Boston College (14-5-0, 28 pts)
New Hampshire (13-2-2, 28 pts)
Boston University (9-5-4, 22 pts)
Maine (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Merrimack (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Northeastern (7-7-5, 19 pts)
Massachusetts (5-8-4, 14 pts)
Providence (3-10-4, 10 pts)
Vermont (3-10-3, 9 pts)
Lowell (3-16-0, 6 pts)
1. Boston College - John Muse is proving again and again why he’s the real deal, and the Eagles continue to display the ability to score from anywhere. Their blueliners haven’t been given a tough test recently - and likely won’t until they face UNH in a season-ending home and home, unless BU shows up big in the Beanpot - but the team continues to weather any storm it faces and come out stronger on the other side. BC has won three in a row, ten of its last eleven and 12 of 14 since a fall swoon that saw them lose four out of seven. They’re poised to make yet another late-season run, and everybody in Hockey East is about to play witness.
2. UNH - Even with BC in points but holding two games in hand, it’s now or never time for the Wildcats. A two-game home set with Maine next weekend will be the series that pushes Dick Umile’s squad over the hump or into the pack while BC and BU ready for the Beanpot. Matt DiGirolamo continues to be strong in net, but has admitted to being tired at times. Umile will ride him as far as he can go, but the ‘Cats are going to need to get secondary scoring like they did against Providence Saturday night to keep pace.
3. Merrimack - A resurgent Joe Cannata turned away 39 of 41 Vermont shots he saw on the weekend, proving that last week’s 5-goal bust against Lowell was just that. Joe Cucci, Mike Collins and Chris Barton have come on strong in the second half as complementary players to Stephane da Costa, but the Warriors aren’t on the same level as UNH or BC...yet.
4. Boston University - Consistency had plagued BU through much of its November and December struggles, but it seems like Jack Parker may have started pressing the right buttons again. With only Lowell standing between them and the Beanpot, the Terriers should be two points richer come the first Monday in February and should be feeling good. Of course, every time they’ve started to feel good this year, Boston College has been right there to shoot them down.
5. Northeastern - Blame the schedule-maker if you don’t like them this high, but the Huskies did what they needed to on their six-game homestand, taking points in four games against decidedly weaker competition and not giving up points to Maine. Greg Cronin’s bunch is playing with a boatload of confidence right now, Chris Rawlings is better in net than he’s ever been, and a Friday night matchup with Merrimack at Matthews suddenly has a lot of meaning for both teams.
6. Maine - Going 0-1-1 against BU at home, on one of the toughest rinks to play in the conference, no less, didn’t help the Black Bears. Neither have their healthy problems. Neither, it seems, has their wild inconsistency in their own zone. Next weekend’s visit to Durham and the Whittemore Center will prove huge in determining postseason seeding - for both teams - but it’ll be the Mainers who have to come out and play like their season’s on the line.
7. UMass - Just not enough offense to keep up with a defensively talented Northeastern squad this past weekend. Moral victories are great, but taking only one point away from that weekend really hurts the Minutemen. Of their last ten games, they play an unranked team - Providence - only once.
8. Providence - A resigned Tim Army said after a 5-1 Saturday loss at New Hampshire - his team’s third loss to the Wildcats in eight days - said that he was happy with the way his team had played the past month, despite only getting one point in eight games. Here’s hoping he’s just as happy with an early March vacation.
9. Vermont - Rob Madore continues to be an enigma in net - great on Fridays, abysmal on Saturdays. Unfortunately for the Cats, Hockey East’s poor keep getting poorer, as only four of their last ten games come against unranked teams.
10. Lowell - With the three teams ahead of them sporting bruising February schedules, it might stand to reason that the RiverHawks could actually contend for the eighth seed, but Lowell’s played more games than any team in Hockey East, and the gauntlet is laid out before them with BU, Northeastern and two games against Maine ahead before things start to get easy.
New Hampshire (13-2-2, 28 pts)
Boston University (9-5-4, 22 pts)
Maine (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Merrimack (8-5-3, 19 pts)
Northeastern (7-7-5, 19 pts)
Massachusetts (5-8-4, 14 pts)
Providence (3-10-4, 10 pts)
Vermont (3-10-3, 9 pts)
Lowell (3-16-0, 6 pts)
1. Boston College - John Muse is proving again and again why he’s the real deal, and the Eagles continue to display the ability to score from anywhere. Their blueliners haven’t been given a tough test recently - and likely won’t until they face UNH in a season-ending home and home, unless BU shows up big in the Beanpot - but the team continues to weather any storm it faces and come out stronger on the other side. BC has won three in a row, ten of its last eleven and 12 of 14 since a fall swoon that saw them lose four out of seven. They’re poised to make yet another late-season run, and everybody in Hockey East is about to play witness.
2. UNH - Even with BC in points but holding two games in hand, it’s now or never time for the Wildcats. A two-game home set with Maine next weekend will be the series that pushes Dick Umile’s squad over the hump or into the pack while BC and BU ready for the Beanpot. Matt DiGirolamo continues to be strong in net, but has admitted to being tired at times. Umile will ride him as far as he can go, but the ‘Cats are going to need to get secondary scoring like they did against Providence Saturday night to keep pace.
3. Merrimack - A resurgent Joe Cannata turned away 39 of 41 Vermont shots he saw on the weekend, proving that last week’s 5-goal bust against Lowell was just that. Joe Cucci, Mike Collins and Chris Barton have come on strong in the second half as complementary players to Stephane da Costa, but the Warriors aren’t on the same level as UNH or BC...yet.
4. Boston University - Consistency had plagued BU through much of its November and December struggles, but it seems like Jack Parker may have started pressing the right buttons again. With only Lowell standing between them and the Beanpot, the Terriers should be two points richer come the first Monday in February and should be feeling good. Of course, every time they’ve started to feel good this year, Boston College has been right there to shoot them down.
5. Northeastern - Blame the schedule-maker if you don’t like them this high, but the Huskies did what they needed to on their six-game homestand, taking points in four games against decidedly weaker competition and not giving up points to Maine. Greg Cronin’s bunch is playing with a boatload of confidence right now, Chris Rawlings is better in net than he’s ever been, and a Friday night matchup with Merrimack at Matthews suddenly has a lot of meaning for both teams.
6. Maine - Going 0-1-1 against BU at home, on one of the toughest rinks to play in the conference, no less, didn’t help the Black Bears. Neither have their healthy problems. Neither, it seems, has their wild inconsistency in their own zone. Next weekend’s visit to Durham and the Whittemore Center will prove huge in determining postseason seeding - for both teams - but it’ll be the Mainers who have to come out and play like their season’s on the line.
7. UMass - Just not enough offense to keep up with a defensively talented Northeastern squad this past weekend. Moral victories are great, but taking only one point away from that weekend really hurts the Minutemen. Of their last ten games, they play an unranked team - Providence - only once.
8. Providence - A resigned Tim Army said after a 5-1 Saturday loss at New Hampshire - his team’s third loss to the Wildcats in eight days - said that he was happy with the way his team had played the past month, despite only getting one point in eight games. Here’s hoping he’s just as happy with an early March vacation.
9. Vermont - Rob Madore continues to be an enigma in net - great on Fridays, abysmal on Saturdays. Unfortunately for the Cats, Hockey East’s poor keep getting poorer, as only four of their last ten games come against unranked teams.
10. Lowell - With the three teams ahead of them sporting bruising February schedules, it might stand to reason that the RiverHawks could actually contend for the eighth seed, but Lowell’s played more games than any team in Hockey East, and the gauntlet is laid out before them with BU, Northeastern and two games against Maine ahead before things start to get easy.
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