1 - UNH (10-1-2, 22 points)
BC (11-5-0, 22 points)
3 - BU (7-3-4, 18 points)
Maine (8-4-2, 18 points)
5 - Merrimack (6-4-3, 15 points)
Northeastern (6-7-3, 15 points)
7 - UMass (4-6-3, 11 points)
8 - Providence (3-7-4, 10 points)
9 - Vermont (2-8-3, 7 points)
10 - Lowell (2-14-0, 4 points)
1. UNH - Sure, they lost to Dartmouth. Sure, Dartmouth’s pretty bad. Sure, they can’t seem to get up for games against non-conference opposition. But they remain tied with BC with three games in hand now, and the Wildcats figure to be prepared to make a statement down the stretch.
2. BC - Despite an embarassing effort at Maine on Sunday, Jerry York’a bunch remain a very well-coached bunch with a lot of promise. But every time they start to click, they suffer a setback like they did in Orono. No other team in Hockey East has been able to generate consistent play, but that doesn’t excuse the defending national champs from doing so as well.
3. Merrimack - Of the other teams in Hockey East’s top six, none of them get the goaltending that Merrimack does. At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to - because let’s be honest, a 7-0 victory over a 2-19 team really isn’t impressive at all.
4. Maine - Give the Black Bears credit for defending home ice against BC on Sunday, but don’t expect them to give that complete an effort in many games throughout the rest of the season.
5. BU - They beat Harvard, 5-2. Yale beat Harvard 4-2. Brown beat Yale 3-2. Brown tied BU, 4-4. So BU’s definitely better than Yale. But then again, so are the kids in the shootouts during intermission of Bruins games.
6. Northeastern - The Huskies may have the most potential left to fulfill this year, and could easily have been third here had they defended their home ice on Friday and swept the weekend from Vermont. But they didn’t, and it’s tough not to question Northeastern’s ability to regularly turn in full-game efforts. If they start doing so, everyone above them should be concerned. And everyone below them should quit.
7. Providence - That Providence is seventh speaks to how terrible the rest of the bottom of the conference is. Tim Army’s squad has the toughest second-half schedule of anyone in the conference, but instead of proving themselves, all the Friars are doing is showing is how rough around the edges they are.
8. Vermont - The Catamounts have elevated their game in three chances since the holiday break. Problem is, they’ve done it against teams who are clearly better than they are, and those teams usually get the right bounces, which is exactly what Northeastern and BU have done.
9. UMass - Because they swept a weekend series. Against a Hockey East team. Wait, it was against Lowell?
10. Lowell - Because they still play in the conference and deserve to be ranked somewhere.
BC (11-5-0, 22 points)
3 - BU (7-3-4, 18 points)
Maine (8-4-2, 18 points)
5 - Merrimack (6-4-3, 15 points)
Northeastern (6-7-3, 15 points)
7 - UMass (4-6-3, 11 points)
8 - Providence (3-7-4, 10 points)
9 - Vermont (2-8-3, 7 points)
10 - Lowell (2-14-0, 4 points)
1. UNH - Sure, they lost to Dartmouth. Sure, Dartmouth’s pretty bad. Sure, they can’t seem to get up for games against non-conference opposition. But they remain tied with BC with three games in hand now, and the Wildcats figure to be prepared to make a statement down the stretch.
2. BC - Despite an embarassing effort at Maine on Sunday, Jerry York’a bunch remain a very well-coached bunch with a lot of promise. But every time they start to click, they suffer a setback like they did in Orono. No other team in Hockey East has been able to generate consistent play, but that doesn’t excuse the defending national champs from doing so as well.
3. Merrimack - Of the other teams in Hockey East’s top six, none of them get the goaltending that Merrimack does. At the end of the day, that’s what it boils down to - because let’s be honest, a 7-0 victory over a 2-19 team really isn’t impressive at all.
4. Maine - Give the Black Bears credit for defending home ice against BC on Sunday, but don’t expect them to give that complete an effort in many games throughout the rest of the season.
5. BU - They beat Harvard, 5-2. Yale beat Harvard 4-2. Brown beat Yale 3-2. Brown tied BU, 4-4. So BU’s definitely better than Yale. But then again, so are the kids in the shootouts during intermission of Bruins games.
6. Northeastern - The Huskies may have the most potential left to fulfill this year, and could easily have been third here had they defended their home ice on Friday and swept the weekend from Vermont. But they didn’t, and it’s tough not to question Northeastern’s ability to regularly turn in full-game efforts. If they start doing so, everyone above them should be concerned. And everyone below them should quit.
7. Providence - That Providence is seventh speaks to how terrible the rest of the bottom of the conference is. Tim Army’s squad has the toughest second-half schedule of anyone in the conference, but instead of proving themselves, all the Friars are doing is showing is how rough around the edges they are.
8. Vermont - The Catamounts have elevated their game in three chances since the holiday break. Problem is, they’ve done it against teams who are clearly better than they are, and those teams usually get the right bounces, which is exactly what Northeastern and BU have done.
9. UMass - Because they swept a weekend series. Against a Hockey East team. Wait, it was against Lowell?
10. Lowell - Because they still play in the conference and deserve to be ranked somewhere.
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