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Beanpot Champs and the Hottest Team in the Country! - This Week in Hockey East · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome into this episode of This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_02: I'm Bridget Prue here with Eric Galanti, another great beanpot in the books.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, especially if you're a BC fan, the Eagles getting their first title in 10 years with a beanpot win.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_02: And probably especially sweet because it comes against the rival BU Terriers.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_02: And Eric, we'll get through that game.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk a little bit about that third place game as well.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_02: But for BC, it was all about weathering an early storm.
• 0:32
  SPEAKER_02: BU came out the stronger team.
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_02: They end up leading one to nothing.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: I thought maybe they could have even been leading two to nothing or three to nothing after that first period, but they come away with just that one goal deficit into the uh first intermission.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_02: And then BC was really able to turn turn it on after that point.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_02: They got their lines going, they got the momentum, and then they were able to outscore BU once again.
• 0:53
  SPEAKER_02: And so far this season, they've been outscoring them 10 to 3 over the two games that they've played so far.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think you have to think about a couple of things, right?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_00: Number one, so yeah, shots were 8-2 BU to start the game.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_00: But when you combine that with the fact of what happened to BC last Friday when they lost, really just, you know, it's no other way to say it, just a tough game to Vermont, right?
• 1:14
  SPEAKER_00: That kind of stunned everyone, at least score-wise, six to one.
• 1:18
  SPEAKER_00: That can start to build and snowball a little bit.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_00: And to BC's credit, they really didn't let it.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so it's the second game in a row against BU in just a span of a couple of weeks here, where BU got off to a really good start.
• 1:31
  SPEAKER_00: It felt like BU should have been leading, you know, probably after the first period of both of those games.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_00: They're leading after neither of those first periods after those games.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: And uh BC, as you said, were able to get their C legs and really jump from there.
• 1:44
  SPEAKER_00: The biggest thing is the special teams right now.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: Boston College is absolutely rolling on their power play.
• 1:50
  SPEAKER_00: They were three for four on the power play on Monday.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: They're now six for twelve over their last three games, 38% basically since the start of the second half.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_00: Um, obviously, you know, Coach Pandolfo said it was a huge momentum killer, right?
• 2:04
  SPEAKER_00: That we couldn't score on the power play, and they could.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And that was, you know, kind of in a major way the story of the game.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_02: And I think another major theme, uh not just in this beanpot championship game, but I think just developing over the past few weeks, when you watch BC, it's just so obvious that that Hagen's Gasso and Hemming line is making a huge impact.
• 2:25
  SPEAKER_02: They're all over the ice, they're starting to click.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_02: You see the chemistry.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_02: It's a new line in the second half.
• 2:30
  SPEAKER_02: So uh, you know, that chemistry wasn't built in in the early parts of the season, which makes it even more impressive.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_02: And it's got a great combination of experience with Gasso being the captain, being older, uh center that you can put out there to win faceoffs.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Higgins and Heming, high hockey IQ.
• 2:46
  SPEAKER_02: Uh they're they're all around the puck.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_02: And for James Higgins, he had a great beanpot.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: And so he was named the beanpot MVP.
• 2:53
  SPEAKER_02: He's also our service credit union scoring leader.
• 2:56
  SPEAKER_02: He had two assists Monday, finished with two goals and five points in the tournament, and he has 13 points in his last seven games.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: He was especially noticeable, I believe, in the semifinals and then had some important uh moments as well in the championship.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, he he was great, and I think you're right about that line.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_00: It really feels like they found something.
• 3:18
  SPEAKER_00: But Hagen's Laterno, we've talked about them so much.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's the Bruins conversation, that's the NHL conversation.
• 3:24
  SPEAKER_00: But in terms of the right now, I mean, it's Andre Gasot, right?
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_00: That seems to be the X Factor for BC.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Scored two goals on Monday.
• 3:31
  SPEAKER_00: He has 11 points in the eight games since he's come back from the injury.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, he's everything that you want a veteran senior presence to be right now, and it really matches up and fits in well with that line.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: I thought Luca Clucci was also very good and bouncing back well from that Vermont game, where there were probably a couple that he'd want to have back.
• 3:51
  SPEAKER_00: And again, really solid early, Bridget, right?
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Making some big game saves early, allowing BC to get their legs.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_00: He wins the Everly Award as the top goaltender in the bean pot.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_00: So now all of a sudden BC gets back to 12 in the NPI.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_00: So they take on Merrimack this weekend.
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_00: I think that's a really interesting series.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk more about that later in the show.
• 4:11
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but BC is in an okay place right now, but just a really exciting beanpot.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_00: And again, you see how much it means to these guys.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: We talked about it a little bit a couple weeks ago.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: This is a tournament that would be so easy to kind of go by the wayside in terms of mattering in terms of modern college athletics, but you see how much it matters to these guys.
• 4:30
  SPEAKER_00: So it was fun to see, and congratulations to Boston College.
• 4:33
  SPEAKER_00: The other game, Harvard ends up beating Northeastern in the third place game, 4-1 the final.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: We'll see Northeastern against the top team in hockey this week when they take on Providence right here for Friday Night Hockey East on Nesson.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, some keys to come away from that bean pot uh championship game.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, I think the number one thing is the health of Dylan Ritzcovian.
