Until they are unseated, the WCHA is king of the college hockey landscape.

However, we might be seeing signs of resurgence in the eastern schools as these early non-conference games unfold.

Starting with the obvious, Maine is playing the best hockey of anyone in the country right now.  The Black Bears are 5-0-0 and 3 of those wins are over WCHA schools, in WCHA arenas.

New Hampshire opened their season on the road at Colorado College, and swept the Tigers 4-3 and 7-2.  RPI went into Denver and took a game from the Pioneers, and hung around for two periods in the second.  This is an RPI team picked to finish ninth in the ECAC.

Coming up this weekend SLU heads to Michigan Sate, Northeastern travles to Michigan and Boston College travels back to Wisconsin, in what will be the most talked about games of the week.  A BC sweep could further turn the tide to the eastern schools as early departures take their toll on the west.  I realize it’s still October, but come April the college landscape could be very different.

Here’s what Ron has to say about the weekend:

• How about Notre Dame? Crushing BC 7-1, then rolling over Providence 6-1 the following night. The only blemish on their record so far is a 3-2 OT loss to Minnesota State. Aside from that, they’ve been offensively dominant in the four other games they’ve played this season. Are they the real deal? 
• Vermoooont? Where are you?
• Is it just me or are there a lot more weekday games this year?
• The Canadian teams went 2-2-1 on Saturday against Bemidji State and an Ivy League foursome hitting the ice for the first time this season. There’s a bit of rust there, but once the Ivies are on skates, you know hockey season is in full swing and that’s a good thing.
• The WCHA is the only conference with a winning record against “Big 4″ teams with a 15-9-5 record.

Monday, October 23rd, 2006 - 2:14 pm | Notes, Thoughts, Ramblings