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 All-Rookie Team Announced

Hockey East has announced its All-Rookie team, and BU and Northeastern are the big winners. Each school had two student-athletes make the list, while Maine, UMass, BC and Merrimack each had one. Below is the list:


G: Dan Sullivan, Maine (York, Pa.)
D: Anthony Bitetto, Northeastern (Island Park, N.Y.)
D: Adam Clendening, Boston University (Wheatfield, N.Y.)
F: Bill Arnold, Boston College (Needham, Mass.)
F: Charlie Coyle, Boston University (East Weymouth, Mass.)
F: Mike Collins, Merrimack (Boston, Mass.)
F: Michael Pereira, Massachusetts (West Haven, Conn.)
F: Brodie Reid, Northeastern (Delta, B.C.)

Both Pereira and Coyle were unanimous selections.

Northeastern Upsets BU, Hockey East Semi-Finals Set

Northeastern 5 at Boston University 4 - Northeastern wins series, two games to one
BOSTON, MA - Northeastern netminder Chris Rawlings was pulled just six shots into Friday’s 5-2 loss to the Terriers. In the series’ deciding game, he stayed on the ice for the entire game, and helped fend off a late Terrier charge to send BU packing and the Huskies on to the Hockey East semi-finals.

Visiting Northeastern got two goals from Brodie Reid, and Steve Silva, Wade MacLeod and Cody Ferriero also tallied for the Huskies, who needed every goal they got as BU mounted a late charge, scoring twice in the final 1:22 to make it a game.

The third period featured six goals, three of which were scored on the power play and one by MacLeod with an empty net. Matt Nieto, Alex Chiasson, Justin Courtnall and Wade Megan scored for BU, but Rawlings made 31 saves to earn the win.

Northeastern’s power play went 2-for-6, while BU was 3-for-6 with the man advantage.

Things got chippy in the postgame handshake line, and Northeastern’s team had to be escorted off the ice before they could reconcile their differences with BU, who they’d played their last five games against.

With the win, Northeastern will face Boston College in a rematch of the Beanpot championship Friday night at TD Garden in the 5 PM game. UNH and Merrimack will face off at 8.

Northeastern will head to the Hockey East semi-finals for the second time in three years, and will go as the only team needing wins to be ensured a berth in the NCAA tournament.

Home Cooking: All Higher Seeds Win On First Full Night Of Hockey East Playoffs

at Boston College 4, UMass 1

CHESTNUT HILL, MA - Jimmy Hayes showed up at just the right time. After the Minutemen outshot the Hockey East regular season champs 6-1 through the first ten minutes of the game, Hayes beat UMass goaltender Paul Dainton to give the Eagles a 1-0 lead.

They wouldn’t look back.

Cam Atkinson scored his league-leading 28th goal of the year just 14 seconds into the second period, and by the time UMass’ Daniel Hobbs scored a power play goal at 11:52 of the middle frame, the Minutemen were already down 3-0 and BC cruised to a 4-1 victory at Conte Forum. John Muse stopped 26 shots to preserve the win for Boston College, which moved a win away from its seventh straight appearance in the Hockey East semifinals.

Dainton stopped 31 shots for UMass, but it wasn’t enough as Toot Cahoon’s squad couldn’t find the depth to skate with BC or the offense to make up for it.

UMass had eight opportunities with the man advantage, but was only able to convert once. BC went 1-for-6 on the power play.

The Minutemen and Eagles face off at 7 PM Saturday night at Conte Forum with UMass’ season on the line.

at New Hampshire 3, Vermont 1

DURHAM, NH - Stevie Moses nearly registered more shots himself than his entire team did a week earlier, recording 10 attempts on net, and closing the scoring off a beautiful feed from Mike Borisenok early in the third period to cap a 3-1 Wildcats win.

Despite being outshot 14-4 in the first period, UNH took an early lead on Paul Thompson’s 27th goal of the season at 4:23. It seemed as though that might be the game-winner for a long time, as Matt Di Girolamo was superb against a solid Catamounts attack.

