UNH Preview

The Eagles have one more regular season series left this year, and lo and behold, its with league leader UNH! If you look at years past, it seems like Hockey East knows that these two teams are going to be in the hunt for first place so they schedule them for the last week of the season. The Wildcats are scoring a ton of goals and are on something of a hot streak of late, but so is BC. This should be one hell of a series, starting tonight in Durham (on NESN) and ending Saturday night at Conte Forum (not on TV, so get your ass out there!).

Players to Watch:

Bobby Butler (UNH) – a legit Hobey Baker award candidate, Butler sits at 6^th nationally in scoring. He has also burned BC many times in the past.

Parker Milner (BC) – Will York go with the hot hand in net this weekend? Or does he go with the seasoned veteran in a critical series? We’ll find out.

Cam Atkinson (BC) – If BC is going to win, Cam needs to score. INCH talked about him as a dark horse Hobey candidate… will he live up to the hype?

Blake Kessel (UNH) – Yup. That Kessel family. He is one of the top scoring defensemen in the nation.

UNH poses a huge hurdle for BC. Last time out, on the road, BC blew a huge lead and ended up tying the Wildcats. Can’t happen here. A tie in either game gives the title to UNH. BC needs to sweep to avoid a possible 2-7 matchup with BU. I think that might be a bit too much and we get that tie Friday night. I hope I’m wrong…

Prediction:

Friday – UNH 3 BC 3

Saturday – BC 4 UNH 2

Big Weekend Could Decide Alot

As we come to the last week of the regular season, its as good a time as any to take a look at what’s at stake this weekend. UNH and BC have both wrapped up home ice for the first round (and second if they get there). Maine needs to either win or tie once to get their first round series in Orono. There is a huge logjam after Maine in the standings. Lowell, BU, or Northeastern could possibly grab the last home ice spot. How, you ask? Let’s take a look at each team and where they can end up in the race for home ice.

UNH – can finish 1 or 2. If they win one game this weekend with BC, they are the champs.

BC – can finish 1 or 2. They are currently 3 points behind UNH and can win the league title with a sweep of the Wildcats. Lose or tie once and they are cemented in second by virtue of their 2-1 record over Maine this year.

Maine – with one win they lock up home ice. They can finish as high as third or as low as fifth.

Lowell – can lock up home ice with a sweep of Vermont at home. If they do that they get #4. They can still grab #3 if they sweep and Maine loses both games to UMass. They can also get #4 if they win one and BU loses one.

BU – can get home ice if they sweep Northeastern and Lowell loses or ties Vermont once. However, if they sweep NU AND Vermont sweeps Lowell, Vermont can actually steal that last spot, as UVM owns the series over BU 2-1.

All the other teams, as far as I can figure out, cannot get into the top 4. Northeastern comes close, but a sweep of BU and a UVM sweep gives the four spot to UVM since NU lost to them already.

Since Hockey East has been so even this year, let’s assume everyone splits. This would give us:

1 UNH

2 BC

3 Maine

4 Lowell

5 Northeastern

6 Vermont

7 BU

8 Merrimack

More realistically, there will be some sweep or ties in there. Providence is bad, so I would assume that with Merrimack fighting for that last spot with UMass, they get at least 3 points out of this. BC gets a tie Friday night and with the league already wrapped up, UNH loses Saturday. Everyone else splits. That would give us the same results.

BU is paying for the crappy play early on. BC would more than likely draw BU in the first round, at home. Overall, the season series is tied 2-2, with BC losing at home and at Fenway. Would be interesting, to say the least.

The bottom line is that a lot can happen this weekend that can screw this up. Northeastern could sweep BU and knock the Terriers out of the playoffs completely if the chips fell the right way. This is going to make for a great weekend of hockey.

UMass Recap

A little late with this one, but given the awesome hockey we saw in Vancouver, I needed to take a break and digest it all....

