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PROVIDENCE WATCH, BREAKOUT PLAYERS, AND SCOTT BOREK · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome into this episode of This Week in Hockey East, Dunbridge Approve here with Eric Galanti.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: Later on, we'll be joined by Merrimack Men's hockey coach Scott Borick to talk about the great start that his team has had this season.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: But we have three showcase games on Ness in this week, and we thought the best way to go about talking about these teams is to just take a spotlight look at one of their better players so far this season.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: First game on the docket is Maine at BU, 7 p.m.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: on Friday.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, who impresses you from Maine so far?
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's been a nice run of play here for Maine.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_02: They've won three games in a row, swept Colgate over the weekend.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_02: And I think Lee Parks is the guy that really jumps out, right?
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: As a transfer coming in from UMass Lowell.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: He has goals in five straight games and key goals as well, right?
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_02: The go-ahead goal and the win against Quinnipiac, the first goal uh and the game-winning goal of Saturday's game against Colgate.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_02: His career high in goals is eight.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_02: He's already at five, as we mentioned.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_02: Um, this is a guy who has shown an ability to score, right?
• 1:05
  SPEAKER_02: You go back to his time in the USHL, um, was a guy who scored 30 goals with Fargo in 2023, 24.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but the thing that really impresses you go through where he's scored so far, Bridget, and he's just doing such a good job of finding open ice.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_02: You talk about guys who work really hard and then are getting rewarded.
• 1:24
  SPEAKER_02: Every single one of these, right?
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_02: He gets room inside the hashes, and maybe it's a tip.
• 1:28
  SPEAKER_02: Even if it's a clean shot like it was on Saturday against Colgate, it's inside the dots, inside the hashes, right in that high, high danger area.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so it's really impressed me how he's been able to find those spaces.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_02: And of course, when you're in those spaces, you have a much better opportunity to score.
• 1:43
  SPEAKER_02: And to his credit, he's he's done that so far.
• 1:46
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I talked to his head coach Ben Barr earlier this week about some of the other things that he's been doing well this year.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: He said he's been playing simple hockey and he's been playing with a lot of confidence.
• 1:55
  SPEAKER_00: He said he's found a new level since transferring in.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_00: And he's playing on Maine's top line with somebody that he's very familiar with, Will Jar Wa, who he's played with before college.
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: So I think that's helped.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_00: And that chemistry was already there and built in.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and he's set Parks up for some really nice goals uh already this year.
• 2:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and Ben Barr is saying uh about Lee Parks, he's strong, he can skate, he can shoot.
• 2:17
  SPEAKER_00: There's not much that he can't do.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it's been fun to watch him play so far.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_02: And Maine is in a good spot right now as they go into BU.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: Um BU coming off back-to-back cockies weekend splits.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's been fun to watch, though, Xavier Villeneuve and what he's done for BU so far, Bridget.
• 2:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he's another exciting young player.
• 2:37
  SPEAKER_00: He's just a freshman.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_00: He had three assists last weekend.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: He leads BU in total assists with five.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: And I talked to him after BU's win Saturday, and he said, I've always been a pretty offensive D-man.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_00: I'm really fortunate to get that chance here to show off my skill set.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's also quarterbacking BU's top power play unit, which he doesn't take for granted.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_00: And I asked him if there was any defenseman he's watched that he can try to replicate in that quarterback role in the power play, and he gave the perfect answer.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: He said, that's a pretty easy one.
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: There's been two guys that came through here talking about Cole and Lane Hudson.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: He said, they're big names.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm not coming in here to try and do what they did, but I'm just trying to be me.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: Um, it's fun to watch them and to have this opportunity.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: I guess it's not really surprising that there's another very mobile offensive defenseman coming in to be you this season to take over that role.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think definitely so.
• 3:29
  SPEAKER_02: You know, I think as we transition to the Northeastern game against Boston College Saturday night, uh we mentioned a transfer earlier in Lee Parks.
• 3:37
  SPEAKER_02: I think you have a look at Miguel Marcus and what he's done for Northeastern so far.
• 3:42
  SPEAKER_02: Um he scored the first goal in both games against UMass.
• 3:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, he has points in each of Northeastern's first three games.
• 3:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and again, you know, the thing that Jerry Keefe has said is he's just fit in so well.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: It's like he's been here, you know, the whole time, right?
• 3:56
  SPEAKER_02: So just a guy who's come in, who's fit in really nicely with what Northeastern wants to do.
