2021-22 NCAA Division I Hockey Thread

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College Hockey News takes on DI men's play this past weekend. YMMV ...

• Roundup: Bounceback Wins for BC, BU and North Dakota

• Roundup: UMD, St. Cloud Sweep Big Ten Foes ... Michigan Avoids Same Fate with OT Win Over WMU

 

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And wider viewpoints from USCHO.com ...

• Rankings roundup: How the top 20 NCAA hockey teams fared, Oct. 22-24

• Monday 10: Potential for new No. 1-ranked team, Long Island homecoming, Ivy League ready to get back on ice

 

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Entering Week #4 in men's DI hockey, here is how the NCAA "Power 10" rankings shuffled up ...

Evan Marinofsky | NCAA.com | October 25, 2021

College hockey rankings: Western Michigan's win over No. 1 Michigan shakes up latest Power 10

This is the fourth men's ice hockey Power 10 of the season and already, it's the third time there's been a new No. 1.


That's how wild the season has been so far.


There has also been a ton of volatility outside the top three. It's been a treat to see so many of those teams play each other this quickly into the season. This past weekend, No. 4 Minnesota played a weekend series with No. 5 Minnesota Duluth. No. 6. North Dakota had two games against No. 7 Quinnipiac. No. 8 Denver took a trip to the East Coast and played both No. 10 Boston College and No. 12 Providence.


Those results, which we'll get to in a bit, changed so many things about this week's Power 10. ...


Read more about the Power 10 at: College hockey rankings: Western Michigan's win over No. 1 Michigan shakes up latest Power 10

 

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From: College Hockey News

October 26, 2021

Team of the Week: Minnesota-Duluth

by Adam Wodon / Managing Editor

The first six games have provided a stiff test to Minnesota-Duluth. It's safe to say the Bulldogs have come through in good shape.

Playing five of six games against NCAA Tournament qualifiers from a year ago, and one team, Providence, that just missed, UMD came through it 5-1. That's five tough non-conference games that not only toughen the Bulldogs up and get them ready for the NCHC schedule, but will be important factors when it comes to the Pairwise formula for picking the NCAA field for this year. ...

Read more at: Team of the Week: Minnesota-Duluth

 

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USCHO.com’s “This Week” offerings …

• This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Holy Cross notches first win of the season, first for new coach Riga

• This Week in ECAC Hockey: Half dozen Ivy League schools gearing up for first games in more than 18 months

• This Week in CCHA Hockey: Dealing with key player departures, Lake Superior State finding new players stepping up to fill roles

• This Week in Hockey East: Constant improvement mantra guides Vermont into upcoming series vs. Boston College

 

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From: NCAA.com > News > Ice Hockey > Men

WISCONSIN ATHLETICS | OCTOBER 29, 2021

Men's college ice hockey: Wisconsin stuns No. 2 Michigan, splits series with Wolverines

ANN ARBOR, Mich. — Wisconsin earned a signature early-season victory with a 4-2 win at No. 2 Michigan on Friday at Yost Ice Arena for its first Big Ten win on the season.

The Badgers (3-5-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten) broke out on offense after getting shutout last night, on their second stab at the Wolverines (6-2-0, 1-1-0 Big Ten). ...

Read and See more at: Men's college ice hockey: Wisconsin stuns No. 2 Michigan, splits series with Wolverines

 

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From: NCAA.com > News > Ice Hockey > Men

Too bad for UM the games aren't won on paper, and league play is always such an equalizer. But also, UM has split the last two weekends - they're good no doubt, but young, and there's a lot of season left.

 

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Minnesota State Mavericks' goalie Dryden McKay sets the new NCAA DI record for career shutouts @ 27. He also earned his 81st win as a Maverick with a 7-0 home victory over Northern Michigan on Friday night, tying the school record.

ETA: from the Rochester (MN) Post Bulletin ...

'I’m glad I was able to do it at home,' says Dryden McKay after NCAA-record 27th shutout for Mavericks

McKay now has three shutouts this season and 27 in career.

Written By: Shane Frederick / Special to The Rink Live | 10:00 pm, Oct. 30, 2021

MANKATO, Minn. -- Dryden McKay is college hockey’s new shutout king.

On Saturday, Oct. 30, the Minnesota State senior goaltender stopped 15 Northern Michigan shots for his 27th career shutout, setting the NCAA record during a dominant 7-0 CCHA victory and passing one of the all-time greats, Michigan State’s Ryan Miller.

