College Hockey 2016-2017

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October is one of the best times of year, not just because the baseball playoffs are starting but also because college hockey is getting going!

If you've bounced around this thread in past years, most of you know I'm a devout Northeastern fan. Which makes this fall super weird, since the Huskies are defending conference champions for the first time since 1988. They had one hell of a ride last spring, literally losing two games pretty much the entire spring semester.

For anyone getting back to college hockey for the first time in months, here's a quick rundown of how I see the conference unfolding this year, as well as the media poll and the coaches poll from Hockey East media day today:


MEDIA POLL:
  1. Boston University
  2. Notre Dame
  3. Boston College
  4. UMass-Lowell
  5. Northeastern
  6. Providence
  7. Connecticut
  8. Merrimack
  9. Vermont
  10. New Hampshire
  11. Maine
  12. UMass-Amherst

1) BU - Dave Quinn said fuck it and brought in half of the US NTDP this year. The roster has 4 top 20 draft picks from June (Keller, Bellows, Fabbro, McAvoy). Unless freshman goalie Jake Oettinger struggles, everyone will be chasing them all year.
2) Notre Dame - way too much talent, Cal Petersen is back, and I think they'll be extra motivated since this is their last season in Hockey East
3) Lowell - They return 7 of their top 9 scorers and their entire defense. The only question is goaltending, but they have Norm Bazin so they'll be fine.
4) Northeastern - They will score a ton of goals, but they lost a lot on the blue line. They need the underclassmen (especially incoming freshmen Davies and Shea) to step up and Ruck to stay strong in net. A good first half (for once) would help too...
5) BC - Somehow picked 6th in the conference but 5th in the USCHO national poll. Hmmm. They will have a tough hill to climb after an incredible number of early departures this summer: Steve Santini, Miles Wood, Alex Tuch, Adam Gilmour, Thatcher Demko, Ian McCoshen, and Zach Sanford all bailed.
6) Providence - an enormous senior class just graduated, but they still have Nate Leaman at the helm, and Jake Walman (28 pts in 27 gms from the blueline last year) will help a lot.
7) Vermont - actually had some strong possession numbers last year despite horrible results. Most of the roster returns so they should make some noise.
8) UConn - the Huskies slow ascent under Cavanaugh begins this year, with a strong freshmen class led by Adam Huska (NYR goalie prospect)
9) Merrimack - returns a significant amount of their roster and played well for stretches last year
10) UNH - Has Umile lost his touch? The returning roster is not impressive beyond Tyler Kelleher; although the final van Riemsdyk brother is on campus now
11) UMass - New head coach Carvel will have this program making a charge towards the top half of the conference before too long IMO
12) Maine - they have almost nothing to be excited about
 

The Napkin

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BU will be streaming all of their home games (men and women) which is pretty cool

BOSTON - Boston University and Campus Insiders have announced a partnership to live-stream 32 men's and women's ice hockey home contests during the 2016-17 season. The high-definition broadcasts will be provided free of charge to fans across the world.
 

Steve Dillard

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10) UNH - Has Umile lost his touch? The returning roster is not impressive beyond Tyler Kelleher; although the final van Riemsdyk brother is on campus now
The stubborn emperor is 68 years old, who in the best of times succeeded only because his assistants provided him with quality recruits, but has lost that now. He has scheduled a bunch of Atlantic Hockey teams to try and get to 600 wins, and the supposed new coach in waiting, Mike Souza, is a nepotism hire with no experience, who has bungled recruiting for the next three years out. You think BC football screwed themselves by a bad AD hire? This program is going to be suffering for the next decade.
 

jsinger121

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The stubborn emperor is 68 years old, who in the best of times succeeded only because his assistants provided him with quality recruits, but has lost that now. He has scheduled a bunch of Atlantic Hockey teams to try and get to 600 wins, and the supposed new coach in waiting, Mike Souza, is a nepotism hire with no experience, who has bungled recruiting for the next three years out. You think BC football screwed themselves by a bad AD hire? This program is going to be suffering for the next decade.
Agree. UNH is in a bad bad state right now. They really need to force Umile out ASAP if they want to salvage anything left of the program.
 

