College Hockey is back and Atlantic Hockey got some national attention over the weekend with Sacred Heart’s stunning win over UMass-Lowell, as well as Bentley taking down the University of Nebraska at Omaha. It is sure to be a great season for Atlantic Hockey and each week we’ll have new and updated power rankings for the league. Here are the rankings for Week 1:

1. Niagara (1-2, 1-0 AHA) – In a wild game in their home opener Niagara was down 3-0 midway through the first period to cross-town rival Canisius, but stormed back to win 6-4 for their first win of the season as well as getting off on the right foot in conference play. Niagara had already dropped two games to Clarkson earlier in the month. They will play their second straight conference game when they travel to Robert Morris this weekend.

2. Mercyhurst (0-3, 0-0 AHA) – Mercyhurst is 0-3 on the year, but those losses have come to national powers in Minnesota, Clarkson and Ferris State, all away from home. These games will only help them once the conference schedule starts to get going. They will continue with their tough schedule with two games against Merrimack this weekend.

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While the other conferences were overly-written about in the offseason because of the massive change of landscape that has occurred around College Hockey, the ECAC stayed relatively uniform and out of the national news. In some senses, it has been left in the shadow of the other conferences despite its most crowning achievement in two decades, Yale’s national title victory in April.

Last season, was a successful one for the conference and if it is any indication this season could be much of the same. In the first two weeks of the season, the conference has gone 10-4-1 in non-conference games. Of course the Ivy league teams don’t join the party for another two weeks but the conference as a whole looks to be deep and stacked, especially at the forward position. Colgate and Clarkson have combined for half of the games that have been played, and for two teams that struggled for large portions of last year they have impressed. Those two have combined for a combined 5-2-0 mark in the early going.

With week one in the books, trends are starting to take shape. Here are three of the most noteworthy: Read the rest of this entry »

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Welcome to the first-ever “3 Things I Think” about the Big Ten. Like the title says, each week I will discuss 3 topics going on in the Big Ten hockey world.

In a way, this blog has been a long time coming. It has been nearly 3 years since Terry Pegula donated $88 million (later adding a cool $14 million) to Penn State to kick the wheels in motion for the conference. Since then, the thought of Big Ten has been in the back of college hockey fans’ minds as the 2013-14 season drew closer and closer.

In a different way, this blog is about the present. Enough has been written about college realignment in the last few weeks to last a lifetime. Most has been fitting. This season is different than past years and the effect one way or another will be felt for years to come. Or as College Hockey News managing editor Adam Wodon put it, “not since the Louisiana Purchase has the stroke of a pen changed the landscape so much.” Honestly, it’s weird to see the Big Ten on the ice rather than WCHA or CCHA.

But right now all that matters is opening weekend. Let me tell you, being back at the rink is great.

(After the jump, the Big Ten’s opening weekend, Pegula Arena & the best goal in conference history) Read the rest of this entry »

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It felt good, really good, to be back in college hockey rinks this week. Living in Boston means four great rinks are quick train rides away for me. I’m lucky, I know, and I got to Agganis Arena, Matthews Arena and Conte Forum to start the season off properly. The games were equal parts sloppy and exciting, with early-season rust revealing itself as much as the skills of these teams.

The best part of realignment, for me, is more non-conference games. The next few weeks will come with even more non-league games for Hockey East teams, which should give coaches a better idea of their teams’ progress. Moreover, Hockey East play will likely be even better with teams further along when the meat of the schedule comes around.

Again, the performances I saw this weekend aren’t even remotely indicative of the performances I expect to see from these teams as the year progresses. That said, there were a few things I picked up on and expect to continue this season.

(After the jump: Gaudreau’s the difference for BC, UMass still can’t compete, Northeastern’s goaltending battle) Read the rest of this entry »

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DULUTH – Getting help from the  freshmen class, Minnesota-Duluth began their pre-season with a large-margined victory over Lakehead University, 7-1.

Bulldog freshman Carson Soucy was the first to strike, beating Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch and giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.  Justin Crandall buried the only other tally in the first period, which ended in favor of the home team, 2-0.  Lakehead came out with a little more determination in the second period, scoring on a power play to cut UMD’s lead, but freshman Kyle Osterberg would find the back of the net in the second period as well to keep the two-goal lead.  A four-goal third period from Joe Basaraba, Austin Farley, and Dominic Toninato (2 goals) would eventually close the game at the final 7 to 1 score.

What I Saw

Lakehead played a physical game from the beginning, which caused early problems for Dogs, who were still adjusting to new linemates.  It took a period, but Minnesota-Duluth did eventually find the chemistry between lines, which really began to shine in the third period when goals were being scored from a variety of players.

The Bulldogs gave each goaltender a period to play, which was convenient for analyzing, but made predictions as to who starts next weekend worse due to the amount of shots and actual scoring chances each goalie was confronted with.

What I Thought

Scoring really wasn’t a question mark for the Dogs coming into the season, as the most dominating class was last year’s freshmen.  With that being said, the power play struggled to convert on six attempts, which is frightening for a team who’s shown a strong special teams in past years.

