Air Force – For the first time in awhile, the Falcons are not sitting atop the standings. A winless weekend agaisnt visiting Holy Cross saw the Falcons fall two points behind Meryhurst. Stephen Caple received both starts in net even with Jason Torf healthy again. Kyle De Laurell continues to roll as he scored three times against the Crusaders. Two of those goals came on Friday, his fourth multigoal game of the year.

AIC  -The Yellow Jackets were off but return to the ice on Tuesday when they travel to RPI.

Army – The Black Knights were swept at home by Canisius. The Black Knihgts scored just three goals on the weekend. Andy Starczewski scored twice for the Black Knights. His eight goals this season ties his career high and leads the Black Knights. He also has a point in three straight games. Danny Colvin added two assists to tie him for the team lead with seven. (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…)

The WCHA needed a big weekend to salvage it’s at-large hopes for the NCAA Tournament in March. And while it posted a winning record thanks to a late-Saturday rally, a 7-4-1 record on the weekend isn’t exactly what was needed.

What’s truly disappointing is what could have been for the league this weekend. Denver blew a two-goal lead Friday in a 3-2 loss. Minnesota State blew a 3-2 lead late in the third period Friday, allowing two goals in 1:16 in a 4-3 loss. CC had a two-goal lead Saturday and tied. A 10-2-0 record this weekend would have been an unquestioned success. A 7-4-1 record? Not so much.

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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…)

Michigan defenseman Jon Merrill will be in the starting lineup tonight, as the sophomore makes his season debut against Lake Superior. Merrill, a rare bright spot for Team USA last week at the World Junior Championships (WJC), had been suspended for the entire first half of the season, missing 22 games. Stay tuned to CHN through the weekend, as we’ll have much more to come on Merrill’s return, including a feature story by early next week. (more…)

I hope everyone had a great holiday season, and I’m excited for what promises to be another great second half of action in the WCHA.

I will jump back into the power rankings prior to next weekend, but I did want to stress how important the nonconference action this weekend should not be overlooked.

Because there are no WCHA games on the schedule, many will look at this weekend’s games and think “who cares?” Well, you shouldn’t care — if all you care about is winning the MacNaughton Cup. January means it’s time to start looking at those Pairwise Rankings a little closer, and for those of you who haven’t checked them out yet, you can find them here.

I am, by no means, a Pairwise expert — very few are. But I can tell you this with certainty: Only two WCHA teams are in good NCAA Tournament position as we head into the second half, as Minnesota Duluth (No.2) and Minnesota (tied for 4th) are the only two locks as of right now. Colorado College is square on the bubble, and would likely be one of the last one or two at-large teams in.

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Air Force – The weekend marked the return of Jason Torf to the Falcons’ net. But it wasn’t the way the Falcons or Tord wanted to return. Torf came on in relief of Stephen Caple in the Falcons’ 7-1 loss to Denver on Saturday. After recording an assist against Colorado College on Friday, John Kruse’s five game point streak was ended against Denver. Kruse had three goals and five assists during that streak.

AIC – The Yellow Jackets are off until Jan. 10 when they face RPI.

Army – The Black Knights took part in the UConn Hockey Classic, where they finished third. Mike Hull had a goal and assist for the Black Knights. The Black Knights were shut out but UConn but then rebounded with a come from behind win against RPI in the consolation game. (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…)