USCHO polls released, and this time...nope, they're still ridiculous

North Dakota maintained its grasp on the number one spot in the country this week, with Boston College a close second. UNH came in at 7 in the latest release of the USCHO polls, with Merrimack dropping from fourth to ninth following a weekend sweep at the hands of Maine, which rose from 20th to 14th. BU came in one spot ahead of the Black Bears, at 13.

Yale was ranked third nationally, with Union - which has already clinched the ECAC - coming in fourth. Denver and Michigan tied for fifth.

Stating the obvious: Hockey East's easiest weekly honors yet

After stymieing one of Hockey East’s most prolific offenses, Dan Sullivan (0.50 GAA, .971 sv % last weekend vs. Merrimack) has been named Hockey East’s Pure Hockey Defensive Player of the Week. In shutting out Merrimack through 82:48 of playing time last weekend, Sullivan set the record for longest shutout in school history, ousting current Detroit Red Wings G Jimmy Howard’s previous mark of 194 minutes.

He’s joined in the weekly honors circle by UNH freshman forward Kevin Goumas, who’s starting to get comfortable with the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week award, having won it twice consecutively and three times in four weeks. Goumas helped UNH come from behind against Northeastern, tying the game at two with his goal in the third period on Friday night, and handed out three assists Saturday night in the Wildcats’ 6-3 win at Matthews Arena.

With a six-point weekend in tow, Lowell’s David Vallorani (3-3) earned the Athletic Republic Player of the Week honors. The RiverHawks won the weekend series, taking three points from Providence and Vallorani scored the game-winner in Saturday’s 7-2 victory over the Friars.

For their all-team effort against Merrimack, Maine was also named Hockey East’s team of the week. The Black Bears killed all 12 Merrimack power plays and went six for 14 on the man-advantage en route to 4-0 and 7-1 wins at Alfond Arena.

BU not quite in the clear

It turns out that Boston University hasn’t actually clinched home ice.

From Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna:

Boston University thought it has clinched home ice because it seemed its only challenger was Maine and they would win the tie-breaker with the Black Bears at 34 points (the best Maine can get). But if BU is tied with both Maine and Merrimack at 34 points (BU loses two, Maine wins two, and Merrimack gets a single point), the threeway tie goes to #3 Maine, followed by #4 Merrimack and #5 BU. The difference: in head-to-head play, Maine and Merrimack are 2-2-2 while BU is 1-1-4, and the number of “wins” provides the difference.

That said, it’s extremely unlikely that BU doesn’t find themselves playing at Agganis Arena two weekends from now. And it’s also worth noting that, while the Terriers have earned points in their last nine conference games, they’re also yet to lose to a team below them in the Hockey East standings.

Terriers Growling, Warriors Slipping: Hockey East Week 22 Power Rankings

UNH 17-4-4, 38 points

BC 18-6-1, 37 points

BU 14-5-6, 34 points

Merrimack 15-6-3, 33 points

Maine 12-8-4, 28 points

Northeastern 9-9-7, 25 points

Vermont 5-14-6, 16 points

UMass 5-15-5, 15 points

Providence 3-15-7, 13 points

Lowell 4-20-1, 9 points

1. BC - It’s a dead heat between UNH and the Eagles at this point, but Jerry York’s squad plays with more urgency than do the Wildcats, and it’s finally the time of year when that really matters.

2. UNH - Two consecutive three-point weekends for UNH have helped ease the pain of getting swept by Merrimack, but there’s still something about this Wildcat team that doesn’t quite scream “built for March.”

3. Maine - We’re back to having no idea what Maine is. For four months, they played no defense. In the last four games, they allowed one goal - and that goal only to the conference’s most prolific offense since the calendar turned. If Dan Sullivan’s as good as he’s been, the Black Bears could make some noise over the next five weeks.

4. Merrimack - There’s no doubt that Mark Dennehy’s squad is one of the better ones in the conference, but they proved this weekend why they’re not built to go far in the real tournament.

5. BU - The Terriers have quietly taken points in nine straight conference games. As a result, they’re now third in Hockey East and have clinched home ice. That’s good news. The bad news? They’re in line to face a very feisty Northeastern team.

6. Northeastern - Speaking of those pesky Huskies, they had a tough weekend against UNH, but if Chris Rawlings is due for a bad game the rest of the way, it’s better that he got it out of the way when he did.

7. Vermont - Rob Madore just isn’t good enough to stop offensively-talented opposition without help from his D, which he hasn’t been getting.

