BOSTON — In a battle between a pair of struggling Hockey East squads, Northeastern and Maine skated to a 1-1 tie at Matthews Arena Friday night. The contest remained close for the first two periods, despite seemingly adequate power play opportunities for each team.

Senior Chris Rawlings offered a strong performance in net for the Huskies, making 42 saves. His counterpart, Martin Ouellette, was also impressive stopping 31 opportunities. But the Black Bears decidedly generated more of the chances.

What I Saw

In overtime, both teams traded scores chances but neither could break the stalemate. Maine played its strongest period in the third but failed to generate the one opportunity that could solve Rawlings. The Black Bears likely were more deserving of the two points, but ties in Hockey East on the road are almost always a commendable achievement — especially for the last place team.

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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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BOSTON — Harvard overcame a 5-2 third period deficit and scored with 48 seconds remaining in overtime to defeat Boston University, 6-5, at Agganis Arena on Wednesday night. The win halts a six-game winless streak for Harvard; most of which came during a tumultuous month that saw four players leave the university due to their role in an academic dishonesty scandal.

Conor Morrison picked up his first goal of the season on a breakaway to win the game for the Crimson. Goals from Marshall Everson, Luke Greiner and Colin Blackwell led the third-period surge for Harvard. BU held leads of 3-0 and 5-2, but the Terriers failed to hold or build on these leads.

The game marked the first meeting of the O’Regan brothers. Both BU freshman Danny (two goals and an assist) and Harvard sophomore Tommy (a goal and two assists) picked up three points on the night. The crosstown rivals may meet again this season. However, both will need to win their opening Beanpot games. Harvard takes on Boston College, while BU plays Northeastern on the first Monday in February.

What I Saw

• Boston University defensemen played their worst game of the season as a group. Not a single BU blue liner played well in his own zone on the night, leaving freshman goaltender Matt O’Connor in some tough spots. Lax play on breakouts or zone entries led to frequent turnovers and odd-man rushes for Harvard. Following the game, BU coach Jack Parker pointed to his defensemen as an especially sore spot in the game. Throughout the season, BU has come to rely on its defenders given their consistent play and contributions on both ends of the ice. Wednesday, the group looked disinterested at times, neglecting its responsibilities to join rushes and leaving Crimson forwards open below the circles as a result. (more…)

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…)

It’s time to get back into the swing of things. After the holiday break saw some teams play in tournaments while others had a break, it’s time to get the season going again. While there were not many conference games during this stretch, Atlantic Hockey teams certainly made their presence felt around the country. For starters,Niagara (17) continues to be ranked in the USCHO rankings. Atlantic Hockey teams are also in the Pairwise with Niagara (16) and Robert Morris (17).

Atlantic Hockey teams beat Maine, Clarkson, Penn State, Miami, Yale, St. Lawrence, and Northeastern over the break. Atlantic Hockey’s .383 inter-conference win percentage this season is the highest it’s ever been. Atlantic Hockey is currently 25-44-12 in out of conference games with just two more nonconference games to go. (more…)

The first half of the season was fun. These last two weeks stuffed with holiday tournaments and non-conference matchups produced some memorable results. But, now, as January grows older, the season shifts and schedules slant to conference play. This weekend, the only non-conference games are a pair of exhibition series for Division I’s independent schools.

In Hockey East, two home-and-home series will prove vital to the final league standings and eventual playoff seeding. Boston College and New Hampshire play their first game of the season in Chestnut Hill on Friday night before heading to Durham for the back end. Meanwhile, Massachusetts and Providence finish their series for the year, starting at the Mullins Center Friday night.

League games are always important. Every point claimed this weekend will impact league play, as well as Pairwise positioning. However, these two series are particularly interesting. BC and UNH have been among Hockey East’s — and the nation’s — best this year. The four points available will help either side in the race for a top seed. Additionally, wins will solidify as either team in the race for more favorable NCAA Tournament positioning. With a regional in Manchester, N.H., we already know where the Wildcats will play. A strong performance this weekend could make their road to Pittsburgh slightly less bumpy, however.

For UMass and Providence, currently separated by three points, strong games are critical in the race for the final home ice spot in the Hockey East tournament. Moreover, both clubs have outside shots at earning at-large bids to the NCAA tournament. Losses could damn either cause. Nate Leaman and John Micheletto will have their clubs focused solely on taking points, and it’s sure to be an impactful weekend in the race for home ice.

BC’s defense needs to grow up fast

A 3-3 tie with Yale last Friday is hardly a bad result for Boston College. Despite the expectations of the Eagles’ faithful, the draw won’t harm BC’s NCAA tournament resume too much. The 65 minutes of hockey, however, showed one issue BC needs to address moving into the second half. Patch Alber’s injury prior to the first game of the Mariucci Classic made a thin part of BC’s lineup even more barren. The defenseman is likely out until late March with a torn meniscus. It’s a troubling situation for Alber, a senior who worked tirelessly to become a regular on the blue line at Conte Forum. (more…)