After a month or so off (about how long it took BU fans to get over getting slapped around by Boston College), we’re back in action here at Sieves the Day. And what better way to get excited about Canada-USA than by talking about some high-quality American junior hockey?
Without further ado, here’s the Hockey East halfway-mark power rankings:
1) Boston College (13 GP, 9-4-0 HE, 13-5-0) - The Eagles didn’t do much during Hockey East’s hiatus, but that may have been the best thing they could have done, as conference contenders UNH, BU and Maine each lost games to out-of-conference opponents. BC beat Mercyhust 4-1 just before the new year, but spent the rest of their break recovering from a torrid first half of the season which saw the Eagles struggle uncharacteristically after losing assistant captain and star blue-liner Tommy Cross.
Without Cross, the Eagles rediscovered their wide-open approach and started lighting the lamp at will, highlighting their fall by scoring 14 in a two-game weekend tilt with BU that started the weary Terriers on a tailspin they’re still trying to end.
Assuming his pesky knees have healed from their fall semester-injuries, Cross should be back - something the Eagles will appreciate, with defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Patrick Wey having spent their break working in Buffalo with the U.S. National Junior team at the IIHF Championship. His physical presence on the ice, not to mention his leadership in the locker room, should stabilize a BC team that’s started to forge a strong identity for itself in the past six weeks, and looks to continue to build upon that positive momentum over the next three months.
2) UNH (11 GP, 8-1-2 HE, 10-3-4) - After reigning national number one Yale put up double-digits on Holy Cross in a New Years’ weekend victory, Hockey East’s cream of the crop had a chance to make a statement of their own in an inter-conference tilt against the ECAC’s St. Lawrence. And they did. The wrong kind of statement.
The Wildcats had to scrap from behind at home to tie the game late, then lost a shift into overtime. It’s possible that coach Dick Umile’s one-man tandem in net is growing a bit old on junior Matt DiGirolamo (10-3-4, .923; 2.32), who once looked like a stud cold but recently has looked liked he needs to be put out to pasture.
UNH still has the ability to score well (the first line of Paul Thompson, Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone has accounted for 23 goals and 69 points total), which they’ll need to keep up if they expect to continue to challenge a sprinting BC squad for the Lou Lamoriello trophy come March, because the defense-first approach they’ve been using is a crumbling foundation with DiGirolamo struggling.
3) Maine (11 GP, 6-3-2 HE, 9-5-4) - Tim Whitehead’s squad split their winter break, falling to a tough Miami squad but holding off Cornell in overtime to capture third place in the Florida College Classic before returning home to trounce the US under-18 squad in Portland. There’s no rest for the weary, however, as six of the Black Bears’ first eight games back come against nationally-ranked opponents.
The offense, highlighted by juniors Spencer Abbott (11-11=22) and Gustav Nyquist (6-16=22), finished the fall portion of its Hockey East schedule stagnant, and they’ll need to get back on track if Maine wants to make a play for post-season contention, because they’re definitely not getting it from their back end, and both Dan Sullivan and Shawn Sirman have struggled in net. Martin Oulette (2-1-1, .909; 2.17) was a late-2010 revelation for the Black Bears in the crease, but the freshman can’t be expected to handle all the work in the nine weeks ahead.
4) Merrimack (12 GP, 5-4-3 HE, 9-4-4 - Merrimack beat two tough squads on the road last week, winning in overtime at Army and two nights later beating RIT in Rochester, 5-3. It was, by all marks, a terribly unimpressive break - but it wasn’t a negative one.
The Warriors have found point-producers to complement import Stephane da Costa (8-12=20), and continue to get great play between the pipes from junior Joe Cannata (9-4-4, .926; 2.04). It won’t be enough to get them to the Hockey East finals, but with two months to get the rest of the squad going, Merrimack could do some serious damage late in the season.
5) Boston University (13 GP, 6-3-4 HE, 8-5-6) - Since then-number one BU tied Merrimack on November 13th (giving them a nation’s best 6-0-4 record), the Terriers are 2-5-2, including losses to Brown and Rensselaer during the conference intermission and losing twice to arch-rival BC by a combined total of 14-7.
