Re: Hockey East 2010-2011
So everyone seems to agree that BC and Maine are the top two teams. But is Maine that good or did they all have career seasons last year? If this is a true step back to near the top then congrats to the much maligned TIMMAY.
But why not UNH? Sure, they lost Butler and Foster but somehow a senior forward or two always emerge to help them be at the top of the league standings.
And BU may be hungry after taking the last year off. Although I remain convinced that they are the most consistent underperforming group of talent on a regular basis in the league year in and year our. The only reason they won the NC in 2009 was because of Gilroy and Wilson stepping up and overcoming the coaching dysfunction.
I think Mack is going to struggle some now that everyone is going to be ready to play them. Although, playing in that high school rink certainly gives them a distinct advantage. Will De Costa have any sort of sophomore slump. And how can you be a real team and hang a forward at the red line the entire game. That is just ridiculous.
NU is a bit of a wildcard - could pull together a strong and consistent effort or fade back to near the bottom again. Recruiting seems to be improving but Cronin going to explode if it does not all come together?
UVM is a bit like NU in being a wildcard. They lost a lot of forwards to graduation and are extremely young up front - but they also have a big and experienced D corps that underperformed expectations much of last year. If they get the PP figured out - and they have a defensemen recruit who is a PP specialist - and the freshmen forwards step up then it should be back to battling for a home ice spot. They also have a strong goalie recruit that will push for net time.
UML, Umass and PC will all need to establish identities and surprise to do much damage.
I'm hoping this post gets us back into some real dialogue about the upcoming season. I like summer but it's the dog days already on this board...
I'll bite. For that UNH forward stepping up, my money is on Sislo. He's very talented and I could see him exploding, they still have a ton of talent, they should get home ice. bc never plays well early because their talent takes time to gell, but it looks like with the very few leaving, perhaps they start strong and stay strong. eep. nu and uvm are wild cards but for completely opposite reasons, nu has good young+experienced forwards who are expected to pick it up next year while they have next to zero on the blueline. uvm has young inexperienced forwards but a solid defensive corp that can shut teams down. both teams have respectable goalies (madore gets the edge here). I'm very interested to see which team comes out on top between uvm and nu.
the mack shouldnt step back much, unlike the high expectations that came with uml last year, the mack played at about the same level all season while lowell just had a good second half. it'll be interesting to see how the mack handles home ice expectations, which is what I think that they should have and should try and reach for.
bu will be interesting, on paper i dont see them doing anything special, but it just seems like they will be in the top 4. i mean they have a decent core but they lost a lot, i expect their recruiting class is as good as always (insight from a bu fan would be nice).
umass and uml have been gutted with departures/seniors and pc doesnt have much going for them besides one alex beaudry. these 3 will fight for that last playoff spot.
maine has the potential to be one of the best two teams, however their "floor" so to speak is much lower than all of the previously mentioned teams besides bc due to their offensive talent. I feel that they do feed off of nyquist a fair bit in that he is expected to carry them in most games, which should be a little worrisome to maine fans as anytime you rely on one dude to carry you it's sink (marcou, umass) or swim (maine last year). though if i were to pick one guy to carry my team in he id pick nyquist. their goalie situation is interesting with darling, their d is meh, but with their forwards I wouldn't be too worried.
should be interesting, can't wait.
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