Jim Connelly

After a thrilling, fast-paced 3-0 Massachusetts-Lowell win over Merrimack two weekends ago, there was plenty of reason to believe that Friday’s rematch and first game of a weekend home-and-home would be a thrilling replay. Instead, the contest was a sloppy game, particularly for the visiting River Hawks, who consistently turned the puck over as Merrimack … Read more

No. 6 Massachusetts-Lowell got two goals from rookie phenom Scott Wilson, an incredible 39-save performance by goaltender Doug Carr and a bend-but-don’t-break performance from its defense in the third as the River Hawks avenged a Friday loss, splitting a weekend series with No. 2 Boston University with a 4-2 victory at Agganis Arena on Saturday. … Read more

The No. 4 Boston College Eagles, fresh off their win in the 60th Beanpot Championship, showed no signs of letting up on Friday night, jumping out to a 4-0 lead on No. 9 Merrimack en route to a 4-2 victory. The win, combined with Boston University’s victory over first-place Massachusetts-Lowell, places the Eagles and Terriers … Read more

Call me the comeback kid, the UMass-Lowell of picks, whatever. There are three weeks left in the regular season and, for the first time all year, I’m back in first place! Dave last week: 3-6-1 Jim last week: 7-2-1 Dave’s record-to-date: 97-64-14 Jim’s record-to-date: 98-63-14 Friday, February 16 Merrimack at Boston College Jim’s pick: So many difficult games … Read more

No championship game in the 60-year history of the Beanpot has gone to double overtime. Thanks to Boston College’s Bill Arnold, that still holds true. [scg_html_beanpot2012]Arnold and his linemates refused to settle for a second overtime in the waning seconds of the first and, in doing so, generated a late three-on-two rush. Arnold finished it … Read more

The end is near to the Hockey East regular season and the race for the league title, home ice and the final playoff spot all tightened up this past weekend. What a few weeks back was five points separating three teams for the league title is now two. Two weeks ago it seemed like New … Read more

There was still about a minute remaining in Friday’s game between No. 8 Merrimack and No. 7 Massachusetts-Lowell when the cheer of “We’re number 1!” broke out from the River Hawks’ student section. With Lowell leading 3-0 after a Riley Wetmore empty-net goal with 1:34 remaining, the Lowell faithful – SmartPhones in hand – were … Read more

The last seven times Northeastern and Boston College faced one another, the games were decided by a goal or less. So heading into Monday’s second Beanpot semifinal, there was reason to believe this tilt between the Huskies and Eagles could be one to remember. [scg_html_beanpot2012]For Northeastern, it certainly was, but for all the wrong reasons. … Read more

Yet another mediocre weekend of picks for Dave and me. Guess that’s a product of how tight this league is. Jim’s last week: 5-4-0 Dave’s last week: 5-4-0 Jim’s record-to-date: 81-60-13 Dave’s record-to-date: 84-57-13 Friday, February 3 Boston University at Merrimack Jim’s pick: Even though I rarely pick against Merrimack at home (though did last weekend and … Read more

There were four weekend sweeps in Hockey East – Massachusetts-Lowell over Massachusetts, Maine over Boston University, Boston College over New Hampshire and Northeastern over Vermont – that taught me just one thing (that can be divided into three different groups). So here are the three classes that will make up the Hockey East race as … Read more

Massachusetts-Lowell went two full periods in Saturday’s game against rival Massachusetts without a single power-play opportunity. When finally given the chance – and plenty of them as UMass was whistled for four penalties early in the third – the 11th-ranked River Hawks put the game away scoring twice with the man advantage to cement a … Read more

No. 7 Boston College scored twice in the final 3:05, including Steven Whitney’s game-winner in the final minute, as the Eagles earned a hard-fought 4-3 victory over New Hampshire Friday in front of 7,228 at BC’s Kelley Rink The game looked like the blueprint for Boston College’s third straight disaster. Having lost two close games … Read more

Massachusetts-Lowell sophomore Derek Arnold scored his 10th goal of the season at 2:50 of overtime to lead the River Hawks to a dramatic road victory over Northeastern Saturday night at Matthews Arena, giving Lowell the sweep of the weekend home-and-home series. Arnold’s goal came after Lowell withstood a massive barnstorm by Northeastern in the third … Read more