What's new
USCHO Fan Forum

This is a sample guest message. Register a free account today to become a member! Once signed in, you'll be able to participate on this site by adding your own topics and posts, as well as connect with other members through your own private inbox!

  • The USCHO Fan Forum has migrated to a new plaform, xenForo. Most of the function of the forum should work in familiar ways. Please note that you can switch between light and dark modes by clicking on the gear icon in the upper right of the main menu bar. We are hoping that this new platform will prove to be faster and more reliable. Please feel free to explore its features.

2024-2025 Season - Providence College

The lack of scoring is the problem in the second half of the season for sure. Our goaltending was very good once again, (exceptional last night actually). It was really a great game to watch - especially since it was a 0-0 game through regulation. I thought PC had the better scoring chances all night and just a single break would have reversed the outcome.

I personally prefer the BC offensive approach which more typically aims first shots slightly away from the net, (shot passes), toward teammates who are in a better position to score from closer in. For this strategy to work you need good puck distributors like PC had with Jack Dugan and has now with Trevor Connelly. The loss of his services for half of the season so far has been a big disadvantage and makes that alternative approach less likely to be effective. Last night there were several odd man rushes for us where the lead player tried to pass across but was blocked by Maine defenders because they took too long or didn't pass it hard enough. Hopefully Connelly will return next weekend to help us get back on track.

I'd bet if you asked opposing coaches about PC you would hear lots of plaudits about how tough we are to play, but then we keep giving them reason to hope they can come back to beat us.

It looks to me like we are still in a very good position for the NCAA's and once that starts you never know.
 
Last edited:
The lack of scoring is the problem in the second half of the season for sure. Our goaltending was very good once again, (exceptional last night actually). It was really a great game to watch - especially since it was a 0-0 game through regulation. I thought PC had the better scoring chances all night and just a single break would have reversed the outcome.

I personally prefer the BC offensive approach which more typically aims first shots slightly away from the net, (shot passes), toward teammates who are in a better position to score from closer in. For this strategy to work you need good puck distributors like PC had with Jack Dugan and has now with Trevor Connelly. The loss of his services for half of the season so far has been a big disadvantage and makes that alternative approach less likely to be effective. Last night there were several odd man rushes for us where the lead player tried to do that but was blocked by Maine defenders because they took too long or didn't pass it hard enough. Hopefully Connelly will return next weekend to help us get back on track.

I'd bet if you asked opposing coaches about PC you would hear lots of plaudits about how tough we are to play, but then we keep giving them reason to hope they can come back to beat us.

It looks to me like we are still in a very good position for the NCAA's and once that starts you never know.
They better start pulling off some wins. BU looks to be righting the ship of late especially in the Bean Pot. Maybe they have Bean Pot hangover on Friday. Wonder if we will see another bus load of fans from the opponent taking over Section 109.
 
They better start pulling off some wins. BU looks to be righting the ship of late especially in the Bean Pot. Maybe they have Bean Pot hangover on Friday. Wonder if we will see another bus load of fans from the opponent taking over Section 109.
Not sure how many will make the trip this time. I'm sure there will be a few. Boston to Providence on a Friday night, especially on a long weekend, is the longest road trip in college hockey and I will not take any pushback from schools out west. :) I would have to take a half day vacation just to get there in time for puck drop!
 
Not sure how many will make the trip this time. I'm sure there will be a few. Boston to Providence on a Friday night, especially on a long weekend, is the longest road trip in college hockey and I will not take any pushback from schools out west. :) I would have to take a half day vacation just to get there in time for puck drop!
Liked the longest road trip comment, it’s probably an hour drive with no traffic. I remember the first time I saw BU play at Schneider after Coach Leaman became head coach, maybe his first game against them. NESN was covering the game and I saw the announcer Tom Caron walking down the staircase from the broadcast booth area, (before the rink renovation), and it was already after the scheduled start time. Turned out BU was stuck in traffic so the game was delayed. I bet Jack Parker felt the same about making that Friday trip as Scarlet. I think PC leaves for most away games on Thursday to avoid this contingency.

