You’d figure that in general, winning teams score a lot and don’t give up much in the defensive end. And losing teams… well, the other way around. Well, duh. Of course it’s true. In general. You’d also figure that winning teams have strong special teams and losing teams couldn’t score if you gave them a five-on-two. And … Read more
Just a few weekends ago, we were writing the eulogy for Maine’s season. The Black Bears had brought an ugly losing streak into a Friday night game against a struggling Vermont team. The only glimmer of hope in that game was the return of Dan Sullivan. In his absence, Maine’s goaltending went under the microscope. … Read more
Dave finally gained some ground on me, but at this point I hear a fat woman singing a sweet tune. Dave last week: 8-0-2 Jim last week: 6-2-2 Dave’s record-to-date: 90-33-25 (.692) Jim’s record-to-date: 100-29-23 (.734) Here are this week’s picks Friday, February 25 Vermont at Boston University Jim’s pick: I think the Cats are playing well … Read more
Boston College and Merrimack may be engaged in a three-way battle with New Hampshire for the Hockey East regular season title, but the Eagles and the Warriors are also engrained in a race that may send one of these two teams west when the NCAA field is announced. Both the Eagles and the Warriors currently … Read more
Even though Merrimack, Maine and Boston University were the three teams to sweep series this past weekend, I’m going to argue that the big winners were Merrimack and New Hampshire and not the Black Bears or the Terriers. It all has to do with Northeastern stunning number-one-ranked Boston College by taking three of four points … Read more
Jim and I both had a tough time with last week’s picks, allowing him to maintain his gargantuan lead. I would have narrowed the gap by a game if not for a desperation pick, but that would have just been a snowflake off the top of a glacier. Dave last week: 5-4-1 Jim last week: 5-4-1 Dave’s record-to-date: … Read more
Can we agree on this much? It’s time for drug testing the Hockey East coaches if they don’t unanimously select Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy as their Coach of the Year. If you’ve been paying any attention at all, you know the score. The year before Dennehy arrived on campus, the Warriors finished 1-21-1 in Hockey … Read more
The weekend now in back of us led to some very interesting shuffling in the Hockey East standings. So let’s get started figuring out what happened when the dust settled. We can start with a very interesting fact about Friday night. A rare occurrence as all 10 teams were in action and in each of … Read more
Merrimack’s leading scorer Stephane Da Costa will not play Saturday when the Warriors host New Hampshire in the second game of a home-and-home series. Da Costa locked knees with UNH’s Phil DeSimone late in Friday’s 4-2 win over the Wildcats and had to bee helped from the ice. He did not return to the game. According … Read more
Dave picked up a game on me last week but that’s kind of like saying he climbed the first mile of Mt. Everest. Dave last week: 8-1-1 Jim last week: 7-2-1 Dave’s record-to-date: 77-29-22 (.688) Jim’s record-to-date: 89-23-20 (.750) Here are this week’s picks Friday, February 11 Vermont at Maine Jim’s pick: I have a feeling that Vermont … Read more
A message to Terrier nation: If you want to see Boston University play in next Monday’s Beanpot, you best show up early. Even earlier than usual, in fact, as for the first time in 59 years, the Beanpot “bronze medal” game will be played at 4:30 p.m. But, as a second message to BU fans, … Read more
There were two big winners in Hockey East last weekend. Make that huge winners. New Hampshire swept archrival Maine, 6-3 and 5-4. The back end of that sweep came perilously close to a loss with an off-balance Gustav Nyquist hitting the post on an empty net after outracing goaltender Matt DiGirolamo to the puck. That … Read more
I suppose I should wave the white flag at this point. I only got one game wrong last week, but Jim went 7-0-2. The one game I got wrong was in the Maine-BU series, which we both picked as a split. One game finished as a tie, Jim’s version of the split left him undefeated … Read more
A week ago, Jim surveyed the NCAA tournament chances of Hockey East’s top teams. This time let’s look at those schools with the more modest immediate goal of just making the league playoffs. Who’s going to make it and who isn’t? The top six spots are pretty much locked up, albeit with the order still very … Read more
Very interesting weekend that just passed in Hockey East as the results of the games shuffled the Hockey East standings a bit with just four weekends remaining. The marquis series of the weekend didn’t disappoint. Boston University went up to Orono and walked away with three of four points against Maine, despite two nailbitter games … Read more
Dave and I only picked one game differently last week (UMass vs. Vermont on Saturday) and I got it right. Let the lead expand. Dave last week: 5-3-1 Jim last week: 6-2-1 Dave’s record-to-date: 63-27-19 (.655) Jim’s record-to-date: 75-21-17 (.739) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, January 28 Vermont at Merrimack Jim’s pick: Vermont has played well … Read more
Warning: before you begin to read this blog post, know that it might sound a bit elitist. And it should. Hockey East is home to the last three national champions. In the last 14 seasons, a Hockey East team has been in the NCAA title game in all but one season (we all remember the … Read more
There was an unquestioned king of the past week: Boston College. Only the Eagles among all the Hockey East teams claimed every available point. Nobody else swept. No team went without at least a tie. With wins over arch-rival Boston University and Massachusetts-Lowell, BC moved into first place. Sort of. The Eagles now lead New Hampshire … Read more
Both of us had a pretty decent week with 9-3-0 records, but that was only good news for front-running Jim. Dave made up no ground. Dave last week: 9-3-0 Jim last week: 9-3-0 Dave’s record-to-date: 58-24-18 (.670) Jim’s record-to-date: 69-22-16 (.720) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, January 21 Providence at New Hampshire Dave’s pick: The Friars played … Read more
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