota ran away with that bye from early on, but determining who’s going to host that first round is going to come down to the last weekend, with four teams – Ohio State, Michigan, Notre Dame, Penn State – all vying for home ice. One very good team is going to travel. It’s exciting.
You mention RIT winning the Robert Degregorio Trophy. Kudos to the Tigers and their first regular-season title since 2011. While RIT provides proof of how difficult it is to win a regular-season title, Quinnipiac and Minnesota each secured consecutive regular-season titles this past weekend. The Bobcats earned their third consecutive Cleary Cup and the Golden Gophers clinched their second consecutive regular-season Big Ten championship – and sixth overall, which is remarkable given that this is only the end of the 10th season of B1G play.
How do we even discuss teams like Quinnipiac and Minnesota? Are teams with sustained levels of success like their outliers? The CCHA, Hockey East and the NCHC are all shaping up to be classic photo finishes, yet the three teams that have secured regular-season titles never looked back this season. What kinds of stories do these results tell, Dan?
Dan: I like to think that both are indicators of the cross-section of college hockey’s past and present. Quinnipiac, in particular, is a program that’s built its current history by laying a groundwork foundation over time. This program hasn’t even been in ECAC for 20 years, but what it’s done with an arena, financing, institutional support, and the right coach supporting everything is a blueprint for likeminded programs. Whether you love or hate the team’s success, there had to be an emotional investment over the last 30 years that commands respect from everyone who looks on from the outside.
That’s a far cry from Minnesota, which is probably the ultimate blue blood in the sport. I say “probably” only because I’m from Boston and therefore biased against anything that isn’t from my hometown… but you gotta give credit where credit is due there.
I remember the Frozen Four last year in Boston. I can’t remember if it was Bob Motzko or Mike Hastings, but one of them talked about how Minnesota, as a state, goes mad when the Gophers are good. As someone who grew up going to BU games at Walter Brown and, to a greater degree, Red Sox games at Fenway and Bruins games at the Garden, I can relate to the sentiment. Things are way more fun when the fan base has the electric current going.
It’s a fandom that’s been passed through generations, and Minnesota has been able to sustain its greatness by simply harnessing – for decades – what makes the state’s hockey culture great among players who understand that ideal.
It’s just not as good as Massachusetts, clearly. (Smiles, winks, tongue-in-cheek)
These two teams evenly splitting first-place votes probably draws a bit of a battle line between the old school and new school into the last day of the regular season, even though the PairWise is the ultimate statement.
Paula: I think it’s interesting that you leave Michigan out of the discussion about states with strong traditions of college hockey. Minnesota is the undisputed State of Hockey, but if there is to be a discussion about regions that have long-sustained traditions that contribute to hockey culture, Michigan needs to be included.
According to College Hockey, Inc., the top three U.S. states supplying players to men’s Division I programs this season are Minnesota (219), Michigan (162) and Massachusetts (130). Those three Ms have long been among the top states for youth hockey in the U.S., so these statistics are hardly surprising.
I think your tongue-in-cheek poke at this regional rivalry goes back to the deep-rooted belief that there is a significant difference in how hockey is played between the East – which is, let’s face it, mostly New England and New York State – and the West, which is literally everything else according to most people in college hockey. In fact, I’m not sure that Western New York counts as “west” to college hockey folks closer to the Atlantic Ocean.
I don’t think that college hockey is played differently region to region. There seemed to be some distinctions when I first started covering years ago, but everyone now has access to everyone else’s video and other game/coaching resources, every coach attends the same seminars, every team values “finesse” as much as it values grit.
The differences aren’t between regions but are between schools that can attract blue-chip recruits as opposed to those who cannot – or who do not yet. Quinnipiac has two NHL draft picks on its roster this season and a total of 10 Canadian players. That tells me a lot about Quinnipiac recruiting – like how the Bobcats are able to find outstanding talent that fits their program while recruiting in an area where they’re competing against teams that have traditionally attracted those blue-chip players. Give the Bobcats another two or three seasons of this level of success and Quinnipiac will be competing against places like Boston University and Boston College for top talent.
