USCHO Edge

There's a log jam atop the Big Ten standings, with the two teams tied for first facing off this weekend. Penn State Sports Network radio play-by-play broadcaster Brian Tripp joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to preview No. 9 Penn State at No. 11 Ohio State.

We also look at two other Big Ten series, No. 19 Michigan State at Minnesota and Wisconsin at Michigan.

In the NCHC, No. 6 Minnesota Duluth can close the gap with success over visiting Omaha.

WCHA action includes No. 15 Northern Michigan at No. 3 Minnesota State, with PairWise implications for NMU.

In Hockey East, No. 14 UMass Lowell is at No. 4 Boston College and Maine hosts No. 12 Northeastern in single Friday games, while No. 10 Providence and No. 8 UMass have a home-and-home series.

ECAC Hockey has a rivalry matchup as No. 5 Clarkson heads to St. Lawrence and a renovated Appleton Arena.

Atlantic Hockey's top tilt is Tuesday when No. 20 Sacred Heart visits American International, while other games over the weekend have playoff implications.

In non-conference play, No. 11 Arizona State travels to Holy Cross and Bentley in nearly must-win games for the Sun Devils.

And Monday is the Beanpot, with No. 17 Harvard taking on Boston College in the consolation while Northeastern hopes to three-peat for the championship against Boston University.

This episode is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour/

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The first Monday in February means it's time for the semifinal round of the Beanpot Tournament. Retired Boston Globe writer John Powers joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to preview the two games, Northeastern vs. Harvard and Boston College vs. Boston University. The games will be televised in the U.S. on the NHL Network and on TSN in Canada.

We also look at other key games around the country, including No. 9 Providence at No. 13 Northeastern and No. 5 Boston College at No. 7 UMass on Friday in Hockey East, No. 1 Cornell at No. 18 Quinnipiac in the ECAC on Friday, a trio of series in Atlantic Hockey including No. 20 Sacred Heart at Air Force, an NCHC weekend featuring No. 10 Minnesota Duluth at No. 4 Denver, an important weekend in Big Ten hockey in all three series, and a premier WCHA pair with Bowling Green visiting No. 19 Bemidji.

No. 12 Arizona State looks to keep its PairWise perch well above the bubble with a pair of non-conference games against visiting Robert Morris.

This episode is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour/

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

CBS Sports Network analyst Dave Starman joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to preview No. 2 North Dakota at No. 11 Minnesota Duluth. Friday's nationally-televised NCHC conference game is the USCHO Game of the Week.

We also preview other key games. In the NCHC, we look at No. 5 Denver at Miami. Two Big Ten matchups are No. 9 Penn State at No. 19 Michigan State and Wisconsin at Notre Dame. The premier WCHA series finds Bemidji at No. 3 Minnesota State.

Back east in the ECAC, No. 1 Cornell hosts No. 20 Dartmouth on Friday and No. 16 Harvard on Saturday. In Hockey East, we preview home-and-home series between No. 7 UMass and New Hampshire and No. 12 UMass Lowell and Boston University, as well as a two-game series with Maine at No. 4 Boston College. And in Atlantic Hockey, American International and Army West Point look to gain ground atop the standings on the road against Robert Morris and Niagara respectively.

Non-conference play has No. 13 Arizona State at No. 8 Clarkson for the weekend, Union and Rensselaer on Saturday in the Mayor's Cup, and the first-ever Connecticut Ice tournament with No. 17 Quinnipiac, UConn, Yale, and Sacred Heart.

This episode is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour/

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) are joined by Omaha head coach Mike Gabinet to preview the Mavericks' two home games this weekend against No. 4 Denver in NCHC play.

We also look at other key matchups, including No. 8 Minnesota Duluth at St. Cloud in the NCHC, plus three weekend series in the Big Ten: No. 18 Notre Dame at No. 9 Ohio State, Michigan at No. 6 Penn State, and No. 20 Michigan State at Wisconsin.

In Hockey East, No. 5 Boston College is at No. 13 UMass Lowell on Friday and hosts rival Boston University on Saturday.

