Maine Preview

The Boston University mens ice hockey 9-5-1(7-4-1) team travels up to Orono, Maine today to finish up the first half of the season against the Maine Black Bears 6-6-2(5-5-1). BU comes in after a solid 2-1 win over UNH Thursday. That was without one of its top forwards in sophomore Matt Nieto. They look to finish the first half season strong against this team of underachieving hill billies. All the local fans are sure to be firing up the houses and driving their family rooms over to Alfond Arena. It will be interesting to see the atmosphere up there in Canada I mean Maine. Hopefully no BU fans making the trip hit any moose or women without teeth that tend to hang out in the roads up there. Maine is looking to finish off another mediocre first half and season under coach Tim Whitehead who is under scrutiny from the hicks at all times. The game will be broadcast live at 7:30 on CBS college sports network or channel 37 here at BU.

Hockey East Power Rankings

So after the first weekend where every team has competed in conference play, I figured it was about time to reveal my first Hockey East power rankings. So here we go

1. Newton University-Boston College 7-1 (5-0)- undefeated in the conference so far but haven't exactly faced any of the big boys yet. Their conference opponents combined record is 6-14-2. Not exactly facing the top of the conference so far. This changes this weekend as they play Maine Friday night at home before playing UMASS once again on Saturday night.

2. Merrihack 6-0(4-0)- I'll give Merrimack this. They look good so far but like BC haven't played any of the top tier of Hockey East besides Maine where they squeaked out a 2-1 win in their season opener. They are going to have a couple quality wins to sell me but so far they seem legit.

3. Maine 3-2-1 (3-1)- Maine's only loss comes to Merrimack(even though it was at home) and they competed in their series in North Dakota out of conference. Maybe Whitehead will build an actual team this year with the loss of Nyquist... just kidding it is Tim Whitehead we're talking about.

4. BU 3-2-1 (2-1-1)- Obviously inconsistent so far but I believe Hockey East will get four teams into the NCAA by the end of the season(not necessarily in this order) but as of now BU has plenty to prove. We will see if Saturday's dramatic OT win over UMASS sparks the team to go on a run if they have another "let down" game in Lowell this Saturday.

5. UNH 2-4-1(1-3)- Obviously UNH got off to a terrible start but I believe that got it on track this weekend with a pair of convincing wins over Union and Northeastern. They will be right there at the end of the season fighting for the NCAA's as usual(but never actually winning anything of importance). They have two home games this weekend so it will be interesting to see how the team performs.

6. PC 2-3-1 (2-2) -PC came out flying in conference play but were quickly silenced with a sweep by Maine this past weekend. They get UVM for two this weekend at home which is a series in which if they want to be considered legitimate contenders, need to take 3 points.

7. Northeastern 1-4-1(1-4-1) Northeastern beat UNH at home when UNH was still reeling but then lost to them this past weekend back at UNH. Northeastern is better than their record indicates since their losses have come to BC, Merrimack, Maine,and UNH so don't count them out.

8. UVM 1-3(2-2)- They really haven't done anything noteworthy thus far besides win @ Minnesota but that is one more accomplishment than the teams I am listing below them have accomplished thus far.

9. UMASS 1-3-2 (0-3-2)- Ok this is a bit of a stretch considering their only win is against Bentley. They did go into Matthews and tie NU though and they gave BU a hell of a weekend this past weekend despite choking away multiple goal leads in both games.

10. UML 2-3(0-2)- They failed to give BC much of a fight this weekend despite outshooting them in both games but not scoring. Learn how to score and beat someone besides Minnesota State without losing to UCONN and get back to me. Yes, I am writing this very different than if I was traveling to Lowell this weekend. If I was making the trip, I would have placed Lowell in first and been praising Mickey Ward because I value my own life. Of course, that is assuming anyone in Lowell can read or would read this shitty blog but hey you know what I mean.

Terriers take 3 points from Black Bears

The Boston University Terriers took 3 crucial points over in the weekend up in Orono,Maine(read Canada). The Terriers battled hard Friday night and overcame a 3 goal spurt by Maine in 1:12 in the second period. The Black Bears lead 3-1 after this spurt but the Terriers quickly came back to tie it up 3-3 with two goals in the rest of the period. BU got the first goal of the game from Corey Trivino and then got a nice goal from Alex Chiasson and the third from sophomore Wade Meagan.

The Terriers then took the lead for good with an absolute bomb from defenseman Dave Warsofsky to beat Maine goalie Shawn Sirman and give Terriers a huge 4-3 win at Alfond Arena. The win was a huge two points in the standings and the team rode behind their goalie Kieran Millan who was spectacular.