They’ve stopped blocking shots, continue to struggle on special teams and aren’t getting the goaltending that had them undefeated through ten games.
They’ve been without co-captain and offensive leader Chris Connolly, who’s been out with a broken finger, but the young and talented Terrier squad needs to shape up quickly before the Hockey East season passes them by. If they don’t, they’re liable to give head coach Jack Parker his second coronary in a year.
6) Northeastern (12 GP, 3-6-3 HE, 3-9-4) - They may not be good enough to earn the sixth ranking, but they have the potential to be there, and of Hockey East’s bottom half, they’re the only team that’s shown any interest in playing to their abilities - even if they only do it when playing against better teams.
If Greg Cronin can squeeze out the best juices from his talented youngsters in January and February, Northeastern’s a team that could break some hearts in March - they’re not a team that will get a home series in Hockey East’s quarterfinals, but they play better on the road anyway, and if star goaltender Chris Rawlings gets some defense in front of him, look out for the Huskies
7) Providence (11 GP, 3-4-4 HE, 7-6-5) - the only other team in Hockey East that has the potential to make any noise the rest of the year, the Friars are yet to face a truly tough test this season - having only played Merrimack and BU once - but they’ll get plenty of them in the weeks ahead, as only five of their final sixteen games are against unranked opponents (Lowell and Vermont twice, UMass once).
Their three conference wins have all been at home, and by a combined total of four goals. They haven’t developed a consistent scoring threat, haven’t received noteworthy goaltending and are just bad enough to be competitive in a conference with three truly awful hockey teams. Those teams, in no particular order, are UMass (9 GP, 2-4-3 HE, 3-9-3); Vermont (10 GP, 1-6-3 HE, 3-10-4) and UMass-Lowell (12, 2-10-1 HE, 2-14-2).
I’d write about them, but I have an American flag to put on and go run naked through the streets while blaring Hendricks’ “I am a real American.” And lots and lots of bad American beer to drink.
But on the plus side, at least it’s not Labatt.
Without further ado, here’s the Hockey East halfway-mark power rankings:
1) Boston College (13 GP, 9-4-0 HE, 13-5-0) - The Eagles didn’t do much during Hockey East’s hiatus, but that may have been the best thing they could have done, as conference contenders UNH, BU and Maine each lost games to out-of-conference opponents. BC beat Mercyhust 4-1 just before the new year, but spent the rest of their break recovering from a torrid first half of the season which saw the Eagles struggle uncharacteristically after losing assistant captain and star blue-liner Tommy Cross.
Without Cross, the Eagles rediscovered their wide-open approach and started lighting the lamp at will, highlighting their fall by scoring 14 in a two-game weekend tilt with BU that started the weary Terriers on a tailspin they’re still trying to end.
Assuming his pesky knees have healed from their fall semester-injuries, Cross should be back - something the Eagles will appreciate, with defensemen Brian Dumoulin and Patrick Wey having spent their break working in Buffalo with the U.S. National Junior team at the IIHF Championship. His physical presence on the ice, not to mention his leadership in the locker room, should stabilize a BC team that’s started to forge a strong identity for itself in the past six weeks, and looks to continue to build upon that positive momentum over the next three months.
2) UNH (11 GP, 8-1-2 HE, 10-3-4) - After reigning national number one Yale put up double-digits on Holy Cross in a New Years’ weekend victory, Hockey East’s cream of the crop had a chance to make a statement of their own in an inter-conference tilt against the ECAC’s St. Lawrence. And they did. The wrong kind of statement.
The Wildcats had to scrap from behind at home to tie the game late, then lost a shift into overtime. It’s possible that coach Dick Umile’s one-man tandem in net is growing a bit old on junior Matt DiGirolamo (10-3-4, .923; 2.32), who once looked like a stud cold but recently has looked liked he needs to be put out to pasture.