I am not certain that voters look at Minnesota vs. Quinnipiac as old school vs. new school. I know I do not. Minnesota earned my first-place vote because I think that the Gophers’ road sweep of Penn State is a tremendous thing. That’s not to take anything away from the Bobcats’ home wins over Yale and Brown, but I see the Nittany Lions as a team that can make some noise in the NCAA tournament, and I see the Big Ten as a stronger conference this year than the ECAC. So the Gophers got my vote. I can’t speak for other voters, but I know that those factors – those perceptions – go into the thinking of lots of college hockey folks.
Dan: You bring up a great point about Quinnipiac and the number of Canadian players that the team has. There’s a deeper discussion here about how hockey has changed in the United States in general, and it’s not just based on where teams are located in the college spectrum. After your note, I went to the College Hockey, Inc. media kit and found that California has nearly 50 players playing college hockey. Yes, the state is humungous and carries major population centers up and down the West Coast, but that number was an absurdity to older generations. The fact that hockey is growing nationally is showing exactly what we’re seeing in the talent pool.
I don’t know that teams have to compete with the traditional powerhouses to find the right players anymore. I do think that we’re reaching a critical moment in college hockey where the game has grown to a greater extent than we sometimes think about. I remember being in Nashville to see a Predators game, and the state hockey tournament exhibit had something like a dozen teams. It doesn’t seem like much to someone from Massachusetts, but those dozen teams probably never existed 20 years ago.
What I guess I’m trying to get at is this – as the years go on, I don’t know that teams will have to recruit against one another in those traditional markets. Without fully referencing the Quinnipiac roster for where every player is from, I think the teams that are willing to go into those markets are going to find talent that they can build their programs with. And with that will come more growth to the game in the way of teams and opportunities.
Switching gears, as we near the end of the season, I know that I’m also looking forward to the return of the 5-on-5 overtime that goes forever. It’s a staple of playoff hockey, but as a traditionalist, I’ve never been a huge fan of the shootout and the 3-on-3 overtime, but I will throw this out there as a question. Do you have a favorite overtime memory from the playoffs, and as we near the postseason, is there anything that we can remind fans about for the next few weeks?
Paula: All three of my favorite OT playoffs memories involve the CCHA, Ohio State, and Michigan – even when they weren’t playing each other.
There’s 1998, when Michigan State beat Ohio State in overtime to win the CCHA championship at Joe Louis Arena but a week later, Ohio State beat Michigan State in the West Regional to advance to the Frozen Four. That regional was played at Yost Ice Arena – the Michigan connection – and that weekend may have been the single best weekend of NCAA playoff hockey I’ve ever covered. Michigan, North Dakota, Yale and Princeton rounded out the field and Yost was positively rocking all weekend.
Ohio State lost its semifinal game in the Frozen Four that year to Boston College in Boston, but Michigan beat New Hampshire to advance to the title game against BC. When the Wolverines tied it up late in the third, I knew that Michigan would win it all because Marty Turco was in net. Michigan won 3-2 and the locals were shell-shocked.
My single favorite college hockey playoff overtime memory is the 2004 CCHA semifinal game at JLA between Ohio State and Miami. The Buckeyes were the underdog and the semifinal game was the second contest they were playing that weekend in the (mercifully) short-lived CCHA Super Six format. Current Ohio State assistant coach, JB Bittner, scored the game-winning goal 23 seconds into OT, and the Buckeyes went on to defeat Michigan for the playoff championship.
In each of those scenarios, no one anticipated the winning outcome – and that’s what makes playoff hockey so amazing. I’ve said repeatedly in this column and elsewhere that I think conference playoff hockey is the best thing we get to witness all season. Look at how close the regular-season races are in the CCHA, Hockey East, and the NCHC. That will make for some completely unpredictable playoff outcomes in those leagues.
In B1G Hockey, Michigan, Penn State and Ohio State are among the top 10 teams in the PWR and yet one of them may wind up not hosting a first-round playoff series. In Atlantic Hockey, RIT – a team that has flirted with PWR inclusion most of this season and a team that was miles ahead of the AHA competition all season long – very likely has to win out to earn the NCAA conference autobid.
We use the word “parity” far too much in college hockey, but this season genuinely has proven that about half of the D-I field can legitimately make some postseason noise. If that results in 5-on-5 playoff OT hockey, Dan, then I am here for all of it.
