USCHO Weekend Review

Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) look back at the weekend of March 5-8, which saw four conferences begin playoffs and two others wrap up their regular seasons.

In ECAC Hockey, Princeton's two overtime wins advanced the Tigers past Dartmouth, while it took two overtimes for Yale to advance past Union in the league's only game three.

The big surprise in Atlantic Hockey was that there were no surprises; all three higher seeds advanced, though only Robert Morris needed three to move past Holy Cross, including a game two overtime win.

In the Big Ten, the higher seeds all won as well. Notre Dame will miss the NCAA tournament after a disappointing second semester, while Wisconsin will await decisions by three first-round draft picks who might turn pro.

The WCHA saw two lower seeds advance. Bowling Green swept Alaska and Michigan Tech downed rival Northern Michigan in a three-overtime thriller.

Hockey East settled its playoff lineup and home ice as did the NCHC, which decided everything on Friday except whether North Dakota would be alone in first place. The Fighting Hawks' win over Omaha gave them sole possession of the Penrose Cup.

Arizona State continues to watch the PairWise, which Bemidji State showed over the weekend still has some volatility.

Plus we weigh in on the impact of the coronavirus as Rensselaer announced its series against Harvard will be played at an empty Houston Field House.

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

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Playoff fields are set in four conferences after last weekend, while two conferences still have a final week left in their regular season. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) look at the results of February 27-29, 2020.

In Hockey East, Boston College has clinched the regular season and UMass has locked up home ice, but four teams are still battling for the last three playoff spots.

In the NCHC, North Dakota has won a share of the regular-season Penrose Cup, but Minnesota Duluth could share that title, while St. Cloud still has a shot at home ice.

Cornell's highly-anticipated Saturday contest with Clarkson was a bit anticlimactic after the Golden Knights' tie with Colgate on Friday clinched the Cleary Cup for the Big Red, but the surprise team in ECAC Hockey is Rensselaer, which earned a first-round playoff bye.

With its season completed last week, Penn State had to await the results of the weekend to see whether it would hold onto first place in the Big Ten. The Nittany Lions won their first Big Ten regular-season title after Minnesota and Ohio State managed just one point each on the weekend.

In the WCHA, Minnesota State clinched sole possession of first place with a weekend split with Bemidji State, while Alaska's sweep of Alaska Anchorage gave the Nanooks home ice in the first round of the playoffs.

Atlantic Hockey's repeat regular season champion American International had already clinched the league, but three teams competed over the weekend for the first-round bye, which Niagara won with a sweep of Robert Morris.

And Arizona State's PairWise position was shored up by the weekend's results, with the Sun Devils at No. 12.

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

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With only one or two weekends left in conference play, all but Atlantic Hockey – clinched by American International – remain up for grabs for regular season titles. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) look back at a wild weekend of college hockey.

In Hockey East, No. 8 UMass and No. 14 UMass Lowell split their home-and-home weekend, while No. 6 Boston College won both halves against No. 10 Northeastern, including a thumping at home. Merrimack ended its season with a home-and-home upset of No. 15 Providence, while No. 17 Maine picked up three home points against Vermont.

In the NCHC, No. 1 North Dakota managed just a tie at St. Cloud State, while No. 4 Minnesota Duluth split with host No. 19 Western Michigan, and No. 7 Denver won in big fashion over Miami at home.

No. 11 Penn State ended its Big Ten season with 5-of-6 points at home against No. 18 Minnesota, but the conference race remains wide open, with No. 12 Ohio State controlling its own destiny.

In ECAC Hockey, No. 20 Harvard upset No. 5 Clarkson, giving No. 2 Cornell a two-point lead in the standings, but the Crimson stumbled Saturday at St. Lawrence. Meanwhile the race for a first-round bye and first-round home ice is tight heading into the league's last weekend.

No. 3 Minnesota State kept up its winning ways with big wins over Alabama Huntsville, but it was Bowling Green's two home wins that were most significant in the WCHA as the Falcons look to gain home ice for the first round of the playoffs.

In Atlantic Hockey, AIC's 11-game winning streak and 20 league wins have sewn up first place, while Sacred Heart has at least a share of second place and the second playoff seed sown up. Rochester Institute of Technology and Army West Point each will finish either third or fourth, but a battle remains for the fifth-place first-round bye and home ice in the first round this coming weekend.

Plus, Wisconsin's sweep of No. 9 Arizona State kept the Sun Devils from clinching an NCAA berth and put ASU near the PairWise bubble.

And Jim and Ed share some Miracle on Ice 40th anniversary remembrances and thoughts.

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

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Hockey East announced today that New Hampshire deputy athletic director Steve Metcalf will become the fifth commissioner of the conference this spring. Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) discuss his hiring.

Also in this episode, a look around the conferences and results from the weekend of February 14-16:

In the NCHC, a weekend sweep by No. 1 North Dakota over No. 6 Denver has cemented the Fighting Hawks atop the conference and guaranteed an NCAA berth.

The Big Ten remains tight, with Minnesota's five-of-six point weekend at Notre Dame giving the Golden Gophers a share of first place with Penn State.

Cornell and Clarkson have opened up some space atop ECAC Hockey.

Hockey East remains jumbled, with three teams gaining weekend sweeps, leaving five points separating first through ninth place, and just two points among the top five.

Bemidji State's weekend sweep gains ground on Minnesota State, but the idle Mavericks need just two points to clinch.

Sweeps by Army and RIT have given them the edge in the race for home ice and a first-round bye in Atlantic Hockey, while American International and Sacred Heart have clinched it.

