{"id":98036,"date":"2015-12-07T08:01:25","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T14:01:25","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/hockey-east-blog\/?p=1609"},"modified":"2015-12-07T08:01:25","modified_gmt":"2015-12-07T14:01:25","slug":"sweeps-change-the-hockey-east-landscape","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2015\/12\/07\/sweeps-change-the-hockey-east-landscape\/","title":{"rendered":"Sweeps change the Hockey East landscape"},"content":{"rendered":"
These are the three things I thin<\/em>k I learned this week.<\/p>\n 1. Connecticut sweeps Massachusetts-Lowell!<\/strong><\/p>\n UConn got off to a surprisingly strong start in Hockey East last year, but came into the weekend struggling with a 1-7-0 league record. And since the Huskies were facing a Lowell squad that was undefeated in Hockey East play, folks like me didn’t have much optimism for a turnaround.<\/p>\n A split would have been more than a moral victory. (Well, of course. It would have included an actual<\/em> victory. But you get my point.) It would have included an important two points against one of the league’s top teams and provided a huge confidence boost.<\/p>\n But a sweep? That was eye-opening.<\/p>\n 2. And then there were two.<\/strong><\/p>\n Two teams now remain undefeated in Hockey East play: Providence and Boston College, not coincidentally the numbers one and two teams in the country going into the weekend.<\/p>\n Providence swept a Merrimack team that had been mighty pesky, earning a number 16 ranking itself. But the reigning national champs took a close one in Merrimack’s barn and then dominated a third period back at home to take a decisive 4-0 win.<\/p>\n The Eagles only managed three of four points against Northeastern, but that’s still nothing to sneeze at despite the Huskies’ 0-8-3 league record.<\/p>\n With Lowell’s twin losses, these two clubs are separating themselves from the pack, despite what the standings (and the radically unbalanced number of league games) show.<\/p>\n 3. Notre Dame moves into striking distance.<\/strong><\/p>\n It feels like the Irish have been playing possum this year. They’ve been at the fringe of the national rankings at number 20, but with a sweep of Massachusetts now are one of only two teams with only a single league loss. (New Hampshire is the other, but 2-1-4 doesn’t impress the way that 5-1-2 does.)<\/p>\n The 3-1 and 5-1 victories appeared, at least for someone who wasn’t in South Bend, quite conclusive.<\/p>\n If the Irish can topple Boston College on Thursday, we may have ourselves another serious contender for the title.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" These are the three things I think I learned this week. 1. Connecticut sweeps Massachusetts-Lowell! UConn got off to a surprisingly strong start in Hockey East last year, but came into the weekend struggling with a 1-7-0 league record. And since the Huskies were facing a Lowell squad that was undefeated in Hockey East play, […]<\/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":"\n