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Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

1. Boston University
2. Providence
3. Notre Dame
4. Lowell
5. Northeastern
6. Boston College
7. Connecticut
8. Merrimack
9. New Hampshire
10. Vermont
11. Maine
12. Massachusetts

2-5 are ridiculously close, in my opinion. I think PC is way underrated —a full season of Walman being healthy? Watch out! — and that BC will be stronger than most think (Jerry always finds a way), but I have them at 6 simply because of the quality of the teams ahead of them. Last year's excellent, Frozen Four-caliber BC team would probably be third or fourth on this list IMO. I also do not believe BU is infallible (the Eastern Bias podcast said this week that they have a shot at going undefeated; I don't know if I buy that) but that they are still by-and-away the best in the conference.

Here's to hoping for 6 HEA and 5 ECAC bids this year! :D
 
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Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

I remember those UNH regular season titles hanging from our rafters...now even those are out of reach. I barely follow the program anymore, but it'll be fun to go watch a few games this year. I have heard attendance has been trending downward, so maybe it'll be easy to get some good seats. So we have the youngest Van-Riemsdyk which will add something - is he an NHL pedigree like his brothers?

Oh and glad BU managed to cherry pick the NHL draft for its entire team. This season should be about as fair as bringing a machine gun to a squirt gun fight.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

jcarter7669 said:
Late season surges rarely translate into successful follow up seasons. They should be embarrassed, and I'm sure they will be.
Click to expand...

"Late-season" implies like a 6-0 run, they went 21-1 at one point, that's not a surge, that's a full turnaround. Also they have a superior incoming class and more talent on the roster to begin with, so yes, if they finish behind UVM, that should be considered a failure.

Behind UML, BC, PC, BU, ND, fine, but not UVM.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

SkinsFan09 said:
"Late-season" implies like a 6-0 run, they went 21-1 at one point, that's not a surge, that's a full turnaround.
Click to expand...

Sure, but if you remove all wins against easy opponents like UMO, UMA etc then they went on more of a surge... closer to 4-4-3... on second thought never mind. It wasn't even really a surge.

At this point NU had a dismal record against the top teams and nearly all of their wins were against weak opponents... come to think of it I may have NU ranked way too high. I see a youge letdown for NU this season. If Ruck has a Soph slump they could be behind UMO.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

kdiff77 said:
1. Boston University

I also do not believe BU is infallible (the Eastern Bias podcast said this week that they have a shot at going undefeated; I don't know if I buy that) but that they are still by-and-away the best in the conference.
Click to expand...


Undefeated? Nah! BU is gonna BU and lose some random game to some random team like UNH, who we just can't seem to beat at the Whitt.

Even UMass gave us a scare with Eichel on the team back in 2015.

But alas, I'm still hoping for a F4! :D
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

NCAA watcher said:
But you are right, it does impact recruiting. I have heard rumours that Opponents try to use this against UNH in recruiting, warning them that Umile would be the recruit's coach the entire 4 years, and that Umile will not suddenly call it quits.
Click to expand...
Just catching up on this thread this morning ...

Well done, Sir. Well done.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

kdiff77 said:
Last year's excellent, Frozen Four-caliber BC team would probably be third or fourth on this list IMO.
Click to expand...

Wow, really? Obviously a hypothetical but I don't know about 3rd or 4th.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

J.D. said:
Wow, really? Obviously a hypothetical but I don't know about 3rd or 4th.
Click to expand...

I really think the top half of HEA is THAT strong this year. We'll see how it all plays out, but that's how I think it shapes up right now. ND, Lowell, PC, and NU should all spend time in the top 10.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

jcarter7669 said:
Sure, but if you remove all wins against easy opponents like UMO, UMA etc then they went on more of a surge... closer to 4-4-3... on second thought never mind. It wasn't even really a surge.

At this point NU had a dismal record against the top teams and nearly all of their wins were against weak opponents... come to think of it I may have NU ranked way too high. I see a youge letdown for NU this season. If Ruck has a Soph slump they could be behind UMO.
Click to expand...

I hope you can appreciate UVM's good fortune in facing NU at the beginning of last season. If they had played the Huskies in January or February, UVM would have had three fewer points and NU would have had a first round bye!

