This week in college hockey - Chiasson signs with Dallas

So I have been avoiding to blogging this week to avoid thinking about last weekend. I was out there in St. Paul and watched my last game as an undergrad. I'm not going to go all emotional and start crying like TO or something but it does suck that it is no longer socially acceptable for me to stand all game and yell offensive things at opposing goalies. BU lost a game where they simply got outplayed by a hot Minnesota team. They dismantled North Dakota the next day(which I also witnessed) and made it look easy doing so. They would simply rush to the front of the net and bury the puck. BC will certainly have their hands full with the Gophers next Thursday in the National Championship game(I know it's technically the semifinal but Ferris and Union suck).

Overall, I enjoyed the trip to St. Paul despite the outcome. As Coach Parker said after the game, it is a great hockey city and a good place to go watch hockey. The X was very nice despite the Minnesota and North Dakota students not showing up. The fact that the 8 BU fans plus band so 32 total could be heard on the telecast is just embarrassing to Minnesota. The rink was 9 miles from your campus and over 1,000 from ours. Lock it up. It was a nice city and I would recommend it to anyone who wanted to go on a good hockey roadie.

After the games this weekend, players began to announce their intentions for next year. Many of the higher ranked seniors quickly signed contracts such as Maine products Brian Flynn(Buffalo), and Hobey Finalist Spencer Abbott(Toronto) along with Colgate Hobey Finalist Austin Smith(Dallas). Other big names leaving their respective schools are Michigan's Chris Brown(Phoenix), Denver's Drew Shore(Florida) and Jason Zucker(Minnesota), along with Northeastern's Anthony Bitetto who signed with Nashville today.

Northeastern took another big hit as BIG-time goalie recruit Jon Gillies decomitted after he learned that rising senior Chris Rawlings would remain at school and take most of the of the time in net. Gillies is supposedly considering the Q and other colleges. If he goes to the Q, then I actually almost feel for NU fans since the Q sucks and I would rather face him 3 times a year than lose a college guy to major juniors. I saw some people online suggesting that Gillies could consider BU but that won't happen with two big time goalie recruits of our own coming in this year in Matt O'Connor(USHL) and Sean MacGuire(BCHL). Both have had solid years in their respective leagues and figure to fight for the job come October. Also, BU doesn't take NU's sloppy seconds. It's the other way around.

The only departure from thus far has been the expected announcement by junior assistant captain Alex Chiasson that he will sign with the Dallas Stars, who drafted him in the second round in 2009 draft. There were rumors that they pushed him hard to leave last year and he chose to stay one more year at BU. That says alot about Chiasson's character and we wish him all the best with Dallas. Chiasson did have some nice comments about his departure which you can see here from the Daily Free Press:
“[Parker] thought if in my heart that’s what I wanted to do then he was going to support me through it.”

This quote really shows how honest Parker will be his players when it is time to make the decision to go pro and supports them either way. Charlie Coyle had similar comments about Parker even though it was quite evident Parker disagreed with the decision in that instance. That is the difference between Parker and York or Berenson who both basically beg guys to stay every year for the benefit of the program. Today, Berenson made a comment saying he was disappointed in junior Chris Brown's decision to go pro which was basically a big guilt trip to a kid who was already gone. No need to make that comment in my opinion.

BU's class next year(as of now) consists of 9 which includes forwards Matt Lane, Wes Myron, Mike Moran, Robert Polsello, and Jarrid Privitera. It also includes the two goalies mentioned above and 2 d-men in Marc Hetnik and Matt Grzelcyk. This number could increase if Adam Clendening, Matt Nieto, or Garrett Noonan decide to turn pro in the coming weeks. I remain hopeful that Nieto and Noonan will return as both of their organization in the Sharks and Predators typically allow guys to develop at school as long as they desire. Clendening is more of a toss-up but we won't really know until all the guys go to their development camps and then return to school . That's all I got for now but we will be posting grades for each player and the coaching staff in the next week or so.

Do You Have What It Takes to Write a Guest Blog for the BSRS?

Alright people, here is the deal.  We know most of our readers are huge BU hockey fans.  We know some of you write your own blogs for fun, or tweet about BU hockey, or have heated discussions with your friends about the team.  That being the case, we want you guys to write your own personal takes on the 2011-2012 men's hockey team and submit them to us.