• 4:01
  SPEAKER_02: Northeastern hasn't played as many games as most of the other hockey teams so far.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: So we're still kind of learning what this group is going to be this year.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_02: But uh it's really important to have Marcus, I think, in the fold for the Huskies this season.
• 4:14
  SPEAKER_00: Another guy that's been racking up points so far this season in Hockey East is Dean Laterno.
• 4:19
  SPEAKER_00: He's second in Hockey East in points per game, about 1.4 points per game for him.
• 4:24
  SPEAKER_00: He's been really driving the offense for BC.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think, you know, coaches will differ, you know, on what shots mean, especially in a small sample size, right?
• 4:34
  SPEAKER_02: Which we're still relatively at five games in for BC.
• 4:37
  SPEAKER_02: But he's number one in the country in shots on goal per game so far at 6.2 per game.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_02: Um, that's it's not quite double from last year, but it's almost double from last year.
• 4:47
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, that's over a whole season.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And as easy it is to say, well, sure, you know, Dean was gonna have a great year.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: Look at the year he had last year.
• 4:54
  SPEAKER_02: But it's still when you're the guy who's number one on the scout, who everybody knows is the guy, and you also know you have to be the guy, right, for this BC team.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_02: There's no James Hagg anymore.
• 5:06
  SPEAKER_02: And remember, down the stretch of last year, it was James and Dean scoring 50% of the Eagles goals.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_02: So when you know you're the guy, and and that comes with a level of pressure, but I think it has been impressive, even with somewhat of a you know, disjointed start for BC offensively, we've seen flashes of it.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: We saw a nice comeback against Denver on Saturday to get a tie.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: He's been dry, you mentioned the driving word, right?
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: He's been driving the way that I think that BC hoped he would drive things.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and if you look at some of the advanced numbers on where BC's offense is, it they're they're a regression sort of back to the mean candidate.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: They have more chances created than goals scored so far.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_02: Lowell's kind of in that boat, even Maine's in that boat, and Maine's obviously, you know, on a roll right now.
• 5:47
  SPEAKER_02: So I think that's been good to see for Dean Laterno, and it'll be interesting to see how he does this weekend against Northeastern.
• 5:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, finally, in the other showcase game that we have for you, Yukon and Merrimack.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: It's a rematch of last year's Hockey East Championship game.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: So this is going to be an awesome weekend.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_02: Let's start with Yukon and Caden Shahan, who, again, five goals so far this season, tied for the most in Hockey East.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it feels a little bit like an extension for me from last year, Bridget.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_02: I thought he was more assertive as the year went on last year.
• 6:21
  SPEAKER_02: Um, even if the goals weren't necessarily there at the end of the season, I thought his shots were up as the year went on.
• 6:27
  SPEAKER_02: And he's put in a lot of work in the offseason, and I think that kind of has transitioned really well uh into what he's done so far this year and obviously has stood out so far uh for this UConn team.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I watched him this weekend.
• 6:43
  SPEAKER_00: I was there for that BU game where he had two goals and he's getting his shots off with so much confidence this year.
• 6:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh one thing that his head coach Mike Kavanaugh said is that uh he's been playing really well.
• 6:54
  SPEAKER_00: We've been really working with him on one-timing pucks, getting the shot off quicker, uh, not over stick handling, not dusting it off, just getting the puck on net as quick as possible.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: And it has definitely been paying off for him so far.
• 7:06
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and he's also playing an expanded role as a junior.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's getting more power play time.
• 7:10
  SPEAKER_00: So he's got more ice time and he's getting that shot off quicker.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_00: And certainly it looks good for him so far.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and Eric, uh, I know you wanted to talk uh a little bit about UConn's penalty kill.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's it's you know, there that's been really effective so far.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: I think that, you know, you look at what Merrimack brings to the table offensively.
• 7:30
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is gonna be a fascinating series.
• 7:33
  SPEAKER_02: But rather than us talk about Merrimack, why don't we just get to the head coach on the other side, right, Bridget?
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_00: As for Merrimack, we're gonna talk to head coach Scott Borg next on This Week in Hockey East.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: This week in Hockey East is brought to you in part by Venoostis Heated Apparel, the official Heated Apparel partner of Hockey East.
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_02: Venoostis is committed to making a positive impact in the New England community by working with local nonprofit partners.