Finishing behind UVM this season would be more than just embarrassing. It would require, at a minimum, serious injuries to our top 2 goalies and top two forward lines. That would be tragic!:(
 
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Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

Speaking of UML, Puck Hawk, you certainly belong in the pre-season top 4. If you get decent goaltending, you will, once again, be a challenge to score against. If your O can avg. 3 GPG, you'll get a first round bye.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

HHound said:
Speaking of UML, Puck Hawk, you certainly belong in the pre-season top 4. If you get decent goaltending, you will, once again, be a challenge to score against. If your O can avg. 3 GPG, you'll get a first round bye.
Click to expand...

That seems to be the general consensus (looking at you fivehole and watcher :rolleyes: ). I'll composite these after the preseason week and see how things look.
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

It's kinda funny seeing Northeastern taking so much flak on here. I've been waiting to answer this way for my entire Northeastern life: Scoreboard. When your team wins the title, one of the perks is you don't have to take crap from anyone, at least in the offseason. Oh yeah, that was nice, one more time. Scoreboard.

That said, I suppose I can't expect the Dogs to go on a run every year like they did in the last half of last season. I'm hearing a lot of this so far:

Northeastern - lost Roy to graduation, but he missed a lot of last year, and meanwhile other guys stepped up. Returns most of the team that won the league last year with a freshman goalie, and as everyone does, has some interesting recruits coming in. I expect them to be top-5 competitive.
BC - the usual highly touted recruits, expected to be really good right out of the box
bu - ditto, maybe even more so than usual
Notre Dame - highly touted recruits, lots of potential, can't seem to win when it matters lately
Lowell and Providence - have lost some key players, will they be able to replace those and keep rolling along at that high level
Vermont, Maine, and UNH - fans getting antsy for a return to the level they expect to be competing at
Merrimack and UConn - do they have enough depth to be consistently competitive every weekend, not just here and there
UMass - seems to be starting over yet again
 
Re: Hockey East Preseason Thread. Predict and Win Eternal Glory

UML Puck Hawk said:
Aren't you guys trying to fundraise a new BB arena? I doubt anyone wants to be paying two coaches for hockey while trying to raise money for a new gym.
Click to expand...

UVM has been trying to raise for a Gutterson/Patrick Gym replacement for 30 years... and will try for 30 more. That place will be like Fenway and never get redone.
 
Kdaddy1968 said:
UVM has been trying to raise for a Gutterson/Patrick Gym replacement for 30 years... and will try for 30 more. That place will be like Fenway and never get redone.
Click to expand...
We're going to be the first choice of every recruit out there who wants to play in a classic, historical, old-school hockey rink! Just not sure how many kids, if any, that includes....
 
Chuck Murray said:
1. BU
2. BC
3. UML
4. Providence
5. Northeastern
6. Merrimack
7. UVM
8. UNH
9. UConn
10. UMass
11. UMaine

I know, I left someone out ... but by this time next year, it won't matter anymore anyway. :)
Click to expand...

Maine behind umass, that left a mark
 
McBain75 said:
It's kinda funny seeing Northeastern taking so much flak on here. I've been waiting to answer this way for my entire Northeastern life: Scoreboard. When your team wins the title, one of the perks is you don't have to take crap from anyone, at least in the offseason. Oh yeah, that was nice, one more time. Scoreboard.

That said, I suppose I can't expect the Dogs to go on a run every year like they did in the last half of last season. I'm hearing a lot of this so far:

Northeastern - lost Roy to graduation, but he missed a lot of last year, and meanwhile other guys stepped up. Returns most of the team that won the league last year with a freshman goalie, and as everyone does, has some interesting recruits coming in. I expect them to be top-5 competitive.
BC - the usual highly touted recruits, expected to be really good right out of the box
bu - ditto, maybe even more so than usual
Notre Dame - highly touted recruits, lots of potential, can't seem to win when it matters lately
Lowell and Providence - have lost some key players, will they be able to replace those and keep rolling along at that high level
Vermont, Maine, and UNH - fans getting antsy for a return to the level they expect to be competing at
Merrimack and UConn - do they have enough depth to be consistently competitive every weekend, not just here and there
UMass - seems to be starting over yet again
Click to expand...

Winning the hockey east tourney is about getting hot at the right time and getting some bounces...win a conference regular season title before beating your chest!
 
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