Nate Leaman is obviously pleased his Providence team is playing well enough to find itself near the top of a crowded Hockey East with one game to go before the holiday break.
Be he knows in a heartbeat, things can change.
“Northeastern won the league in the last minute of a game last year on a faceoff,” Leaman said. “It’s a great league. (Every) game’s meaningful, every game is really good hockey.”
Following a weekend split of a home-and-home series against Boston College, the Friars are in second place in the league with a 6-0-5 record (9-3-5 overall) and is 10th in the latest DCU/USCHO.com D-I men’s poll.
Providence is four points behind league leader Connecticut (8-3-2 Hockey East), but only three points separate the next four — Providence, Northeastern, Merrimack and Boston University.
Leaman touted his team’s depth on offense as one of the keys to its success so far. The Friars’ roster features 17 skaters with at least one goal and 22 with at least one point.
Leading the way in goals is sophomore Riley Duran with seven and junior Brett Berard and freshman Jaroslav Chmelar with six apiece. Berard leads all Providence scorers with 15 points.
“He’s dynamic,” Leaman said about Berard. “I think he’s one of the top forwards in the league. When the puck’s on his stick, he can break guys down and he can make plays out of nothing. His motor’s really been there this year.”
Berard was injured in Friday’s game at BC, which Providence won in a shootout, and did not play the next night, in which BC earned the split with a shootout win of its own.
Goaltending-wise, Philip Svedebäck of Växjö, Sweden, has gotten the majority of starts, and through 15 appearances touts a 2.27 goals-against average and a .904 save percentage. He made 39 saves total in the two-game series vs. BC.
Following a Friday night showdown at home vs. Merrimack on Friday, the Friars will be off until Dec. 30 when they play Yale of ECAC Hockey in the opener of the Ledyard Classic in Hanover, N.H. Merrimack and host Dartmouth (ECAC Hockey) will also participate in the four-team tournament.
Senior captain Parker Ford said continuing to work hard will be the key to staying at or near the top of the Hockey East standings.
“That’s our identity,” said the forward from Wakefield, R.I. That’s when we’re playing our best — when we’re in on the forecheck, finishing our checks. That’s Friar hockey, and what we build off of every game.”
After the Ledyard Classic, Providence returns to the Hockey East grind on Jan. 6 vs. UNH.