The lone Vermont goal came when Sebastian Stalberg - who had a great chance in the first on a wrap-around that Di Girolamo sprawled backwards with his arm over his head to glove away - was able to pry lose a rebound and put the puck between the UNH goaltender’s legs.

UNH was successful on its only power play chance when Phil DeSimone scored the game’s second goal with four seconds remaining in a Dan Lawson tripping penalty. Vermont went 0-for-5 with the man advantage.

Di Girolamo stopped 32 Vermont shots to earn the win in his first career Hockey East playoff game.

UNH and Vermont go at it again Saturday night as the Wildcats look to avenge last season’s early playoff exit when they beat the Cats 7-4 on Friday night but lost successive 1-0 decisions on Saturday and Sunday and were unable to advance in the Hockey East tournament.

at Boston University 5, Northeastern 2

BOSTON, MA - BU spotted Northeastern an early lead when Brodie Reid scored his ninth goal of the year at 3:25 of the first period, but pushed back to even the series and extend their season for at least one more game, winning a 5-2 decision at Agganis Arena.

Joe Pereira tallied twice for the Terriers, including an empty-net goal with just 35 seconds remaining, and Matt Nieto, Kevin Gilroy and Ryan Ruikka added markers for BU, which struggled to find any offense in a 4-2 loss to Northeastern on Thursday night.

Jamie Oleksiak also scored for Northeastern, making it a 3-2 game after two periods, but BU was too much for the Huskies in the third. Clay Witt, who has faced BU in three of the five games that he’s played this season, made 29 saves in relief of Chris Rawlings, who allowed three of the six shots he saw to go by him.

Kieran Millan made 30 saves to earn the win for BU, which needs to at least advance to the Hockey East semifinals to have a chance at playing in the NCAA tournament.

Despite drawing ten Northeastern penalties, BU was only able to convert on one power play. Northeastern went 1-for-7 with the extra man.

The series will pause briefly as Agganis Arena hosts the America East Men’s Basketball Championship on Saturday before resuming Sunday night at 7 PM with both team’s seasons on the line.

at Merrimack 5, Maine 4

ANDOVER, MA - The Black Bears jumped out to a 2-0 lead nearly halfway through the action, and it looked like the Warriors were going to suffer a similar fate to the one they experienced two weeks ago in Orono.

Three unanswered goals later, Merrimack was in charge and held off multiple attempts at a comeback to take a 1-0 series advantage.

Gustav Nyquist scored his 50th career goal for Maine to open the scoring, and added two assists later to finish with three points. Robby Dee scored twice for the Black Bears and added an assist as well.

While Maine held Joe Cucci and Mike Collins pointless on the night, Merrimack found its scoring from lower down the lineup chart. Elliott Sheen scored twice and Ryan Flanigan added a goal and an assist, as the Warriors’ third line contributed three goals and two assists on the night.

Dan Sullivan - who’d been strong in net recently for Maine - gave up five goals on 24 shots. It was the first time Sullivan had given up five goals all season, though he was pulled twice in games in which he gave up three goals in a period.

The Black Bears lost despite going 3-for-5 on the power play and holding Merrimack to only three man-advantage chances, which they converted one of. 

Joe Cannata stopped 20 Maine shots to earn the win.

The series continues Saturday night, presumably with Maine’s season on the line. Saturday’s game will be televised on NESN and starts at 7:30 PM.

Hockey East Playoffs: Quarterfinals Picks

Boston College over UMass in two games

You don’t need to know much about this series. Simply look at the history; BC swept UMass this year. BC’s won two of the last three national titles. BC swept UNH last weekend. Boston College has won eight of its last ten games, 11 of its last 13 and 18 of 22. UMass, meanwhile, hasn’t won in twelve games. They’ve earned three out of a possible 24 points.
Sure, two of BC’s wins over UMass this year were by two goals, but that’s not nearly encouragement enough to think that the Minutemen could steal a game in this series. BC has their eyes on bigger prizes, for sure. But as long as they focus on this one, there isn’t much that can stop them.