Hockey East Bigwigs Take Storrs, Looking To Find a New Bottom Feeder To Replace Lowell

In what is a not entirely unexpected move, Hockey East officials are today making a site visit to the University of Connecticut and the XL Center to evaluate UConn's potential as a 12th Hockey East school, according to College Hockey News just a few minutes ago.  Perhaps seeing Lowell's success HE wants a team to replace them at the bottom of the table.  In all seriousness though and speaking as a fan of the team I'm excited to see this move made and think they are a much more natural fit for the conference than Notre Dame was (if not in terms of competitiveness).

The school's two hurdles to overcome would be adding scholarships (which they would do) and lack of a facility large enough for a Hockey East team.  The Freitas Ice Forum currently holds 2,000 with little room to expand/revamp the building given that it's next to the stadium of the quite popular soccer team.  CT Gov. Dannel (yup, spelled like that, we think it's stupid down here too) Malloy wants the team the play at least a couple years at Hartford's XL Center.  I personally think that would be an awful idea as even UConn's women's basketball team has begun to have attendance at that off-campus venue wane in recent years.  Literally no students would go to the game and as any HE fan knows that is the only way to create any sort of home ice atmosphere and build a base of alumni who will come back to see games once they graduate.  I think that move would kill the program.

As much as I think it would be a ton of money to spend on a team that might not draw anybody, I think the only shot this team has is with a new on-campus arena.  Although this would obviously mean a huge state expenditure, it's a) the only way for the team to have a shot at fan support and success and b) I'm moving to New Hampshire in a month and a half, so am I really too upset at the tax dollars it would cost? (hint: no)

All in all, I'd be happy if it happened, no matter what, but I'm guessing they'll have a rough go of it for the first few seasons unless students really get behind the program and Bruce Marshall turns out to be a very strong recruiter.  Then again, he got this guy to come for a couple years, and they played damn good against the AFA in the AH playoffs this year so I think the future is bright for the program, especially if the school really puts some resources behind them (with the decline at UVM, and relative weakness at UMA and PC.  I also think either UML or the Mack will step back in the next couple years)

All Aboard the Departure Train: 2012 BU Edition

Now that BU's season has officially ended, we enter my least favorite time of the year - the departure season.  Michigan State fans know what I'm talking about, as today junior captain Torey Krug decided to forego his senior year and signed with the Bruins.

I imagine that this post will be updated as the next few weeks unfold, but here's how I see things shaking out as of now...

I've left the Senior class off this list, as obviously they will not be returning for next season.

Definitely, Absolutely, Without A Doubt in My Mind Gone

Alex Chiasson - Junior Forward, 15-31-46

Most Likely Jumping Ship

Adam Clendening, Soph. Defenseman, 4-29-33

BU's Sees Tumultuous Season End

The Terriers ended the 2011-2012 season yesterday on a sour note - a 7-3 loss at the hands of Minnesota in the first round of the NCAA tournament.  A slow start and 29 penalty minutes dogged BU, who end the year with a 23-15-1 record.

Wade Megan, Ross Gaudet, and Adam Clendening scored for the Terriers.  Minnesota led 5-3 heading into the final few minutes, and tacked on two empty net goals for good measure.

There doesn't seem to be a point in writing a full game summary, as other people have already done it better than I could:

The Boston Hockey Blog

The Boston Globe

Hockey East Online

Thanks for reading this year, guys. We appreciate it.  Considering this was something we started as an excuse to not do homework, we never really expected anybody to read it.  I don't know at what level we will be operating next year, as Quack is graduating and heading off into the real world.  For now, though, we will certainly have some end of the year stuff for you guys to enjoy.

Thanks again, and as always - GO TERRIERS

Mr. WorldWide Mens NCAA Hockey Predictions

I am not as smart as QuackQuack with the picks (he does research, not kidding) and I don't believe in coin flips unless tails is on both sides of the coin. So I predicting based on mascots of the teams. Very legit.

Regionals:

Eagles (BC) vs. Falcons (Air Force) ----> Falcons everyday twice on Sundays
Bulldogs (Min-Dul) vs. Black Bears (Maine) ----> Bulldogs (Soft Spot for Dogs)
-----------> Bulldogs vs. Falcons ----> Bulldogs

Sioux (N.Dakota) vs. Buster Bronco (W. Michigan) ----> Sioux name is in court... So Buster Bronco it is.
Terriers (BU) vs. Gophers (Minnesota) ----> Terriers, come on man.
-----------> Terriers vs. Buster Bronco --------> What The Hell is A Buster Bronco, Go Terriers!!!!!!

