LOWELL, Mass. – Freshman defenseman Zack Kamrass picked a great time to score his first collegiate goal. With 8:31 left in overtime, he collected a rebound off a Joseph Pendenza shot and buried it into an open net to give Massachusetts-Lowell a 3-2 win over Providence and push their quarterfinal series to a decisive Game 3 on Sunday afternoon.

After getting outplayed for much of the opening period, the River Hawks struck first at the 17:28 mark when Chad Ruhwedel kept a puck in at the right point and raced to the slot before flipping a backhander past Alex Beaudry (33 saves). Lowell upped the lead to 2-0 early in the second when Matt Ferreira banged home a loose puck in the crease for a power-play goal.

The Friars came storming back late in the second, though. Myles Harvey cut the lead to one when he ripped a slap shot past Doug Carr (34 saves) from the top of the left circle. Then Stefan Demopoulos tied the game 1:56 later when he knocked in a rebound off a Shane Luke shot. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – On a night that the power delayed the game for nearly 20 minutes in the middle of the first period, the Boston College Eagles struggled to get any offense going for nearly 59 minutes of gameplay.  In the end it was two goals in 44 seconds that did the trick, as they defeated the Minutemen 2-1 at Conte Forum.

UMass needed nearly eight minutes to register their first shot in the first period but when they did they quickly found their legs and took the play on BC for the next 50 minutes of play. The big effort in the first two periods was wasted in just 44 seconds late in the second period as Boston College would score two quick goals. The first being a goal right off the faceoff by Pat Mullane and the second being a snipe shot from the high, left slot by Tommy Cross.  Johnny Gaudreau assisted on both goals for the Eagles and it was the third line of the Eagles that proved to be the difference in the game.

In the third period the Minutemen made it a game by scoring a goal seven minutes in to make it a 2-1 game but it was not to be as the Eagles proceeded to take a 1-0 series lead over UMass. Boston College improves their record to 26-10-1, while the Minutemen fall to 13-17-5. Tomorrow night UMass will need a win to stay alive and Boston College can clinch the series with a win. The win kept Boston College in first place in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. – The first game of the Hockey East Tournament ended in an upset, as seventh-seeded Providence beat second-seeded Massachusetts-Lowell on Friday night. Derek Army and Matt Bergland led the way offensively with two goals apiece, while Alex Beaudry stopped 33 of the 36 shots he faced. Game 2 is Friday at 7 p.m. The Friars can advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2001 with a win.

The River Hawks opened the scoring 9:59 into the first when a Scott Wilson shot led to a scramble in front that ended with Josh Holmstrom knocking in a loose puck. Army tied the game 5:28 into the second when he ripped a slap shot inside the right post for a power-play goal. The Friars took the lead four minutes later when Andy Balysky knocked home a rebound after Doug Carr (36 saves) stopped a golden chance from Ross Mauermann.

Lowell knotted the game again 2:25 later when Wilson beat Beaudry blocker-side for a power-play goal. Army struck again to give the Friars a 3-2 lead late in the second when he took a pass from Damian Cross on a 3-on-2 and snapped a shot over Carr’s glove. Providence added an insurance marker with 8:30 left in the third when Tim Schaller hit the post and Bergland knocked in the rebound. The Friars would need it, as Matt Ferreira cut the lead to 4-3 with 4:29 to go. Bergland added his second of the game on an empty-netter with 1:35 to go. (more…)

Hockey East’s official postseason awards will be handed out Wednesday, March 14 and Thursday, March 15. Day 1 will see all minor awards and the league’s all-rookie team, before the major distinctions and other honors are revealed the following evening.

The 2011-12 Hockey East season was a continuation of previous years of excellence from some players and teams. However, it also produced its share of revelations. As such, this was much harder to compile than I initially anticipated. In years past, there’s usually more unanimity for this type of stuff.

Some of the awards we decided were agreed upon by all CHN staffers that took part in my poll. In the next few weeks, we’ll see players and teams in this conference fight for the ultimate honor. Scott McLaughlin, Michael King, Joshua Seguin, Jill Saftel, Mike Machnik, Mike McMahon and I will be with you throughout the Hockey East Tournament up until Joe Bertagna hands out a trophy in nine days. For now, we’re taking the chance to hand out a few of our own. The seven of us voted and bantered, argued and agreed, eventually on the following names.

Let’s see if you agree. (more…)

Chestnut Hill, MA. -  Vermont was unable to control the offensive prowess of Boston College and they were stymied on their own offense as they were outscored 8-1 on the weekend by a Boston College team that locked up the regular season conference title. Boston College scored late in the first period off a goal from Destry Straight, his second of the year and they never looked back in the game. Chris Kreider would score his 20^th of the year at 6:50 of the second period and Pat Mullane would score his sixth of the year in the third period to make the lead insurmountable. Bill Arnold would add an empty netter to make it a 4-0 final.