UNH over UVM in three games

UNH went 2-0-1 against Vermont this year. When they won, they won handily; 5-1 and 6-1. When they tied, they didn’t bother showing up. Which sounds a lot like what UNH normally does in March. There are no ties this time of year, so the Wildcats would be well-served to show up early and often and put an anemic Vermont offense in a position where it can’t catch up.
Vermont’s defense isn’t stellar. Rob Madore’s going to need to have the weekend of his career for the Cats to advance. Vermont’s D will have to have a spotlight on Paul Thompson, who has 5-11=16 totals against the Cats in his career. But if they can keep the games low-scoring, doubt will creep into the minds of the home team and it could be their undoing.
At the end of the day, this UNH team is too experienced and too hungry to lose this series, but they’ve experience enough heartbreaks to get shaken if they go down early in a game or lose Friday night. Whoever scores first will play a huge role in who wins these games.

Northeastern over Boston University in three games

Yes, they’ve played seven straight one-goal games. Yes, BU’s won five of them. Yes, BU’s 5-2 all-time against Northeastern in the Hockey East playoffs. Yes, BU was the hottest team in the conference before falling to the Huskies on Saturday night at Agganis. Yes, they’re 15-3-4 against Northeastern in the last five seasons.
But the emotional boost that Northeastern gets from the return of Greg Cronin will help. A lot. Enough, probably, to earn them game one of the series. BU’s been lackadaisical with a lead, but hasn’t shown much urgency when trailing, either. The Terriers have relied on their freshmen and junior Alex Chiasson to get the job done this year, while the Huskies rely on their senior leadership to light the lamp and their young guys to keep the other team off the board. Kieran Millan has been suspect in big games. Chris Rawlings has risen to the occasion whenever called upon.
If Northeastern takes Thursday’s game one, expect BU to look a little like deer in headlights. And don’t expect them to respond well.

Maine over Merrimack in three games

Only one team in this series is playing for an NCAA tournament berth. It’s also the team that peaked at the right time of year. Maine proved that they can beat Merrimack by getting behind the forecheck, and don’t expect them not to do so again. Sure, Merrimack’s solid at home - 12-2-2 on the season. Sure, they get Stephane Da Costa back, and they’re 19-5-4 with him in the lineup.
But this comes down to goaltending, just like everything else at this time of year does. Joe Cannata’s been a shell of himself the past few weeks, and Dan Sullivan has been hulking up for the playoffs. That, of course, can change. And change quickly and easily. And if it does, this is easily Merrimack’s series.
But you can’t predict that. And until you can, this is Maine’s series to lose. They have more post-season experience on the ice and on the bench than does Merrimack, and they have the ability to let Merrimack beat themselves, which is an upper hand that the Warriors don’t hold over Maine.

Hockey East Playoff Matchups Announced

With the conclusion of the regular season, the Hockey East playoff matchups have been determined - and mercifully, without the use of any tiebreakers. Boston College’s 4-3 win over UNH on Saturday night gave them first place in the conference, while Northeastern’s 4-3 win over Boston University ensured that they’ll be heading right back to Agganis Arena to face the Terriers in the quarterfinals. Maine - which swept Merrimack in Orono by a composite score of 11-1 just a week ago - will face the Warriors at Lawler Arena and Vermont will return to the Whittemore Center, where last year it ousted homestanding UNH in the opening round of the playoffs.

(8) UMass at (1) Boston College
Boston College swept the season series, winning two games at the Mullins Center and a third at home against the Minutemen. Cam Atkinson has a team-high six points (1-5=6) against UMass, and John Muse was in net for all three BC wins. 

(5) Maine at (4) Merrimack
After losing 7-1 at Lawler Arena in early January, the Black Bears welcomed Mark Dennehy’s team back to Maine by beating them handily, 4-0 and 7-1 just last weekend. Chris Barton (1-3=4) leads the Warriors in scoring against Maine this year, while Gustav Nyquist (1-4=5) leads Maine, but there are three Black Bears that have registered four points against Joe Cannata, who’s been suddenly fallible in the last two weeks of the season. In 160 minutes against Merrimack, Dan Sullivan has allowed five goals, four of them coming in the January game. Cannata has allowed 10 goals in 135:55 against Maine.

