There are three weeks left in the Hockey East regular season, and beyond the top three teams, the playoff picture is still a muddled composition.
Boston College (12-1-3 HEA, 21-3-4 overall) and Massachusetts (12-4-2 HEA, 16-6-5) have clinched playoff spots and Maine (11-4-1 HEA, 20-6-2) is a combined win and a Northeastern (2-10-4 HEA, 8-13-5) loss or tie away from securing its spot in the postseason. After that, though, no team is safe. New Hampshire (8-6-3 HEA, 16-10-3) is within striking distance, but needs to string a few wins together to reach the plateau. The Wildcats split their home-and-home weekender with UMass, but with seven games to go, could use some help.
Providence (5-8-5 HEA, 13-9-6) is also nearing the clincher, and with 15 points (fifth place) and two games in hand on last-place Northeastern (eight points), is almost a shoo-in to get to the postseason. UMass Lowell (5-9-2 HEA, 8-18-4) is still haunted by the three conference wins (over UMass and Merrimack) that it forfeited for playing with an ineligible player. With those wins, the River Hawks would be three points up on Providence, and in the hunt for home-ice advantage.
As it is, with 12 points, sixth-place Lowell will need to finish strong to earn a decent playoff seed. The River Hawks are tied with Merrimack (4-11-4 HEA, 9-16-4), two points ahead of eighth-place Boston University (4-10-2 HEA, 8-12-6), and just four points up on the Huskies. Lowell has enjoyed the success of junior Chris Davidson, whose talented netminding has been a driving force behind the River Hawk’s surprising success this season. Davidson is fourth in the league with a 2.15 goals against average, and his .927 save percentage puts him third, behind Maine’s Jim Howard and Providence’s David Cacciola.
The teams who are in Northeastern’s crosshairs can take solace in the fact that of their final eight games, the Huskies will face Maine and UMass twice, as well as one game at New Hampshire.
Hurtin’ Dogs
If you told someone at the beginning of the season that Jack Parker’s Boston University Terriers would be fighting to hold on to eighth place come February, you’d be committed to an institution that specializes in extra-long sleeves.
However, the Terriers have struggled for much of the season, and with only four wins in conference play (and two ties), they have a slim two-point lead on Northeastern. They also just took two significant hits in the last five days, getting shut out by the fine work of Providence’s sophomore sensation, goaltender Bobby Goepfert, and then losing a heartbreaking 3-2 decision to BC in the Beanpot final Monday night.
Terrier goaltender Sean Fields made 50 saves to earn ‘Pot MVP honors, but Ryan Murphy’s wrister at 6:07 of the overtime period beat him, giving the Eagles their first Beanpot trophy since 2001. Fields did make some history, becoming the first player from the losing squad in the championship game to earn the tournament MVP award.
York makes his mark
With BC’s Beanpot win, coach Jerry York took the all-time wins lead over Parker, and the two coaches are now one-two on the list of winningest active coaches. The score between the two beantown bench bosses now stands 689-688 in favor of York, the BC grad and Watertown native.
Even more importantly, the win came the same day the Eagles were tabbed as the unanimous No. 1 team in the nation, on both the U.S. College Hockey Online poll and the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll.
On the map
Maine’s Michel Leveille was recognized as National Division I Rookie of the Month by College Sports Television and the Hockey Commissioners’ Association on Feb. 6. Leveille has four goals and 24 assists in 27 games this season, and is tied for 14th in Hockey East with his four goals and 10 assists in conference games.