jsinger121

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ECAC Media poll

1. Quinnipiac (12) 288 points
2. St. Lawrence (8) 280 points
3. Harvard (3) 257 points
4. Yale 222 points
5. Cornell (1) 216 points
6. Clarkson (3) 214 points
7. Rensselaer 166 points
8. Union 160 points
9. Dartmouth 110 points
10. Colgate 85 points
11. Brown 62 points
12. Princeton 59 points

ECAC Coaches Poll

1. Quinnipiac (6) 110

2. St. Lawrence (4) 102

3. Harvard 96

4. Clarkson 88

5. Yale (1) 84

6. Cornell (1) 75

7. Union 71

8. Rensselaer 51

9. Dartmouth 41

10. Brown 31

11. Colgate 22

12. Princeton 21
 

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ECAC Media poll
1. Quinnipiac (12) 288 points
2. St. Lawrence (8) 280 points
3. Harvard (3) 257 points
4. Yale 222 points
5. Cornell (1) 216 points
6. Clarkson (3) 214 points
7. Rensselaer 166 points
8. Union 160 points
9. Dartmouth 110 points
10. Colgate 85 points
11. Brown 62 points
12. Princeton 59 points
I'm surprised St. Lawrence is so high with a first year coach. Carvel did do a hell of a job putting together that roster though.

Agree. UNH is in a bad bad state right now. They really need to force Umile out ASAP if they want to salvage anything left of the program.
They're probably still in a much better place than Maine though... Alfond desperately needs renovations and they've got no money to do it.
 

jsinger121

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Some really brutal exhibitions with these CIS teams especially in the Merrimack game and Quinnipiac game.
 

mt8thsw9th

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I was at the BU-PEI game last night. It didn't feel as close as the 10-2 score. They won going away even though it felt like they played half the game shorthanded.

 

Doug Beerabelli

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Some really brutal exhibitions with these CIS teams especially in the Merrimack game and Quinnipiac game.
We stayed for two of three periods of QU game - it was Hanson Bros. - esque in the amount of scrums. McGill was there to fight. One good thing about a team with a bunch of Canucks on it is they are used to it. Lol.

Power play looked off. Played three goalies, one each period. Not sure who starter will be.
 

jsinger121

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We stayed for two of three periods of QU game - it was Hanson Bros. - esque in the amount of scrums. McGill was there to fight. One good thing about a team with a bunch of Canucks on it is they are used to it. Lol.

Power play looked off. Played three goalies, one each period. Not sure who starter will be.
Power play looked off because Anas, St. Denis and Toews are gone from the first unit. I think the goalie job might be down to Truehl vs. Shortridge. I think Lawrence stinks. Liked what I saw from Kevin Duane the BU transfer. Think he might be solid contributor for this team. I think the freshman class might be the weakest they have had in a few years. Outside of Cutske and maybe Shortridge and Rafferty. I'm not sure where they get the production from the freshman class. Maybe Nick Jermain. Logan Mick needs to stay healthy and Alex Whelan is making a big jump from Tier III USPHL hockey.
 

Doug Beerabelli

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Agreed it'll take time to figure out PP. Truehl and Shortridge are huge - I agree one if them ends up the starter eventually. Duane brings size they haven't had in awhile, too.

I think there's still talent there scoring wise, but it'll take awhile to shake out. Didn't look like #2 ranked team in country, that's for sure. But not surprising given talent lost.
 

saintnick912

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Some really brutal exhibitions with these CIS teams especially in the Merrimack game and Quinnipiac game.
I was at the NU-Acadia game and it was pretty ugly as well. I think there were something like 18 for 58 minutes the last time I saw it on the board for Acadia alone. And they had some interesting fans/backups (big dudes in Acadia gear) in the stands near us that were trying to mix things up.
 

jsinger121

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Agreed it'll take time to figure out PP. Truehl and Shortridge are huge - I agree one if them ends up the starter eventually. Duane brings size they haven't had in awhile, too.