• 8:00
  SPEAKER_02: Venoustis in Hockey East hope to bring practical support to individuals and communities facing cold conditions while raising awareness of local needs.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_02: Now let's get back to the show.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Proof here with Eric Galancey.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_00: We want to welcome in uh Merrimack Men's hockey head coach Scott Borick to join the show.
• 8:23
  SPEAKER_00: Scott, how are you so far?
• 8:26
  SPEAKER_01: So far, so good.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_01: It's been a good start and glad to be back at it, to be honest with you.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_01: It's been uh long summer, a great summer, but really looking forward to this season.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_00: You're hosting UConn this week, a rematch of the Hockey East Championship game.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: You got both those games up at Lawler.
• 8:41
  SPEAKER_00: I know you played them three times this year, but I want to start by looking back to that championship last year.
• 8:46
  SPEAKER_00: What were some of your favorite memories from last season?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_01: Well, it's um you know the team, our team's reaction uh at Providence, you know, when the when we scored in overtime, uh it was an explosive locker room.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Our guys believed them.
• 9:01
  SPEAKER_01: We had a we had a what I consider a really good second half.
• 9:05
  SPEAKER_01: I think that was kind of under the radar.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_01: People really didn't talk about it much.
• 9:08
  SPEAKER_01: So when we went to Providence, our team had a lot of confidence and felt really good about ourselves.
• 9:13
  SPEAKER_01: We knew we were playing the best team in the league at the time, and um, you have to beat them to get there anyway, so why not just play them there?
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we felt great coming out of that.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: That was a really exciting time.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_01: And then my next favorite time was actually uh the night after we played UMass and going into the final, um, just having the opportunity to be around the team, you know, to be in that experience again that we hadn't had before.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Most of our team wasn't there in 2023.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh it was a really it's an exciting time.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: You go into the final, you have a chance to go to the national tournament if you can win it.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you're playing a great team who had already beaten us three times this year, well last year.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um it was, but it was an exciting night because we knew we were there.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_01: We'd already earned something, and now we had a chance to earn more.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: Scott, as we transition to this year's team, I always think outside looking in, sometimes there's defining weekends, and it felt like, you know, from the outside, okay, that Minnesota State series kind of made everybody perk up and say, okay, this Merrimack team looks like they're going to be something again.
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_02: But then that follow-up weekend is sometimes the most difficult one.
• 10:13
  SPEAKER_02: And I was really impressed how you went on the road to Notre Dame, kind of took care of business there.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_02: What was the thing that you were most pleased with in your group last weekend in the sweep of Notre Dame?
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: Honestly, it was the in the game two, there was many times in that game that it had a chance to get away from us.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: You know, a 2-0, uh, they go on a five-minute major power play.
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, our goalie later in that thing makes me cross, you know, across the Royal Road save that never, you know, should have had.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, there were like three critical points in that game where that game could have just been ended by them.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_01: And our team just hung in and just stayed with it.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it's been that way so far.
• 10:51
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's very, very early in the season.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_01: But when we played UNH, we were down three times and we had all these distractions, great distractions, by the way, champagne problems.
• 11:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we had the the banner hanging and all that stuff uh that distracted the team, distracted me.
• 11:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but then to be able to come back three times and get it, the shootout was was huge for our resilience.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_01: And we've had obviously we had the uh overtime game with Minnesota State, and then the next day, and then at Notre Dame, an overtime game again uh to get through that, and then you know the next day to be down two love in the first period.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_01: Place is kind of rocking, they're kind of rolling.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_01: We're not really doing either of those things at the time.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_01: Uh that five-minute major kind of got us back into the game, and you know, from there we played really, really well.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_00: Your roster this year has a lot of guys carrying over from last year.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: All of your top six guys are guys that are returning, uh, 5D men returning.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: How have you felt about the chemistry that you you may have already had built in and just having guys that know each other?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I think it's uh it's really good for the room.
• 11:54
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like this summer was like a great time on campus because they the whole team pretty much knew each other.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_01: Tough to be a new guy because you know you were one of few of them.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, our guys have really molded in really well.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_01: I've been really impressed with our freshmen, um, our older players, bringing them into the room, new team, new time, new challenge, uh, and bringing those guys up to speed.
• 12:15
  SPEAKER_01: We've been really fortunate.