Saturday night started poorly for the Terriers as Kieran Millan gave up his only goal on the first shot he faced of the night. He then continued to make saves on the next 40 and pull out a point with a 1-1 tie. The Terriers got outshot in the first 20-2 and looked awful on the powerplay but a shorthanded goal by senior captain Joe Pereira got the team the tying goal in the first and the score remained that way for the remainder of the night.

The three point weekend moves the Terriers up to 13 in the RPI standings and 15 in the pairwise. They also concluded their tough stretch of games against the top of HE with a 2-2-1 record after starting 0-2. The Terriers now fall back into a more normal schedule and the ultimate trap game this Friday against UMASS-Lowell. Lowell is the worst team in HE if not the country but they have the Terriers at Agganis Arena Friday night before the Beanpot semifinal game against on Monday. The Terriers need to stay focused and beat a pesky Lowell team that has beaten Merrimack at home in the last couple of weeks. They could easily do the same to BU.

Here are the press conferences from the last couple nights....

BU stays at #2 in USCHO.com poll...BC starts to climb up top ten

Our Terriers remain at #2 in the USCHO.com poll this week after a split with now #6 UNH this past weekend. While the Terriers suffered their first loss, it was at UNH and they rebounded with a convincing home victory to keep their national standing solid. The rest of the top ten is fairly constant from a week ago with the only big drop coming from Maine who was swept down in Newton this weekend and looked very human on both ends of the ice making John Muse look like Jim Craig against the USSR in 1980. Maine dropped from 3 to 10 but look for them to bounce back and as I have said about BC...they will be in the top ten come March and April when the games really count. Here is the rest of the top ten and a little break down for you.

1. Minnesota-Duluth(11-1-2)- The Bulldogs received 49 of the 50 first place votes after their two OT wins at #16 Wisconsin which is not an easy place to play.
2.BU(7-1-4)- The Terriers split with #6 UNH with the home team taking each game as many expected. BU plays the surging Brown Bears this Saturday who have one of the best power plays in the nation that should test Kieran Millan the Terrier defense.
3. Yale(7-1-0)- Those smart sons of bitches took two on the road this weekend beating both Cornell and Colgate and starting to earn their ranking.
4. Nebraska-Omaha(9-2-1)- Lost a tough one Friday night vs. North Dakota but bounce back to steal one Sat night with .3 seconds left on the clock.
5. Miami(8-3-3)- They swept Bowling Green to get back on track in CCHA play.
6. UNH(6-2-3)- A split with BU is what was expected and moved them up one spot in the polls as Maine free falls. Probably not what their coach wanted since he is a dick and gives no one credit but blames his own team if they lose. Probably why they choke in clutch games every year.
7. (N)BC(8-4-0)- The pansies took two from Maine this weekend at home which is impressive and helps them climb back into the polls and gear up for the BU/BC weekend in two weeks. They face Merrimack and UVM this weekend though(Each has accounted for one of BC's losses so ar.
8. Michigan(8-3-3)- The Wolverines took two against Lake Superior State and now gear up for a couple against rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend in a tournament.
9. North Dakota(8-5-1)- Splitting a pair at Omaha is not the end of the world for the Fighting Sioux as they look to to take a couple from those Catholic fucks out in Indiana this weekend(aka Notre Dame).
10. Maine(6-3-3)- Losing two in Newton is not what is expected from the #3 team in the nation. Lay off the moonshine Black Bears.

Other notables(10-20)
#18 Merrimack College- Yeah my bff Mike McMahon over at Warrior Rink Rat is probably having a field day over the national ranking for the first time like ever but the facts are they barely got by Lowell this past weekend. Overrated much? They higher up they go the harder they will fall when they lose a couple in a row in March

Receiving Votes
Providence - Providence only got one point on the weekend but I think they make a push for the polls again before the season is up.
Brown- The Bears are 3-2-1 on the season but haven't played anyone out of the ECAC yet so we will see what they are made of this weekend when they come into Agganis Arena.