8. UMass - There’s little worse than backing into a playoff spot. The Minutemen have been doing that for four straight weeks now.

9. Lowell - You beat Providence by five, you get ranked ahead of them.

10. Providence - You lose to Lowell by five, you don’t deserve to be in the playoffs.

Maine Sweeps Merrimack, UNH Holds Off Northeastern: Hockey East Saturday Highlights

New Hampshire 6 at Northeastern 3
BOSTON, MA - While at the helm of Northeastern’s squad, Greg Cronin was a one-goalie coach. Only four games into his tenure as interim head coach, Sebastien Laplante was forced to make a mid-game change in net as Chris Rawlings let in five of 31 shots he saw and Northeastern suffered only its second conference loss in six weeks. UNH’s first line shook off its struggles from the night before, scoring three times - and the members of the third line each earned two points.
Tyler McNeely registered his 100th career point on an assist of Wade MacLeod’s third-period goal during an impressive Northeastern comeback that was silenced by Stevie Moses’ second goal of the night, an empty-netter coming at 18:32 of the third period. Paul Thompson continued his pursuit of the Hobey Baker trophy, also scoring twice to put the game out of reach for the Huskies. Matt Di Girolamo stopped 33 shots to preserve the win, his 19th of the season. With Merrimack unable to earn a point over the weekend, UNH will face BC in a home-and-home on Friday and Saturday with first place in Hockey East at stake.



at Boston University 3, Vermont 1
BOSTON, MA - On Friday night, the Terriers took a 3-0 lead in the third period before letting the Catamounts score three unanswered goals to tie the game. They wouldn’t suffer a similar fate again on Saturday. Chris Connolly, Alex Chiasson and Matt Nieto scored for the Terriers to earn a measure of revenge following the Cats’ comeback in the previous night’s game, winning the weekend series and leapfrogging Merrimack to move into third place in Hockey East.
Kieran Millan continued his strong play of late, stopping 27 shots to backstop the Terriers to their ninth straight Hockey East game in which they earned a point. With the win, BU clinched home ice for the Hockey East quarterfinals.



at Boston College 2, UMass 1
CHESTNUT HILL, MA - The Eagles started hot and held on to earn two more points and stay within a point of first-place UNH as they head into their final weekend series with first place on the line. Barry Almeida and Pat Mullane scored for Boston College, and T.J. Syner tallied for the Minutemen, who maintained their tenuous grasp on eighth place with Providence’s loss to Lowell. John Muse stopped 24 shots for the Eagles to preserve the win and record his 21st win, which ties him with Merrimack’s Joe Cannata for first in Hockey East.



at Maine 7, Merrimack 1
ORONO, ME - After Mark Nemec scored 2:20 into the first period, the Black Bears used an even hotter start to the second period to put enough distance between them and Merrimack to pull away. Brian Flynn and Jeff Dimmen scored 34 seconds apart in the first 1:15 of the second period to put Maine up 3-1. Before the second period was over, Maine extended its lead to 5-1, and continued to pile on in the third.
Five Black Bears finished the night with multiple points, among them Dimmen (2-1=3) and Flynn (1-2=3) as Merrimack struggled to find its poise as the night - and its chances at a top-two seed in Hockey East - slipped away. Dan Sullivan didn’t allow a goal for the first 22:49 of the game, pushing his shutout streak to 202:49, besting the school shutout streak held by Jimmy Howard by nearly ten minutes.



at Lowell 7, Providence 2
LOWELL, MA - After a strong start to the season, Providence all but guaranteed themselves that they won’t be making an appearance in the Hockey East playoffs for yet another year. David Vallorani had a four-point night (2-2) and Riley Wetmore scored twice. Three other RiverHawks posted multiple-point nights as Doug Carr stopped 27 shots to preserve the win.

Catamounts Score 3 Times in the 3rd to Earn a 3-3 Tie with BU

By Brian Roach

With a three-goal lead and less than 15 minutes to go, the No. 15 Boston University Terriers (16-9-8, 13-5-6 HE) looked poised to inch within one point of securing home-ice advantage for the Hockey East Quarterfinals. But, as this young BU team has come to learn over the course of the 2010-2011 campaign, it’s not over until it’s over – especially when the University of Vermont Catamounts (7-17-7, 5-13-6 HE) are in town.