• 12:16
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you know, I talked to you guys last year all the time about our locker room and how strong it was, and I still believe that's why we were successful.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we were humble, we were hungry, we were able to play forward, play for each other.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we have a similar vibe around us right now and a similar locker room.
• 12:32
  SPEAKER_01: So I I think it's gonna be an unreal year.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we know how good the league is, and you know, we're excited to have hopefully have a chance to compete in it and play hopefully in the final day again.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: But um, we have a really good room again, and it's not shocking because of the guys who returned, but it's impressive because of the new guys as well.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I feel like we can already see kind of the continuation of the confidence we saw some of these guys have in the playoffs last year.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_00: Trevor Hoskin, you're referencing that win against PC, scored the overtime game winning goal.
• 13:01
  SPEAKER_00: He's been off to a great start this season.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_00: Wanted to give him a shout-out as well because he's one of the only players who's told me I did a good job on his goal call.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_00: So uh I thought that was really nice of him last year.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but him, uh, Pierre, Powell, Fitzpatrick, Lalon, they're all at over a point per game pace.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_00: Have you seen them playing with a lot of confidence and what has it meant to their offense?
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Fitzy, uh Caleb Fitzpatrick was just the man against Minnesota State.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh we lost Parker in our opening game, our opening league game against UNH.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_01: Fitzy had to go back into the middle of the rank.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, play had a great night offensively and you know, both ends of the rank.
• 13:36
  SPEAKER_01: But Ty Deneau is someone who didn't play in our top six last year, probably should be in our top six right now, frankly.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he moved there when when Parker went out, and he all he did was score.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it just he's he's just his offense is really coming back to him.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know if you remember the story, but last year he's the player on our team who took a bone out of his hand so he could play in the playoffs.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and that's an actual fact.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, what he did and how he set up the goal for Ryan O'Connell against UMass and how he played down the stretch.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: But right now he's emerging uh to be another very good offensive player for us, uh, which is gonna be very helpful.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: But no, the the those six guys have brought a lot of offense, but you know, we're we're bringing some defense right now, too, and we need to continue to do that.
• 14:20
  SPEAKER_02: Scott, one of the things that stands out, and not to go super deep in the weeds on the analytics, because it's still a small sample size early in the year, but you guys have been an elite finishing team so far this year.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_02: Um, what do you think about this group has allowed you to do that so far this year?
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: I think confidence, you know, offensive confidence.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, we we can't sustain what we've done so far.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Like that's what we need to recognize and look in the mirror.
• 14:45
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you can't have this few of opportunities and score at this rate uh within those opportunities, so we can't be as much one and done as we I think have played thus far.
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but I just think we have offensive confidence.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, the top six obviously does.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_01: Uh they all want the puck on their stick, they all want to be setting it at the net.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and now you know we have uh uh another group with with Ty Deneau and uh Maverick Lechant and uh Alec Mercier, who when they're on the ice, I think they're gonna win us the game all the time.
• 15:13
  SPEAKER_01: And they almost did on Friday night in regulation.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: Um Ty did score in that game off Maverick's stick, but I think it's just confidence.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_01: And when you you're confident with the puck on your stick and throwing it at the net, good things can happen.
• 15:27
  SPEAKER_00: And then last one for us, obviously last year Lon Gren was such a big part of your team in net, uh had a great tournament.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: And this year you're you're having to replace him.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Leonard Sveldberg, the freshman goalie from Latvia in net for you.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he was named Defensive Player of the Week in Hockey East last week.
• 15:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, what have you thought of him so far and you know, just the big role that that your goalies are gonna have to fill?
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they're gonna have to fill a role because one thing that I went unsaid last year, other than by you guys, but certainly not said enough by me, was we weren't an elite defensive team.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_01: We became an elite defensive team because our goalie was elite and he played great for us down the stretch.
• 16:06
  SPEAKER_01: We have to be better than that this year because Max isn't back there.
• 16:09
  SPEAKER_01: But I have to tell you, Lenny has done a great job.
• 16:12
  SPEAKER_01: He jumps right in, uh, very confident young man.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_01: He's played in big games in his life uh and done very, very well.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_01: So nothing really shakes him.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but the best thing is Ryan Kyes came into the net against Minnesota State.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: Should have had a shutout if our team didn't stop playing defense when it got to eighth.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um and I felt bad because you know he was playing very, very well.
• 16:33
  SPEAKER_01: And he's done nothing but win here when he's played.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_01: He hasn't got as many opportunities as I'm sure he would like.
