Last weekend featured the series we’ve all been waiting for — UNH vs. BC. Although the split certainly wasn’t unexpected, the way the series played out was. The Eagles rolled to a 5-2 win on Friday, while the Wildcats outshot BC 39-23 in a 2-1 win on Saturday. In the end, that series didn’t change much about how I view the top of the conference. There’s still a clear top two, but the top spot could still go either way. Elsewhere in the conference, sweeps by Lowell over Vermont and Providence over UMass have helped solidify some other spots.

1. New Hampshire (14-4-2, 9-3-1 HE) — Last week: 1
Thanks to their bounce-back win on Saturday, the Wildcats hang onto the top spot. Kevin Goumas and John Henrion each had a goal and an assist in the series, while the third line of Dan Correale, Jay Camper and Matt Willows scored in both games. UNH went 4-for-4 on the penalty kill and is now 63-for-67 (94.0%) on the season. One point of concern is that Casey DeSmith has an .886 save percentage since his school-record shutout streak came to an end back on Nov. 18.

2. Boston College (13-4-2, 10-3-1 HE) — Last week: 2
The Eagles’ big win on Friday certainly helped silence some of the talk about their recent struggles. Had they won or tied Saturday’s game, they would’ve moved back to the top of these rankings, but Henrion’s late goal prevented that from happening. Johnny Gaudreau registered a goal and two assists in his return to the lineup on Friday, while Pat Mullane scored twice. On Saturday, Michael Matheson picked up his second game misconduct in as many weekends.

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Durham NH – UNH responded well after a 5 -2 loss on Friday night to the same Boston College team that they played on this night. The teams would play an even first period that saw BC leave with a 10-9 advantage in shots, but nothing to show for it and the teams tied at zero. The second period was much different however as BC freshman defender, Michael Matheson, would take two ill-advised penalties; first a hitting from behind two minute minor and then a contact to the head on a blindside hit as he exited the penalty box on his first penalty. UNH would then get a five on three power-play for two minutes midway through the five minute major. They sent shot after shot at Parker Milner but the BC goaltender stood tall and UNH wasted opportunities to take a 1-0 lead. 53 seconds after the penalties had expired, the Wildcats would get their revenge as Dan Correale faked a defender on a two on one and found Matt Willows all alone in front, where Willows gave New Hampshire the 1-0 lead with just 47 seconds left in the second period.

The third period was evenly played as Brooks Dyroff would tie the score at seven minutes, 57 seconds. UNH would get a late power-play on  a Kevin Hayes tripping call and would capitalize. Justin Agosta took a one-timer from the point and John Henrion found the puck in front of the Eagle net and put it past Parker Milner to give UNH the late 2-1 lead with 4:48 remaining.

The Wildcats would hang on for the 2-1 win over Boston College sending home the sellout crowd of 6501 at the Whittemore Center home happy. The win improves New Hampshire to 14-4-2 and 9-3-1 in Hockey East, as Boston College fell to 13-4-2, 10-3-1. The win pulls UNH within two points of BC in the Hockey East standings with a game in hand and also pulls UNH into a tie with this same BC team and Quinnipiac for first in the Pairwise rankings. (more…)

MINNEAPOLIS- After defeating Boston College and Notre Dame, two top-5 teams, in a span of 9 days by a combined 12-2 score, Friday’s WCHA game against Alaska-Anchorage (3-12-4, 1-11-3 WCHA) was an easier match-up on paper for the top-ranked Gophers.

But of course that forgets one little detail: hockey is not played on paper.

After Seawolves sophomore Scott Allen gave his team a 3-2 lead with 5:47 remaining in regulation, Minnesota (15-3-3, 7-3-3 WCHA) scored power play goals by Nick Bjugstad, his second of the game, and Ben Marshall, with 50.8 seconds left, to defeat Alaska-Anchorage 4-3. Both goals occurred during a questionable five minute major to Tyler Currier for checking Gopher captain Zach Budish from behind with 4:08 remaining in regulation.

