On the PodKaz from USCHO.com for March 10, 2026, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski are wrapped up in the NCAA National Collegiate women's hockey tournament that starts Thursday and how we got there.

First, a look back at the five conference championship games. Penn State, Quinnipiac, UConn, Franklin Pierce and Ohio State came away with titles, but only Franklin Pierce of the NEWHA wasn't already going to make the NCAA field. The lack of upsets opened the door for Minnesota Duluth, which lost in the WCHA quarterfinals, to earn the last at-large bid.

Our second segment is a preview of all four NCAA regionals, hosted by Ohio State, Wisconsin, Penn State and Minnesota. The three first-round games Thursday have Yale playing Minnesota Duluth, UConn playing Princeton and Quinnipiac facing Franklin Pierce. The winners play Ohio State, Penn State and Wisconsin, respectively Saturday. Minnesota and Northeastern also play Saturday for a spot in the Frozen Four.

And we wrap up with a look at the 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award and the three finalists for the women's hockey goalie of the year award.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the March 3, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dig into the five days of play ahead leading to conference playoff championships.

First, however, we take a look back at how we got here. There were only two teams advancing via upsets last week: Minnesota State over Minnesota Duluth in the WCHA and Vermont over Boston College in Hockey East.

Minnesota, Quinnipiac, Princeton and Assumption also needed to win Game 3 on Sunday to make it to the final week.

Four leagues have their semifinals on a day to themselves this week, with Hockey East going first Tuesday, NEWHA following Wednesday, the WCHA going Thursday and ECAC Hockey wrapping things up Friday. Then all five leagues have their playoff championship games Saturday.

We wrap up by checking in with the NCAA Power Index, which determines selection and seeding for the NCAA tournament after Saturday’s games.

If you’re new to the NPI, check out Nicole’s story from 2023 on how it works. 

And here’s our story laying out who’s locked into the field and who’s still trying to earn a bid. 

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the Feb. 24, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com talk about the first weekend of the NCAA women’s hockey playoffs in two conferences and the final week of the regular season in three others.

Union generated the first upset, and it was a big one: The Garnet Chargers are the 12th seed in ECAC Hockey but they knocked off fifth seed Clarkson on the road last Friday.

In Atlantic Hockey, Syracuse went on the road to eliminate RIT in the first double-overtime game of the 2026 postseason.

Minnesota Duluth also had success on the road in the final weekend of the WCHA regular season, beating Minnesota in overtime twice behind goals from Tova Henderson. Wisconsin secured the WCHA title with a victory over St. Cloud State on the final day.

Northeastern beat UConn in overtime in a potential Hockey East playoff preview. Also, here’s the between-the-legs overtime winner by Vermont’s Oona Havana against New Hampshire on Saturday.

Franklin Pierce emerged on top of the NEWHA standings after a victory over Saint Anselm on Friday and an Assumption overtime loss to Sacred Heart.

Our second segment looks back at the Olympic women’s hockey tournament and the gold medal won by the U.S. in a 2-1 overtime victory over Canada. Switzerland took the bronze by beating Sweden in overtime.

And we finish with a look ahead to the second weekend of the playoffs for ECAC Hockey and Atlantic Hockey and the opening round for the WCHA, Hockey East and NEWHA.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In the PodKaz for Feb. 17, 2026, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com open with a look back on a wild finish to the ECAC Hockey regular season. Yale and Princeton tied for the championship after Saturday games that both involved extra-attacker goals.

No. 2 Ohio State solidified a top-two spot in the WCHA with a home sweep of No. 3 Minnesota, and the Buckeyes still have hope of passing No. 1 Wisconsin on the final weekend.

The race for the NEWHA championship is going down to the final weekend, with Franklin Pierce, Assumption and Saint Anselm having chances at the title.

RIT earned its first win at No. 4 Penn State in 12 years with an overtime triumph last Friday, and Syracuse earned a tie and shootout win over Mercyhurst to add some intrigue to the upcoming playoffs.

Minnesota, Penn State and Northeastern didn't lose ground in the NPI despite losses last week.

Our second segment includes a discussion of the upcoming Olympic gold-medal game. The U.S. and Canada will play in the final for the seventh time in eight tournaments, and even though the Americans have won each time the countries have played this season, Thursday's game still feels like a toss-up.

We wrap up this week's show with a look ahead to the start of the postseason in ECAC Hockey and Atlantic Hockey and other important games around the country.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

The PodKaz for Feb. 20, 2026, has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski looking back on a series split between No. 1 Wisconsin and No. 2 Ohio State last weekend in Madison. The Buckeyes looked great at the start but the Badgers rebounded like they have so well over the last few seasons.

The race for the ECAC Hockey championship is coming down to the final weekend of the regular season. The top six teams are separated by 6½ points, with first-place Princeton leading Yale by two points. The Tigers missed a chance to stretch their lead by losing to Harvard on Saturday.

Holy Cross had a rough week in Hockey East, losing to Boston College and New Hampshire to extend its winless skid to four games. Northeastern and UConn needed overtime to get past Vermont and Providence, respectively.

The NEWHA chase tightened up with Saint Anselm losing in overtime twice at Long Island, leaving the door open for Franklin Pierce and Assumption to close in.

We also look at the Olympics, where the U.S. and Canada are set to meet in preliminary-round play Tuesday.

And we finish up with a glance at some of the important clashes ahead in NCAA women's hockey, including meetings between No. 2 Ohio State and No. 3 Minnesota and the ECAC Hockey slate.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

The Olympics women's hockey tournament starts Thursday, and this edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com starts to break down what to expect from the U.S., Canada and other countries.