Dutchmen (Union) vs. Spartans (Michigan St) ----> Dutchman, nice name
RedHawks (Mia OH) vs. Riverhawk (UM-L) ----> "What's a Riverhawk?".... So Red Hawks
------------> Redhawks vs. Dutchmen--------> Redhawks

Bulldogs (Ferris St) vs. Pioneers (Denver) ---> Pioneers, no reasoning.
Big Red (Cornell) vs. Wolverines (Michigan) ----> What is Big Red? Someone please explain that to me. Wolves win
-----------> Wolverines vs. Pioneers ----------> Wolverines

Frozen Four:
Terriers vs. Bulldogs------> Terriers have better heritage in dog breeds. Go BU!
RedHawks vs. Wolverines------> Wolverines are cooler.

National Champ' Game:
Terriers vs. Wolverines ---------------------------> Terriers!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! GO BU!

Also QuackQuack didn't throw this in: 

GW's 2012 NCAA Tournament Picks - Chance Edition

While Quackquack actually used his (limited) intuition to make his picks for this year's NCAA tournament, I've decided to use a much more rudimentary method - flipping a coin.  Let's see how this goes...

For reference, heads was always the better seed.  In the case of two equal seeds matching up, I was just absolutely arbitrary in deciding who was heads.

FIRST ROUND

East Regional - Bridgeport, CT
(1) Union vs. (4) Michigan St.
Coin Flip - Union.

(2) Miami vs. (3) UMass - Lowell
Coin Flip - Lowell

QQ's Bracket Predictions

So I have been waiting to fill out my bracket since I am the master of college hockey brackets (I picked 3/4 of last year's Frozen Four correctly - in February). Now for this year, I plan on getting all 4 correct along with the champion and make everyone else look foolish.

Northeast (Worcester)

1. BC vs. 4. Air Force- BC is too hot for Air Force despite the Falcons having a history of knocking off top seeds in the tourny. BC wins 4-2

2. Minnesota-Duluth vs 3. Maine- This will be an interesting matchup as the whole state of Maine will drive their houses down to Worcester for the weekend. This game depends on the health of Spencer Abbott who suffered a head injury head butting Sean Escobedo's arm this weekend as he lost an edge. I think Duluth is too good either way. I'll assume Abbott plays though and say UMD wins 5-3 behind 2 from Jack Connolly.

1. BC vs 2 UMD- This will be a huge game as the last 2 national champions face off for a bid to the Frozen Four. UMD takes it just because BC has to cool off at some point and Duluth can beat BC if they don't bring their "A" game. UMD wins 5-4(OT)

Looks like BU is heading to St.Paul eh?

The NCAA released its 2012 men's ice hockey championship bracket today and the BU Terriers were ranked as the 9th overall seed. This leaves them as the top 3 seed and heading to St. Paul, Minnesota. They also get the luck of playing the University of Minnesota at their host site at the XCEL Center. This seems to be set up for the Terriers to play in front of 17,000 Gopher fans and us of course. The other game in BU's West Bracket is 1 seed North Dakota vs 4 Western Michigan. We couldn't be more pumped for this game and a chance at the national title for the first time since we have been around talking shit and pretending to know something about hockey.

Many fans have already deemed BU's chances slim with this type of draw but all you ask for is a chance and that is what this team has. This team has been left for dead by person after person this season. They were wrote off as a team with no chance after they lost their top 2 centers mid-season. They, instead, went on a winning streak throughout the month of January. They were written off again in late February when they lost a top 4 d-man. They came out and took 3 out of their last 4 to end the regular season. They seemed to have no chance in the third and deciding game of the HE QF series with New Hampshire when they trailed 4-1 midway through the game. Guess what? They came back and won the game in double OT. The critics have been there all season and will continue to be there leading into the game Saturday. However, this is an ideal situation for this team. They feed off of the fact that no one will pick them to win. They thrive in hostile environments(undefeated outside the city of Boston in 2012) and we have no reason St. Paul will be any different. Don't stop believing Terrier fans. This team has the potential to win it all even after everything that has happened when many expected them to miss the NCAA tournament all together.

