Checking in on a few trends around the league on the eve of CT Ice and a big series between a couple of prominent programs:
— New Hampshire has a big problem: It can’t score.
The Wildcats have lost four straight by a combined score of 15-7 and were held to just one goal on 34 shots in a frustrating 2-1 overtime loss at Boston University on Saturday.
The lack of scoring punch is not lost on coach Mike Souza, who said he’s overall pleased with his team’s effort despite its recent skid.
“We talked a lot about being shovelers, not shooters, making sure we got guys in and around the net,” Souza said. “Hackin’ and whackin’. (It’s) about creating second opportunities in and around the goal. (If) those chances weren’t there, I’d be more concerned, but I’m optimistic and have a lot of confidence in my team. And I think that the kids have confidence in themselves.”
UNH, currently No. 18 in the USCHO men’s D-I poll and No. 16 in the PairWise, is last in Hockey East with a 2-7-2 conference record — a stark contrast with its extremely successful non-conference slate, where it went 8-1-1, contributing greatly to its prominent place in the PairWise.
It’s also not lost on Souza that a string of moral victories will do little to get UNH back to the NCAA tournament for the first time since 2013.
“Yeah, we played great,” Souza said. “We thought we played a great game (vs. BU) but we scored one goal and didn’t win. So who gives a (expletive)? I think our kids understand that though. And it’s not me dictating that to them all the time.”
The Wildcats will attempt to get back on track this weekend with a pair of home games against Vermont (both games at 7 p.m. on ESPN+).
— It’s been an up-and-down season for Massachusetts, which is just one game over .500 at 11-10-2 overall, and 4-7-2 in conference play, good for ninth place. The Minutemen will be looking for their first series sweep of the season when it hosts independent Alaska-Fairbanks for two games this weekend at the Mullins Center.
“I’ve had to get stern with them a few times, and every time I do, they respond really well,” UMass coach Greg Carvel said. “So that’s, to me, a positive that the group is unified and they want to do good things.”
Carvel said analytics show the Minutemen are among the top 10 or 12 teams in the country in most categories, except goaltending. While the team’s aggregate save percentage is solid (currently .914), Carvel said UMass lags in the advanced metric of “expected goals” — basically, the actual number of Minutemen goals is below what metrics say it should be.
“So that’s really the only analytic — and it’s probably the most important analytic,” Carvel said. “We’re getting a ton of chances. We need to find ways to score goals. We’re out-chancing teams most every night, and our goaltenders need to make a little more timely saves.”
— Connecticut coach Mike Cavanaugh participated in the Beanpot as an assistant coach at Boston College from 1995 to 2013. As his Huskies prepare to take on Quinnipiac in this weekend’s CT Ice tournament, Cavanaugh said he thinks CT Ice — now in its fifth season — can someday rival the Beanpot in terms of prestige and status.
“I have always said from my years of coaching in the Beanpot and now this tournament, I think it is a great dress rehearsal for what is to come,” Cavanaugh said. “When you are playing in a game when there is a trophy on the line, and it is basically single elimination, it prepares your team to play a little bit differently.”
Sacred Heart and Yale are on the other side of the bracket. This year’s tournament will be held at Sacred Heart’s Martire Family Arena on Friday and Saturday with games at 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. each night on SNY. UConn-Quinnipiac will headline the first game Friday.
Quinnipiac is looking for its fourth straight tournament title after thrice defeating UConn in the championship.
— Oh, and BC and BU face off this weekend in a home-and-home series, starting Friday at Agganis Arena and moving down Comm. Ave. for a Saturday night tilt at Silvio O. Conte Forum. Both games will be at 7 p.m. on NESN.
The upcoming series will lack some of the hype surrounding last season’s, which took place the same weekend. The schools at the time were Nos. 1 (BU) and 2 (BC) in the USCHO.com D-I men’s poll for the first time in their storied, decades-long rivalry, and both with identical 16-4-1 overall records.
This year, only the Eagles are in the top 2, at No. 1, while the Terriers enter the weekend ranked a (ho-hum) eighth. It’s the only scheduled matchup of the season between BC and BU, although it could very well serve as a preview of the Beanpot championship game on Feb. 10 and/or the Hockey East final on March 21.
