Hockey East Final Four Preview

Hockey East has made it to the Garden. After months of games, it comes down to four teams: BC, BU, Maine, and UVM. With the exception of Maine, these are the teams many picked to be here when the dust settled on the regular season. They just didn’t expect the seeding to be what they are. Top remaining seed BC comes into the weekend on an offensive tear, one that did not slow down despite the trapping efforts of UMass in the quarterfinals. BU has to be a favorite as well, as they always save their best hockey for the Garden ice. Let’s take a look at each match-up:

#2 BC vs. #8 Vermont

BC, as mentioned, has been an offensive juggernaut in the latter half of this season, averaging 3.8 goals a game. Vermont, on the other hand, turned it on late in the year to grab the 8 seed and then shocked Hockey East with a series upset over top seed UNH last weekend. UVM won the season series with BC, but all of those games were played before BC caught fire. In a way, this is a completely different Eagle team the Catamounts will be playing Friday evening. Vermont can score, too, however. They average 3 goals a game and their defense, lead by goalie Rob Madore (who lead the Cats to the Frozen Four last year), can shut opponents down. If they trap BC and shut down their open style offense, Madore could do just enough to steal a win here. BC has a goalie controversy, as Junior John Muse has been able to pick up consecutive wins while rookie Parker Milner has been 0-1-1 in his last few after being the hot hand down the stretch. Look for BC to go with the veteran in Muse, who posted great numbers at the Garden a month ago en route to a Beanpot MVP. In the end, I think BC’s firepower will be too much for Cinderella and the ride ends here for UVM.

Prediction: BC 5 UVM 3

#3 BU vs. Maine

An old rivalry is renewed on the Garden ice when BU takes on Maine in the nightcap Friday. No Kariyas or Drurys will be on the ice, but the excitement will be there nonetheless. BU comes into this game as hot as BC, having rebounded from a dismal start to grab a top-four spot in the league and dodging an upset minded Merrimack team in round one. The Terriers have been lead all year by their upperclassmen, namely Nick Bonino and a squad of experienced defensemen such as Colby Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk. Kieran Milan has been shaky in net at times, but he always seems to step up for the big games. Maine, on the other hand, struggled in the late going of the regular season after gaining a huge amount of momentum mid-way. But, its all about how you finish in this game, and Maine has struggled since they suspended their starting goalie, Scott Darling. Senior Dave Wilson has stepped in and done well in a comeback series win over Lowell, and Maine is looking to rely on the veteran to get them back to the Promised Land, the NCAAs. Look for Maine to run their offense through Hobey Baker candidate Gustav Nyquist who has scored 59 points on the year. The Black Bears have the top power play unit in the nation, so they will be trying to draw penalties on an aggressive Terrier team. I like Maine to convert on at least 50% of those extra-man situations and put the Terriers out of the postseason in an exciting, OT thriller.

Prediction: Maine 3 BU 2 (OT)

In the final, I like BC to continue riding good solid defense and a relentless offensive attack to their 9^th Hockey East Tournament crown, making it all maroon and gold in the rafters at the Garden.

Prediction: BC 4 Maine 2