12
D3hockey.com Podcast: UW-River Falls Men’s Head Coach Steve Freeman
No comments · Posted by d3hockey in All Posts
Voted the most surprising team of the season in a recent D3hockey.com poll, No. 4 UW-River Falls is off to an 11-2-2 start and stands atop the NCHA with a 5-1-2 mark. The Falcons resume NCHA conference play this weekend as they host UW-Stout in a two-game league series. Head coach Steve Freeman joins Josh Carey in this week’s D3hockey.com Podcast
Listen here:
Josh Carey · NCHA · Podcast · Steve Freeman · UW-River Falls
8
D3hockey.com Podcast: Plymouth State Men’s coach Craig Russell
No comments · Posted by d3hockey in All Posts, Podcasts
Under second year head coach Craig Russell, the 6-2 Panthers are just one point back in the MASCAC race. Tonight, they host Mass.-Dartmouth with first place in the standings on the line. In this week’s D3hockey.com Podcast, Russell joins Josh Carey to talk about the Panthers’ success thus far, tonight’s showdown, an admirable charity effort and the MASCAC in general.
Listen here:
D3hockey.com Podcast: Plymouth State men's head coach Craig Russell Play Now | Play in Popup | DownloadCraig Russell · D3hockey · Josh Carey · MASCAC · Plymouth State · Podcast
1
Battle of Vermont Podcast: Norwich head coach Mike McShane and Castleton head coach Alex Todd
In what is being dubbed by some as “The Battle of Vermont”, No. 1 Norwich hosts No. 3 Castleton this Friday in the latest installment of the budding in-state rivalry. This week, both head coaches join Josh Carey to talk about this Friday’s matchup and a variety of other items in the latest D3hockey.com podcast.
Listen here:
Alex Todd · Castleton · D3hockey · ECAC East · Josh Carey · Mike McShane · Norwich · Podcast
In my estimation the site is close to hitting full stride. It finally took another step this week as we unveiled the first ever D3hockey.com weekly rankings.
Prior to seeing yesterday’s results, I have to admit I may have been a bit nervous. I was quite confident that are voting panels are comprised of very high quality voters, but until seeing the results for the first time one cannot be absolutely sure of that assessment.
In this case, I think our polls came as close to nailing it as possible on both the men’s and women’s sides, and for that I’m thankful and grateful and believe they will be a great asset as we move along with things.
Also, as some may have noticed, Dr. Steve Wiitala posted an introductory to his computer rankings tonight. If you haven’t seen it yet, you can here.
Though the explanation of the methodology may seem a bit complex at first, Steve’s results should be quite interesting as the season wears on and I think they’ll be a great inclusion for two reasons:
1. The are unique in that they rank every team in the nation as opposed to just the top ten or 15.
2. Steve volunteered his West Region rankings to D3westhockey last year and I have to admit that after seeing every team in the region play at least once and most multiple times, I found his rankings to be incredibly accurate when it came to matching the overall quality of teams.
Of course, no one knows if that will be the case every season or on a national scale, which is exactly why they should be a quality inclusion to the site and an interesting compliment to the human polls.
I should probably concede at this point that, despite being accused of being a “numbers guy” in the past by some of my friends around Division III, I’m not an inherently big fan of rankings and polls and am probably usually stubborn enough that I would rather trust what I’ve seen with my own two eyes.
But therein lies the problem here: None of us can see it all. Not coaches, not players, not fans…no one.
As is the case every year, everything will be answered for good when a couple of national champions are crowned in March, but in the meantime I think that any tool that might give us any inkling as to how teams actually square up at the national level is a good one.
~mw
15
D3hockey Podcast: Utica Pioneers Men’s head coach Gary Heenan
No comments · Posted by d3hockey in All Posts, Podcasts
Utica is off to a 5-1 start that includes a notable 3-2 non-conference win over Oswego State on October 29. With the Pioneers garnering significant attention on the national scene, Josh Carey talks to head coach Gary Heenan about Utica’s potential rise to ECAC West prominence, as well as the potential NCAA tournament ramifications for all members of the league now that the Pool B tournament bid is no longer available.
D3hockey · ECAC West · ECACW · Gary Heenan · Josh Carey · Pioneers · Podcast · Utica
D3hockey.com serves up its first podcast of the season as Josh Carey and Matthew Webb sit down to talk about the who, what, where, when and why of the site — as well as what the future might hold in store.
In the future, the D3hockey podcasts will feature a wide variety of things, but for now, feel free to take a listen in and get up to speed on the machinations behind D3hockey as we finally settle in for the season.
Rankings and polls are always enjoyable as not only do they offer a portrait of the national perspective formulated by those in the best positions to have informed opinions, but let’s not kid around — they are fun to talk about and generate a copious amount of good discussion.
Our original intent was to release the first D3hockey.com polls today, but we have elected to hold off until two weeks from today, November 21, in which to do so. Our rationale behind this decision is as follows:
-Mainly, the timing of the D3hockey.com launch created a bit of a unique situation as a fair amount of teams had already played a game or two by the time we went live last Tuesday. As such, it rendered a preseason poll impossible. At the moment, on both the men’s and women’s side we are in the annual state of limbo where some teams are well into their seasons while others still have yet to play. Considering we are a mere 11 days away from the NESCAC getting underway, we believe it wise to simply wait until all teams have played before releasing our initial poll.
-Additionally, with both polls being composed of media, sports information directors and head coaches, an ancillary benefit exists in that it affords us a bit more time to be certain the voting panel not only represents the Division III hockey landscape in an accurate manner, but that it is also comprised of the best voters we can assemble.
Since the polls are going through their initial executions and are not a simple continuation of existing polls, we believe it is best served to make sure they are locked in at the highest level of quality.
If we’re going to do it, we might as well get it right from day one. To that end, and for the reasons outlined above, stay tuned for the debut of the initial D3hockey.com polls on November 21.
~mw
Well, the season is less than two weeks old and already there have been plenty of happenings.
Among other things, the highly regarded men’s teams at Oswego and St. Norbert have already garnered losses, while on the women’s side RIT has defeated Norwich in rematch of last season’s national championship game. As always, there can be little doubt these early stories are just the tip of the iceberg in terms of the excitement the 2011-12 DIII hockey season will offer.
Speaking of offerings, it’s probably obvious by now that D3hockey.com is, finally, a reality.
As managing editor, I would like to specify that it is a privilege and an honor to be part of the powerful D3sports.com network that Pat has created, and that we aim to do it full justice in terms of quantity and quality of material.
We’ve been scrambling a bit to get things fully operational for this season, but have no doubt that all of us here at D3hockey.com will strive to make it the most comprehensive national resource for men’s and women’s Division III hockey in existence.
So, in summation, welcome to D3hockey.com. Feel free to take a look around the site and don’t be shy to check out the D3hockey.com message boards in the forum. Also, please don’t hesitate to contact me or anyone else with any information, comments or even criticism.
Until then, enjoy the season and the site. We’ll do our best to cover things from Waterville to Hancock to Collegeville to all points in-between.
We hope you join us on what will certainly be yet another fun ride through Division III.
~mw
