Big Weekend of Hockey East Coming Up

Total of 14 Points Up For Grabs

Three 2-game sets headline a nice lineup of Hockey East play this weekend, led by Your Terriers taking on UNH.  We'll have plenty more on that matchup before the games kick off on Friday night.

Rhett's Pumped Up To Snag Four Points

Before we get to that, let's take a look at what else is going on in Hockey East this weekend.

Boston College and Maine will also play two, both to be played at Alfond Arena in Orno.  The Black Bears have been up and down to start their 2009 season.  So far, they've lost three, won one, lost two, won three, and finally lost one last weekend at Northeastern.  If this were an SAT question, I'm sure we could figure out exactly how they're going to perform this weekend.

 The story has been similar for the Eagles, who can't seem to figure out what kind of team they want to be.  BC has 7 points through 7 games, but they do have some upperclassman leadership.  They only came away with a split last weekend, although they probably deserved four points for their 7-1 thrashing of Vermont on Friday night.

Providence College and Northeastern will also meet for two this weekend, on Huntington Avenue on Friday and up at Shneider Arena on Saturday.  A quick glance at the standings shows Providence in dead last, but that's very deceiving.  The Friars have only played 3 games in conference, earning one win.  That win came at the expense of a tough UMass Amherst team that has lost just two games all season long.  Providence is 6-3 overall, most recently defeating Brown in the Mayor's Cup last weekend.

The Huskies are a game under .500 overall, and just 2-4 in Hockey East.  Freshman Goalie Chris Rawlings has been servicable, and as BU fans know, has shown flashes of brilliance through his first 9 collegiate games.  Nobody has stepped out of the crowd to be a true offensive force for the Huskies, so if they want to keep treading water, a good deal of the pressure will be on Rawlings to keep them from drowning.

If I told you two years ago that the matchup of the week would be UMass Lowell hosting Merrimack, you would have slapped me in the face, called me an ignorant slut, and moved on with your life.  Well folks, that's about what we're dealing with now.    The Parisian Prince (copyright TwoManAdvantage 2009) Stephane da Costa leads the surprising Mack team up to Tsongas Arena on Saturday night.  Da Costa has 14 points through his first 8 collegiate games, and is the main reason why the Warriors are being talked about.  Through five conference games, Merrimack sits at a comfortable 3-2.  They are 6-4 overall.

Lowell is off to the best start of any hockey east team, which has pushed them all the way up to #4 in the nation.  They haven't lost since October 30 when Colby Cohen put them on ice, going 4-0-1 in their last five games.  They have four players in double digits for points, and a total of seven players with at least 8 points.  Add to that a two-headed goalie monster of Carter Hutton and Nevin Hamilton that has a combined 2.17 GAA and a .918 save percentage and you've got a recipe for success. 


Vermont and Amherst have the weekend off until they meet up in Vermont on Tuesday night.

So there you have it.  Seven games, fourteen points.  Will someone finally sweep a series?  Or will we continue to see the same old splits that we've seen all season long?  It's a great chance for the teams to separate themselves from the pack and get established as a powerhouse.  More than likely though, we'll be back here next week talking about how tight Hockey East still is after three weeks of November.