Well folks, there is just one weekend left in the Hockey East regular season. It's been a long and trying road to this point, but there's no time to rest now - as the second season is about to begin. That's right ladies and gents, it's almost playoff time. The only thing standing in the way for 8 teams in Hockey East is one last weekend and two more games. With that, let's get to it.
BU picked up 3 out of 4 points this weekend against Vermont, a result that on the surface seems pretty good. Vermont had been playing better as of late, and 3 points against most teams in HE is pretty solid. But when you consider that BU had been up 3-0 on UVM part way into the 3rd period and only came out with a tie, you have to be disappointed. Regardless, those 3 points and two Merrimack losses but BU in third place in Hockey East with 34 points. The Terriers final weekend pair comes against Northeastern, a team who has been playing some good hockey as of late - they took 3 points from BC and 1 point from UNH the past two weekends. I'm predicting that BU takes 2 points from NU, to give the Terriers 36 points on the season.
BC and UNH square off against each other in a heavyweight battle for first place in Hockey East. If UNH takes more than 1 point out of the series, the regular season crown is theirs. However, if BC can take at least 3 points then they would be HE regular season champions (either by tiebreaker or outright points). I predict that they probably split - 2 points a piece, giving UNH the league crown and BC second place by a nose.
Maine is coming fresh off two wins against Merrimack, arguably the hottest team in the conference until this past weekend. They absolutely pounded the Warriors all weekend, outscoring them 11-1 between the two contests. Maine finishes up their season with two games against UMass - Amherst, a series I think they win easily to give them 34 points in conference. Merrimack will look to bounce back from their awful weekend with two against PC. I highly doubt Merrimack loses either of those games, especially considering DaCosta should be back in the lineup. If they take all 4 points like I think they will, they will take 3rd place in Hockey East with 37 points.
So, the top 5 spots would look like this:
1. UNH - 40 points
2. BC - 39 points
3. Merrimack - 37 points
4. BU - 36 points
5. Maine - 34 points
And the bottom 3 would look like this:
6. Northeastern - 27 points
7. Vermont - 19 points
8. UMass - A - 15 points
This would mean BU would take on Maine in the HE quarterfinals at Agganis. If BU fails to register a point on the weekend, they would still end up in 4th place against Maine at Agganis (barring some ridiculous scenario involving Merrimack only taking 1 point from PC). If BU manages to sweep NEU and UNH somehow sweeps BC, BU would sit in second place and as such would take on Vermont in the quarterfinals. Definitely a more favorable option, but highly unlikely.
I'll be back next week with a preview of the HE playoff picture for real. Until then, stay classy BU.
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