Jim had another excellent week, perfect until Vermont toppled Dartmouth, while Dave was mediocre. Just one game on tap until the holiday tournaments. Happy Holidays to all! Dave last week: 4-3-0 Jim last week: 6-1-0 Dave’s record-to-date: 48-21-18 Jim’s record-to-date: 48-15-15 Here are this week’s picks (oops, make that pick): Saturday, December 18 Vermont at St. … Read more
The first half of the season hasn’t gone the way that the Northeastern Huskies expected. The team reached the break with a 3-9-4 record and has earned just nine points in Hockey East. With an experience goaltender and some depth on defense, head coach Greg Cronin expected more of his club. Thus far, Northeastern has … Read more
All but one of the remaining games before the holidays took place this past weekend. (The lone exception is Vermont at St. Lawrence on Saturday.) The big winner was New Hampshire, which came from behind to topple Maine at Alfond Arena, 4-3 in overtime. This has become a huge rivalry so bragging rights all by … Read more
Both of us had solid weeks, but Jim stayed a nose ahead (or in the case of us two, a beer belly). Dave last week: 7-2-2 Jim last week: 7-2-2 Dave’s record-to-date: 44-18-18 (.663) Jim’s record-to-date: 42-14-15 (.697) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, December 10 New Hampshire at Maine Dave’s pick: On a neutral … Read more
From the home office in Wakefield, Massachusetts, here are the top 10 surprises in Hockey East this year. (Full disclosure: the original post of this blog contained a different item for number six that was based on an incorrect statistic.) 10. Massachusetts freshman Michael Pereira leads the Minutemen in scoring. Hey, we all knew there would be new names … Read more
It was a weekend (well, week for some) of highs and lows for Hockey East teams with a few surprise outcomes along the way. We’ll start out with a mention of the most surprising results, in this author’s mind, of the weekend and that’s Boston College’s dominating sweep of Boston University. With BU giving a … Read more
Boston University coach Jack Parker summed up the series against cross-town rival Boston College best on Saturday night when he said: “We were outclassed by a team that is playing at the top of their game.” While the Eagles may not look exactly like the team that skated to gold in Detroit last April, there … Read more
BOSTON – Chaotic. That was the only word that Boston College head coach Jerry York could use to sum up the third period of Friday’s opening game in a home-and-home series with archrival Boston University. For York and the Eagles, the fortunate thing was the game was long out of hand by the point that … Read more
Two great records last week. One, though, is better than the other. Dave last week: 8-2-1 Jim last week: 10-0-1 (yeah, baby!) Dave’s record-to-date: 37-16-16 (.652) Jim’s record-to-date: 35-12-13 (.691) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, December 3 Boston College at Boston University Jim’s pick: Difficult series to pick and a split is most likely. … Read more
Will the real Boston College men’s hockey team please step forward? Seriously. We’re almost at the holiday break, and the defending national champions, a team most people thought (including myself) that they might threaten Maine’s 42-1-2 record from 1993, seems to be caught in the middle of a Jekyll & Hyde performance. Good games are … Read more
A couple weeks ago, I looked back on the weekend’s games by grouping teams into Winners and Losers with a few intermediate levels in between. This time, let’s see if ranking the performances gives any better clarity. 1. Massachusetts The Minutemen got a much-needed first win last Tuesday over Vermont and continued with a second … Read more
A good week of picks for both of us. Dave last week: 7-1-2 Jim last week: 7-1-2 Dave’s record-to-date: 29-14-15 Jim’s record-to-date: 25-12-13 Here are this week’s picks: Friday, November 26 Boston College at Merrimack Dave’s pick: The Eagles seem to be hitting their stride so I’m going with them even with Merrimack’s home dominance. … Read more
The Hockey East mantra of top-to-bottom strength applied last year in spades. Northeastern, which finished one point out of the playoffs also finished four points out of home ice. At the top was Boston College, winning its second national title in three years, extending Hockey East’s streak to three straight championships. It would be hard … Read more
Maine hoped to capitalize on nearly eleven minutes of extra-man play – and the Eagles’ temporarily stick-less goaltender – in Sunday’s matinee against No. 10 Boston College. The Black Bears, however, never had a chance. Maine’s power play struggled mightily against the Eagles’ intractable penalty kill, failing to score in five man-advantage opportunities and bringing … Read more
Very interesting weekend around Hockey East as a handful of teams made definitive statements with their play on the ice. Boston College probably made the biggest one, sweeping Maine in a two-game series at home, 4-0 and 4-1. The Eagles dominated in Friday’s opener but then found a way to win in Sunday’s rematch, a … Read more
Dave made a great comeback last week while my mind obviously was still drowning in Jameson and Guinness. Dave last week: 6-1-3 Jim last week: 4-3-3 Dave’s record-to-date: 22-13-13 (.594) Jim’s record-to-date: 18-11-11 (.582) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, November 19 Maine at Boston College Dave’s pick: I suspected at the beginning of the year … Read more
When Merrimack’s Mike Collins scored at 1:15 of the first period in Saturday night’s game against Boston University, the Warriors did something that no team had done in nearly three weeks – score a power play goal against BU. BU had killed 32 consecutive penalties entering Saturday’s game, including 10 against the Warriors on Friday … Read more
It was a weekend that spoke to the league’s parity as all active teams except Northeastern came away with at least a single point. Although I hesitate to categorize any college kids as “losers” — a hesitation I’d drop if these were professional teams — the winners and losers categories provide a logical breakdown of the … Read more
Only a single pick from last week — New Hampshire over Massachusetts-Lowell – prevented Dave from going oh-fer the week. Mulligans, anyone? Dave last week: 1-5-2 Jim last week: enjoying himself in Ireland while Dave got trounced (Jim’s Note: Timing is everything!) Dave’s record-to-date: 16-12-10 (.552) Jim’s record-to-date: 14-8-8 (.600) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, … Read more
Merrimack may have lost this past weekend to the resurgent Providence College Friars, but that doesn’t diminish either the Warriors’ strong start or its chances to keep that going all the way through March. They opened the season taking three of four points from Atlantic Hockey teams and before you shrug your shoulders and say, … Read more