“It’s pretty disappointing,” senior co-captain Joe Periera said after his team skated to a 3-3 tie with the Catamounts. “We went up 3-0 – playoff hockey – we’ve got to win those games, and we let it slip away. It’s sad to say, and we keep saying we have to learn these lessons, but it keeps happening, and that’s something – we need to get over the hump…we need to learn.”

BU scored once in each period of regulation play, starting with Sahir Gill’s fifth tally of the season at the 16:40 mark of the first. Gill intercepted a wayward Jack Downing pass and used a nifty move to sneak the puck past UVM junior netminder Rob Madore (43 saves). The marker was Gill’s first in 20 games (his last goal came against the University of New Hampshire on November 20).

Fellow freshman Adam Clendening, whose efforts made an impression on BU head coach Jack Parker, also posted his fifth goal of the 2010-2011 campaign – gathering his own blocked shot and slipping it past Madore with under 8 minutes to play in the second period, giving the Terriers a 2-0 lead. The goal – swept out of the net by a Catamount defenseman – was the subject of a lengthy review (but ultimately allowed).

“I thought Adam Clendening had his best game in a BU uniform,” Parker said during his post-game comments. “I thought he played great tonight,” he added, noting that Clendening moved the puck well and played excellent defense.

The Terriers’ final tally came with 5:33 gone by in the third period, when sophomore forward Ben Rosen jammed home a failed Justin Courtnall wrap-around bid. The goal was Rosen’s second of the season.

Then, the Catamounts, who haven’t lost at Agganis in more than three years, managed to turn three BU mistakes into three quick goals. Sophomore defenseman Anders Franzon opened the scoring for UVM during a four-on-four with 6:37 gone by in the final stanza – flipping a rebound past BU goaltender Kieran Millan (38 saves). Junior defenseman Drew MacKenzie and junior blue-liner Lance Herrington got in on the action six minutes later, potting goals just 32 seconds apart. The goal was Herrington’s first as a Catamount.

The blown lead (BU’s third this month), however, was not the product of poor effort down the stretch (as has been the case in other games), Parker said after the contest.

“Without those mistakes – even in the last 13 minutes of the third period – I thought we played pretty well. We got a bunch of good opportunities, a bunch of good grade A’s; but, it’s tough to give away that point. A real well-earned point [for] Vermont that doesn’t feel quite as good for us.”

Despite being outshot by the Terriers in the game’s extra frame, Madore – who stopped a number of quality BU scoring chances – and the Catamounts of Vermont came within inches of walking out of Agganis with a ‘W’ when a shot by freshman forward H.T. Lenz rang off the post and out of the net. Millan and Madore held their own for the remainder of the overtime to preserve the 3-3 tie.

“I hope [the players] don’t get down,” Parker said during a post-game press conference. “As I said, I’m not aggravated with my team tonight. I hope they don’t get down, they’ve got to get even – they’ve got to come back and play better tomorrow. It’s important that we get points tomorrow.”

BU will face off against UVM tonight at 6:30 at Agganis Arena.

Notes –

The Terriers are undefeated in their last 8 regular-season conference games (6-0-2)…Clendening’s tally Friday night gives him a four-game points streak…BU came in to Friday night’s tilt boasting four of the top 10 freshman scorers in Hockey East…The Terriers need just two points to secure home-ice advantage for the Hockey East Quarterfinals.

UNH and Northeastern Tie, Maine Beats - Then Beats - Merrimack: Hockey East Friday Highlights

at Maine 4, Merrimack 0
ORONO, ME - Four Black Bears scored and Spencer Abbott tallied three points to extend Maine’s winning streak to three games and hand Merrimack just its second shutout loss on the season, its first such defeat since falling to Providence by a score of 2-0 on November 5th. The two teams combined for 173 penalty minutes, including Kyle Bigos’ match penalty for a blindside hit on Maine’s Gustav Nyquist. The game disqualification means that Bigos will be ineligible for Saturday night’s game with the Black Bears.
Joe Cannata was pulled after letting four of the first 17 pucks he saw past, and took his first loss since January 21st. Dan Sullivan kept an opposing team off the board for the third straight game and currently has a shutout streak of 180 minutes going. The Black Bears as a team haven’t allowed a goal in 190 minutes of play.