“It’s very humbling,” McKay said, “just to be mentioned with the guy I passed. But most special was the reaction of the guys. You would have thought it was them who got the record, with the way they reacted.”

As the final minute of the game ticked down, what remained of the Mayo Clinic Health System Event Center crowd of 4,004 was on its feet and cheering wildly for McKay, who was mobbed by his teammates after the horn sounded and later sent on a mini-lap around the rink after the full team saluted the student section after the sweep.

“I’m glad I was able to do it at home,” McKay said. “My goal was to do it in front of our amazing fans.” ...


Read & See more at: 'I’m glad I was able to do it at home,' says Dryden McKay after NCAA-record 27th shutout for Mavericks | Post Bulletin

 

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My latest scheme is to post both women's & men's DI polls at the beginning of the month in this thread, unless/until things get interesting late in the season. So starting with the women's ranking @ November 1st ...

And the men's side poll ...

 

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EVAN MARINOFSKY | NCAA.COM | NOVEMBER 1, 2021

5 takeaways from a wild October in DI men's college hockey


That was a pretty great first month of college hockey.

October brought a lot. There were impressive performances, different teams atop the rankings every week and best of all, some incredible matchups that legitimately lived up to the hype. There were even a few upsets sprinkled in as well (I'm looking right at you, Western Michigan).

With a month this good leading things off for the season, it's hard not to imagine what else the rest of the year has in store.

Here are five takeaways from the past month. ...

Read the 5 Takeaways (and take them away) at/from: 5 takeaways from a wild October in DI men's college hockey

 

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From: College Hockey News

November 2, 2021

Team of the Week: Western Michigan

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor

Oh so close to being Team of the Week the last time around, Western Michigan continued its impressive start by sweeping Colgate this past weekend (once in OT) to finally get the nod.

A five-goal comeback on Friday and a 2-1 OT win on Saturday, on the road, will do that.

But the week before, Western Michigan was facing mighty Michigan. Now, Colgate is no slouch this year, but Michigan is another story, with all the hype and its unbeaten start against good teams. Well, Western Michigan finally did to Michigan what Minnesota State and Minnesota-Duluth couldn't do, knocked the Wolverines off their perch with a physical, heavy game.

The next night, for the home part of the home-and-home, WMU nearly pulled off a sweep, but a late goal was disallowed for a high stick, and Michigan won in OT.

"We're starting to form a team identity of a group that really works hard, and is hard to play against," WMU's first-year head coach Pat Ferschweiler said. "And when we get it in the offensive zone, grind teams and control it down there. I think our guys are comfortable with that kind of style of play, and that we have to play hard every shift. We're not the most talented team in the country — we are a talented hockey team with good players, but when you face Michigan with superstar players — they're as advertised. They're smart, they skate, they're fast players, heady players — we have to bring a little extra with work ethic every shift, and our guys are buying into that." ...

Read more at: Team of the Week: Western Michigan

 

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Another roller coaster game for the Lindenwood U Lady Lions playing @ Penn State. LU scored twice in the 1st period & took a 2-0 lead into the 2nd intermission. But within the first 4 minutes of the 3rd, the Nittany Lions scored 3 goals to take away that lead and ultimately won 5-3. The new Lady Lions team logo for 2021-22 is ...

 

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From: USCHO.com

NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey: Coaches, teams organize on social media to demand expanded tournament field

By Nicole Haase - November 4, 2021

The NCAA Championship Oversight Committee will convene November 10th to immediately reconsider the petition to expand the women’s hockey tournament from 8 to 12 teams for this season.

According to UMD coach Maura Crowell, this comes as a response to the findings from the report published by Kaplan, Hecker and Fink (KHF) law offices last week detailing gender inequities in the NCAA. (Read more about what the report said about college hockey here.)

The report, published on October 25, detailed gender inequities across a number of NCAA sports, but the disparities in hockey were particularly bad. With the new meeting a week away, it was important to make sure the information in the report continues to be noticed, discussed, disseminated and taken seriously.

“Obviously the findings are pretty powerful. I think the numbers speak for themselves in the fact that our sport is one of the most egregious of all in terms of gender equity. We decided that it’s our responsibility, as stakeholders in the sport, to make sure that that information gets publicized,” said Crowell.

An organized effort to draw attention to the inequities launched on social media on Thursday morning. A graphic and message about expanding the women’s tournament to a 12-team field was sent out by official team sites, coaches and assistant coaches and players. ...