Oh yeah here is the rest of the bracket

East(Bridgeport,CT)

1 Union vs 4 Michigan State

2 Miami(OH) vs 3 Lowell

Midwest

1 Michigan vs 4 Cornell

2 Ferris State vs 3 Denver

Northeast

1 BC vs 4 Air Force

2 Minnesota-Duluth vs 3 Maine

West

1. North Dakota vs 4 Western Michigan

2 Minnesota vs 3 BU

BU falls to Maine 5-3 in HE semis, prep for NCAA's begins

BU dropped a HE semifinal to Maine 5-3 and finished their conference schedule. They now must wait and see where they will be seeded for the NCAA tournament which will begin next weekend. The game started off well for the Terriers as Alex Chiasson put BU up early with nice move and beat Maine goalie Dan Sullivan 5 hole. That was the score at the end of 1 but Maine quickly tied it up in the second on the powerplay when Joey Diamond got credit for a goal that was the result of Ross Gaudet falling and hitting Millan and the saved puck into the net. Gaudet seemed to fall after coming in hard to help clear the puck. That goal was a tough break for the Terriers especically since the call that put them on the penalty kill was questionable at best. Sahir Gill was called for slashing when he stick lifted a Maine player who then "lost" his stick resulting in a slash call. BU retook the lead a few minutes later on a great pass from Gill to a one timer for Matt Nieto. Maine controlled the rest of the second period with some help from the referees. Maine tied it up 2-2 when a clear interference call was missed a Maine player who took Chiasson out of play on the PK which allowed Will O'Neill to snipe one top shelf. Maine then took the lead on another PK after Alexx Privitera was called for the softest slashing call of all time. He got beat short handed and Millan made a big stop but because the ref felt like it. Easily the worst call I've seen all year.

In the third, BU tied it up on a nice play from Nieto who had his first career two goal game. Maine fans bitched and moaned on the play because HE Player of the Year Spencer Abbott went down when he lost an edge and headbutted Escobedo's elbow. Tim Whitehead was still bitching after the game when he said "It was an elbow to the head". Dear idiotic Maine coach, when you lose and edge and fall into an elbow, that doesn't make it a penalty. Maine fans continued to bitch despite the fact that Diamond boarded Escobedo right after this play and that was not called either. Maine went up for good on the powerplay once again when Justin Courtnall was called for elbowing because he hit someone too hard. It was another sad display of officiating by Hockey East officials but the bottom line is that BU must play better to do well in the NCAA's. They will certainly be helped by avoiding Hockey East referees in the NCAA tournament(hopefully).

BU now only has a 12.1% of a remaining a 2 seed. BU would need the higher seeds to win out tonight to remain a 2 seed but most likely will be seeded in the Worcester region whether they are a 2 or a 3. BU cannot fall to a 4 seed and thus will most likely be seeded in the East since a majority of the teams around them in pairwise are western teams including Minnesota duluth, Denver, Maimi, and Minnesota.

The NCAA tournament show is tomorrow at 12 on ESPNU and will be interesting to see where BU goes. Worcester regional with BC seems likely to give the regional an attendance boost and likely will keep the bracket integrity intact. Stay tuned to see where the Terriers get placed and anything else we have to complain about.

Monday=day of the meaningless polls

The USCHO and USA Today polls both came out today and both have your BU Terriers at #5 in the country. Once again, these polls are meaningless. The Pairwise is how teams are seeded for the NCAA tournament (BU is t-4) and the new pairwise predictor from USCHO is helpful for fans to see how their team will rise or fall with outcomes this weekend. Here is a breakdown of the rest of the top 10.

1. Newton University (BC)- 27-10-1- They beat UMass with officiating going their way all weekend. Nothing to be bragging about.
2. Minnesota Duluth- 24-8-6- They will go as far as soon to be Hobey Finalist Jack Connolly will take them
3. Michigan-23-11-4- Red Berenson gets his red-hot team ready for another NCAA run
4. Minnesota-26-12-1- The Gophers will be a tough out come NCAA time, especially since they will be placed in St. Paul.
5. BU- This team is the grittiest team in the top 5 and keeps finding ways to dig deep and win games. Still the best team in the nation waiting their time to make a run.
6. Union-22-7-7- If they don't win the EZAC tournament, an at-large team is going to get bumped and not be a huge Union fan anymore.
7.Miami-23-13-2- They are hanging in there and can be anywhere from out of the field to a #1 seed.
8. Ferris State- 23-11-5- Their QF loss to Bowling Green is going to kill their seeding
9. Denver-23-12-4- Beat Wisconsin in 3 games as they finally seem to be getting healthy
10. Lowell-23-12-1- Losing to PC in 3 puts the NCAA tournament faith of this team in the hand of others which you never want
11.Maine- BU's opposition this coming Friday in the HE semis fresh off knocking Merrimack out of the playoffs
15. Merrimack- Look like they will miss the NCAA's barely after their HE QF loss to Maine