Boston College 4 at UMass 3
AMHERST, MA - After the Eagles jumped out to a 4-1 lead midway through the second period, the Minutemen stormed back to come within one goal of tying, but were never able to get over the hump. Brian Gibbons, Joe Whitney and Cam Atkinson each had two-point nights for the Eagles, while nine Minutemen registered a point. John Muse only had to stop 17 shots for the win, while UMass’ Paul Dainton stopped 30 shots, in the process becoming the Minutemen’s all-time saves leader. With the loss, UMass drops to eighth in the conference, two points ahead of Providence.

at Boston University 3, Vermont 3
BOSTON, MA - The Terriers coasted to a three-goal lead nearing the middle of the third period before the Catamounts exploded, scoring three times in 6:52 to tie the game and holding on the rest of the way to earn a point and move into seventh place alone in Hockey East. Nine Vermont players registered a point on the night, and Lance Herrington’s first goal of the season tied it up with 6:31 to play in the game. Rob Madore stopped 43 shots to preserve the tie. Vermont now has a one-point lead on UMass, which lost to Boston College, and maintains a three-point cushion on Providence.

at New Hampshire 2, Northeastern 2
DURHAM, NH - Kevin Goumas shot the puck from the goal line and it bounced off of Mike Hewkin’s stick before hitting Chris Rawlings in the rib and falling into the Northeastern net. The goal - which came after an earlier Goumas goal was disallowed after the net was lifted - tied the game at two, and the Wildcats and Huskies weren’t able to solve each other the rest of the way. New Hampshire lost Greg Burke to what is probably a separated shoulder and Northeastern lost Hewkin to an upper-body injury and neither will play when the two teams face off Saturday at Matthews Arena.
Drew Daniels and Wade MacLeod scored for Northeastern, which got off to an early 2-0 lead thanks to some superb forechecking and great play in the neutral zone. Connor Hardowa, who was moved from defense to center on UNH’s fourth line following the Burke injury in the first period, scored the other Wildcat goal. With the tie, UNH maintains its grip on first place over BC by a point.

at Providence 3, Lowell 3
PROVIDENCE, RI - Matt Germain scored the first and last goal of the game for the Friars and Joseph Pendenza scored twice in 1:21 in the second period for Lowell, which earned a point for the first time since upsetting Merrimack on January 21st. Alex Beaudry stopped 33 shots for Providence, which is now two points out of eighth place in the Hockey East standings.

Hockey East Week 21 Preview

With six teams in and one team out, three teams are fighting for Hockey East’s last two playoff spots. For reeling UMass, seeing maroon and gold all weekend isn’t likely to help their chances, while Vermont figures to have their hands full with BU as well. Providence, on the other hand, finally gets a break from its beast of a second-half schedule as they take on Lowell in a home-and-home that they need to sweep to stay in the hunt.
On the other end of the standings, there are still three home-ice spots up for grabs. Merrimack and BC could take two of them simply by taking a point in either game this weekend - or any game the rest of the way, for that matter. BU - which holds the tiebreaker over Maine - can do it with any combination of three points (win and a tie this weekend, win and a Maine loss, tie and a Merrimack sweep of Maine, among others).
But don’t underestimate Maine. Or, for that matter, Northeastern.

NU @, vs. UNH

I wrote two weeks ago that the last three weeks of the season feature only two matchups between ranked opponents. This may as well be a third. Without head coach Greg Cronin, the Huskies took it to BC last weekend, tying at Conte Forum and never trailing en route to a 2-1 win on home ice against the then-numbed one Eagles on Saturday. Northeastern again received votes in the USCHO poll this week - not nearly enough to get them ranked, but I digress - and could possibly make an appearance in next week’s top 20 if they’re able to get the offense that showed up in the Beanpot final and game one of the weekend series to show up with the defense that nearly blanked BC on Saturday night.
UNH proved two weeks ago that they’re vulnerable when playing a physical team, because they’re far too finesse to be successful in such matchups - one of the reasons, perhaps, that they’re a regular early out in March. Northeastern isn’t as talented offensively as Merrimack, and Chris Rawlings probably isn’t quite as good as Joe Cannata, but they play a similar style. The finesse game suits UNH on the big sheet at the Whitt, but in tight spaces at Matthews, they may be in trouble. The trick to this series for the Wildcats? Get two points on Friday at home, and don’t get complacent on Saturday. If the Huskies can get to Matt Di Girolamo on Friday, though, it could be another very long weekend for Dick Umile’s squad.
The matchup to watch is UNH’s first line of Paul Thompson, Mike “The Sizzler” Sislo and Phil Desimone against Northeastern’s Anthony Bitetto and Luke Eibler. Northeastern’s top pairing has had success throughout the second half of the year slowing down opposing top lines, and they’ll need to do the same here.UNH can score with any line they want, but if the pressure falls on the second and third lines to light up the scoreboard, Northeastern should be able to take the play to UNH. Look out for Huskies captain Tyler McNeely, who’s one point shy of 100 for his career, and Wade MacLeod, who had an 11-game in-conference scoring streak snapped on Saturday.