Defensively, I thought the Dogs played okay.  They were able to get help from some of the younger d-players, which was another question mark entering the season.  It was hard to judge how each goalie played due to the fact that Lakehead, in theory, shouldn’t have anywhere near the talent that NCHC teams have.  Obviously, this Friday will be the real test.

What They Said

UMD coach Scott Sandelin said, “I liked our third period; not just because we scored goals, but we played the game the right way.  We didn’t get goal hungry and we only gave up 2 shots, so it was a good period.”

UMD captain Adam Krause said, “I think we’re going to be a really good team. You can see the guys that can score and move the puck well, even without (Tony) Cameranesi, one of the top guys in the country.”

What Else You Should Know

Tony Cameranesi, who co-led the Bulldogs in scoring last year with 34 points, was out with a lower body injury, but is expected to play on Friday against Michigan Tech.

The Bulldogs had six players with multiple points; two of those players were freshmen.  They also outshot Lakehead 53 to 23.

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Durham, NH – It was only an exhibition, but exhibitions can actually tell us a lot. Early on, Acadia appeared to be the team with the upper-hand but the visiting Axemen from Nova Scotia became undisciplined. The Wildcats had six power-plays in the first 30 minutes of the contest. They were able to capitalize on two of the six, to take an early 2-0 lead in that time frame. But then the floodgates opened late in the second as UNH would score three in the final three minutes of the stanza to take a 5-1 lead after two periods. Acadia would outscore UNH 2-1 in the final period, but UNH would leave with a 6-3 win. Read the rest of this entry »

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Two regular season, non-conference games will highlight the weekend schedule, as both Colgate and Clarkson begin their respective seasons. Both of the teams struggled mightily down the stretch of last season and will be looking for a new beginning this season. St Lawrence and Rensselaer host exhibition games on Saturday while Quinnipiac hosts one in Hamden on Sunday.

I will have a full ECAC preview available in the coming weeks, but in the mean time lets enjoy the hockey this weekend. it should only be a preview of what is to come around the country. Read the rest of this entry »

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With the NHL season and the draft over, a number of former, current and future NCAA players are participating in development camps. Some have already closed with others getting under way this week or later this month. Here’s a list of the players and the organization(s) they’re working out with. Not all 30 NHL franchises have released their rosters at the moment. The page will be updated as they are unveiled.

Some players have received invites from multiple organizations.

Players in italics are camp invitees. Their rights are not owned by the organization hosting them at development camp. For graduated players, some of them aren’t italicized even though they should be because I wasn’t sure if they had been signed to contracts or not. Let me know of any specific cases.

(Note: If you see any mistakes or omissions, let me know on Twitter. @JoeMeloni. There’s a lot of information here, and I’m almost certain I messed up a couple things.) Read the rest of this entry »

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The 2013 Frozen Four is a great opportunity to witness one of UMass-Lowell, Yale, St. Cloud State or Quinnipiac win their first NCAA hockey national championship in Pittsburgh. It’s also the only chance all year to see ESPN and ESPN2 show any hockey

This year brings something new to the table. Longtime Frozen Four play-by-play voice Gary Thorne, who has long been associated with the event, is out. Sportscenter anchor and former NHL2Night host John Buccigross is now alongside color commentator Barry Melrose and interviewer Clay Matvick.

With that in mind, I thought it’d be a good idea to track the ESPN coverage of the Frozen Four as it unfolds. This will be updated with thoughts from the second semifinal and championship game as they are played. Read the rest of this entry »

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BOSTON – Massachusetts-Lowell wins its first Hockey East tournament championship with a 1-0 win over Boston University Saturday night at TD Garden. The win gives the River Hawks their first ever Hockey East tournament title, while BU’s season comes to an end with the loss. This also ends BU coach Jack Parker’s 40-year coaching career after announcing his retirement two weeks ago.

Derek Arnold scored the game’s lone goal on a wraparound 11 minutes, 9 seconds into the third period. Scott Wilson and Chad Ruhwedel got the assists on the play.

UML goaltender Connor Hellebuyck was named tournament MVP following his 36-save shutout against the Terriers. BU goalie Sean Maguire had yet another strong night in goal, making 28 saves in the losing effort.

What I Saw

• In a game that saw little quality chances throughout, the River Hawks broke through at 11:09 in the third period when Arnold beat Maguire with the wraparound to make it a 1-0 game. UML had done a solid job of generate rushes in the second and third period, and finally broke through with a 3-on-2 that started in the defensive zone with Chad Ruhwedel and Arnold trading passes through the neutral zone. Arnold fed Ruhwedel in the slot, but the defenseman’s shot deflected off Scott Wilson and onto the stick of Arnold. The junior then completed the wraparound well out of the reach of Maguire’s outstretched glove. The play exemplified what the River Hawks were trying to do to BU all night, but the Terriers executed well defensively. They had another big chance to beat Maguire 3:25 into the period when Colin Wright got out on the breakaway after leaving the penalty box, but his shot rang off the post and back into play.  Read the rest of this entry »

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