Here are the INCH power rankings too if you wish to read more. Not much different than the polls besides their love of Union for some reason and their hatred of BC which I fully support.
Here are some notables in their power rankings:
1. UMD
2. BU
3. Yale
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5.Maine
6. North Dakota
7. UNH
10. Union
12. BC
17. Merrimack


- I would also like to take the time to welcome Raymundo to the blog. Redd10 is correct when he says he will use better grammar than me but so does my dog. I don't give a fuck about grammar. I just go 4-0 on weekends on my gambling and count the bills on Monday. Anyway, Raymundo should contribute plenty to the blog about BU hockey and will surely be coming to plenty of games in the future to hopefully meet the rest of the blog team because I don't think he has met anyone in person besides me. Redd10 likes to act like he went looking for new bloggers and this rigorous interview process that he sat down with guys. Don't let him fool you...it was my idea and we only require a positive test on a drug sample to write(yeah positive like you're on drugs). Hope you enjoy! As always BC sucks look for reasons why to be released in the days leading up the BU/BC weekend in less than two weekends. Our boy Tiger usually finds pretty inventive insults.

Terriers fall to #2 in polls after two ties over the weekend

Obviously the national polls mean much less in college hockey than they do in college football but they are worth paying attention to as they come out each week. Our Terriers' stay as the #1 team in the nation lasted only one week as we fell to #2 with Minnesota-Duluth taking #1 after an impressive 4 point weekend out west. Here is how the rest of the USCHO.com poll shaped up:
1. Minnesota-Duluth(9-1-2)-two wins over Michigan Tech this weekend vault the Bulldogs past the Terriers into the #1 spot
2. BU(6-0-4)- two ties against a rising Merrimack team is nothing to be ashamed of but enough to lose the #1 spot in the rankings. This is a good place for BU as the #1 target has been taken off this young team's back for the time being.
3. Maine(6-1-3)- This is the hottest team in Hockey East and with a couple wins over BC this weekend could move further up in the polls and HE standings.
4. Nebraska-Omaha(8-1-0)- Have a chance to rise or fall in the standings this weekend with a pair against North Dakota
5. Yale(5-1-0)- They lost to Air Force this past weekend which you would think would cause them to fall more than one spot but for some reason USCHO loves this Yale team
6. Miami(6-3-3)- The split with Alaska causes the Red Hawks to continue to drop
7. New Hampshire(5-1-3)- big home and home with BU this weekend to go with the Maine/BC series should give everyone a good idea who really is the best team in HE.
8. North Dakota(7-4-1)- Swept Wisconsin this past weekend to gain some momentum heading into a series with Nebraska-Omaha
9. Michigan(6-3-3)- A split with #11ND is not exactly what you are looking for at home but Michigan will take it at this point in the season.
10. Newton(Boston) College(6-4-0)- N(B)C continues to lose games and split weekends as they did again with UVM this weekend. This is a tough loss despite it being in Vermont. Vermont has struggled to score all year. They are purple because they are a bunch of little girls.

The INCH power rankings are very similar to the USCHO poll with some minor flip flopping here and there.
1. Minnesota-Duluth
2. BU
3. Maine
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. Yale
6. North Dakota
7. UNH
8. Miami
9. Michigan
10. Union
...
13. BC
20. PC? These guys are on crack but its funny because BC is ranked closer to PC than to us. Losers.

-This weekend approaching is going to be filled with good games as 6 of the top 10 teams play one another(BC/Maine, BU/UNH, ND/ Nebraska). A bunch of splits could mean more of the same in the polls or a bunch of sweeps could totally turn the polls upside down.

Rankings out...BU#6, BC loses grasp on #1

The USCHO.COM polls for this week were just released and look as follows for the top ten
1. Miami(OH)
2. Boston (Newton)College
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. Boston University
7. Maine
8. North Dakota
9. Nebraska-Omaha
10. New Hampshire

No real shockers here as BC loses its #1 title with a loss to #13 Notre Dame as their priests touched more little boys than the priests down in Newton to come out with the 2-1 victory Saturday night. Miami takes the #1 spot as they beat Western Michigan 9-1 over the weekend and ND lost two tough ones up in Orono to those streaky Maine Black Bears(I know it is only three weekend but this team is streaky). No other hockey east schools are in the poll as Vermont and Merrimack received votes but that shows how poor the rest of the league is looked upon by the rest of the country this season. BC only loses one place in the poll as nobody else did much to make a move besides Miami as Yale has not played yet and Michigan also has a loss so BU would have been next in line to pass the Eagles but it a little early in the season for that to happen. We will wait until early April to pass them in the standings(aslong as we win the head to head games for bragging rights). We will take the jump from 8 to 6 after a solid four point weekend in HE play. The Terriers look to continue the wins against UMASS Lowell in a home and home this weekend.

-Also the BU women held onto their #5 ranking in the national poll after a four point weekend.