- Some other notes from this week....BU junior forward Alex Chiasson was name the Hockey East Player of the Week with his 6 points and +3 rating over the weekend...Kieran Millan also was the obvious choice for Defensive Player of the Week with his 150 saves and .943 save percentage over the weekend...Chris Connolly, Sahir Gill, and Garrett Noonan were also named Top Performers. Chris Connolly also played his 150th career game this weekend while Kieran Millan broke the HE tournament record with 68 saves in Game 3 of the QF series with UNH.

Weekend Recap- BU takes HE QF in 3

So after 11 periods or 229 minutes and 42 seconds of hockey, BU advanced to play in the HE semifinals Friday against Maine. BU beat UNH 2-1 after the Wildcats gave BU all they could handle including jumping out to a 4-1 lead halfway through the game tonight before giving up 4 straight goals. UNH's season is now over and their hillbilly fans will have to fire up their houses and drive them back to New Hampshire. They continue to have won zero meaningful games and always find new ways to lose them. Let's go through each game this weekend one by one though.

Friday, BU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a great play from Matt Nieto to feed Alex Chiasson for a goal. UNH controlled play really from there on out and answered with goals from Nick Sorkin and Kevin Goumas(who is a prick by the way). BU tied it up on a great breakaway goal from Kevin Gilroy where he was very patient before making the move to his backhand. He was sprung by freshman Alexx Privitera. The game remained tied until double overtime when UNH scored on a flukey wrap around that hit Millan's pad and jumped over his shoulder. It was a tough loss to take as Millan made 47 saves in the defeat, which was a new record. UNH freshman forward Grayson Dowling scored the game winner which put BU in a 1-0 hole in the series.

Saturday night, BU scored first once again and never trailed as they held leads of 1-0(on a Chris Connolly PP goal) and 2-1 (on a break away Sahir Gill goal) before finally putting away UNH 4-2 on Matt Nieto and Ryan Santana goals in the third. UNH responded to each of BU's first 2 goals with a goal of their own thanks to a snipe by their lead douche Stevie Moses and a pp goal by Connor Hardowa. BU controlled play from there. Gill's goal was sprung by a great pass by Patrick "Truck" MacGregor. Kieran Millan only made 35 saves in this win which would be his low total of the weekend.

Tonight, BU scored first once again as Evan Rodrigues scored on a slick move after a UNH goal had just been called back due to a high stick. UNH then took control of the game and scored the next four goals- 2 from Casey Thrush, Greg Burke, and Mike Borisenok. UNH looked like they were running away with the game. Jack Parker called a timeout for the Terriers and seemed to give them an earful on the bench. Whatever he said seemed to wake them up as they played improved hockey for the rest of the period. Specifically, junior assistant captain Justin Courtnall really seemed to energize the rest of the team as he came out looking to hit guys and did so for 3 or 4 straight shifts without taking a penalty. During that period to end the second period, BU scored two goals, both off the stick of Garrett Noonan, who is now tied for the nation lead in goals by a defenseman with 16. BU continued the intensity into the third as Wade Megan scored his 19th 30 seconds into the third to knot it up at 4. It would stay tied until 7:42 into double overtime when Alex Chiasson potted the game winner off a Wade Megan rebound. Kieran Millan made 68 saves in all breaking his own record and is now 7 saves away from setting a HE tournament record. It was a huge gut check for this team and a great way for the seniors to leave Agganis Arena. That group includes Millan, Grant Rollheiser, captain Chris Connolly, Ryan Ruikka, Kevin Gilroy and likely Chiasson who will most likely go pro at the conclusion of the season.

This was a great win and now BU looks forward to return to the Garden for the semifinals against Maine at 8 pm. BU jumped into a t-4 tie in the pairwise with the win.We will keep the posts churning out with spring break being this week leading up to the Garden on Friday. Until then, Maine sucks! Go BU!