The WCHA's top series has No. 3 Minnesota State at No. 15 Bowling Green, and a Saturday ECAC tilt finds No. 7 Clarkson at No. 16 Harvard.

In non-conference play, No. 17 Northern Michigan is at No. 1 (tie) Cornell and No. 14 Arizona State hosts Rochester Institute of Technology for weekend series.

And an old traditional rivalry has Army West Point visiting its Canadian counterpart Royal Military Academy on Saturday.

This episode is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour/

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

The WCHA has a competitive battle underway for the top spots in the standings. This weekend, two ranked teams face off in league play as No. 16 Bowling Green visits No. 17 Michigan Tech. Bowling Green first-year head coach Ty Eigner joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to preview the weekend.

We also look ahead at No. 10 UMass and No. 4 Boston College and their home-and-home Hockey East series, as well as No. 7 Clarkson at Quinnipiac, Harvard and Yale at MSG, Air Force at Army West Point, and No. 1 North Dakota's 13-game home winning streak on the line vs. Omaha.

This episode is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour for tickets.

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

Four ranked teams face off this weekend in the Fortress Invitational in Las Vegas: No. 2 Cornell, No. 6 Ohio State, No. 14 Providence, and No. 20 Army West Point. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) – who's on-site for USCHO in Vegas – and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) preview the tournament.

We also look ahead at a rematch of last April's national semifinal game with No. 9 UMass at No. 7 Denver, No. 19 Western Michigan's home-and-home series with No. 15 Notre Dame, Michigan Tech – fresh off its GLI championship – at No. 17 Arizona State, No. 16 Harvard and Dartmouth's games with Quinnipiac, and some key weekend series in the WCHA.

This podcast is sponsored by the 2020 NCAA Frozen Four, April 9 and 11 in Detroit. Visit ncaa.com/frozenfour for tickets.

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts

No. 17 Harvard hosts No. 16 Arizona State for a pair of games in Irvine, California on December 28 and 29, 2019 in the SoCal Clash. Sun Devils head coach Greg Powers joins us for a preview. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) also preview the in-season tournaments scheduled for the weekend, including the Ledyard Bank Classic, the Catamount Cup, the Great Lakes Invitational and the Mariucci Classic.

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No. 7 Penn State travels to No. 15 Notre Dame for this week's USCHO Game of the Week. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) are joined by Nittany Lions head coach Guy Gadowsky for a preview of the Big Ten series.

Also in this episode: In the NCHC, Colorado College and No. 8 Denver are home-and-home as part of this year's Battle for the Gold Pan and Omaha is at St. Cloud State; In the WCHA, No. 1 Minnesota State is at Northern Michigan and No. 10 Bowling Green travels to Lake Superior; in Atlantic Hockey, Army and Robert Morris each can move back into first place; and in non-conference action, No. 4 Clarkson is at Michigan Tech and No. 16 Arizona State is at No. 18 Michigan State for two-game series, and Dartmouth, fresh off an upset of Cornell, visits No. 12 Northeastern for a single game.

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UMass Lowell coach Norm Bazin joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to preview the No. 16 River Hawks' home-and-home Hockey East series with No. 15 Providence.

Jim and Ed also look at these weekend matchups: No. 2 Cornell is at No. 12 Harvard on Friday in ECAC Hockey action; in the NCHC, No. 3 North Dakota is at No. 17 Western Michigan and No. 14 Minnesota Duluth is at No. 18 Omaha in weekend series; No. 4 Denver travels for a pair at No. 20 Arizona State; and in a home-and-home series separated by an extra day and 800 air miles, No. 9 Notre Dame takes on No. 10 Boston College.

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Boston University coach Albie O'Connell joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) as his Terriers prepare to face Cornell on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in USCHO's Game of the Week. Jim and Ed also preview North Dakota at Minnesota, Michigan State at Ohio State, Minnesota State at Minnesota Duluth, Boston College at Harvard, home-and-home series for Bowling Green/Notre Dame and UMass/Quinnipiac, plus the 2019 Friendship Four.

Find all of our podcasts at USCHO.com/podcasts