In NCAA hockey, No. 3 Minnesota overcame the absence of top scorers to beat No. 1 Wisconsin in overtime last Friday but the Badgers did the same a day later for a 6-1 victory in Minneapolis.

No. 2 Ohio State started its Olympic absence period by dropping four goals on No. 9 Minnesota Duluth in the first 20 minutes of its series en route to a sweep.

ECAC Hockey continued to be unpredictable: No. 5 Quinnipiac entered last weekend on a seven-game winning streak, then lost to No. 11 Clarkson and St. Lawrence. Clarkson couldn't get a much-needed weekend sweep, however, losing to No. 8 Princeton.

No. 6 Northeastern got the better of No. 13 Holy Cross in a Hockey East series, and No. 4 Penn State won an outdoor game to launch a sweep of Robert Morris.

This week's top series is No. 1 Wisconsin hosting No. 2 Ohio State in a rematch of the last three NCAA championship games.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the Jan. 28, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski from USCHO.com dig into what it'll mean for some teams to lose players to the Olympics starting this week and reflect on last week's results.

It was a big weekend for Northeastern, which moved up three spots to fifth in the NCAA Power Index by sweeping UConn on the road. The Huskies have opened up a 12-point lead in the race for the Hockey East title.

Harvard won the Beanpot last Tuesday with a Carla McSweeney penalty shot goal in overtime against Boston University. And Penn State sent a message with a 5-1 win at Cornell.

Princeton's winning streak ended at 13 games with a loss to the Big Red, then the Tigers lost in overtime to Colgate despite overcoming a two-goal deficit.

St. Thomas put a scare into Ohio State before the Buckeyes won in overtime last Friday. Minnesota Duluth's Ève Gascon stopped all 45 shots she faced in a series against Minnesota State, plus three more in a shootout. And Abbey Murphy scored three more goals in a Minnesota series sweep against St. Cloud State, giving her 36 for the season.

But now Murphy and other NCAA stars will be missing for a month for the Olympics. The scaled-back Gophers get a test right away by hosting scaled-back Wisconsin, with a combined nine players off the teams' rosters. We talk about how teams will feel the impact of the absences.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

On the Jan. 20, 2026, edition of the PodKaz from USCHO.com, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski reflect upon this year’s IIHF Under-18 Women’s World Championship in Nova Scotia, where Nicole saw the U.S. defeat Canada for the gold medal.

Nicole shares what it was like in the building for the 2-0 victory Sunday and takes us behind the scenes. We also talked about Finland, which will miss out on next year’s event after being relegated.

Our look back at last week in NCAA hockey includes a mention of Yale goalie Samson Frey, who, entering Monday’s game against Providence, was 8-0 with four shutouts, a 0.65 goals-against average and a .971 save percentage

No. 3 Minnesota’s Abbey Murphy is pulling away from the pack in both goals (33) and points (58) after another big weekend. Joy Dunne also had a four-goal game for No. 2 Ohio State.

And we look ahead to Tuesday night’s Beanpot final between Boston University and Harvard, plus the rest of this week’s NCAA women’s hockey schedule.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

The Jan. 15, 2026, episode of the PodKaz from USCHO.com has hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski talking about Princeton's 11-game winning streak. The Tigers are one win away from tying a program record, and they've shot to the top of ECAC Hockey.

We also look back at the first night of the Beanpot, where Harvard and Boston University won to set up their second game with a trophy on the line in January. They also played for the title of the Friendship Series in Belfast, Northern Ireland.

The viral sensation of last weekend was Minnesota's Abbey Murphy juggling the puck through the legs of a Minnesota State defender to set up a goal by Bella Fanale as the Gophers completed a home-and-home sweep. See that video here.

We also take a look back at results between Penn State and Mercyhurst and Minnesota Duluth's shootout win against Wisconsin before the Badgers rebounded. The race for the NEWHA title also got tighter with last week's results.

Nicole checks in from Nova Scotia with an update from the Under-18 Women's World Championship, which moves into the quarterfinal round Thursday.

And we finish with a look ahead at some games to watch around NCAA women's hockey this weekend.

The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].

In the Jan. 8, 2026, edition of the PodKaz, hosts Nicole Haase and Todd Milewski look ahead to the IIHF Under-18 Women's World Championship, which starts Jan. 10 in Nova Scotia. The rosters are packed with players committed to play NCAA hockey in the coming seasons, making it an important look at what's to come on campus.

We also take a quick look at how many NCAA teams will be sending players to the Olympics and discuss the impact on the college game.

Our look back to last week's games includes a home sweep by No. 2 Ohio State against No. 4 Penn State and a tournament championship for Boston University in Belfast. Hat tricks were plentiful in other lopsided nonconference games.

And this week brings three series between ranked teams in the WCHA and an important set of ECAC Hockey contests.

Here are some links to follow Nicole's coverage of the Under-18s:

https://victorypress.org/2026/01/02/2026-iihf-u18-womens-world-championships-rosters-and-college-commitments/

https://victorypress.org/2026/01/07/2026-iihf-u18-womens-world-championship-introduction-and-how-to-watch/

https://x.com/NicoleHaase

https://bsky.app/profile/nicolehaase.bsky.social

https://www.instagram.com/nicolehaase14

https://www.instagram.com/thevictorypress


The PodKaz is a production of USCHO.com. Have a question for us? Reach out to Nicole (@NicoleHaase) or Todd (@ToddMilewski) on social media or email [email protected].