{"id":594,"date":"2011-12-18T23:49:41","date_gmt":"2011-12-19T05:49:41","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/hockey-east-blog\/?p=594"},"modified":"2011-12-18T23:49:41","modified_gmt":"2011-12-19T05:49:41","slug":"even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/","title":{"rendered":"Even with just two games, I still learned three things"},"content":{"rendered":"

Or at least I think so.<\/p>\n

3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country, the last to have their record still unsullied by a loss.<\/p>\n

I suspect that of those who sang the praises of this team — and I’d consider myself to have been a pretty loud tenor in that chorus — very few thought it would remain number one. The Warriors were very good, but not that<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

So we enjoyed it while it lasted.<\/p>\n

Now it’s over.<\/p>\n

Since that top ranking, Merrimack has lost three of its last five games, going 1-3-1. In that stretch, the Warriors have been held to just one goal in all but the win over last-place Vermont.<\/p>\n

Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy told USCHO’s Jim Connelly, “It’s the ebb and flow of the season.”<\/p>\n

Well, yes to at least some extent. The Warriors aren’t as good as they looked while going undefeated and rising in the rankings; they aren’t as bad as they’ve looked over the last five games, falling in the rankings.<\/p>\n

The question will be exactly where in the middle of those two extremes this exciting team finishes.<\/p>\n

2. Boston University has taken a broadside without playing a single game.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The Terriers looked to be heading into the holiday break on a perfect note, picking up four points in wins over New Hampshire and Maine, giving them seven wins in their last eight games. The four-point week put them within a point of first place.<\/p>\n

Since then, however, Corey Trivino has been arrested and permanently bounced from the team. His 13 goals and 17 points led the team.<\/p>\n

Following that stunner, Charlie Coyle, last year’s Hockey East Rookie of the Year, left to play major junior hockey.<\/p>\n

The Terriers should still be a very good hockey team, but those are two major holes to fill mid-season. We’ll have to see if this drops them into that “good but not great” category. And if it temporarily does, will they recover to again be a force by the postseason?<\/p>\n

1. Hockey East might post a losing record against the ECAC.<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Hockey East’s nonconference success against the CCHA and WCHA has fluctuated up and down — last year was a down year in which the good guys won barely more than a third of the time — Hockey East has dominated the ECAC. Over the last 19 years, Hockey East has posted a winning record against its Eastern brethren every year except 1996-97.<\/p>\n

That dominance is now in danger. With Merrimack’s loss to Union and Vermont’s to St. Lawrence, that nonconference record now stands tied at 6-6-0.<\/p>\n

Bear in mind that what’s at stake here is more than chest-thumping. If a league does poorly outside of its conference, that’s potentially going to affect how many of its teams make the NCAA tournament.<\/p>\n

So keep an eye on the upcoming holiday tournaments and how well the Hockey East teams other than your own fare.  A selection berth may hang in the balance.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country, the last to have their record still unsullied by a loss. I suspect that of those who sang the praises of this team — and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[1425],"tags":[1236,1490],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nEven with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Even with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/uscho_featured-1.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1024\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"David H. Hendrickson\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@USCHO\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"David H. Hendrickson\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/\",\"name\":\"Even with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5a31672f6e5fa9794a9e2cb7499d5c7a\"},\"description\":\"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg\",\"width\":1175,\"height\":763},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Even with just two games, I still learned three things\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/\",\"name\":\"College Hockey | USCHO.com\",\"description\":\"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5a31672f6e5fa9794a9e2cb7499d5c7a\",\"name\":\"David H. Hendrickson\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/7c52c5de08e32dd666a5f15d37701a87\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2639396fa7adc593297cdb92e4a799a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2639396fa7adc593297cdb92e4a799a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"David H. Hendrickson\"},\"description\":\"Hockey East Columnist David H. Hendrickson has covered Hockey East for USCHO since the site's inception.\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/hewriter\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Even with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Even with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com","og_description":"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,","og_url":"https:\/\/www.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594","og_site_name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/OfficialUSCHO\/","article_published_time":"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1024,"height":1024,"url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/uscho_featured-1.png","type":"image\/png"}],"author":"David H. Hendrickson","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@USCHO","twitter_site":"@USCHO","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"David H. Hendrickson","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/","name":"Even with just two games, I still learned three things - College Hockey | USCHO.com","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg","datePublished":"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00","dateModified":"2011-12-19T05:49:41+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5a31672f6e5fa9794a9e2cb7499d5c7a"},"description":"Or at least I think so. 3. The bloom is off the rose for Merrimack. Just a few short weeks ago, the Warriors were the number one team in the country,","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/03\/uscho.jpg","width":1175,"height":763},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2011\/12\/18\/even-with-just-two-games-i-still-learned-three-things\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Even with just two games, I still learned three things"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#website","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/","name":"College Hockey | USCHO.com","description":"Men's and Women's D-I and D-III College Hockey News, Features, Scores, Statistics, Fan Forum, Blogs","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/5a31672f6e5fa9794a9e2cb7499d5c7a","name":"David H. Hendrickson","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/7c52c5de08e32dd666a5f15d37701a87","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2639396fa7adc593297cdb92e4a799a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/2639396fa7adc593297cdb92e4a799a5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"David H. Hendrickson"},"description":"Hockey East Columnist David H. Hendrickson has covered Hockey East for USCHO since the site's inception.","url":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/author\/hewriter\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/140328"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=594"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}