The MAAC's NC schedule started out promisingly this week with UConn's 4-2 win over Army, but it went downhill from there. Friday night saw both HC get hammered 6-1 by Army and UConn 8-2 by MSU-Mankato. Saturday night UConn managed to outshoot Mankato by a significant margin, but still dropped a 3-1 decision. That game was broadcast on the net, but not well publicized. (I listened to the third period of Clarkson v BC instead and was highly pleased with that outcome.:-) If anyone has a comment on any of these games, kindly chime in. So the NC results so far have been sort of mixed and not greatly encouraging yet, but that is to be expected. It will be interesting to see how QC does against Army and Air Force, how HC does against Niagara, and how UConn does against AL-Huntsville (if their tournament works out that way). Of course, an upset by Iona in the first round of the SNET tourney would not be unthinkable seeing how the Gaels are doing. And let's not forget AIC against Middlebury, Williams, and Hobart as a gauge to measure progress. Next week's MAAC conference schedule promises to be interesting with the HC/QC showdown (finally) and the AIC/Iona battles. It is also do or die time for Canisius against Sacred Heart. The Ice Griffs have to do what Clarkson did this last weekend as a start to reclaiming their season after a very disappointing initial six weeks. Lucky for them their opponent is not third in the nation, but they would be ill-advised to take Sacred Heart lightly. -- Dick Tuthill HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey; send information to [log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.