12 Hockey East thoughts for Oct. 23, 2015
Posted by: Mike McMahonAll 12 Hockey East teams are in action this weekend with four playing home-and-home series in the league standings. Let’s take a look around the league with 12 thoughts for 12 teams …
Boston College (at Colorado College x2) — Colorado College is not a good hockey team. Despite the close scores against UMass Lowell last weekend, the River Hawks thoroughly dominated CC for almost the entire weekend, including posting an eye-popping 55 shots on goal last Friday. Yeah, it’s a road game, but if a UMass team can go to CC and take a pair of wins, this should be easy pickings for the Eagles.
Boston University (home-and-home with UConn) — The Terriers got in the win column last week against a struggling Wisconsin team. Three years ago it would have been crazy to say this, but UConn is going to provide a much tougher test.
Connecticut (home-and-home with BU) — While there is some reason for excitement after a 2-1 record to start the year, we must also remember that those three games have come against Alabama-Huntsville and Arizona State. UConn is scoring four goals per game, which while very good isn’t likely to happen against a BU team that, even though is averaging 3.00 goals per game, is much better than that in the long run. You wonder if BU fans will be suffering through a case of the “what-ifs?” however, after watching Maxim Letunov (3 goals, 3 assists) skate for the Huskies.
Maine (vs. New Brunswick-exh) — Maybe a chance for Maine to finally get into the win column, even though it won’t technically count. This is actually an important game for the Black Bears, who haven’t scored a goal in two games and were easily taken care of by Quinnipiac on Tuesday night. Maine needs some confidence, and a win here could help. The bad news? UNB, including exhibitions, is 9-1 on the season, with that only loss coming to UMass Lowell (3-2). They have wins over Boston College and the Portland Pirates (AHL).
Massachusetts (vs. New Hampshire) — This is a very interesting game for UMass. The Minutemen have started the season a perfect 3-0, but have done so against less-than-stellar competition and despite scoring plenty of goals, have been dominated in terms of puck possession. UNH is just 1-2 and was swept last weekend by a pair of ECAC teams that Merrimack beat with relative ease. UMass still has a lot to prove, and despite a poor start, this should still be a good UNH team that’s licking its wounds.
UMass Lowell (home-and-home with Merrimack) — This might be the most interesting series of the weekend. No one is surprised to see Lowell 3-0, but most are seeing Merrimack 2-0. The Warriors and River Hawks had a great rivalry back in the 70s and 80s and if both teams are playing well, it could evolve into a good one again. For Lowell, consistency is key. They’re the most consistent team in Hockey East, if not the country. You know what they’re going to do, but few teams have been able to beat them.
Merrimack (home-and-home with UMass Lowell) — Merrimack’s 5.0 goals per game … yeah, that’s not sustainable. But the good news for the Warriors is that Collin Delia has looked great in goal. They need to play a bit better in the defensive zone and their power play surely needs to be better against a team like Lowell. They won’t give you many chances 5-on-5, so if you have the puck up 5-on-4, you better convert.
New Hampshire (at UMass, at Union) — This is an interesting weekend for the Wildcats, who will play a league game at UNH tonight and then keep heading west into New York to face Union on Saturday. Let’s focus on UMass here. This should be a good opportunity for UNH to get back into the win column. They were a good puck possession team last season and this season are at about 50 percent. They should be able to control even-strength possession against UMass, if the statistics prove anything, and then it comes down to Danny Tirone, who has struggled, against a UMass offense that is clearly skilled, as shown by their shooting percentage.
Northeastern (at Minnesota x2) — Northeastern absolutely deserved better results last week against Bentley, controlling the puck in both games and losing twice. It’s no secret that goaltending has been Northeastern’s biggest problem. Derick Roy has started three games and has a save percentage of .837. That’s not likely to remain over the entire season because it’s hard to sustain something that low, but you have to think that the Huskies will look to Ryan Ruck sooner or later. Maybe even this weekend. What do they have to lose?
Notre Dame (vs. Minnesota-Duluth x2) — Speaking of goaltending, Notre Dame needs Cal Petersen to be the same goalie he was last season. An .892 save percentage and a 4.03 goals-against average isn’t going to get it done. Petersen is “elite,” which is a term often overused in hockey but whatever, he is, and he’ll figure it out. Notre Dame will have to get out to some better starts, it seems. They’re outscoring opponents 4-2 in first periods but are being outshot 33-16.
Providence (vs. Ohio State x2) — Mark Jankowski looks very, very good in the early going. PC needs him to be a top contributor on offense and he has been. Oh, and Nick Ellis? He’s not making people ask who Jon Gillies was, but he’s sporting a .929 save percentage through three games. Not bad. PC welcomes in a wounded Ohio State team that’s 0-4 on the year and has had trouble scoring. Matt Tomkins has been good in goal for the Buckeyes, but six goals in four games is — how do you say? — not good.
Vermont (vs. North Dakota x2) — What a schedule the Catamounts start with. Kudos to Kevin Sneddon for testing his team right out of the gate. Vermont went to Minnesota — looked better on paper this summer — and beat the Gophers 3-0 on the road before a pair of tight games with an excellent Omaha team last week and now it’s an excellent North Dakota team that comes into Gutterson Fieldhouse. Mario Puskarich has looked great, but UVM is surely looking for some of its other top scorers to start producing. Brady Shaw (1 assist) shouldn’t be quiet for long. Breakout weekend?
