No matter what happens this weekend in Hockey East, Friday’s matchup between Boston College and Boston University will be the story around the country.

The first installment of the B-Line rivalry or the Battle of Commonwealth Avenue or whatever you prefer to call it has a bit more meaning than it usually does. With BU’s Jack Eichel and BC’s Noah Hanifin in the lineup, two of the top three picks in next summer’s NHL Draft will be on display.

At this point in the season, no one involved with either program is too keen to discuss the draft status of either player. Moreover, coaches just want their teams to get point and some quality wins under their belts. That hasn’t stopped every media outlet with even the smallest bit of time for amateur hockey from talking about Friday’s game.

Both BU coach Dave Quinn and BC’s Jerry York know their gifted young players are capable of being stars on the ice for a very long time. However, they both also know how important this game is for each program.

BU is trying to end a five-year trophy drought, while BC is in the midst of a troubling stretch. Eichel and Hanifin may be future NHL icons, but, for now, they’re just a pair of very good college hockey players trying to win games. Neither will be at their respective schools for more than one or two seasons. Eichel seems a certainty to sign with whichever team drafts him, while Hanifin, being a defenseman and even younger than Eichel, is a better candidate to get a second season of college hockey.

Either way, the buzz around Friday’s game around North America is palpable. Meetings between BC-BU are always highly anticipated, only a few other rivalries in the country match the significance of the games every year. There’s more than two points on the minds of those watching, though.

Admittedly, I’ve been a little frustrated with the constant discussion of these two players. They’re both, obviously, massive talents, and this whole season will be a showcase for them. These games always have future professional stars in them, though. These two are especially high profile, and it’s good for college hockey that this game is on national television for everyone to see just what these teams have to offer.

No matter the result, though, the story ill inevitably turn to Eichel and Hanifin. Games between BC and BU aren’t exactly starved for coverage or additional storylines every year. But they’ll certainly get some more of both this year, starting tonight at the Heights.

Things are going to get even worse for Northeastern this weekend

Northeastern’s wretched 0-6-0 start hasn’t come with many brightspots for the team. A few players are having pretty good seasons, but the team can’t win games and really hasn’t played especially well in any of them.

They’re better than their 0-6-0 record, but they’re still a bad team in the middle of a conference that shows no mercy. This weekend, the Huskies play a home-and-home pair with Massachusetts-Lowell.

This is an interesting matchup at the moment because both teams have been absolutely awful in terms of puck possession to this point. The difference, of course, being UML’s 5-1-1 record and NU’s winless start.

Part of UML’s greatness is its ability to capitalize on the smallest mistake and prevent teams from doing much of anything even with long spells of territorial dominance. The River Hawks possess the quality of being able to win games comfortably even when they don’t play very well. Much of that comes down to coaching and instilling a system of disciplined defending and relentless pursuit of goals once possession is gained.

This is all bad for Northeastern. The Huskies’ have been plainly awful in their own zone for the last season-plus. Meanwhile, UML has won three trophies in the last two seasons taking advantage of the kinds of mistake NU makes.

Friday night at Tsongas Center and Saturday night at Matthews Arena, Northeastern must show it can be more efficient in its own end if any of the four available points are going to be theirs.

It’s difficult to see that happening, though. A UML sweep seems like an inevitability.

Let’s what Merrimack’s made of

Merrimack’s has done pretty much everything well in its first seven games. At 5-1-1, the Warriors have possessed the puck. Rasmus Tirronen has played well in goal. They’re even scoring goals.

But this hot start has come, more or less, against the dregs of college hockey. To start the season, MC won four consecutive one-goal games with a sweep of Holy Cross and overtime wins against Connecticut and Mercyhurst.

A one-goal loss to Mercyhurst and a tie against UConn in a non-conference game followed before the Warriors crushed Princeton, 6-1, on Sunday.

Merrimack starts a home-and-home with Providence Friday night at Schneider Arena. After the pair with the Friars, Merrimack welcomes Notre Dame to North Andover, Mass., for a pair.

PC enters the weekend needing both wins and promising performances as it attempts to recover from a disappointing start to the season. Saturday’s 2-1 win over BU was a good start, and the Friars should start knocking down points.

Merrimack has a lot to prove now. The Warriors were expected to finish in the lower third of Hockey East. It’s still difficult to see any of that changing even with five wins in their first seven games. Only one of those was a Hockey East games, and they needed overtime to beat UConn.

Everything MC has done well to this point suggests, as always, that it won’t be an easy team to get points against, especially for teams that don’t have loads of high-end skill. PC should still take all four points this weekend.

Vermont’s strengths should win out over Maine’s

Maine heads to Burlington, Vt., this weekend for a pair of games with the Catamounts. The teams will play two more games in Orono at end of the month, but they are non-conference games.

Maine can score a lot of goals. Vermont doesn’t allow very many.

Even in last weekend’s winless trek out to South Bend, UVM lost and drew, the Catamounts got good goaltending and generated scoring chances. All in all, a 4-1-1 start is welcomed by UVM coach Kevin Sneddon. But those four wins did come against poor competition. Maine isn’t exactly a juggernaut, but the Black Bears can score goals.

They hung nine on a bad UMass teams last weekend. Despite only scoring 11 in their previous six games, the Black Bears are highly talented offensive teams. Shooing just 7.5 percent for the year — even after last weekend’s outburst against UMass — explains some of the struggles they’ve had scoring early on.

UVM, meanwhile, is its usual balance of shutdown defense and efficient scoring.

The Catamounts and the Black Bears both seemed like mid-table Hockey East teams when the season began, and little suggests that will change moving forward. However, a pair of wins for either side this weekend puts them in good position in these early stages of the Hockey East season.

Vermont’s played well defensively all season. Maine needed a pair of home games against a UMass teams allowing more than four goals per game to get its offense going. Vermont must take all four points this weekend.

Friday, November 7th, 2014 - 12:00 pm | Commentary