I think there's still talent there scoring wise, but it'll take awhile to shake out. Didn't look like #2 ranked team in country, that's for sure. But not surprising given talent lost.
I think the talent is there. Its just putting it in the correct places to succeed. Duane brings size hoping in the mold of Jordan Samuels Thomas. If he can be a similar contributor I think we will take that.
 

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I was at the NU-Acadia game and it was pretty ugly as well. I think there were something like 18 for 58 minutes the last time I saw it on the board for Acadia alone. And they had some interesting fans/backups (big dudes in Acadia gear) in the stands near us that were trying to mix things up.
They had fans there? I was at Matthews too and that amazes me.

That game sucked. I was nervous someone was gonna get hurt with Acadia gooning it up so much. Jozefek kept getting lit up. What a waste of game action.
 

mt8thsw9th

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It's unclear why BC was ranked #5 nationally (and in front of UML and Northeastern), but losing at home to Air Force after barely squeaking by a Canadian squad should knock them out of the top 10.
 

jsinger121

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It's unclear why BC was ranked #5 nationally (and in front of UML and Northeastern), but losing at home to Air Force after barely squeaking by a Canadian squad should knock them out of the top 10.
It was not a BC home game. It was the Ice Breaker tournament in Denver so more of an Air Force home game but still BC lost a ton of guys off the team from a year ago. They never should have been ranked 5th.
 

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It was not a BC home game. It was the Ice Breaker tournament in Denver so more of an Air Force home game but still BC lost a ton of guys off the team from a year ago. They never should have been ranked 5th.
Yup. They were ranked higher in the national poll (5) then the conference coaches poll (6).

I didn't get to watch but supposedly NU looked pretty good against QU last night. Pulled out a tie after scoring with 50ish seconds left. Dylan Sikura (Chicago draft pick) was all over the place - he's a key player to watch for them this year.
 

Clears Cleaver

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My preview on the Quinnipiac vs. Boston University matchup tonight.

https://qubobcatshockeyblog.blogspot.com/2016/10/scouting-enemy-boston-university.html
Nice job. You nailed the key points as it turned out. I only watched the stream of the game, but QU didn't seem to have the speed and talent to play 5/5 w BU. But they were bigger and forced BU into a ton of penalties and were aided by several stupid BU penalties. The BU goalie looked great but wasn't really tested.

I think if these teams play again in April BU might beat them by a wider margin, but it's so hard to analyze these teams in October. I say that only because BU is so young and look great at home and dreadful on the road.
 

jsinger121

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Nice job. You nailed the key points as it turned out. I only watched the stream of the game, but QU didn't seem to have the speed and talent to play 5/5 w BU. But they were bigger and forced BU into a ton of penalties and were aided by several stupid BU penalties. The BU goalie looked great but wasn't really tested.

I think if these teams play again in April BU might beat them by a wider margin, but it's so hard to analyze these teams in October. I say that only because BU is so young and look great at home and dreadful on the road.
Quinnipiac has speed, BU just has a lot more. I thought I'd see more from the BU freshman and that wasn't the case. The sophomore's carried the load with JFK, Bobo Carpenter and Jordan Greenway. Oettinger is the real deal but really wasn't tested as the BU defense kept Quinnipiac to the outside and didn't give them any time or space.

It's hard to take away from early season matchups. Teams haven't gelled yet. I will say BU better clean up the penalties because if they don't it could be there downfall. Quinnipiac went 0 for 12 last but was without Chase Priskie who was injured after getting boarded against UConn on Wednesday. He is a big part of the PP and was sorely missed last night.
 

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kenneycb

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The refereeing in the BC-PC game is awful. Nice trip called a dive. Stick checks called hooks. HE has shitty refs regardless but the new NCAA mandate is making it unwatchable.
 