It was the second time Minnesota had to come back. Earlier, Quinn Sproule scored on Adam Wilcox, who made 17 saves, 5:17 into Friday’s game and UAA was the first team to hold a lead on the Gophers since November 30th. The Seawolves controlled play for much of the first 10 minutes, however, a power play goal by Kyle Rau and even-strength shot by Bjugstad gave the Gophers a 2-1 lead after two periods. That set the stage for Alaska-Anchorage forwards Daniel Naslund and Allen to score 4 minuets apart in the third period before Minnesota’s drastic comeback. (more…)

NORTH ANDOVER, Mass. — There was no blown lead this time. Two nights after seeing a 5-2 third-period lead turn into a 6-5 overtime loss to Harvard, Boston University picked up a 4-1 win over Merrimack. Wade Megan led the way with a goal and an assist, and he was the one who opened the scoring 12:20 into the first on a shorthanded goal. The Terrier captain picked up a loose puck in the neutral zone, beat two Merrimack (7-9-4, 5-5-1 Hockey East) defenders, and fired a wrist shot over Rasmus Tirronen’s glove.

Sahir Gill made it 2-0 BU 3:51 into the second when he found some space at the top of the crease and redirected a nice slap pass from Alexx Privitera. The Terriers (12-7-0, 9-4-0 HE) upped the lead to 3-0 later in the period. Megan led a rush down the left wing before sending a saucer pass to the front that Cason Hohmann poked past Tirronen. Matt Nieto added to the lead midway through the third when he buried a pass from Evan Rodrigues. The Warriors finally got on the board with 6:22 left in the game when Kyle Bigos fired a slap shot through traffic.

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Before the second half of WCHA conference play begins, I feel like it would be a good opportunity to step back and reflect upon the first half of the season. There have been some ups and downs along the way. Players who have expected to dominate have struggled while a few teams have exceeded every expectation from the preseason. Most importantly, the play continues to live up to the high standards of the WCHA. It’s a treat to watch all 12 teams every weekend and with 6 teams within 4 points of first place, the final second half of the conference as we know it cannot get any better.

So without further adieu, here are my WCHA first-half awards. Winners receive nothing except for the praise of seeing their name on the internet. Those excluded will have others make arguments for them because this is the internet. (more…)

I haven’t done one of these since the first half, and for that I am completely sorry. Real world catches up on all of us I suppose and last week I was catching up on Dartmouth Ledyard Bank Tournament coverage by keeping all of you in the know with features and what not in the days after.

This week marks the return of this preview and I couldn’t have picked a better week to restart, as there is an absolutely huge matchup between the top two teams in Hockey East. New Hampshire and Boston College will meet this weekend in a crucial conference matchup, which will have huge implications on the national picture as well. Another crucial matchup will be UMass and Providence facing off in a home and home series that could have a big impact on the final home-ice spot come Hockey East tournament time. There are many other crucial matchups as well as the teams now get into the meat of the Hockey East schedule, without further ado let’s get to previewing the matchups. (more…)

The holidays are over, and that means we’re back to conference play. Although I didn’t have time to write up last week’s blog entry, I did tweet out my rankings. So the “Last week” does actually refer to last week and not pre-break.

1. Minnesota (14-3-3, 6-3-3 WCHA) — Last week: 1
The Gophers beat Notre Dame 4-1 on Tuesday to extend their unbeaten streak to six games. Prior to that, they outscored Air Force and Boston College 12-1 en route to winning the Mariucci Classic. Nick Bjugstad had two goals and four assists in the tournament, while Sam Warning, Nate Condon and Zach Budish each had two points in Tuesday’s victory over the Irish.

2. North Dakota (12-5-3, 7-2-3 WCHA) — Last week: 2
UND extended its unbeaten streak to seven games by sweeping Holy Cross over the weekend, winning 5-2 on Friday and 3-2 on Saturday. They outshot the Crusaders 78-34 in the series. Corban Knight registered two goals and four assists on the weekend and is now tied for third in the country with 29 points on the season. He has a 15-game point streak, and has multiple points in each of the last five.