Read more at: https://www.uscho.com/2021/11/04/nc...al-media-to-demand-expanded-tournament-field/

 

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From: NCAA.com > Division I > Men's Ice Hockey

EVAN MARINOFSKY | NCAA.COM | NOVEMBER 3, 2021

7 men's college hockey storylines to watch in November

... November is a great time in college hockey because we get an early look at how teams stack up against conference rivals. Through one month, we know the NCHC is on another level, the Big Ten has some surprise teams and Hockey East is falling behind a bit. Arizona State, Lake Superior and St. Thomas ended the month with the most games played at 10 apiece.

Now things even out. ...

Read about What Teams & Conferences to Watch at: 7 men's college hockey storylines to watch in November

 

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From: College Hockey News

November 7, 2021

Saturday Roundup: OSU Sweeps Penn State

Michigan, North Dakota Also Complete Perfect Weekends

CHN Staff Report

For the second straight night, Penn State scored first. And for the second straight night, Ohio State dominated the scoreboard from there. ...

"Any time you can sweep a team in this league you’ve done something pretty good, especially against a really good hockey team," OSU coach Steve Rohlik said. "My guys have worked awfully hard. We’re nowhere near a finished product. We have to keep working to get there. It’s a good start and was a good homestand. Now we’re going to get on the road this week and head up to Minnesota.” ...

Read more Men's Weekend Results at: Saturday Roundup: OSU Sweeps Penn State

 

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From: USCHO.com

NCAA Division I Women’s Hockey: Early wins a product of character, spirit of RPI

By Nicole Haase - November 4, 2021

Rensselaer coach Bryan Vines and graduate student Lauren Severson say their team is focused on the present and enjoying the fact that their team is finally able to return to the ice after 19 months passed between their final game in February 2020 and when they dropped the puck in September this year.

But while the team isn’t spending much time thinking about their winless 19-20 season, it’s hard not to compare their much stronger start this time around to what happened the last time the(y) played a season. The RPI women’s hockey program went 951 days (two years and seven months) between wins.

And then they broke their losing streak in convincing fashion, rattling off four wins in a row, something the program hadn’t done since December of 2012. ...

Read more at: https://www.uscho.com/2021/11/04/nc...ly-wins-a-product-of-character-spirit-of-rpi/

 

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USCHO Monday 10 (8 November 2021): North Dakota sweeps on home ice, Minnesota State settles for split, Northeastern finds consistency

 

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Up to Week #6 for the men, if I'm counting right ...

• USCHO's This Week in NCHC Hockey: Getting bounces, Miami earns split at Omaha as RedHawks developing winning mentality
• USCHO's This Week in Atlantic Hockey: American International benefiting from tough early schedule at start of ’21-22 season
• USCHO's This Week in CCHA Hockey: After ‘rough’ 2020-21 season, Ferris State ‘a superior team from what we were a year ago’
• USCHO's This Week in Hockey East: UMass Lowell looking to make some noise this weekend vs. Northeastern, Boston College
• USCHO's This Week in ECAC Hockey: Rensselaer hitting ground running with revitalized roster after season-plus layoff
  
  
  
  

 

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And the defending men's champs earning College Hockey News' honors ...

November 9, 2021

Team of the Week: Massachusetts

by Adam Wodon/Managing Editor

The start of the season wasn't easy for Massachusetts, coming off its national championship from a year ago. Then again, it's not supposed to be easy. There's always some hangover effect, no matter how hard you try, and many good players leave. This is normal.

It's what you do after that, that matters.

After opening with two losses at home amid its banner-raising ceremony, to fellow Frozen Four team Minnesota State, UMass has since won six in a row.

Most impressive was this past weekend's home-and-home league sweep of Providence, in which the team allowed just one goal. ...

Read more at: Team of the Week: Massachusetts

 

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November 7, 2021 - College Hockey News

Same Page

Brodzinski's Return Fuels St. Cloud's Strong Start

by Avash Kalra/Senior Writer

"There were a lot of early mornings for therapy."

The summer wasn't necessarily fun for St. Cloud fifth-year senior Easton Brodzinski. After leading the Huskies in goals during the 2020-21 season and even being named to the NCAA Northeast Regional All-Tournament team, Brodzinski required urgent surgery to repair a broken femur after St. Cloud's NCAA Regional Final win over Boston College. He missed the Frozen Four and watched St. Cloud lose, 5-0, to UMass in the national title game.