Merrimack @ Maine

This was supposed to be the big matchup of the weekend before Northeastern burst onto the scene in the Beanpot final and then upended BC on Saturday. It’s still a very big matchup. But if you’re Tim Whitehead, it’s gotta be making you lose sleep at night. With Northeastern two points behind Maine - and with no reason to see why the Huskies can’t at least take two points this weekend - the pressure is suddenly on the Black Bears to not get swept and slip into sixth in the conference. Think that’s crazy talk? Think again.
Merrimack’s second in scoring and first in defense in Hockey East (thanks, Beanpot). Maine is sixth in defense, but no team below them has a chance at finishing above seventh place, and that’s saying something. The Black Bears are a team that’s strong through the neutral zone and on the attack, but they’re not a team that plays well in their own zone. And against a physical team like Merrimack, they’re bound to have even more trouble.
That said, a Maine sweep this weekend would put them all but clear of Northeastern and right in contention for home ice in the quarterfinals. And nobody wants to go to Alfond for a weekend and try to win two of three. Not even Merrimack. But don’t expect that to happen. Joe Cannata’s been too good, Chris Barton, Jesse Todd and Joe Cucci have had superlative second halves and the Warriors should get leading scorer Stephane Da Costa back from a knee injury this weekend as well. The matchup to watch is anytime one of those four strong, quick forwards are flying through the neutral zone at Dan Sullivan or Martin Oullette or Shawn Sirman or whichever Mainer wins the pre-game promotion and gets to play goal for the Black Bears for the night. Don’t expect Maine’s defense to do anything to slow them down. And don’t expect Gustav Nyquist or Spencer Abbott or Tanner House or Brian Flynn to have their way with Cannata like they did with Lowell’s goaltending last weekend. Home ice or not, this weekend should be a wash.

UMass @, vs. BC

If UMass has spent the past few months searching for an identity (and they have), this isn’t the place to find it. The Eagles will be angry and hungry after suffering what may well be their last loss of the 2010-11 season Saturday night, and the Minutemen are going to have to hope that they can weather the storm to get any points out of the weekend.
If they can, it’s going to be up to Paul Dainton, who’s been strong but not spectacular in net throughout the season for UMass. But Chris Kreider, Brian Gibbons, Jimmy Hayes, Cam Atkinson and Joe Whitney are likely to have other thoughts on the matter. UMass’ biggest hope in this series involves them seeing Parker Milner in net for BC in one of the games and playing the role of spoiler - if not, it may be their season that winds up spoiled.

Lowell @, vs. Providence

I’m not sure that this series is worth a comment. Thanks to Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertanga for only making me have to write previews on four series this weekend, though. The whole five-previews-in-one-post thing was getting a bit much.
Also, if Providence doesn’t get at least three points from this weekend, a) they’re all but out of the playoffs and b) they don’t deserve to be there, anyway. That’s all you need to know.

Vermont @ BU

Vermont did one thing really well against UNH last weekend. That one thing: score first. Problem for them was, UNH is a third-period team. BU isn’t. If the Cats can get something going early against Kieran Millan, they stand a chance against the Terriers. If they can get three points, they’ll earn a playoff berth.
Vermont did a lot of things poorly last weekend. Those lot of things: everything after they scored first. BU isn’t a team that likes to get pushed to the outside, and Vermont didn’t make any efforts to make UNH work from the walls last weekend. It’s not a combination that looks good for the Catamounts.
Meanwhile, after an embarassing loss to Harvard in the Beanpot consolation game, BU bounced back last weekend, winning 2-1 and 1-0 over a Providence squad that a good team would have beaten 4-0 and 6-2.
It’s identity check time for both teams. Which means it’s identity check time for Rob Madore, who’s been good-but-not-great for Vermont; and it’s identity check time for BU’s upperclassmen, most of whom won’t be around next year after they leave early for the NHL or parts unknown, but who could make a big statement over the next six weeks if they re-commit themselves.
It’s also identity check time for Jack Parker - who, as we all now know, may be coaching for his job. Home ice shouldn’t be a concern for BU in this series; winning with energy should. Because if they don’t win with energy, they’re going to lose with disgrace again.