Last Friday night BC beat UMass 2-1 on a Chris Kreider goal in overtime to, at the time, keep pace with UNH for a big showdown on the last weekend of the season. When BC finally won Friday, the Wildcats were mounting a comeback at Northeastern to force a tie and make this weekend's series a bit tougher for the Eagles. We'll take a look at the Hocey East playoff race next time, but back to the game Friday night:

Likes:
- Joe Whitney delivers. As I called in the preview, Whitney was due for a good night. Early in the second period, there it was. Whitney scored BC's first goal to give them a lead they then coughed up with a bad second and (most of) third period.
- Milner. The rookie looks to be pushing the veteran Muse for prime time minutes as we head to tournament.

Dislikes:
- Lines 2-4. Because UMass has such a powerful top line, BC was forced to counter with their checking line time and time again. This meant a slowdown in the offensive production. We will more than likely see this again in the upcoming series with UNH, as they too have an explosive set of skaters.
- Penalties. This was a great game to watch, as the refs put away the whistles for most of the game. The only problem: both penalties were called on BC. It was like an NBA game for chrissakes.

All in all, a great game and a huge win. The win puts BC firmly into the top 10 teams in the country, and it locked up a home ice spot for the Hockey East playoffs. Just in case you were wondering, BC is 11-2 at home this year, and 7-6-2 on the road. Home ice is going to be important.

Also, congrats to Parker Milner who was selected as Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week AND Goalie of the Month. The future looks bright between the pipes.

UMass Preview

This late in the season, and I'm not sure I have previewed UMass. Well, the Minutemen have fallen hard back to Earth since their meteoric rise to the top 10 early on this year. UMass currently sits at sixth in Hockey East and could possibly fall out of the playoffs entirely or get the last home ice spot - such is Hockey East. The Minutemen need this game badly. A win can keep them on pace to at least make the playoffs and keep the dream of a trip to the NCAAs alive. Unfortunately for UMass, BC needs this win to keep pace with UNH and set up at worst a potential four point series with the Wildcats next weekend. Both teams have high-powered offenses. Should be a good one.

Players to watch:
- James Marcou (UMass): Marcou is one of the top scorers in the nation, currently sitting at #7 with 43 points. Most of those (33) are assists, but this kid can find the net.
- John Muse (BC): Muse almost undoubtedly gets the nod tonight, since he has sat out the last two. Last time out, Muse lost to Northeastern, but he was also a part of that 7-1 beatdown of the Minutemen on NESN just a few weeks ago.
- Joe Whitney (BC): Mr. Whitney, both of your linemates have scored hat tricks in the past six days. It's your turn buddy.

Prediction: BC 6 UMass 3

Offense Continues to Roll

The good times just keep rolling. That’s two straight games, two straight 7 goal nights. This time the victim was Merrimack, who came in with a five game unbeaten streak. Cam Atkinson scored a hat trick in the win, while freshmen Parker Milner and Chris Venti shared the second Eagle shutout of the year. The win puts BC four points up on Maine for second place and just two behind league leader UNH.

Likes:

- Freshmen stepping up. For the second straight game BC has relied on freshman goalie Parker Milner in net. For the second straight time he has delivered. Granted, he did not have to face a ton of shots since the play was mostly in the Merrimack end, but still an outstanding job.

- Atkinson. This top line is awesome. Every team tries to shut it down and no one can. Cam just extends a hot streak for these three guys that I hope continues into late March.

Dislikes:

- Is there anything? Every aspect of the game was great. The only thing I can say is that it sucks that there guys aren’t appreciated more on campus. True, there is no tailgating for hockey, but at least they win. Had to have been 75-90 students in the house last night, with even fewer expected for the last two games due to spring break.

Next up for BC is a home meeting with UMass. BC has punished the Minutemen the last two times they faced them, and now they get them at home. Hopefully this hot streak continues and the Eagles can put more pressure on UNH.

Random thoughts:

• I would have to say I would rather grab second place here. Call me defeatist, but a first round match-up with either UMass or Merrimack and then a potential semifinal meeting with Maine would be better than a potential matchup with BU in the semis. I know we all hate them and would love to beat them, but they scare the crap out of me. Then again, if you can go up to Durham and beat UNH and win the regular season, there is no reason why you can’t beat anyone in this league. We’ll see how the chips fall next weekend and go from there. Remember, the only trophy the really matters is the one at the end of the road.

• I walked around Conte last night and noticed the Beanpot is in the trophy case. I have been there in championship years before and never noticed it on display. I always thought it was like the Stanley Cup or something. Anyway, it was good to see it in OUR trophy case and not down the road for a change.