• 16:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but we have a very good goalie room right now.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_01: And interesting thing about our goalie room is in the last two years, all three of those goalies before they got here, the year before they got here, won a championship.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_01: And when you have three guys who have had that experience, uh Ryan and Charlie in the USPHL, and then uh Lenny in the USHL, you're you're you're you're playing with a really good deck.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: And uh I'm really impressed with the entire room, the way they support each other.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but I'm also impressed with their winning habits, and that's something that can make us better down the line.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much for joining us, Scott, today.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck this weekend in your matchup against UConn.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_00: And when we come back, we're gonna talk about some of the women's stuff coming up this week on This Week in Hockey East.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_02: The 2026-27 season marks the 25th anniversary of the Hockey East Women's League.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_02: Founded in 2002, Hockey East has been dedicated to growing the sport and providing opportunities for women to compete at the game's highest level.
• 17:36
  SPEAKER_02: Throughout the year, fans can follow Hockey East social media accounts for special looks at the league's formation and history, including some of the game's most recognizable coaches and players.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_02: Now back to the show.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_00: Time to take a look at the women's side this week.
• 17:55
  SPEAKER_00: We want to highlight a few key matchups.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start with the UNH Merrimack series because both of those teams are coming off weekend sweeps.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: They've been playing really well.
• 18:04
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, weekend sweeps and weekend shutouts.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_02: It was fun to watch both of those teams last weekend.
• 18:09
  SPEAKER_02: Um, starting with UNH, they outscored Stonehill and Harvard, 9-0 between the two games.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: UNH now 5-2-1 record in October.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_02: A couple of players really have stood out so far.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: Um, Danica Botteril, the centering UNH's top line, leads Hockey East women in goals right now with eight and ten games.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, she I thought was really impressive and noticeable and jumped off the ice last weekend.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_02: And um, so you have a couple of really, you know, players who have jumped to the top of some of the scoring lists in hockey so far, Bridget.
• 18:40
  SPEAKER_02: And uh that's that's nice to see for UNH early in the season.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, you and you talk about Dana Caboteral.
• 18:47
  SPEAKER_00: She's centering that top line, but one of her linemates also putting up a lot of points as well.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: Her line mate Nina Rossi, there on the right wing of that top line, uh, leads hockey east in points with 13 points in 10 games over a point per game pace for her.
• 19:00
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, already in UNH also beat Stonehill 6-0.
• 19:03
  SPEAKER_00: In the other game of the weekend, they outscored opponents nine to nothing.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then you get Merrimack, who again scored 12 goals last weekend in their two-game sweep of post in St.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Michael's, uh, specifically eight goals on Saturday, and Maria Lindbergh stood out with four goals in that game.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: She's our service credit union scoring leader for this week.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's only the second four-goal game in the country this year on the women's side, so that certainly stands out.
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_02: And then, like, you know, Michaela Musty again, it's worth highlighting this, Bridget, because she was not the goalie going into the year, right?
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_02: This was a competition early in the season, and Musty, to her credit, has won this job and just continued to, you know, hold the net, right?
• 19:49
  SPEAKER_02: She hasn't played in a way that would force Courtney Kennedy to take her out of the net so far.
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_02: 91 minutes in goal over the weekend, zero goals allowed across 27 saves.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so she's been really solid for Merrimack.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_02: So this is one of those tipping point series early in a hockey season uh for two teams that come in off some success last weekend.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_02: So uh this is one that I think we're definitely looking forward to watching and see what happens Friday at Merrimack and then Saturday at UNH.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and just another little side note, Northeastern and BU, that's a rivalry series.
• 20:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're playing two games at BU this weekend.
• 20:23
  SPEAKER_00: But Northeastern will be about without two of their better players, Ivana Vey and Alessia Beckler, heading out to Women's Worlds in Denmark.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: They left this Sunday to head out to play for Team Switzerland.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: So there are a few players uh from around the women's side heading out for the November 6th start to Women's Worlds.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_00: That's exciting for them as well.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: When we come back, we'll look at the success the Hockey East men have had in their out-of-conference games so far and what it's meant for them in the polls.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_00: That's what's next on this week in Hockey East.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: This week in Hockey East is brought to you in part by Venoostis Heated Apparel, the official heated apparel partner of Hockey East.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: Vinoostis is committed to making a positive impact to the New England community by working with local nonprofit partners and Hockey East, hoping to bring practical support to individuals and communities facing cold conditions while raising awareness of local needs.
