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Before mother nature dumped a snowstorm straight on my heart as I wandered Old Port on Saturday night in the only manner it should be roamed — in search of greasy, heart-stopping food and the apartment where the night started — it seemed too early for a month of college hockey to have passed.
It no longer seems that way.
The winter wonderland that engulfed a drunk Abraham Lincoln and scantily-dressed “police officers” surrounded by cardboard robots served as a sobering reminder that the evil mistress known as winter is on the way — so maybe a month of the hockey season has passed us by.
The season started off with upsets and surprises as the household names struggled; however, things seem to be returning to normal in the Hockey East Conference.
For example, near and dear to The Maine Campus, the University of Maine picked up a big weekend sweep over Providence College — a squad that provided tough competition, which is more than the Friars can say of previous years — and earned four huge points that propelled the Black Bears into third place in the HEC.
UMaine showed resiliency in a high-scoring match Friday night, playing in an up-and-down fashion as each team responded to the others move until UMaine senior center Brian Flynn sealed the game with a clutch overtime goal, giving the Black Bears a 5-4 edge.
The Black Bears showed fans they could win games in a variety of fashions, by outlasting the Friars in a shoot-out. On Saturday, UMaine’s defense held off a late Providence barrage with a one-goal lead and ultimately edged out the win 3-1 after an empty netter.
Providence proved pesky, but UMaine was able to hold them off for two conference wins and the four points that move the Black Bears to third in the conference. As long as you get the points in HEC, it doesn’t matter how you get them.
A sweep is just what UMaine needed heading into weekend matchups with Boston College and the University New Hampshire.
The first place Eagles cruised to four points as they picked up a weekend sweep of their own and increased their point total to 10 against the Riverhawks of UMass-Lowell. BC improved to 7-1 and 5-0 in conference.
As usual, BC is playing well early, and the Eagles set up as a nice test and provide an excellent top three match-up against the Black Bears on Friday at Conte Forum.
Continuing down the standings, the No. 2 Merrimack College notched a weekend sweep as well and remained undefeated as they scored eight goals over the weekend while allowing three against the University of Vermont.
Merrimack remains amongst the elite teams in the conference, improving their record to 6-0 and 4-0 in HEC, sitting two points clear of the Black Bears.
Boston University continued to play what some are calling “uninspired hockey,” yet they return from a trip to Amherst with three points. Luckily for the Terriers, the games were against a young University of Massachusetts team.
The Terriers needed a third period goal to tie the Minutemen on Friday night and then gained a four-goal rally to overcome a 3-0 Amherst lead at Agganis Arena Saturday night before beating the Minutemen in overtime.
As mentioned earlier, as long as you get the points it really doesn’t matter. What does matter is that BU is not looking to be the preseason powerhouse and class of the conference many — this writer included — thought it would be at this point in the season.
Speaking of traditional powerhouse teams that are underperforming, the Wildcats were winless and in last place in the HEC heading into the weekend.
It was only a matter of time before the faltering Wildcats woke from a slumber, picking up their first much-needed win and defeating No. 11 Union College 2-1 in overtime.
New Hampshire’s goaltending situation looked a little better as Matt Di Girolamo stopped 37 of 38 Union shots.
The Wildcats followed up their first win by picking up another victory as they cruised past Northeastern University 5-2. New Hampshire improves to 2-4-1 for the season and the win over their Huskies represents their only conference win, as they jump from last place to seventh in HEC.
After struggling to find its offense early in the season, the Wildcats may finally be gaining familiarity with each other and figuring out what this year’s team needs to do to score.
No matter the condition UNH or UMaine is in, it will be another tough matchup for both this Saturday at the Whittemore Center.
A desperate Wildcats team will be hungry for a conference win against a rival school, and if UMaine can steal a victory in enemy territory it will be monumental.
In reality, the season is still early and there will be plenty more sorting out occurring over the span of the season. Teams on top at the moment may falter.
What is known right now is the BC, Merrimack, UMaine and BU are the top four teams in the standings, which is pretty much what most who follow Hockey East expected heading into the season — just maybe not in that order.
Also, as expected every year, there have not been any handouts as competition is at an all-time high from the top of the standing down.
