Hockey East: Where Do They Go From Here?

Of Hockey East’s top 15 scorers in 2010-11, only two - Maine’s Brian Flynn and Spencer Abbott - will be returning to school in the fall of 2011. With a large crop of offensive talent having graduated and the cornerstones of a strong junior class - BC’s Cam Atkinson and Jimmy Hayes and Maine’s Gustav Nyquist among them - cashing in their NHL paychecks (and let’s not forget all-world sophomore Stephane Da Costa from Merrimack, either), the teams that succeed in the conference next year are going to be those who get a lot of production from their youngsters.

The top 25 returning scorers are as follows:

Spencer Abbott, Maine 17-23=40
Brian Flynn, Maine 20-16=36
Alex Chiasson, BU 14-20=34
Ryan Flanigan, Merrimack 16-18=34
Brian Dumoulin, BC 3-30=33
David Vallorani, Lowell 12-19=31
Jesse Todd, Merrimack 17-14=31
Riley Wetmore, Lowell 14-16=30
Mike Collins, Merrimack 14-16=30
Pat Mullane, BC 8-21=29
Daniel Hobbs, UMass 12-16=28
Chris Connolly, BU 10-18=28
Sebastian Stalberg, Vermont 9-19=28
Brodie Reid, Northeastern 11-17=28
Corey Trivino, BU 8-20=28
T.J. Syner, UMass 9-18=27
Karl Stollery, Merrimack 6-21=27
Blake Kessel, UNH 5-22=27
Charlie Coyle, BU 7-19=26
Paul Carey, BC 13-13=26
Stevie Moses, UNH 14-12=26
Adam Clendening, BU, 5-21=26
Michael Pereira, UMass 12-13=25
Sahir Gill, BU 6-19=25
Chris Kreider, BC 11-13=24

By school:
BU (6) 50-117=167
Merrimack (4) 53-69=122
BC (4) 35-77=112
UMass (3) 33-47=80
Maine (2) 37-49=76
Lowell (2) 26-35=61
UNH (2) 19-34=53
Vermont (1) 9-19=28
Northeastern (1) 11-17=28
Providence (0)

Strangely, Northeastern - despite returning only one top-25 scorer - is in some of the best shape of all the schools. Merrimack will be a different team without Da Costa, BC will be a much younger team that will have to work harder to open the ice for guys like Kreider and Mullane, and while BU could be a threat, the way they mailed it in a few weeks ago leaves a lot of question marks.

A look at the total offense each team has lost:

BC (5) 75-93=168
UNH (6) 55-105 = 160
Maine (6) 51-87=138
Merrimack (8) 36-94=130
Northeastern (5) 48-74=122
Providence (7) 34-57=91
Vermont (7) 29-43=72
Lowell (5) 16-24=40
BU (2) 22-21=41
UMass (7) 16-16=32

The picture becomes clearer. Is there any reason why BU shouldn’t walk to a Beanpot and Hockey East title? If there is, it’s either UMass or UNH, two schools which proved that they can get offense from underclassmen without any problem. But the effect of losing players isn’t just felt in points. UNH’s Sislo-DeSimone-Thomspon line was the best the league had last year; Northeastern’s line of Wade MacLeod, Steve Silva and Tyler McNeely was one of the reasons the Huskies had such a strong second half. While BC announced the promotion of Tommy Cross from Assistant Captain to full-fledged team leader earlier this week, both of those teams are losing their captains (UNH, it seems, will name Kessel its captain for 2011-12 sooner than later).

Of course, there’s still time for underclassmen to sign with agents and depart. There are very strong and very talented recruiting classes coming to Vermont, Boston College and UNH - more on those at a later date. There’s the chance that coaching staffs may recognize their offensive deficiencies and change their game to stymie opponents and try to win a bevy of 2-1 games. But that’s hardly par for the course in Hockey East.

BC will still be good. UNH will still be good. Providence will again be awful, as they rebuild from the loss of nearly 50% of their offense and their coach. Lowell should improve under new leadership. UMass, Northeastern and Vermont are the wild cards. BU should be great. Maine will likely slip a bit.

But this is all on paper. The same paper on which Boston College should have thumped Colorado College. The same paper where UNH had no chance against Miami. The same paper where Merrimack couldn’t be ranked in the top-five nationally if everyone else let them six months ago.

That’s the problem with an extended offseason. There’s always too much time to think.

Hockey East monthly awards: Love for Goumas, not for plus-minus ratings

Hockey East named its players of the month yesterday, and two very familiar faces - not to mention a third soon-to-be familiar face - were handed honors their teams would have liked them to be winning months ago.