Another Split

Another weekend, another split for BC hockey. The boys in maroon and gold let Northeastern capitalize on a mistake early Friday night and ended up dropping a close one 3-2. Sunday, the tables were turned as BC rode Brian Gibbons to a 7-1 win to keep pace with UNH in the Hockey East standings. This team plays much better at home, which will be a benefit as they have 3 of their last 4 games at Conte Forum. This should help immensely as they push toward the playoffs.

Likes:
- Gibbons staying hot. Alot has been said here about how teams are going to game plan for BC's top line of Gibbons, Atkinson, and Whitney. It has not mattered. Gibbons scored three goals on the weekend (all in one game), and surpassed the 100 point mark for is college career. Can't really complain much about that.
- Milner still going strong. This bodes well for the future as well as the present. Any rest you can give Muse before the playoffs is money in the bank.
- Offense clicking. 40 shots on Friday and 49 on Sunday. Some of those will go in.

Dislikes:
- Mistakes in our own end. These keep hurting us. Friday was a great example of this. NU's first goal occured right off the bat because of a turnover. These will hurt us more as the games get bigger. The young defensemen need to take care of the puck in their own end (Samuelsson!).
- Penalties. BC is tops in the conference in PK. Know why? Because they always seem to have a guy in the box! This has cost them games this season, no question. Maybe as we move into a more national stage we will get away from the Hockey East refs who apparently get a bonus for every call they make.

Friday: NU 3 BC 2 Box
Sunday: BC 7 NU 1 Box

BC is now #7 in the USCHO poll, 11 in the INCH rankings. They also stand 4 points behind UNH for first in the conference. If BC takes care of business at home these next two games, we could have ourselves a showdown series for the regular season title on the first weekend of March. It starts with Merrimack tomorrow night. Go BC!

Northeastern Preview

Just two games this weekend for the Eagles, both against cross-town rival Northestern University. NU will host BC on Friday at 7pm, followed by a rematch Sunday at 3 in Conte Forum. The Huskies have faced the Eagles once this year, a 5-1 BC win at Conte Forum on November 7th. The Huskies have been hot lately, winning five of their last six including a sweep last weekend of a ranked UMass team. They have also played a tight 2-1 loss to BU in the Beanpot semis, so needless to say, this is not a series BC can take lightly. (Nor can they ignore Merrimack on Tuesday night, but that is for another column.) BC has been consistent in their last few games, also winning five of their last six.

Players to watch:

NU's junior firepower - Husky juniors Wade McLeod and Tyler McNeely are the top two scorers on the team with 25 and 23 points respectively. McNeely had a great Beanpot with two goals in the consolation game against Harvard.

Chris Kreider - This kid continues to burn red hot! Kreider's game winner with 13 seconds left on Sunday meant two big points for BC and kept them in the hunt for the regular season title. Another big weekend will be needed from him as NU will key in on BC's top line.

Chris Rawlings - The freshman goaltender has been solid in NU's recent run of wins, and it could be said that he is the reason they have stayed above water all season. Rawligs is a big kid who covers alot of net. BC is going to need to get the young goalie rattled and force him to make mistakes. This is not the rookie they saw back in November, however, so they will need to get timely goals and capitalize on mistakes made by the NU defense.

Parker Milner - York has been pretty consistent in giving his freshman goalie at least one night in net every weekend. Milner has not disappointed, posting a 2-1 win last time out against Lowell. I would expect the same this weekend, with Muse going in front of the Pound Friday night and Milner playing the more comfortable game at home Sunday afternoon.

Predictions:
Friday - BC 3 NU 2
Saturday - BC 5 NU 2

NOTES:
- Sunday's game (@3pm) will be broadcast on ESPNU for anyone who can't make it out to Conte. If you can make it, get down there to see the Eagles!
- This is game two of a four game homestand for BC. They will play Merrimack on Tuesday night and then UMass Friday night.
- Tickets are probably available for all of the games left on the schedule, but Friday vs. UMass is a must see as the BC students will be starting Spring Break and will more than likely not be there. This goes for the HUGE series with UNH on March 5-6 as well.

Go BC!!!