Rankings Review - November 11, 2010

It is me, Kat, super Twitterer, writer for way too many websites, and a member of the elite "my first date with my husband was a BU hockey game" club (me, my friend Meghan, and a parent I met through work this summer). I'm here for a look at the Hockey East standings and national rankings as we gear up for another weekend of college hockey action.

Nationally

The week kicked off with four Hockey East teams in the top 10 of the national polls (Inside College Hockey, USCHO and USA Today/USA Hockey.) Without the Pairwise to rely on yet this season, these rankings become crapshoots in the nicest sense of the term. Boston University, for instance, was ranked first across the board, but as even their own coach, Jack Parker, exclaimed, "We're a pretty good team, but I don't think we're the No. 1 team in the nation." The honor was bestowed because of BU's unbeaten status through 8 games, which the program hasn't done since 1977-78.

Maine's steadiness despite a series of injuries to key players like Tanner House have them in the 3/4 spot on the polls. Their dominant series against perpetual power North Dakota a few weeks ago is still in voters minds, while the team is demonstrating that they have scoring mettle beyond that of Gustav Nyquist.

Boston College is dropping in the polls like beer cans in the Mods on a Saturday afternoon. (Thanks to a friend that was a BC RA for a spell for all the BC stories and references one might ever need.) Even the seemingly BC biased Inside College Hockey drops the team lowest at number 10 - USCHO has the Eagles at 7th and USA Today/USA Hockey has them hanging on at 6th. The Eagles tend to have bumpy fall seasons, and I don't think they can be counted out. I haven't seen a BC game since the Denver series, so I am eager to watch them again and see what the "problems" could be beyond a lack of or too much confidence.

UNH is a steady 9/10 in the polls, and it is the play of goaltender Matt DiGirolamo (if it's a goalie, it's DiGirolamo) that is the buzz around this Wildcat team. They also have two top lines of scoring talent who have carried them through some tough non-conference games.

The Basement of Hockey East, But Not For Long?

Northeastern, UMass and Vermont have fallen on harsh times this early season. Overall, Northeastern is at 1-5-2, UMass is at 0-5-2, and Vermont is at 0-3-3. Out of these three teams, I think UMass and Vermont have the best chances to turn their season around. UMass has a good young core of forwards who will get seasoning as the season continues. Vermont has the opposite - a core of upperclassmen that need to parlay their experience to their younger teammates. If Northeastern can settle down and banish the penalty monster, they have a chance at redeeming themselves after a slew of difficult losses to unheralded programs.