After a torrid start to the month in which his offensive totals were padded but his plus-minus took a huge hit, Maine’s Gustav Nyquist was named Hockey East Athletic Republic Player of the Month. In the month’s first weekend, Nyquist scored four goals against UNH, including a hat trick in the team’s Friday night defeat. Perhaps most memorable, however, was when he lost an edge and missed an empty net with just over 45 seconds to go in a tie game before Paul Thompson banked the game-winner off of Dan Sullivan’s right shoulder and into the net 30 seconds later. For the month, Nyquist totalled 10 goals and four assists and had five multi-point performances.



It hasn’t been a year full of sunshine and butterflies for BU’s Kieran Millan, but after a month in which the Terrier netminder didn’t lose a single conference game (5-0-1), the junior was recognized as the Pure Hockey Goaltender of the Month. Millan allowed nine goals in six conference games (1.50 GAA) including a shutout on February 19th at Providence and recorded a save percentage of .952 in conference play. The obvious blemish? Allowing eight goals in the Beanpot - including five to lowly Harvard in BU’s first Beanpot consolation game loss since 1980.



Finally, proving that quantity does matter more than quality, UNH’s Kevin Goumas took home the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Month award - after winning the weekly version three out of four times in February. Goumas had a game-winning goal in UNH’s February 4th victory over Maine and registered the game-tying goal in Friday’s 2-2 draw with Northeastern. He finished the month with 4-7-11 totals, including three multi-point games.

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.

Hockey East Week 20 Power Rankings

UNH (16-4-3, 35 points)

BC (16-6-1, 33 points)

Merrimack (15-5-3, 33 points)

BU (13-5-5, 31 points)

Maine (11-8-4, 26 points)

Northeastern (9-8-6, 24 points)

UMass (5-13-5, 15 points)

Vermont (5-13-5, 15 points)

Providence (3-14-6, 12 points)

Lowell (3-20-0, 6 points)

1. UNH - When the mighty fall, the meek shall inherit the Earth. But we’re still a little unsure of just who the meek or mighty are. But with BC and UNH being at the opposite end of three-point weekends, the pendulum has swung back in the Wildcats’ favor. We’ll know where it really falls in two weeks.

2. Merrimack - That groan you heard when Merrimack leaped into a tie for second with BC came from Huntington Avenue, where Northeastern is gunning for a return match with the Warriors. Merrimack has the tie-breaker over BC, but more importantly possesses an eight-game winning streak, second-longest in the nation to only Union.

3. BC - It’s always great to win the Beanpot, but it’s better to win those big late-season conference games. When you don’t, you tumble.

4. Northeastern - The offense showed up on Monday and Friday. The defense and goaltending took over Saturday. If the Huskies can put them together, they’re a top-15 team. It’s still yet to happen, though.

5. Maine - If a team that doesn’t play defense records two shutouts during a weekend but both shutouts are against Lowell, does it make a difference in the rankings? Here’s hoping not.

6. BU - After losing to Harvard in the Beanpot consolation game, they beat an abysmal Providence team 2-1 at home and 1-0 on the road. The only thing worse than mediocre hockey is uninspired hockey.

7. UMass - The only thing worse than uninspired hockey is whatever UMass is doing these days.

8. Vermont - Taking a point from UNH still means nothing as long as UMass has the tiebreaker over them, but if seventh place means playing Merrmack, Vermont’s actually better in eighth.

9. Providence - Somewhere, Tim Army’s still disgusted.

10. Lowell - Somewhere, Blaise MacDonald’s sitting in a dark corner, coddling a 750 of Johnnie Walker Black Label and thinking of warmer days when the sun shone and the Spinners weren’t awful.

The Home Stretch: Hockey East Week 20 preview

This is the time when Hockey East’s rich should get richer and the poor, poorer. There are only two series left pitting ranked teams against each other (Merrimack-Maine, BC-UNH), which can only mean that Hockey East’s elite have a chance to strengthen their grasp on home-ice advantage while the rest of the conference simply tries to keep up.