Boston College with the win improved their record 25-10-1 on the season and locked up the regular season title with a two point advantage on second place Boston University. Vermont ends its season at a disappointing 6-27-1. The effort was there for Vermont but it was just not meant to be on the weekend. Boston College with the win moves up to first in the Pairwise rankings and they look poised to keep that through the playoffs. (more…)

Friday night, Northeastern’s loss to Boston University cemented the eight-team field for the 2012 Hockey East Tournament. NU’s 5-2 loss to BU, paired with Massachusetts’ win over Merrimack and Boston College defeating Vermont, left the Huskies locked into the wrong side of the tiebreakers that ultimately decided who qualified and who missed out.

The Huskies and UMass finished tied in eighth place with identical records of 9-14-4 in Hockey East play. The tiebreakers for this exact scenario are as follows.

1. Head to head record
2. Wins in league play
3. Record against first-place team, if that’s tied it goes to second-place team and so on

In head-to-head play, UMass and Northeastern played to 1-1-1 record, so that first tiebreaker doesn’t help. Second tiebreaker, being league wins, is equally useless, since they finished with the same record. The third tiebreaker, finally, gave us some answers. Boston College picked up its 12th Hockey East regular season championship with its sweep of Vermont. As a result, records of UMass and Northeastern against BC determined the final team. (more…)

Chestnut Hill, MA.- Boston College used two quick first period goals by Paul Carey and Pat Mullane to go up by two in the first eight minutes. From there they never looked back and defeated Vermont 5-1. Vermont played a strong game from start to finish and gave BC all the trouble that they could have asked for but it was not to be as Boston College used their speed to perfection.

Despite a good defensive effort by Vermont, Boston College was just too strong. HT Lenz scored late in the first period to give UVM hope at 2-1 going into the second period. It was there that Barry Almeida scored a goal midway through to make it 3-1. He scored his second of the night, one of the prettiest goals a hockey fan will ever see, midway through the third period to clinch the victory for BC, at 4-1. Steven Whitney added an empty net goal to make it 5-1, which would hold to the end of the game.

Boston College with the win moved one step closer to clinching the league regular season title but they will still need a win or a tie on Saturday night to do so. With Boston University’s win down the road at Agganis, Boston University still has a chance if Vermont were to take game two tomorrow night against the Eagles, as Boston University holds the tiebreaker. With the win Boston College stays in a tie for second place in the Pairwise rankings. These are ever changing so check out the Pairwise page for all the updates as games go final. (more…)

With one night to go in the Hockey East regular season, we know the eight teams that will be in the playoffs. The league title, the last home ice spot, and seeding are still up for grabs, though. Here is a breakdown of where each team stands entering its final game of the season.

Boston College (37 points)
-hosts Vermont.
-had already clinched home ice for the quarterfinals before this weekend.
-clinched a share of the regular-season title with Friday’s 5-1 win over Vermont.
-can clinch the one seed with a win or tie, or a loss and a BU loss or tie.

Boston University (35 points)
-travels to Northeastern.
-had already clinched home ice before this weekend.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a win or tie, or a loss and a Lowell loss or tie.
-can clinch a share of the regular-season title and the one seed with a win and a BC loss. (more…)

Before tonight’s games get underway, let’s take a look at what’s on the line for each Hockey East team. Please note that I am only looking at what can happen tonight. There will be another post tomorrow looking at what can happen on the final night of the regular season.

Boston College (35 points)
-hosts Vermont.
-has already clinched home ice for the quarterfinals.
-can clinch the regular-season title with a win and a BU loss or tie, or with a tie and a BU loss.
-can clinch a share of first with a win.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a tie.

Boston University (33 points)
-hosts Northeastern.
-has already clinched home ice.
-can clinch one of the top two seeds with a win and a Lowell loss or tie, or with a tie and a Lowell loss. (more…)

We have finally, albeit regretfully, entered the final weekend of the regular season. After 23 weeks of Hockey East regular season contests and exhibitions, it comes down to one weekend to decide the conference regular season title, the final home ice position and the final playoff spot.

Boston College is seemingly in the driver’s seat to take home the regular season title, as they hold a two point lead on Boston University and host Vermont this weekend. Boston University will play a home and home against a desperate Northeastern team that is fighting for the last playoff spot tied with UMass. If Boston College were to fall against the Catamounts and Boston University sweeps Northeastern, the Terriers would hold the head to head tiebreaker thus giving them the regular season crown and the number one seed heading into the tournament. UMass-Lowell would need two losses by Boston College and one by Boston University to have any chance. They are currently four points out of first and would need a three way tie. (more…)