Massachusetts-Lowell ended its holiday season on Saturday afternoon with its second consecutive tournament win. The River Hawks knocked off Merrimack, 3-1, to claim the Mariucci Classic. Two weekends ago, UML won the Frozen Holiday Classic, beating Sacred Heart and Connecticut without much issue.

Even with the trophies handed out each weekend, the four wins Lowell picked up are little more than good non-conference wins. None of the opponents were particularly tough outs, though Merrimack has proved its a truly difficult team to beat on several occasions this year. Beating inferior opponents without issue is a good sign for teams with the aspirations of Lowell. Norm Bazin’s club, the two-time defending Hockey East Tournament champion, expects to compete for titles now. At the moment, Lowell is level on points with Boston University atop the Hockey East standings with a game in hand on the Terriers.

BU, Vermont, Providence and Boston College all seem like contenders for league championships, and, in years past, Lowell may’ve been the darkhorse. That isn’t the case any longer, though. UML has had more success than any of these programs in the last couple seasons in terms of winning titles. As the tough second-half of Hockey East play ramps up, it’s pretty clear the regular-season and tournament titles are Lowell’s to lose.

There’s good competition from the Comm. Ave clubs. Moreover, Lowell still has two games with BU, Providence and Vermont as well as one more with BC. So there’s a lot left to prove. Lowell is the favorite the rest of the way, though.

Resurgence still won’t be enough for Northeastern

Internally, Northeastern expected the 2014-15 season to be a year of contention. The Huskies believed they could compete for championships this season. The dreadful 0-8-1 start made competing for the league’s regular-season championship or earning an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament quite unlikely.

Things have come together a bit for Northeastern of late. The Huskies have won six of their last nine games and are in good shape to host a first-round playoff series. Much of their recent success has been driven by improved scoring and overall production from their best players. Kevin Roy has six goals and seven assists in his last nine games. Mike Szmatula’s found his offense as well with four goals and four assists in the same stretch.

Earlier this year, I said there wasn’t really any way back for Northeastern, and that’s still mostly true. Even if the Huskies do finish between fifth and eighth to host a first-round series, it’s quite difficult to see them advancing through the Hockey East tournament. Currently, NU is 35th in the Pairwise, so it’s just as difficult to see it jumping high enough to get into contention for an at-large bid.

After the wretched start to the year, any sign of consistency is a positive for Jim Madigan’s team. The Huskies have been a better team in the last six weeks or so. It’s something, but it’s not going to be enough.

Rumors of BC’s demise were a bit premature

Boston College won its holiday tournament last weekend, beating both Brown and Dartmouth to claim the Ledyard Bank Classic in Hanover, N.H. It was a pair of two-goal third periods that carried the Eagles to victory, turning a 2-1 lead into a 4-1 win on Friday and flipping a 2-1 deficit into a victory on Saturday. Winning these games without its full roster available due to World Juniors was quite impressive for BC. As impressive is its record since a 3-6-0 November.

The Eagles are 4-0-1 in the last five games and right back in the mix for a first-round playoff bye and an NCAA Tournament appearance. Seven points back of both UML and BU in the Hockey East race, a regular-season title is a bit out of reach for the Eagles. Making up that difference doesn’t seem likely unless both of those teams collapse badly in the second half.

It’s still quite clear that BC isn’t at the level it has been for the last few seasons. Currently, BC averages 3.11 goals per game, which is its lowest total since the 2008-09 season — the last time BC missed the NCAA Tournament. Teddy Doherty currently leads the team in scoring with five goals and 10 assists on the year. This illustrates the general decline in offensive output. On the whole, BC is still in good shape moving forward, allowing two goals or fewer in seven of its last eight games. But they need to find more offense.

Keeping BC down at this point has been its performances against other clubs expected to compete for championships. Against UML, Minnesota, BU, Providence and Harvard, the Eagles are 0-5-0 and allowed five goals or more in four of those games. So it’s not all back to normal in Chestnut Hill.

The Eagles should be able to make some noise in the Hockey East tournament in March, and there’s plenty of time left to become a real contender for the Lamoriello Trophy. It’s getting better for BC, but there’s plenty left to fix.

Vermont is a step behind Hockey East’s best

Starting the second half with losses to Providence and Yale after defeating Air Force wasn’t exactly what Vermont wanted. UVM coach Kevin Sneddon doesn’t care much for silencing the critics that questioned his club’s ability to compete against the best teams in Hockey East. He just wants to win those games. His team already believes in itself, so it’s not particularly important to them that anyone else does.

Still, losing to Providence on home ice and Yale at Ingalls Rink in its last two games has solidified the opinion that Vermont, while successful, is still very much a second-tier team in Hockey East and on the national stage. At 14-5-1, UVM hasn’t played the most difficult schedule. Against the few truly strong teams on its schedule — Providence, Notre Dame and Yale — the Catamounts are 1-4-1. This just isn’t good enough.

Ahead, UVM has eight games against teams in the Pairwise top 20 — two each with BU, BC, UML and Merrimack — and those games are likely to decide the Catamounts’ ability to compete for trophies this season.

Currently in third place, one point behind UML and BU, most teams in Hockey East have at least one game in hand on the Catamounts. At the very least, UVM is likely to host a first-round playoff series with a bye into the quarterfinals still a real possibility. However, they’ll need to show they can beat the league’s best teams to earn that bye and win the Hockey East title they believe they can.

They haven’t proved they’re capable of that just yet.

Monday, January 5th, 2015 - 2:46 pm | Hockey East, Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings