While four Hockey East teams took part in the first two Frozen Fenway games of the season, another four played regular league action that kicked off the official start of Hockey East’s second half. We saw Massachusetts pick up three points in its two games to sneak back into a playoff spot, while Boston University’s win over Merrimack pushed it into first place — for the time being.

Both of these teams enter the final two months of league play among the most interesting stories. Aside from UMass Lowell’s chance to turn its strong first half into a strong season and New Hampshire’s decline, the Minutemen and Terriers both still have much to prove in Hockey East play — though their aims are very different at this point.

Their fans are pleased with their performances over the weekend, but neither side is satisfied — knowing they have far more ahead of them.

Three points are big, but UMass is still looking likely for ninth place

Prior to Saturday’s game with Vermont, UMass left Schneider Arena disappointed and relieved with its tie at Providence on Thursday. It’ll take the point, but UMass wasted a pair of leads and eventually saw the Friars take a 4-3 lead before Danny Hobbs‘ extra-man goal sent the game to overtime. The extra period proved kinder to the Minutemen Saturday afternoon, as Michael Marcou scored with 22.9 seconds remaining to pick up two points. (more…)

CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. — Boston College used a pair of nifty goals to build a lead on Merrimack Sunday afternoon at Conte Forum, but the Warriors fought back, receiving two goals from Connor Toomey, and tied the Eagles, 2-2. In the overtime, Kyle Singleton slid a puck past BC goaltender Brian Billet with 12.9 seconds remaining, but the goal was disallowed following a high stick from MC forward Rhett Bly. Officials reviewed the play, but the call on the ice was confirmed.

Forward Paul Carey got the Eagles after a scoreless first with a nifty and dangle through the right circle and shot over the left shoulder of MC goaltender Joe Cannata 47 seconds into the second period. Steven Whitney scored the second BC goal at 5:10 of the 2nd period, taking a pass from Barry Almedia and moving in quickly on Cannata.

The point lifted the Eagles into a first-place tie with Boston University — the Terriers have already clinched the season series over BC with two wins in three games earlier this season. For Merrimack, the point lifted them over Maine. Currently, the Warriors are alone in third place with 16 points. However, MC has played just 12 Hockey East games, compared to the 14 played by both BC and BU.

What I Saw

• Brian Billet’s poise in goal continues for the Eagles. After a rough start to his collegiate career, Billet has become the Eagles undisputed No. 1 goaltender since defeating Yale on Nov. 26. The freshman provided BC with the steady goaltending it’s used to. With the win over Merrimack, Billet’s record improved to 3-2-1. In his six starts, his save percentage is .929 and his goals-against average of 1.99. Parker Milner entered the season as the No. 1 goaltender in Chestnut Hill, but his inconsistent play — and Billet’s emergence — led BC coach Jerry York to reassess his depth chart. (more…)

BOSTON — Maine senior Brian Flynn scored 1 minute, 29 seconds into the overtime, as Maine defeated New Hampshire, 5-4, in the second game from Fenway Park Saturday night.

While Flynn factored in just one of Maine’s five goals, linemates Spencer Abbot and Joey Diamond gave the Black Bears great efforts with three assists and two goals and an assist, respectively. The line as been Maine’s most consistent all season, and its performance on such a large stage could be big for the Black Bears moving forward.

Fore New Hampshire, the same issues they’ve experienced for most of the season showed up again. While the offense eventually found its stride after struggling early on, UNH’s team defense let it down once again. On the penalty kill, the Wildcats allowed three goals to Maine. Kevin Goumas picked up a pair of goals for UNH, including a shorthanded goal with two teammates in the box.

What I Saw

• The teams spent the second half  of periods playing more conservatively than the first. As the periods moved forward and the ice softened, the players shifted from their usual aggressive play. All nine of the goals scored in the period came came in the first half of a period or a minute or two after. Play slowed from that point on, and the teams opted for shorter shifts and essentially eliminated any risky passing plays. Late in regulation, both teams were more forceful, especially UNH, but the hesitance was obvious throughout the game. (more…)

BOSTON — Boston University took over sole possession of first place in Hockey East with a 4-2 win over Merrimack on Friday night. The Warriors (11-4-3, 7-3-1 HE) opened the scoring with a Josh Myers goal 4:31 in, but BU (11-6-1, 9-4-1 HE) responded with two goals in the next minute from Justin Courtnall and Alex Chiasson. Alexx Privitera made it 3-1 with a power-play tally later in the period, and Sahir Gill finished off the scoring with one of his own late in the second. Kieran Millan made 42 saves in the win.

What I saw

-After going 0-for-6 on the power play last Saturday against Notre Dame, BU went 2-for-4 Friday. The Terriers converted on each of their first two power plays thanks to some great puck movement. The first setup started when Adam Clendening fed Chris Connolly, who then found Chiasson with a great centering pass that Chiasson redirected past Joe Cannata (32 saves). The second came on a beautiful pass from below the goal line by Matt Nieto that found Privitera all alone at the back door for an easy tap-in. The blue-line pairing of Clendening and Privitera on the top unit looked particularly dangerous.

-The Terriers also improved on faceoffs, going 28-for-60 after winning just 19 of 59 in South Bend. No one was spectacular, but everyone was right around 50 percent, which is really all BU can reasonably expect after losing not just its top two centers, but also its top two faceoff men. Perhaps the most notable contributor was Chiasson, who, although listed as the top-line right wing, took the majority of faceoffs when his line was on the ice and wound up going 7-for-13. (more…)

Durham, NH.- New Hampshire came out of a 23 day layoff flat offensively and continuing the defensive woes that plagued them in the first half to lose to Brown 5-2. The loss was the first on home ice for the Wildcats against the Bears in 81 years.

Brown raced out to a 3-0 lead midway through the second period but proceeded to let the Wildcats back into the game. Connor Hardowa scored on a point shot midway into the second period and Nick Sorkin scored early in the third to make the game 3-2 but Brown held on and got a huge goal at 15:29 of the third to ice the game thus skating away with the victory. Marco De Filippo was strong in the Brown net making 39 saves while Matt Di Girolamo was pulled in the third period for UNH after making 15 of 18 saves in lieu of freshman Casey Desmith, who made 5 of 6 saves including a penalty shot save on Brown captain, Jack Maclellan.

What I Saw

-UNH came out flat in the first two periods and Brown took advantage scoring three goals in the third period. UNH had a lot of sustained pressure in the early going of the third period but was only able to capitalize on one of those opportunities.

-Matt Di Girolamo again struggled at times against Brown and was pulled in lieu of Casey Desmith. Casey Desmith again wooed the crowd with his play. With about 6:30 left in the game Brown was awarded a penalty shot when UNH’s Brett Kostolansky covered the puck in the crease. Desmith made a huge pad save on Brown captain, Jack Maclellan. At this point of the third all the momentum was tilting towards UNH but they were unable to capitalize. (more…)

After a tumultuous few weeks for many Hockey East teams, many teams will look forward to just getting back on the ice for game action. The slate is busy for many teams this weekend as holiday tournaments are abounded. Vermont hosts its annual Catamount Cup, UMass-Lowell is at the UConn Hockey Classic, UMass and Maine head to Florida for the annual Florida College Classic, Merrimack will make the short trip to Dartmouth for the Ledyard National Bank Classic in Hanover NH., Northeastern travels to the annual Mariucci Cup and Boston College is the fourth participant in the annual Great Lakes Invitational at the Joe Louis Arena.

This weekend of non-conference games will go a long way in determining the field of 16 at the end of the season. As the second half of the season begins the countdown to the multiple Frozen Fenway games begins and the long and grinding road to the Hockey East tournament also commences. The stage has been set for some teams to begin dropping and others to continue their ordinary runs to the league playoffs. Here’s to previewing the long weekend of games this New Year’s weekend. (more…)

Last night, we rewarded the best performers in Hockey East in the first half. Chris Kreider and Joe Cannata were the big winners, as the former received our nod for Player of the First Half and Cannata was the unanimous choice for the league’s top netminder — both players were also named to our first team.

Aside from the various lists and all-conference teams we conducted our own little vote on, we thought more critically about the league. Looking back on some of the best and worst moments from the first half and turning our eyes ahead to the second half, below is a list of some of the most interesting things that have already happened and a few more we think you’ll be talking about throughout the second half.

Most Surprising Player

Chad Ruhwedel, Defenseman, Sophomore, UMass Lowell

Doug Carr, Goaltender, Sophomore, UMass Lowell

Between the five Hockey East writers included in this poll, two chose Ruhwedel and three chose Carr. While that clearly tilted the nod in favor of Carr, it’s only appropriate to credit both players for their remarkable performances guiding UMass Lowell to an unlikely 10-5-0 first half.

Carr has been nothing-short-of fantastic for the River Hawks, and his 1.82 goals-against average and .934 save percentage would typically be good enough for tops in the conference. Joe Cannata’s brilliance is the only thing keeping Carr down at this point, but it’s like UML coach Norm Bazin is more than satisfied with the goaltending he’s received since giving Carr the keys to the River Hawks. (more…)

With the second half of the Hockey East and college hockey season beginning later this week, it’s time to look back on the first half of 2011-12.

While Hockey East as a whole was rocked by the arrest of now-former Boston University senior Corey Trivino, the first half did produce some fantastic performances and surprising results. We watched UMass Lowell become a national contender and Northeastern score nine goals on Notre Dame.

We saw Ludwig Karlsson, Doug Carr and Johnny Gaudreau emerge as stars in this league, while young players like Bill Arnold, Mike Pereira and Matt Nieto continued on their paths to becoming truly great players in Hockey East. We also received a healthy dose of the expected as Boston College ended the first half as the team top team in the conference, and Merrimack built on its success from last season to become a contender for a national championship.

In the first half of our look at the first half of the Hockey East season, we’ll focus on individuals in the league. In Part 2, we’ll focus on some of the players to keep an eye on and moments to remember. At the end we’ll look forward to the second half of the season, and what you can expect from around Hockey East. Hockey East writers Michel King, Scott McLaughlin, Jill Saftel, Josh Seguin and I collaborated on these lists, awards and predictions.  (more…)

These will be the last power rankings before the new year. Only two Hockey East teams play this weekend, as Merrimack hosts Union and Vermont hosts St. Lawrence. Then everyone’s on break until the holiday tournaments. The last week was an exciting one around the conference — and not just on the ice — but there wound up being no movement from last week’s power rankings.

1. Boston College (12-6-0, 9-4-0 HE) — Last week: 1

BC beat Providence 4-1 last Tuesday before closing out the first semester with a 3-2 loss at Lowell on Friday. The Eagles enter the break in a bit of a funk — at least by their standards — having gone 4-5-0 in their last nine games. They still lead the conference in offense and rank second in defense, though. Chris Kreider has at least a point in all but two games this season, and he’s now tied for the league lead with 23 points.

2. Merrimack (10-2-2, 7-2-1 HE) — Last week: 2

The Warriors followed up their first two losses of the season with a 5-2 win over Vermont last Wednesday and a 1-1 tie at Colgate on Saturday. They continue to lead Hockey East in defense, but they rank seventh in the league in offense and have scored just one goal in three of their last four games. After giving up six goals two Saturdays ago against Providence, Joe Cannata rebounded by stopping 66 of 69 shots in the two games last week. (more…)

LOWELL, Mass. — Massachusetts-Lowell picked up its fifth straight win and eighth in its last nine games, beating Boston College 3-2 on Friday night. The River Hawks (10-4-0, 7-3-0 HE) opened the scoring 4:57 into the game on a great individual effort by David Vallorani. The senior winger took a pass from Chad Ruhwedel and split two BC defenders before roofing a shot over Brian Billett’s (24 saves) glove. Derek Arnold upped the lead to two with a power-play goal seven minutes later. The Eagles (12-6-0, 9-4-0 HE) cut the lead in half early in the second with a power-play goal from Barry Almeida, but Lowell regained the two-goal lead midway through the third when Joseph Pendenza beat Billett on a breakaway.

What I saw

-Doug Carr continued his outstanding season in the Lowell net. The sophomore netminder stopped 23 of the 25 shots he faced and is now 9-1-0 on the season with a league-leading .934 save percentage and 1.80 goals against average. He has yet to allow more than three goals in a game this year, and has given up just seven total in his last five games. Obviously a lot of credit goes to the strong defense in front of him, but he’s been great no matter how much credit you give the rest of the team. He moves well, stays square to shots and doesn’t give up big rebounds. As he put it after the game, Carr is at his best when everything looks easy.

– Lowell’s Terrence Wallin was assessed a five-minute major and game misconduct 3:48 into the game for contact to the head after landing a hard hit on Bill Arnold. Not only did the River Hawks kill the penalty, but Derek Arnold drew a hooking call on Paul Carey less than a minute into the power play, and Vallorani wound up scoring during the ensuing 4-on-4. (more…)