Merrimack @, vs. UMass

Coach Mark Dennehy’s squad has found a groove, bringing a physical game to the ice that is unparalleled by any team in the conference, and it’s been responsible for their winning six in a row and 12 of their last 13, besting their previous school record of 17 wins in a season with their current mark of 19 and counting. What should really scare a UMass team trying to preserve a playoff spot, though, is how they’ve done it.
The Minutemen are ranked ninth in total defense in Hockey East, and Merrimack is ranked second in scoring offense. But in games that they’ve won, the Warriors are scoring nearly five goals per game (4.84), including 5.17 during their current win streak - a stat which is bolstered by their 11-2 drubbing of UMass at Lawler Arena just a couple of weeks ago.
While the Warriors are the hottest team in the conference not named Boston College (wins in seven in a row and 14 of 15), the Minutemen are one of the most vulnerable. UMass comes into the series riding a six-game winless streak that should probably also include a four-game losing streak, were it not for Chase Langeraap’s late-game heroics against a reeling Providence team.
UMass sits one point ahead of Vermont for seventh in the conference and three ahead of Providence, but with the two teams looking up at them facing off against vulnerable opponents this weekend, it’s important that the Minutmen make a showing against Merrimack, lest they find themselves on the outside of the Hockey East playoff picture looking in.
To do it, they’ll need to solve Joe Cannata, who now sits alone in first place in the league in wins, and has been the real reason that Merrimack’s gotten to where they are this year. With no Stephane Da Costa (knee) still listed as day-to-day, they’ll also need to stop Chris Barton, Joe Cucci and Jesse Todd, who continue to elevate their games and make their teammates better. If they’re going to do it, they’ll need Paul Dainton to be huge between the pipes and will need Langeraap, Michael Pereira and T.J. Syner to get the offense going.
It’s safe to expect Merrimack to sweep this series, and to do it in convincing fashion. But it’s also that time of year when upsets become the order of the day, and if an over-confident Warrior team shows up, expect them to pay.

Maine @ Lowell

No “good” team in Hockey East has experienced as much adversity as the Black Bears have this year. They’ve lost countless man-games to injury, have lost countless games they should have won or at least tied, and haven’t been able to generate enough consistency as a unit to play anything resembling good defense. They’ve only won one of their last seven games, but for a team in desperate need of a win streak, they couldn’t have a better matchup on their hands.
Excepting a fluky 6-4 victory over Merrimack at Lawler Arena a few weeks back, Lowell has been everything they were expected to be - young, raw, with lots of talent but nothing to make it work together. There’s no denying that they’ve made strides lately, taking leads against Boston College and Northeastern in two of their last four games.
It’s an interesting matchup because Maine needs points to keep itself in contention for home ice, but Lowell’s in prime position to play spoiler. If the RiverHawks get physical, they could throw Tim Whitehead’s squad off of their game and take some points away from the weekend. But if Maine starts skating, neither Marc Boulanger - who’s saved 30 or more shots in each of his last six games - nor Doug Carr are likely to have a chance to stop them.
Don’t expect a sweep in this series - Lowell will be too hungry to make a statement as this year winds down and Maine will be tired from traveling on Friday - but don’t expect the RiverHawks to win it, either. Two points this weekend puts Maine in the playoffs. They’ll get there, but it may not be easy.


Northeastern @, vs. BC

A lot of people may be surprised by Northeastern sitting comfortably in sixth place currently, especially after Greg Cronin’s young squad struggled so mightily early in the year. But a look at their schedule the rest of the way out explains a lot: at Boston College, vs. Boston College, at UNH, vs. UNH, vs. BU, at BU.
This series was already interesting before the Huskies and Eagles turned TD Garden into a sold-out practice rink on Monday in the Beanpot championship, each side netting six goals before Jimmy Hayes put away the game-winner in overtime. Now, it’s just downright exciting.
The Beanpot title game should prove to be an anomaly as the conference’s two best defenses settle in on more familiar turf this weekend. What will be interesting to see is how Cronin and Jerry York coach this series, particularly from a goaltending perspective; Cronin has ridden Chris Rawlings all season long, but York’s shown a willingness to use Parker Milner to relieve John Muse, especially in back-to-backs against physical teams. It’s not that Milner (3-2-0, 2.16  GAA, .921 sv % in six games) hasn’t been good, but he certainly hasn’t been Muse.
Whether or not Northeastern can re-capture the energy they showed in the Beanpot final will determine how they fare this weekend. They’ll need to move as well as they did on Monday to keep up with BC’s skating game, but if they can’t, Rawlings will be up to a huge task trying to ward off the Eagles. There’s little doubt that they’d be happy with a split on the weekend, but after Monday night, it’s hard to believe the Huskies will be content with breaking even. With three points this weekend, Northeastern clinches a playoff spot. Could it happen? Sure. But it’s likely they’ll have to wait another week.

Providence @, vs. BU

We know two things about this series: first, Providence - which hasn’t won a conference game since November 5th - still doesn’t have what it takes. Second, BU - which finished fourth in the Beanpot for the first time in 31 years - is a shell of the 6-0-4 team that landed at number one back in early November.
We don’t know much else. The Terriers have become a team prone to taking shifts, periods and entire weekends off - although prior to the Beanpot they looked a much improved team over their November and December counterparts. The Friars have become a team that just doesn’t have enough to keep up with their opponents in any zone.
Providence is fighting for a playoff spot. BU’s fighting to keep home ice. Neither team’s played with urgency of late. Actually, I’m getting tired just writing this preview. Thank goodness this isn’t the NESN game this week.