Laser Show

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I have no idea if he's any good but Teemu Selanne's kid just committed to Northeastern and it's really damn cool.
 

Monbo Jumbo

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the other Athens
I don't think I'd been to a college hockey game in over 40 years. My dad had season BC tickets when I was growing up.

I took in the BU, Northeastern match-up on Saturday. BU was very sloppy in the first. They had a lot of penalties to kill, including a 5 on 3. They were lucky to escape the 1st period with no score, and then they got firing in the 2nd to take a 3-0 lead. The Terrier team lacks experience, as noted above. Their passing was not crisp. The Huskies are a big team, with a reasonably responsible defense.
 

mt8thsw9th

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The Terriers lack experience, yes, but their experienced players are some of the best in the nation. They could be a monster in the second semester.
 

Senator Donut

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How does an engineering school let a Zamboni break down? It's been about a half hour delay so far at Matthews Arena.
 

saintnick912

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First attempt to dislodge involved a forklift, which also got stuck


Then on a second attempt they towed it off with the other Zamboni


But they announced an "at least one hour" delay before they re-evaluate. So if they play a 3rd I'll watch it online. Couple of good chances by NU, but they are really thin up front right now.

edit: Game suspended, 0-0 after 2 periods. Unclear what if anything will happen. We checked and ND is back in town in January with only one game, so they could try to get in the 3rd period then.
 
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biollante

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Umass seems to really suck again. I love going to the games but haven't had the heart to drive up to Amherst to see them get beat.
Boston College is 8-1-1 in Hockey East, so they are doing well as usual.
 

SoxJox

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Now sitting @ 16-2-1, Penn State stands atop Pairwise, RPI, KRACH and, for the first time in its young history, the USHCO.com poll, garnering 30 of 50 1st place votes (Denver is second with 16). I have no illusions of them going the distance, but it is a very nice showing from such a young program.
 

mt8thsw9th

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Yeah, I am not sure it will hold up (or that they're not a bit over-ranked--though still an impressive year). It looks like they've only played two games against ranked teams (1-1), while, for example, BU has two losses against #2 Denver, one against #12 Vermont, and 7 wins against ranked teams (including #6 Harvard, #9 Union, 2 x #10 BC, #12 Vermont).
 

SoxJox

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Penn State's record against ranked teams = 2-1-1 (#16 St. Lawrence 1-1; #14 Notre Dame 1-0-1). But your point is well-taken. The thing that is setting Penn State apart is their offense, which is averaging 4.6 GPG. They are giving up 2.0 GPG. Plus, they appear to have 3 solid lines. They have 3 players with 10+ goals, and 11 players with 11+ points (average 15). Plus, their FR goalie, Peyton Jones, is 14-1-1 and averaging 2.04 GAPG with a .918 Save % (9th overall). Only the playoffs will tell just how far they've really come.

Just fun to watch if nothing else. Wide open, offensively-oriented, with a solid if not stellar defense.
 

mt8thsw9th

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@SoxJox, I think you may have put a major jinx on Penn St., as they haven't won since your post. Tough two weeks coming up with four against Wisconsin and Minnesota. Still, a season like this should do wonders if they can make it into the tournament.

--

Good to see BU get the season sweep, their first since 1995. It should be a good Beanpot final as BU/Harvard are 3/4 in the USCHO rankings. A bit annoying that the Terriers lost two to Merrimack, and it's seemed like they've played down to their level of competition of late, as they were kind of flat against UMass on Friday.
 

Ale Xander

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SBCC fails to win the HE title and by losing to Kenmore KK finishes in fourth. 3 way tie for first between UML BC and Kenmore KK(BU).

If I'm reading the tiebreakers correctly, UML is the one seed, Kenmore KK is the 2 seed and BC is the 3 seed.

First round next weekend at sites of seeds 5-8, seeds 1-4 get byes to and HIA in the quarters on March 10-12
 
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