The summer was spent getting back on two feet — a true behind-the-scenes effort that allowed Brodzinski, remarkably, to return in time for the 2021-22 season opener.

"It was Monday through Friday for the entire summer," said Brodzinski. "So I didn't really have too much of a summer, but it was a lot of fun getting to know my training staff a little bit more. It was a lot of time spent with them, and a lot of effort by everyone getting me back.

"The training staff and the team at St. Cloud orthopedics really helped me achieve that goal of getting back for that first game." ...

Read more at: Same Page

 

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at the 12-minute intermissions for the Ferris State Bulldogs @ Michigan State Spartan's men's contest tonight. A little light reading during the quick turn yielded this from a March 2021 Wisconsin State Journal article: "The Big Ten is trying to make games take less time to complete. The conference was granted a waiver from the NCAA to shorten intermissions to 12 minutes from the standard 15 or 18 that are allowed in the rule book. ..." I guess the waiver was extended.

 

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From: USCHO.com > D-I Women

NCAA approves increasing women’s Division I hockey tournament field from eight teams to 11 teams
By USCHO Staff - November 10, 2021

The NCAA Division I Competition Oversight Committee on Wednesday approved expanding the national women’s hockey brackets for the NCAA tournament.

The bracket will expand from eight to 11 teams, but the Women’s Ice Hockey Committee has yet to decide whether the new bracket format will be implemented in 2022 or 2023.

Once the committee makes a final recommendations on format, it will be shared with the competition oversight committee and the Division I Council for final approval. ...

Read more at: https://www.uscho.com/2021/11/10/nc...ournament-field-from-eight-teams-to-11-teams/

 

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From: College Hockey News

November 11, 2021
McMahon: This Week in College Hockey, Nov. 11, 2021

by Mike McMahon/Staff Writer

Let's start this week's column by highlighting a pretty crazy statistic.

I had to dig deeper and make sure this was not incorrect (we all know what's going on with boxscores and stats nowadays), but it's true.

Michigan Tech has a 100 percent penalty kill percentage this season. They’re 23 for 23 through seven games. Michigan Tech also closed out last season going 14 for 14, so they’re perfect on their last 37 penalty kills!

The Huskies last allowed a PP goal on Feb. 26 against Northern Michigan, and have now gone 12 straight games without allowing a power-play goal.

Moreover, that was the only power-play goal that the Huskies allowed in their final 15 games of last season.

So to summarize ... Michigan Tech has allowed ONE power-play goal in its last 27 games! That's almost an entire season's worth of games!

The Huskies finished last season having killed 38 of 39 penalties. They've now entered this year having killed 23 in a row. ...

Read more at: McMahon: This Week in College Hockey, Nov. 11, 2021

 

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I just stumbled on this old but good news, courtesy of the Northeastern U hockey website. I'll take free hockey any day (or weekend)!

All Hockey East Games Available for Free on College SportsLive

9/23/2021

AMESBURY, Mass. - Hockey East has once again partnered with ViacomCBS Digital to provide fans across the world the opportunity to view every single Hockey East game in 2021-22 season on digital platforms. ...

Each home Hockey East game will be streamed live for free on College SportsLive, just as in 2020-21. All games will be made available across the U.S. and internationally on SportsLive, while select games televised on NESN and NESN+ will also be made available on CBSSports.com and the CBS Sports app outside of New England.

Games selected by NESN or NESN+ as part of the league's agreement with the regional sports network will be made available on SportsLive only outside of New England, while NESN, NESN+, and NESN's authenticated streaming service will provide coverage across the region.

To watch games on SportsLive, fans can visit CollegeSportsLive.com and select Hockey East from the All Partners drop down menu. There, fans can select to view all men's and women's games. If tuning in from outside New England and looking for a game airing on NESN or NESN+, fans should select Hockey East on NESN from the All Partners drop down menu.

Full How to Watch details and direct links to each game will be updated every week in the Watch tab of the league's website, HockeyEastOnline.com.

 

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Week #7 men's previews from USCHO.com ...

• This Week in Atlantic Hockey: With 13 of first 15 games away from home, Sacred Heart squad proving to be early-season road warriors
• This Week in CCHA Hockey: Bemidji State mixing youth, experience to perfection early in 2021-22 season
• This Week in ECAC Hockey: Offseason renovations to Brown’s Meehan Auditorium ‘the outward appearance of the excellence that we preach’
• This Week in Hockey East: Conference coaches express mixed feelings on 3-on-3 overtime, shootout format