UNH @ Vermont

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away, UNH was the best team in Hockey East. It matters little that that time was last week and the galaxy was one where teams didn’t have to play Merrimack. What does matter is that Dick Umile likely spent the past week raising hell in practice and that a Vermont team clinging to its Hockey East playoff life is going to be in for the fight of its life over two days at Gutterson Fieldhouse.
Vermont has been the stingiest of Hockey East’s bottom-four teams, getting points in three of its last four games and winning four of its last ten, and if UNH has any designs on taking another opponent lightly as they did Merrimack, they’re in a lot of trouble. Rob Madore hasn’t been great, but he’s been good enough to keep the Cats in a lot of games, but the UVM offense has been slow to ignite, scoring more than two goals only three times in its last 11 games - although two of those have been seven-goal efforts.
Meanwhile, Phil Desimone is still one point shy of 100 for his career, Paul Thompson has a Hobey Baker campaign to keep up, and the rest of UNH’s forwards have benefitted from extended time together and have developed some serious chemistry that could foil the Vermont defense. This series will come down to Madore and Matt Di Girolamo in net for the Wildcats - whoever plays better, wins. And isn’t that the way it should be at this time of year?

Names in the sand: the aftermath of the Beanpot

When all was said and done at TD Garden Monday night, it had much less to do with the fact that BU finished last for the first time in 31 years and that BC won their third title in four years than it did with how they did it.

The divide between the Comm Ave rivals has become more and more apparent in recent years, with BU's 2009 Beanpot and National Championship wins seeming more and more like blips on the radar, writes Ryan Durling of SBNation Boston. And as much as we at Sieves like to bash BU, it's all done in good fun; Hockey East has gotten to where it is because of BC-BU and to not acknowledge that fact is akin to ignoring the ice on the rink.

That said, if there's truth to the rumors that Jack Parker may be on the outs at BU, either because of his struggles on the bench or his medical concerns off of it, it would be a devastating blow to a conference that he's been one of the faces of over the past quarter-century. It would be equally as devastating to the Terriers, whom Durling points out would lose all kinds of recruits who come to BU just to play for Parker. But mostly, it would be devastating for Parker, a coach who's given his life to the game and continues to be one of the strongest, if not most candid, backers of the game and what it means to growing men and women who play it.

There is, undoubtedly, a rivalry between Parker and BC bench boss Jerry York, and both men seem as if they could coach until their final day - and maybe even beyond then - but to think that either of those final days may arrive sooner than later is an arrow through the heart of college hockey, its fans and anyone who's been touched by the sport at any point in time.

If Jack Parker truly is battling medical conditions beyond his control, it's our hope that he learns from Marc Savard and steps away before any more trauma can ensue. He's one of the best ambassadors the game has ever known, and while it's always great to win hockey games, it's better to win at life.

BU loses to Harvard in Beanpot consolation game

After falling behind 1-0, Harvard and Boston University traded three-goal spurts before Danny Biega and Michael Del Mauro scored just under two minutes apart to preserve a win for the Crimson, who beat a ranked opponent for the first time all season despite allowing 49 shots on goal.

Alex Killorn had two goals for the Crimson and Alex Chiasson scored twice for the Terriers, who finished in fourth place in the Beanpot for the first time since 1980. Chiasson got the scoring started for BU when he tallied just 5:42 into the game, but after Daniel Moriarty took a major penalty for hitting from behind, two Killorn goals bookended a Ryan Grimshaw tally and BU was down, 3-1.

Garrett Noonan and Adam Clendening scored within 43 seconds of each other to even the game heading into the third period, and Chiasson bookended the Terrier scoring with a goal through the legs of Ryan Carroll at 14:05.

Del Mauro's goal was the second of the season and only the fifth of the senior's collegiate career.

Harvard coach Ted Donato didn't mix any words about what the goal meant to the senior captain.

"He's the kind of guy who doesn't always shown up on the score sheet a lot for us, but he's been a great leader for us this year in what's not been a good situation. I was really happy to see him score one, I couldn't be happier for him."

The loss could cripple a BU team that's already fallen out of contention for a spot in the NCAA tournament, according to the Pairwise rankings, and head coach Jack Parker is very aware of that.

"We thought the game was over at 1-0," Parker admitted candidly after the game. "That's a loss that's going to come back to haunt us, I'm sure. I'm extremely disappointed in just about everybody on my club.

"This win didn't mean a lot to Harvard, but that loss meant a lot to us."

Yale>Harvard>BU. In memoriam, etc