It felt good, really good, to be back in college hockey rinks this week. Living in Boston means four great rinks are quick train rides away for me. I’m lucky, I know, and I got to Agganis Arena, Matthews Arena and Conte Forum to start the season off properly. The games were equal parts sloppy and exciting, with early-season rust revealing itself as much as the skills of these teams.

The best part of realignment, for me, is more non-conference games. The next few weeks will come with even more non-league games for Hockey East teams, which should give coaches a better idea of their teams’ progress. Moreover, Hockey East play will likely be even better with teams further along when the meat of the schedule comes around.

Again, the performances I saw this weekend aren’t even remotely indicative of the performances I expect to see from these teams as the year progresses. That said, there were a few things I picked up on and expect to continue this season.

(After the jump: Gaudreau’s the difference for BC, UMass still can’t compete, Northeastern’s goaltending battle) (more…)

DULUTH – Getting help from the  freshmen class, Minnesota-Duluth began their pre-season with a large-margined victory over Lakehead University, 7-1.

Bulldog freshman Carson Soucy was the first to strike, beating Lakehead goaltender Jeff Bosch and giving the Bulldogs an early 1-0 lead.  Justin Crandall buried the only other tally in the first period, which ended in favor of the home team, 2-0.  Lakehead came out with a little more determination in the second period, scoring on a power play to cut UMD’s lead, but freshman Kyle Osterberg would find the back of the net in the second period as well to keep the two-goal lead.  A four-goal third period from Joe Basaraba, Austin Farley, and Dominic Toninato (2 goals) would eventually close the game at the final 7 to 1 score.

What I Saw

Lakehead played a physical game from the beginning, which caused early problems for Dogs, who were still adjusting to new linemates.  It took a period, but Minnesota-Duluth did eventually find the chemistry between lines, which really began to shine in the third period when goals were being scored from a variety of players.

The Bulldogs gave each goaltender a period to play, which was convenient for analyzing, but made predictions as to who starts next weekend worse due to the amount of shots and actual scoring chances each goalie was confronted with.

What I Thought

Scoring really wasn’t a question mark for the Dogs coming into the season, as the most dominating class was last year’s freshmen.  With that being said, the power play struggled to convert on six attempts, which is frightening for a team who’s shown a strong special teams in past years.

Defensively, I thought the Dogs played okay.  They were able to get help from some of the younger d-players, which was another question mark entering the season.  It was hard to judge how each goalie played due to the fact that Lakehead, in theory, shouldn’t have anywhere near the talent that NCHC teams have.  Obviously, this Friday will be the real test.

What They Said

UMD coach Scott Sandelin said, “I liked our third period; not just because we scored goals, but we played the game the right way.  We didn’t get goal hungry and we only gave up 2 shots, so it was a good period.”

UMD captain Adam Krause said, “I think we’re going to be a really good team. You can see the guys that can score and move the puck well, even without (Tony) Cameranesi, one of the top guys in the country.”

What Else You Should Know

Tony Cameranesi, who co-led the Bulldogs in scoring last year with 34 points, was out with a lower body injury, but is expected to play on Friday against Michigan Tech.

The Bulldogs had six players with multiple points; two of those players were freshmen.  They also outshot Lakehead 53 to 23.

Durham, NH – It was only an exhibition, but exhibitions can actually tell us a lot. Early on, Acadia appeared to be the team with the upper-hand but the visiting Axemen from Nova Scotia became undisciplined. The Wildcats had six power-plays in the first 30 minutes of the contest. They were able to capitalize on two of the six, to take an early 2-0 lead in that time frame. But then the floodgates opened late in the second as UNH would score three in the final three minutes of the stanza to take a 5-1 lead after two periods. Acadia would outscore UNH 2-1 in the final period, but UNH would leave with a 6-3 win. (more…)

Two regular season, non-conference games will highlight the weekend schedule, as both Colgate and Clarkson begin their respective seasons. Both of the teams struggled mightily down the stretch of last season and will be looking for a new beginning this season. St Lawrence and Rensselaer host exhibition games on Saturday while Quinnipiac hosts one in Hamden on Sunday.

I will have a full ECAC preview available in the coming weeks, but in the mean time lets enjoy the hockey this weekend. it should only be a preview of what is to come around the country. (more…)