HE QF Preview

Officially the HE QF's start tomorrow with PC @ Lowell due to an event at Tsongas on Saturday so here is my full preview of all 4 QF series coming up this weekend. These teams all got here different ways whether it be BC,BU and UML who have clinched a playoff spot for weeks or UMass who did not clinch until Friday night. All 4 series should be interesting and hopefully competitive as all 8 of these teams have had bright moments throughout the season.

#1 Boston College vs. #8 UMass (Friday,Saturday, Sunday)

This is an interesting matchup because UMass has already taken 2 this year from BC. Both of these wins were, however, at the Mullins Center and not at Conte Forum as this weekend's games are. BC has also knocked UMass out of the HE QF's in the past 2 seasons. Hopefully the third time is the charm for the Minutemen. UMass comes into this series with little to lose and everything to gain while BC looks to win their 3rd straight HE Tournament Title.

Prediction: BC wins in 3 (4-2, 2-4, 5-2)

The 2012 Hockey LEast Awards

There are plenty of players who suit up every year in Hockey East, but only a special few are bad enough to make the BSRS All Hockey LEast team.  Taken into account are: stat lines, games played, and whether or not they have pissed us off on a personal level.  Very professional, we know.

(Worst) Player of the Year
An absolutely obvious decision.  Here's a hint for those of you in the dark - he acted like a moron, got kicked out of BU, rejected by BC, and finally accepted by Northeastern.  Yes, yes - our Hockey LEast Valuable Player for 2011-2012 is the one and only Vinny Saponari.  While he claimed to be a "sniper" in his Grammy nominated song "Party Like a Puckstar", Vin only managed to sneak the puck into the net 7 times all year.  Keep in mind - one of those was an empty netter. Also, anybody who refuses to shake the hand of a former coach - and a legend at that - is a classless, mouth-breathing goon.  Stay classy, Saponari.

Monday Polls

The last week of regular season polls came out today with BU coming at #6 in the USCHO poll while we wait on the USA Today poll. BU came in #7 in the INCH Power rankings.

Here is a look at the USCHO top 10 and any other team I feel like making fun of/giving my opinion on...

1. Newton University (BC) 25-10-1- They got all 50 first place votes this week which is exactly what you want going into the tournament if you're a BU fan. Let every team that they play gear up for the unanimous #1 team in the country.

2. Ferris State (22-9-5)- I honestly couldn't give you one name associated with Ferris State hockey but I guess they're good?

3. Minnesota Duluth (22-8-6)- Scary team come tournament time but have struggled a bit to end the regular season

4. Michigan (21-11-4)- The return of Jon Merrill has been huge for this club and they are one of the hottest teams in the country. I would be shocked if they didn't win the CCHA tournament.

5. Minnesota(24-12-1)- This team has a ton of talent up front with Rau and Bjugstad among others and a stellar goalie so they will be a tough out come NCAA time.

6. BU(21-12-1)- Best team in the country. Just flying under the radar for now. That is all.

7. Lowell(22-10-1)- Will be interesting to see what happens if there is a BU-UML Semifinal at the Garden and Bennedetto is the ref. He certainly won't have a quick whistle in that game if there is a loose puck around the net

8. Union(20-7-7)- Quietly beating up on the rest of the crappy teams in the EZAC with many at-large teams hoping that them or Cornell win the ECAC tournament so another at-large berth is not lost.

9. Denver(21-11-4)- Have hung in there all year long despite some pretty big goaltending injuries and the injury to Zucker a few weeks ago.

10. Maine(20-11-3)- Maine looks destined to return to the NCAA's for the first time since 2007 but that fan base is going to want more than a one and done from Whitehead's team that's top line could be the Hockey East First Team.

14.Merrimack- They need to win their QF series with Maine at Alfond of their season will most likely be over.

17. Notre Dame- They need to make a serious run in the CCHA tournament in order to have a chance of sneaking in. Their 19-16-3 record isn't going to get it done as of now.

QQ's Edition of HE Regular Season Awards

So GW posted his below but everyone knows that he is way too unbiased in his rating of players around the conference so here are my awards...

Player of the Year- Garrett Noonan (BU)

- Noonan is tied for the team lead in PP goals with 6 and is one of the guys who just refuses to lose at all costs. He is crucial to the team on the PP, PK and even strength while also having some of the best celebrations in the league, all of which were factors in me choosing him as Player of the Year. He also posts a very efficient +18 rating which leads the team and is 3rd in the conference.

