Vermont power play: Let’s blow things up

Heading into last weekend’s series against Northeastern, Vermont’s struggles offensively could be linked to a number of things. The most notable, though, was the Cats power play. It hadn’t scored yet with the man advantage in 2011 and entered the series scoring at a 12 percent clip, ranked 53rd of 58 teams in the country. … Read more

Weekend recap: Jan. 14-16

Just when you thought it was time to write Maine’s swan song, they responded with a vengeance. The Black Bears, a week after one of their ugliest losses of the season, a 7-1 drubbing at the hands of Merrimack, earned two home wins this weekend, eking out an overtime win over Providence on Friday before … Read more

As temperature drops, Hockey East home ice race heats up

As snow continues to pour down on the Boston area, yours truly is stuck inside his home. Which got me to thinking that home isn’t the worst place in the world to be. That’s especially true for Hockey East teams come playoff time. Only four of the eight teams that will make the playoffs can … Read more

Boston College downs Providence, 4-1

The Providence Friars faced somewhat of a litmus test on Friday night when they traveled to Boston College to face the third ranked Eagles. Providence exceeded expectations of many in the first half of the season, posting a 7-6-5 mark despite being picked dead last in preseason polls. Unfortunately for the Friars, Friday proved this … Read more

Hockey East picks – January 7-12

Dave remains in the witness protection program and now trails me in both the wins column and in winning percentage. Going to take a second-half rally (that and a return to society) for him to be the winner this year. Dave last week: Did not pick Jim last week: 4-2-1 Dave’s record-to-date: 49-21-18 (.659) Jim’s … Read more

Merrimack just keeps taking care of business

The attention paid to this year’s Merrimack team has been so great that coach Mark Dennehy admits his friends are sick of reading about it. “We’ve got a lot of attention because we’re kind of the darlings right now,” Dennehy said. The headlines, though, haven’t slowed down the Warriors, who began the second half of … Read more

Video: Reaction from U.S. bronze-medal game victory

Here are postgame videos from the World Junior Championship bronze-medal game on Wednesday, a 4-2 United States victory over Sweden: U.S. coach Keith Allain and Sweden coach Roger Ronnberg: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgPRuAFBwzU U.S. forward Chris Brown: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ezb75ZFyLZA U.S. forward Chris Kreider: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WshEQnO3iuo U.S. forward Kyle Palmieri: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jRE8SPgVnmQ

BU’s Coyle finding experience, success at World Juniors

Monday night’s loss to Team Canada in the semifinals of the World Junior Championship might have been disappointing for Team USA but Boston University’s Charlie Coyle, playing in his first WJC, is ready to put it behind him. He said on Tuesday that there is simply nothing that the US can do about the past … Read more

BU’s Coyle finding experience, success at World Juniors

Monday night’s loss to Team Canada in the semifinals of the World Junior Championship might have been disappointing for Team USA but Boston University’s Charlie Coyle, playing in his first WJC, is ready to put it behind him. He said on Tuesday that there is simply nothing that the US can do about the past … Read more

Video: U.S., Canada react to World Junior semifinal

Here are videos from the media sessions following Canada’s 4-1 victory over the United States in the World Junior Championship semifinals on Monday: U.S. coach Keith Allain and Canada coach Dave Cameron: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xO5g8yTFgGg U.S. forward Chris Brown: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IHkGf8GxTWI U.S. forward Jeremy Morin: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SZzHcC_23No U.S. defenseman John Ramage: httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZM9ZBitMneg

Looking back: (Extended) Weekend of Dec. 29-Jan. 2

It’s been a while since we’ve checked in on Hockey East, though most of the action among the league teams took place over the past week. And a pretty ugly week it was unless you’re Boston College and Merrimack. Both the Eagles and Warriors earned two wins during the holiday break. BC captured the title … Read more

Belated Hockey East picks – Dec. 31-Jan. 2

Apologies to the Hockey East fans out there. Between Dave falling off the wagon and turning Christmas into a week-long bender and me having turkey coma since Christmas Day somehow we’ve missed two days of games and thus the related Hockey East picks. Dave isn’t around to add his input but here, at least, are … Read more