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) 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
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:
- Boston University
- Notre Dame
- Boston College
- UMass-Lowell
- Northeastern
- Providence
- Connecticut
- Merrimack
- Vermont
- New Hampshire
- Maine
- 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