Predictions for the Hockey East Regular Season Awards

As the Hockey East regular season just wrapped up on Saturday, now seems as good a time as any to toss out my predictions for who will take home the regular season awards.  These are strictly my picks, though I'm sure QQ will grace us with his predictions at some point as well.

Player of the Year
This one was incredibly difficult to pick.  Abbott, Flynn, Diamond, Kreider, Wilson, Nieto, Connolly - arguments could be on all of their behalves.  That being said, to me this award has to go to Maine Senior forward Brian Flynn.  I know that's probably not a pick that most will agree with - but consider this: Flynn tallied 35 points in 27 games - only 3 less points than Abbott and 1 less than Diamond (he and Abbott tallied the same number of assists as well - 23).  He also led the league in +/- at +20, as well as game winning goals with 4. 

BU,NU split home and home- BU moves on, NU goes home

BU and Northeastern each took their home game during their 2 game series this weekend to conclude both team's regular season schedule. However, BU will continue to play as they locked up a 3 seed in the conference and will face 6 seed UNH beginning Friday in the Hockey East Quarter Final Series at Agganis Arena. Northeastern was in a fight for the final QF spot with UMass heading into the weekend but was eliminated with their loss Friday night at Agganis coupled with a UMass win over Merrimack and a BC win over Vermont.

Northeastern Preview

The #4 (20-11-1) BU Terriers head into the final weekend of the regular season looking for a strong finish before the conference playoffs begin next week. The opponent just happens to be the team that ended the Terriers' season last year in the HE QF's. It is also the same team that BU knocked out of the conference playoffs two years ago in the final night of the season. The Terriers have a chance to do the same to (12-15-5)Northeastern this weekend as they battle for the 8th and final conference playoff spot with UMass. There are plenty of headlines to go with the playoff implications. First, both teams will be celebrating senior night at their homes games. BU will be honoring Chris Connolly, Kieran Millan, Grant Rollheiser, Kevin Gilroy, and Ryan Ruikka Friday night at Agganis while NU will be celebrating their seniors Saturday night at Matthews.

Besides the seedings at stake(BU can finish 1-3 in the conference), Friday night will mark former Terrier Vinny Saponari's first return to Agganis Arena since he was dismissed from the BU hockey team for "conduct unbecoming of a BU hockey player". Saponari then returned to the USHL for a year while he attempted to find a school to take him. He first tried BC, a valiant effort for someone looking for revenge on BU but unfortunately, he is a dumbass and couldn't get through the "rigorous" academic standards for BC hockey players. Vinny then did what anyone with no options left would do... he went to Northeastern. This year he is tearing it up for Northeastern posting a stellar 6-15-21 line while helping NU to a last place finish in the Beanpot and 9th in conference. It will certainly be interesting to see how the crowd receives Vinny even though we have a good feeling it is going to be a loud round of boos and taunting all night.

Back to the game, the main areas where Northeastern has struggled this season has been special teams and goaltending. I don't buy the goaltending issue for this weekend as Rawlings always seems to play well against BU. The special team numbers are just ridiculously bad though. Northeastern is 19/140 this year on the PP for a whopping 13.6%. They have also allowed 10 shorthanded goals, which leads the conference. They literally are only a +9 on their pp this year as opposed to BU who is +39. In net special teams, BU leads the conference at +18 while NU is dead last with a -16. The statistic nightmares go on and on for NU, so I will leave it off there.

This is a huge weekend for both clubs as NU fights for the 8th and final HE QF spot while BU fights for a regular season title. BU can finish 1st only if they take 2 more points than BC this weekend. The problem is that BC is hosting last place UVM so that is unlikely without some help from our friends from Burlington. BU will finish 2nd aslong as they take atleast 3 points on the weekend no matter what Lowell does. BU has a 2pt cushion but lose the tie-breaker so it is a 1pt cushion. BU needs to take one point less than Lowell or greater to grab the #2 seed. Here is a percentage based break-down for the remainder of the conference. By the percentages, BU will be the #2 seed and play PC next weekend at Agganis. There is a reason they play the games though. BU never has easy games with Northeastern who pump us up as their "rival". It is kinda of a loose term but whatever makes Vinny happy, works for me. Cue the music!