Re: 2009-2010 Official Vermont Season Thread
Starting on Tuesday, the Cats will play 5 games that I think will define their season. UMass-Amherst and Yale are ranked teams. Northeastern, Boston University and New Hampshire are outside of the current top 20 rankings but tough conference games non the less.
The fact that UMass went down to Yale and beat them in their building in overtime will make them tough as they come into the Gut. They appear to be clicking on all cylinders right now. This will be a fun game to watch as the Minutemen can score (3.65 goals per game) and have a power play that can score. This will be their 4th road game and right now they are 3-0 on the road (5-2 at home).
Then comes Northeastern. Preseason, I thought this would be a tough team. They seem to be having a similar season to UVM, having a .500 record at 5-5-1. Like UVM, they went out to Colorado and split with a Colorado College team that is now #7 in the country and leading the WCHA standings.
Then Yale comes to town. Have to believe revenge will be in their minds. This team has stumbled out of the gate, being a preseason top 10 ranked team but at 3-2-2 they may not be in the top 10 when they arrive in Burlington.
Game 4 of this stretch is back in Boston at Agganis rink. Last year, the core of this UVM team went down to Boston and won 2 away games which defined their season. BU is struggling at 3-7-1 but plays their remaining 5 games of 2009 in Boston (4 at home and 1 at Harvard). Tough game, again a win against a struggling team and maybe a bit of revenge plays into this game for the Frozen Four meltdown last spring.
The final game of this stretch is UNH, a 4-6-3 overall team sitting at the top of Hockey East standings with a 4-2-2 record. UNH will play at Merrimack (where UVM, BC, BU have lost) and at home vs. Lowell before they play UVM. So it is possible UNH will be 4-8-3 when these 2 teams play.
These Cats really need to have 4 wins or at a minimum, 3 wins, a loss and maybe a tie. They currently sit at an overall record of 4-4-1. If they do win 4 or 3 with a tie, they will have positioned themselves ranking wise for another NCAA bid. If they don't, then the 2nd half of the season will need to be pretty special to get back to the dance.