David H. Hendrickson

Massachusetts-Lowell defeated Boston University, 5-0, to advance to Hockey East’s Championship Weekend at the TD Garden in Boston for the fourth consecutive year. Lowell joins Providence and Northeastern, who swept Merrimack and Notre Dame, respectively. The three victors will be joined by the winner of Boston College vs. Vermont on Sunday. If BC wins, Lowell … Read more

LOWELL, Mass. — One of hockey’s oldest maxims is that playoff hockey comes down to goaltending and special teams. On this night, both teams had the goaltending, but only Massachusetts-Lowell had the special teams. On the strength of two power-play goals, Lowell topped Boston University 3-2, taking the first game in their best-of-three Hockey East … Read more

Stick a fork in me. I’m done. With a six-game deficit staring me in the face last week, I had to go for some long shots. And for a while on Friday night, it looked like I might pick up an amazing four games on Jim heading into Saturday. My faux thoroughbreds, however, couldn’t hold … Read more

These are the three things I think I learned this week. 1. Once the playoffs start, there are no easy games. I’ll admit it. I thought that Maine and Massachusetts had the proverbial snowball’s chance in Tampa. UMass had been getting shellacked by seemingly everyone over the second half. Boston University, by contrast, had positioned … Read more

Good grief, I only got one game wrong last week but made up no ground on Jim. Dave last week: 10-1-2 Jim last week: 10-1-2 Dave’s record-to-date: 154-60-35 Jim’s record-to-date: 158-56-35 Friday and Saturday, February 19-20 Because every team except Massachusetts and Massachusetts-Lowell is playing a two-game series against the same opponent, we will list picks for each series … Read more

These are the three things I think I learned this week. 1. Notre Dame is now the team to beat. But… The Irish have their destiny in their own hands with a one-point lead with two weeks to go. That’s thanks primarily to their own strong play, sweeping Maine last weekend to make them 11-1-0 … Read more

A controversial Conor O’Neil goal with 26 seconds left in the second period proved the game-winner in a 3-2 Vermont win over New Hampshire. O’Neil crashed the net and was putting the brakes on as Brady Shaw’s shot hit his skate and caromed into the net. The on-ice call was a goal, but when shown … Read more

LOWELL, Mass. — Northeastern rallied from a poor first period and used a Mike McMurtry goal midway through the third to tie eighth-ranked Massachusetts-Lowell 2-2. The River Hawks dominated the opening period, but emerged with only a 2-1 lead. As the game progressed, Northeastern came on stronger and stronger, outshooting Lowell 19-6 in the third. … Read more

No ties last week.  It’s been a while since we could say that. And hey, I picked up a game on Jim, so life is good. Dave last week: 9-3-0 Jim last week: 8-4-0 Dave’s record-to-date: 136-57-31 Jim’s record-to-date: 139-54-31 Here are this week’s picks: Friday, Feb. 5 New Hampshire at Boston College  Dave’s pick: The Wildcats’ split with … Read more