(6) Northeastern at (3) Boston University
Since the 2009 Beanpot, every game between the Terriers and the Huskies has ended in a tie or in a one-goal differential. Clay Witt has been on the decisive end of two games against BU this season, going 1-1 with a .915 save percentage. Anthony Bitetto (0-3=3) leads the Huskies in scoring against Kieran Millan (2-1-0) and the Terriers, while Charlie Coyle (1-4=5) leads BU in scoring against their neighborhood rivals. 

(7) Vermont at (2) New Hampshire
UNH seems to have had Vermont’s number this year, going 2-0-1 with a 5-1 and 6-1 victory. Paul Thompson (3-3=6) and Mike Sislo (0-6=6) lead the Wildcats in scoring against Keven Snedden’s squad, and  Tobias Nilson-Roos (2-0=2) leads the Catamounts in scoring. Matt Di Girolamo has been in net for each - and every - game for UNH this season, posting a .941 save percentage against Vermont.

Hockey East Power Rankings

Standings:

Boston College (20-6-1) 41 points

UNH (17-6-4) 38 points

BU (15-6-6) 36 points

Merrimack (16-8-3) 35 points

Maine (14-8-5) 33 points

Northeastern (10-10-7) 27 points

Vermont (6-14-7) 19 points

UMass (5-16-6) 16 points

Providence (4-16-7) 15 points

Lowell (4-21-2) 10 points

1. Boston College - It doesn’t matter how they do it or who they do it with, Jerry York’s squad just wins. That usually bodes well in March.
2. Boston University - Until losing to Northeastern on Saturday night at Agganis Arena, the Terriers hadn’t lost a Hockey East game since January 21st, a span of ten games. Jack Parker’s teams usually step up in March, but they’re going to need to do some more stepping to have a chance to play for the NCAA Championship.
3. UNH - Another weekend in March, another series that UNH came out on the wrong end of. The guys say they’re hungry and they want it; history says it doesn’t matter. Could this be the year that UNH kicks the trend and starts writing a new chapter?
4. Maine - Nobody in a Black Bears sweater should feel comfortable about facing Merrimack at Lawler Arena for the right to advance to Boston. But if Dan Sullivan can continue his strong play, the offense will take care of the rest and Maine could be a very dangerous team in a few weeks.
5. Merrimack - Though they don’t like letting opponents see them, there are chinks in the armor of Mark Dennehy’s squad, and heading into the playoffs losing three of four doesn’t bode well for a team lacking serious post-season experience.
6. Northeastern - Just when you thought he might have hit a well, Sebastien Leplante proved work isn’t yet done, coaching the Huskies to a 4-3 win over BU at Agganis Arena. If Northeastern taught us anything these past three weeks, it’s that they’re not a team to be taken lightly.
7. Vermont - The Cats will return to a murder scene on Friday when they re-visit the Whit on Friday night. The memories of last year’s UVM dismantling of UNH are no doubt still strong in the minds of everyone who was there, but whether or not this Vermont squad can find what it takes to keep up with the Wildcats is very much up in the air.
8.  UMass - The Minutemen could have given up when they went down 3-0 to Maine on senior night at the Mullins Center. They could have thrown in the towel and hoped Merrimack would beat Providence so their backslide into the playoffs continued. But instead, they went out and got it, proving that there may still be some fight in Toot Cahoon’s troops. Enough to knock off BC? Probably not. But hey, at least they made it there.
9. Lowell - They’re not good. They’re very unpolished. But the RiverHawks showed some promise at the end of the season, taking points in three of their last four games. They’ll be a year wiser and a year more experienced next year, which puts them in a better spot than the only team below them.
10. Providence - Tim Army’s tenure as coach of the Friars is likely over after six years which concluded with the Friars missing the playoffs for the third straight season. They’ll also lose their three top scorers (and five of their top seven) and will likely look in a new direction to get things turned around - though that goal is a long ways off.