UNH still has the ability to score well (the first line of Paul Thompson, Mike Sislo and Phil DeSimone has accounted for 23 goals and 69 points total), which they’ll need to keep up if they expect to continue to challenge a sprinting BC squad for the Lou Lamoriello trophy come March, because the defense-first approach they’ve been using is a crumbling foundation with DiGirolamo struggling.
3) Maine (11 GP, 6-3-2 HE, 9-5-4) - Tim Whitehead’s squad split their winter break, falling to a tough Miami squad but holding off Cornell in overtime to capture third place in the Florida College Classic before returning home to trounce the US under-18 squad in Portland. There’s no rest for the weary, however, as six of the Black Bears’ first eight games back come against nationally-ranked opponents.
The offense, highlighted by juniors Spencer Abbott (11-11=22) and Gustav Nyquist (6-16=22), finished the fall portion of its Hockey East schedule stagnant, and they’ll need to get back on track if Maine wants to make a play for post-season contention, because they’re definitely not getting it from their back end, and both Dan Sullivan and Shawn Sirman have struggled in net. Martin Oulette (2-1-1, .909; 2.17) was a late-2010 revelation for the Black Bears in the crease, but the freshman can’t be expected to handle all the work in the nine weeks ahead.
4) Merrimack (12 GP, 5-4-3 HE, 9-4-4 - Merrimack beat two tough squads on the road last week, winning in overtime at Army and two nights later beating RIT in Rochester, 5-3. It was, by all marks, a terribly unimpressive break - but it wasn’t a negative one.
The Warriors have found point-producers to complement import Stephane da Costa (8-12=20), and continue to get great play between the pipes from junior Joe Cannata (9-4-4, .926; 2.04). It won’t be enough to get them to the Hockey East finals, but with two months to get the rest of the squad going, Merrimack could do some serious damage late in the season.
5) Boston University (13 GP, 6-3-4 HE, 8-5-6) - Since then-number one BU tied Merrimack on November 13th (giving them a nation’s best 6-0-4 record), the Terriers are 2-5-2, including losses to Brown and Rensselaer during the conference intermission and losing twice to arch-rival BC by a combined total of 14-7.
They’ve stopped blocking shots, continue to struggle on special teams and aren’t getting the goaltending that had them undefeated through ten games.
They’ve been without co-captain and offensive leader Chris Connolly, who’s been out with a broken finger, but the young and talented Terrier squad needs to shape up quickly before the Hockey East season passes them by. If they don’t, they’re liable to give head coach Jack Parker his second coronary in a year.
6) Northeastern (12 GP, 3-6-3 HE, 3-9-4) - They may not be good enough to earn the sixth ranking, but they have the potential to be there, and of Hockey East’s bottom half, they’re the only team that’s shown any interest in playing to their abilities - even if they only do it when playing against better teams.
If Greg Cronin can squeeze out the best juices from his talented youngsters in January and February, Northeastern’s a team that could break some hearts in March - they’re not a team that will get a home series in Hockey East’s quarterfinals, but they play better on the road anyway, and if star goaltender Chris Rawlings gets some defense in front of him, look out for the Huskies
7) Providence (11 GP, 3-4-4 HE, 7-6-5) - the only other team in Hockey East that has the potential to make any noise the rest of the year, the Friars are yet to face a truly tough test this season - having only played Merrimack and BU once - but they’ll get plenty of them in the weeks ahead, as only five of their final sixteen games are against unranked opponents (Lowell and Vermont twice, UMass once).
Their three conference wins have all been at home, and by a combined total of four goals. They haven’t developed a consistent scoring threat, haven’t received noteworthy goaltending and are just bad enough to be competitive in a conference with three truly awful hockey teams. Those teams, in no particular order, are UMass (9 GP, 2-4-3 HE, 3-9-3); Vermont (10 GP, 1-6-3 HE, 3-10-4) and UMass-Lowell (12, 2-10-1 HE, 2-14-2).
I’d write about them, but I have an American flag to put on and go run naked through the streets while blaring Hendricks’ “I am a real American.” And lots and lots of bad American beer to drink.
But on the plus side, at least it’s not Labatt.
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