And Arizona State's weekend sweep has the Sun Devils nearly a lock for the NCAA tournament pending a road trip to Wisconsin next weekend.

Plus, Jim gives his odds for teams to make the NCAA tournament at this point in time.

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) look back at the D-I college hockey weekend of February 7-9, 2020.

No. 9 Penn State moves into sole possession of first place in the Big Ten by picking up four of six points against No. 13 Ohio State, while Michigan stayed hot with a sweep of Wisconsin.

No. 6 Minnesota Duluth moved to within two points of No. 1 North Dakota in the NCHC race with a sweep of Omaha, and jumped to No. 4 in the PairWise.

In the WCHA, No. 3 Minnesota State kept its winning ways going with a sweep of No. 15 Northern Michigan.

Hockey East continues to be tight with the weekend highlighted by Maine's home win over No. 12 Northeastern, moving the Black Bears to No. 13 in the PairWise, along with No. 8 UMass's home-and-home sweep of No. 10 Providence, and wins for No. 14 UMass Lowell over No. 4 Boston College and Merrimack.

Clarkson and Cornell are tied atop the ECAC Hockey standings with the Golden Knights' win over rival St. Lawrence and the Big Red's home-and-home sweep of Colgate.

Atlantic Hockey's standings remain tight with Bentley's win over Army, RIT's four points at Robert Morris, and Canisius holding Air Force to one point on the road.

Arizona State swept its weekend, but dropped two spots in the PairWise.

We also look at where things stand now in the PairWise Rankings, and pay tribute to Vermont coach Kevin Sneddon, who announced he's stepping down at the end of the season.

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

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Hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) look at the games of January 31 and February 1 in college hockey.

In the NCHC, Minnesota Duluth swept Denver to keep pace with North Dakota. Notre Dame picked up a big five points on the road against Penn State as only one point separates the top five in the Big Ten. Bemidji State stays on a roll sweeping Bowling Green.

In Hockey East, Maine's sweep of Merrimack puts the Black Bears in the hunt for the league's regular season title, with only three points separating first from eighth in the standings. Quinnipiac made a statement by downing then-No. 1 Cornell 5-0 in ECAC Hockey. And in Atlantic Hockey, Sacred Heart and AIC opened up more room while several teams vie for home ice in the playoffs.

Arizona State solidified its position in the PairWise with a weekend sweep.

We also look at Jim's report from last week on Hockey East considering affiliation with an all-sport conference.

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) look back at the weekend of January 24-26, 2020, which saw only one top-20 team, Denver, gain a weekend sweep.

USCHO.com's Game of the Week was the Friday contest between No. 11 Minnesota Duluth and No. 2 North Dakota, which saw the Bulldogs take the first game of a weekend split in NCHC league play.

The Big Ten race remains tight after Minnesota's sweep of No. 6 Ohio State and splits in the rest of the conference.

Bemidji's split with No. 3 Minnesota State didn't gain the Beavers ground in the WCHA, while No. 15 Northern Michigan gained ground with five of six points at Alaska.

In light ECAC Hockey action, no team gained a weekend sweep, while Rensselaer picked up its first Mayor's Cup since 2016 over Union, and No. 7 Clarkson split overtime games with No. 13 Arizona State.

Hockey East remains tight with a weekend sweep in two overtime contests by Maine over No. 4 Boston College and New Hampshire taking three of four points from UMass.

In Atlantic Hockey, all five weekend series were swept, allowing AIC to gain ground and Army West Point failing to move up, while Rochester Institute of Technology scored four late goals on a night celebrating its 2010 Frozen Four berth.

And ... the Connecticut Ice Festival saw Sacred Heart prevail over its Nutmeg State rivals to win the inaugural tournament.

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) look at the games of January 17 and 18, 2020.

In the NCHC, host Omaha picked up two league points in two ties with No. 4 Denver, No. 1 North Dakota captured five of six points at Miami despite leading for only 2:38 of the weekend, and St. Cloud swept visiting No. 8 Minnesota Duluth.

Big Ten action saw Michigan taking five of six points at No. 6 Penn State, while No. 18 Notre Dame's difficulties continued at No. 9 Ohio State and No. 20 Michigan State split with Wisconsin.

Plus: No. 3 Minnesota State swept No. 15 Bowling Green, but needed OT on Saturday to do so, No. 5 Boston College had wins over No. 13 UMass Lowell and Boston University, Dartmouth reaches the 10-win mark with a weekend sweep, No. 1 Cornell gets a win and a tie hosting No. 17 Northern Michigan, and Canisius continues to climb the Atlantic Hockey standings by picking up five points at 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) look at the weekend's top results, including the Game of the Week series that saw Bowling Green take five of six points at Michigan Tech. Also on this episode: Omaha ended a couple of North Dakota streaks with a split, Boston College and UMass won at each other's arena, Michigan swept Notre Dame, Ohio State splits at Wisconsin, Army West Point gets five points on the weekend hosting Air Force, and more.

We also take a gander at the PairWise Rankings as they stand now in mid-January.

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

A terrific Fortress Invitational in Las Vegas saw Providence gain the title after a shootout win which followed a 2-2 tie with Cornell, while Ohio State needed overtime to beat Army West Point in the consolation. Host Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) and guest host Dan Rubin (@DanRubin12) look at that tournament as well as Notre Dame and Western Michigan's home-and-home series, Denver's sweep of UMass in two comeback wins, Arizona State and Michigan Tech's split, Quinnipiac's explosive weekend, and more. Plus, we have our weekly look at the PairWise.

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