Does anybody else remember this - who won?

Just checked the PC site and the first game of the 2011-2012 season was against BU on a Friday and PC won 5-3! Let’s hope BU takes a bus late afternoon tomorrow 🥲!
 
Last edited:
Big win for the Friars last night finally scoring some goals at Schneider and extending leads. They almost let BU back into it in those last 6 minutes after going up 5-1 then giving up a PP and Shorty to BU making it 5-3, but this time they managed to stave off the 6 on 5 and score an open net. Made the new BU goalie look bad getting him removed from the game after giving up the 4th goal. Philip continues to play steady in net. Trevor back and scores the first goal of the game.

Some not so good points, BU scoring on 2 PP plays 8 and 12 seconds into the PP, BU scoring on a shorthanded (how many of we seen of those this year) and PC with another o-fer on their PPs (a bit better puck movement with Trevor back).

So now up at Agganis tonight. Got to believe BU will play better. I assume the Russian will be back in net tonight to show he is better than what he did last night and BU defense will be better. PC has to stay out of the box in this to win. Should be a good BU crowd but the Friars have been pretty good on the road this year. At this point I'd take 2 or 1 point tonight. Not expecting a sweep weekend. (one more with BU up there in a few weeks as well).

Only 6 games left 4 on the road.
 
Just checked the PC home and away results this year. So far PC is 10-2-2 away and 7-5-3 at home so 17-7-5 overall. This away record must be one of the best in college hockey. Hope they keep this up considering 4 of the last six regular season games are away.

Very encouraging to see the positive impact Connelly's return had on last night's game. In the post game interview Nate said his opening period goal lifted up the whole team, it was a great effort that highlighted his skill and grit. Hope the arm injury he seemed to sustain when he crashed into the boards early on was minor, he did return and performed well for the rest of the game.

Not sure what was up with BU's #15 Copponi last night, he seemed to have a huge chip on his shoulder for some reason and was pushing and punching after the whistle every chance he had. It looked to me that Lachance was sent to the box by mistake for a roughing next to the BU bench committed by #15 in the 3rd. Was surprised he participated in the handshake line actually. Is that his MO?
 
Last edited:
Well we are down to nitty gritty time. 2 at home next up and 3 on road to finish. Tonight is a must win in my mind against UML. chance to tie UML maybe leap Merrimack in standings while fighting off teams behind. Merrimack for 2 will be immense. Then BU and NU.

15 league points at hand, can Friars turn the second half around? Starts tonight, avenge that disappointing 1-0 loss a few weeks ago.

Will students finally show to support this top 10 team? I believe it is celebrate 10yr anniversary of National title night.
 
Last edited:
The come from behind win last night vs UML was just what we needed! Very nice work by the graduating seniors/grad students, especially Poison with a hat trick, the last of which was a 100Ft backhanded ENG to seal the victory. This was the refuse to lose attitude that we had in the first half of the season, glad they pulled another one out of the hat - so to speak.

Back up to #6 in the pairwise and, according to the CHN probability matrix a 99.9% chance to make the NCAA tournament. Currently tied with UConn in HE for 4th with 4 games to go in the regular season. If they stay within the top 5 that avoids the play in round for the HE tournament so I hope they can do that. No rest for the weary this time of year so a little respite would be well deserved.
 
Last edited:
Enjoyed the pregame senior/graduate recognition ceremony. If you go to the PC Men’s Hockey twitter site you can see a lovely tribute from the event. Play it with the wonderful music turned up. I found this very inspiring, hope you do too. If you recognize the music please let us know who the artist is.

This is a great gift for the players and their families, very well done!
 
Last edited:
Leaman said he was sick all week. Tried to give it a go in pre-game but could see he wasn't ready. On Monday radio show he said Connolly still a bit slow but hopes to see him ready for Friday. He will be an important addition for this stretch run.
 
Back
Top