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A lot has happened in the two weeks since the last “3 Things” was written; enough so where it feels like I could cover 8 things and not do the conference justice. Since the holiday break the WCHA went through some doom and gloom.  St. Cloud State lost to RPI, Minnesota-Duluth fell to Maine and Nebraska-Omaha saw themselves swept by Quinnipiac. With so few non-conference games, their importance in the PairWise grow and each loss takes its toll.

But following the doom and gloom, the WCHA also went through some prosperity. Minnesota State, Michigan Tech and Minnesota won holiday tournament titles alongside sweeps by Denver and North Dakota over Cornell and Holy Cross, respectively. The Gophers joined the Pioneers, who earlier defeated Boston University 6-0, in routing Boston schools when they blew out a Johnny Gaudreau-less Boston College 8-1.

With that win comes a statement, as goaltender Adam Wilcox said, “when [teams] look at it and see ‘Gophers 8-1′ it puts our name on the board.” It’s hard to argue with that.

The top-ranked Gophers had another chance to make a non-conference statement when they faced #2 Notre Dame last night in a rare Tuesday night college hockey game. On a national stage, Minnesota defeated the Fighting Irish 4-1 to finish their non-conference schedule an undefeated 8-0; a remarkable feat given other teams’ issues outside of the conference.

More importantly, their positive non-conference experience helps the Gophers – currently 6th in league play – as they put their focus on the second half of the season. With 2 games in hand over 4 of the 5 teams ahead of them and only 4 points out of first, the gap between first and sixth cannot be smaller.

After the break, first-year players dominate the discussion. From Pheonix Copely and Stephon Williams to Anthony Stolarz and Nicolas Kerdiles, all 3 things cover WCHA freshmen. (more…)

Conference play is back in full swing this weekend, so let’s see how everyone’s shaping up as the stretch run begins. I didn’t have time to write up a post last week (apologies if that ruined your week), but I did tweet out my rankings. So the “Last week” actually does refer to last week and not pre-break.

1. New Hampshire (13-3-2, 8-2-1 HE) — Last week: 1
After a tough Ledyard Bank Classic that saw them lose to Dartmouth and squeak by Bemidji State in overtime, the Wildcats bounced back with a 5-2 win over Rensselaer on Saturday. Kevin Goumas had his 10-game point streak snapped against Dartmouth, but still leads Hockey East with 18 assists and 26 points. Fourth-liners Dan Correale and Jay Camper each had two points against RPI.

2. Boston College (12-3-2, 9-2-1 HE) — Last week: 2
Coming off an 8-1 beatdown at the hands of Minnesota, the Eagles got outshot 48-22 by Yale on Friday but managed to force a 3-3 tie. BC is now 2-2-2 in its last six, with one of those wins coming against lowly Alabama-Huntsville. Johnny Gaudreau’s return from World Juniors will help the offense, but the bigger questions right now are on defense, where the Eagles are trying to make up for the loss of Patch Alber.

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Last week Dartmouth was sitting pretty in these rankings after a win against UNH but have not won since and have lost three games in a row. Quinnipiac proved their ranking at the top with another four point weekend, with wins against Dartmouth and Harvard. Quinnipiac now sits nine points clear of their closest competition in the standings, while the next 11 teams are separated by just seven points. Without further ado we will see where all the teams rank.

1. Quinnipiac (16-3-2, 10-0-0) – Last Week 1

At this point there is no question who the top dog in ECAC is. Last weekend the Bobcats defeated Dartmouth 2-1 on Friday night, while pummeling Harvard 6-2 on Saturday. They are on a 14 game unbeaten streak and are unblemished in ECAC play. A nine point lead is monumental at this point of the season, but it seems as though nine points will be all they need. The question at this point is who will stop their hot streak. Along with being at the top of the ECAC standings, the Bobcats currently sit in second place in the ever important Pairwise Rankings (more…)