For the first time in recent memory, possibly ever, eight teams are competing for seven playoff spots with Boston College, seemingly the only team that has distanced itself from the pack.
Heading into this weekend’s action the Massachusetts hockey team finds itself in a position that most teams would envy – controlling its own destiny.
“We have to take care of business on our own,” head coach Don Cahoon said. “Clearly we have to prepare for the other teams, but nonetheless just deal with ourselves.”
“It’s a huge weekend, especially with eight games left,” Jeff Turner said. “With the remainder of our schedule it’s not hard to see that every game is a big game and every team is equally as big.”
UMass (7-16-3, 9-6-1 Hockey East) currently is in a tie for seventh place with Lowell and Saturday the Minutemen invade Tsongas Arena for an all-important matchup with the River Hawks that could determine the fate of the Maroon and White at season’s end.
But before Saturday’s contest, UMass has to take care of business in a rink that has been quite unkind to the Minutemen, Walter Brown Arena on the campus of Boston University.
“You can’t be too concerned about what has happened in the past,” Cahoon said. “Our history is now. Our history is what we do from here on in.
“If you start worrying about what happened in the past it’s like a self-fulfilling prophecy.”
The Maroon and White travel to Beantown tonight for its third contest of the season with the Terriers having dropped a pair during a home-and-home series earlier in the season.
The Terriers come into the contest as one of the hottest teams in the Hockey East having won three straight including a sweep of No. 8 New Hampshire last weekend.
“I spoke to Dick Umile [yesterday] morning from UNH,” Cahoon said. “He thought his team had almost as well as it had played at any point in the weekend against BU and they came up with nothing.”
After a slow start, BU has come on since entering the conference-laden portion of its schedule. A major factoring in the Terriers’ season resurrection has been the play of captain Carl Corazzini. The senior netted three goals and tallied three assists in the previous two games with the Minutemen.
“He just plays good against UMass,” Markus Helanen said.
Along with the strong play of Corazzini, BU has also had solid goaltending from the tandem of Jason Tapp and Sean Fields. Tapp was in the net for both BU triumphs earlier in the season.
Maybe the most important game of the weekend is the rubber match against Lowell. The Minutemen stole a win 5-4 in overtime at Tsongas on Nov. 11, a game in which they only mustered 17 shots on goal. On Jan. 25 the River Hawks got revenge as they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat when Yorick Treille scored the game-winning goal after a questionable non-call by referee John Gravallese that led to the eventual tally.
“Each game is huge, but the Lowell game is especially,” Helanen said. “We see it as a four-point game.”
Not only is the game important within the Hockey East standings, but it is also being played for the Alumni Cup. The Alumni Cup is awarded annually to the winner of the season series.
“We need to make a jump now,” Turner said. “If we don’t it’s going to come down to the last weekend for a playoff spot.
“Win two games in a weekend and we can jump up three spots.”
Last season UMass saw itself in a similar situation as it was battling Lowell for the final playoff spot with the Maroon and White getting the nod in the end, but this year is wide open and every game counts.
“We can take our experiences from last year and use that to our advantage,” Turner said. “It’s a lot different when you’re battling against one team then when you’re battling against four teams.
“Four teams aren’t going to lose two games in a weekend. That adds extra motivation to get one, two, three or four points in a weekend.”