• 21:17
  SPEAKER_02: Now back to the show.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 21:22
  SPEAKER_00: We want to go around and kind of just spotlight some of the men's teams that, first of all, are either doing really well overall or have done really well in their non-conference.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: Because I know Eric, you want to talk about what it means for the NPI and the polls and everything, of course.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_00: So let's start first with Providence.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_00: They swept lowell last week.
• 21:41
  SPEAKER_00: They are five and oh, they're one of three undefeated teams left in the country.
• 21:45
  SPEAKER_00: What else stands out to you about Providence?
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's just, you know, it's early in the season, it's, you know, five games in, but it just the eye test matches the predictions for me.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, that was my first time getting a chance to see them live on Friday in our.
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_02: Friday night hockey stone on Nesson game.
• 22:01
  SPEAKER_02: And boy, they came out fast, Bridget.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: His shots were 16-1 at one point in the first period.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_02: And then even as, you know, things kind of leveled out a little bit in the second period, they put together a really nice winning third period.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_02: I think the thing that stands out is, you know, they had such a good second half of the year last year that's kind of going to get lost a little bit because of how the playoffs ended up going, losing to, you know, Merrimack and Hockey East and then losing in the first round of the NCAA.
• 22:26
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, if you sort of take that out and you look at the carryover effect now, and I thought one of the interesting things that Nate Lehman talked about was they're they're using last year's motivation a little bit more than maybe he has in the past, showing video of last year and trying to use that as can we build off of that, right?
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_02: Can we learn the right lessons that we need to out of those playoff games?
• 22:48
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I think that Fauchon's been awesome, Sump's been awesome, Jack Parsons has been awesome.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so there's a lot to be excited about with Providence.
• 22:58
  SPEAKER_02: Really interesting tests this weekend.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_02: They'll get Quinnipiac on the road, just one game on Saturday.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Uh so I'm I'm excited to watch and see how Providence does in their first real showcase game.
• 23:08
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, Providence keeps winning.
• 23:11
  SPEAKER_00: They keep moving up the polls.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_00: They're currently number five in the country.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and they have some of the best goals per game stats and goals against per game stats in the country as well.
• 23:19
  SPEAKER_00: They're averaging just over four goals a game and also getting that goaltending from Jack Parsons.
• 23:25
  SPEAKER_00: He leads all of Hockey East goalies in goals against average in save percentage, allowing one goal per game on average and his four wins this season.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: So goaltending has come back.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_00: It has been a big part of the reason why they're able to have such a great goal differential so far this season.
• 23:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think so.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_02: And they obviously trust what's in their goaltending room.
• 23:48
  SPEAKER_02: I think finally, just as a big picture point, Bridget, it's worth acknowledging, just a really good weekend overall for Hockey East.
• 23:53
  SPEAKER_02: They went 7-2-1 in non-league games.
• 23:56
  SPEAKER_02: Um, now if you go back to October 10th, after one or two bad days, um, Hockeyast is 19-7-1.
• 24:03
  SPEAKER_02: That's a 722 clip uh in non-conference games.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_02: If they can sustain that the rest of the way, um, Hockey East is gonna go into those NPI conversations in February and March in a much better position than they were last year.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_02: Because remember, we were talking about some of those struggles in October.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: So that's a long way away, but it's something that uh it coaches mention to us every single week.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_02: They know how important these non-conference games are in October.
• 24:30
  SPEAKER_02: So uh important results, I think that we've seen um from some of these hockey teams.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: A couple of more important ones this weekend, obviously coming up, but that's a good positive sign at this point of the year.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_00: No NPI?
• 24:43
  SPEAKER_00: No?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: No?
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_00: Okay, we'll wait.
• 24:45
  SPEAKER_00: We'll wait on the.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and just to wrap up that thought about the polls, though, uh, Hockey East success, they've got a lot of teams in the polls.
• 24:55
  SPEAKER_00: If you're including the teams that are just outside uh and they're receiving votes, uh votes, they have nine hockey east teams in the top 25, uh, PC being the highest at number five.
• 25:06
  SPEAKER_00: Well, we thank you for joining us on this week in Hockey East.
• 25:09
  SPEAKER_00: Stay tuned for our men's game main at BU.
• 25:13
  SPEAKER_00: And thank you for watching this episode of This Week in Hockey East.