• 4:53
  SPEAKER_02: He missed Friday's game and Monday's game uh for the beanpot third place game.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_02: Jerry Keith, after that game, said he's expected back before the end of the season, but he his injury designation is week to week.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously that could be um slightly longer term than they were hoping.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: And uh so that means it's even more important for someone like Joe Connor, uh, who got a goal Monday to be out there contributing, and and he's gonna be an important piece in the absence of Ritzkovian until he comes back.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: But Northeastern, they just need to get that scoring going again.
• 5:27
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they have seven goals scored over this six-game winless streak, so they'll be looking to score first.
• 5:33
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, and it's been tough for them since that January 18th game against UNH.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_02: But in terms of the bean pot, another thing Jerry Keefe said, he said it's not an effort thing, it's an execution thing for us.
• 5:46
  SPEAKER_02: And he's been happy with the effort right along.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_02: But Lawton Zacher is somebody who's kept them in games no matter what.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: He got banged up in that semifinal game against BU and overtime.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_02: We were wondering, was he gonna play?
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_02: He's healthy, he's been back in.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_02: So Jarekeefe's saying he gives us a chance to win every night.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_02: We just need to get the scoring uh out in front of him.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they're gonna take on a juggernaut juggernaut that is Providence right now.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: They won two more games last weekend.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_00: They're up to nine games in a row.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: They've outscored their opponents 40 to 14 over this stretch.
• 6:17
  SPEAKER_00: Jack Parson continues to be so impressive.
• 6:20
  SPEAKER_00: They're up to basically a lock.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, everything but a lock now for the NCAA tournament.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_00: PlayoffStatus.com gives them a 99% chance to make the tournament this morning.
• 6:30
  SPEAKER_00: They also give them a 90% chance to lock up the number one seed in Hockey East eventually.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_00: So BC and UConn still on their heels, but Providence can really do some damage to locking up that number one seed this week.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_00: Both games of this series, by the way, Friday and Saturday, will be at Schneider Arena.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Speaking of teams, the number one seed in Hockey East, it's Northeastern on the women's side.
• 6:51
  SPEAKER_00: They clinched the regular season title, and Bridget sits down with Dave Flint on the other side.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: We're on this week in Hockey East.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: Our interview with Northeastern head coach Dave Flint is presented by Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_02: Plan your getaway today at BostonHarborHotel.com and experience Boston's best waterfront views.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: Dave, thank you for joining us today.
• 7:13
  SPEAKER_02: I think this is the perfect time to get you on the show and talk to you about not only your team clinching already this season, but there's so many interesting Olympic storylines that have connections to your program as well.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_02: So uh I feel like I could probably talk to you a lot longer than we even have about those things.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_02: But I do want to start off uh Dave with talking about the current team and your you guys' ability to have such a great conference record this season, haven't lost in regulation uh in conference play.
• 7:44
  SPEAKER_02: You clinched last weekend.
• 7:46
  SPEAKER_02: What has that been like for you to just watch the team kind of have that that dominance again?
• 7:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's it's it's been great to see, obviously.
• 7:56
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I think we had stretches throughout this season that we've been playing really well, and others we've had to really grind through.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: But it at the end of the day, they're finding ways to win hockey games even when we're not playing our best.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, we've had players in and out of the lineup, so we haven't, you know, had our full lineup a lot.
• 8:17
  SPEAKER_01: So it's great to see.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: We've had uh, you know, timely goaltending.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we've had players step up different times.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_01: So um yeah, it's you know, I'm I'm really impressed with our group and how they've handled the regular season here.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_01: And now we just got four games left.
• 8:34
  SPEAKER_01: We gotta keep moving forward.
• 8:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and at this point in the season, some of the younger players like Striker Zablockey have had time to acclimate to college hockey.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_02: She seems like she's pretty much fit right in, uh, pretty pretty early on.
• 8:48
  SPEAKER_02: But uh, can you talk about her season so far and what makes her such a special player for you guys this year?
• 8:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, she's you know, I said this in an interview last week, I think.
• 8:59
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, she she plays like a veteran and uh she's such a dynamic player, and it's a nice luxury to be able to have a freshman that you can insert right into your top line and and they produce and on our first power play.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: And so um she's been a great addition and and really helped, and and I think she's um playing really well with with Lily Shannon and Eloise Caron.
• 9:25
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so that line's been going really good for us, and uh she's she's had an amazing uh rookie season.
• 9:32
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we shared on the Beanpot broadcast um all the other things that she was good at too.
• 9:37
  SPEAKER_02: Her being something you talked to us about before, her being, you know, a track athlete and a dancer and all these other things that she was uh good at.
• 9:46
  SPEAKER_02: You can kind of see um all of those little things coming together in her game as well uh playing hockey.
• 9:51
  SPEAKER_02: I did want to talk about a few of the other individuals.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: You you kind of brought up a few there, but um just take a second and maybe give some players some some props for their contributions this year.
• 10:01
  SPEAKER_02: I know we've seen a lot from Lily Shannon, um, Jules Constantinople, Lisa Yunson again, just if you want to take some time and and talk about some of the individuals.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, well, I mean you you mentioned Lily Shannon and she's our captain, and it starts with her, and she's she's had a a breakout year.
• 10:18
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it's been really great to see playing with a ton of confidence, um logging a lot of minutes and and been really reliable and scoring big goals for us.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: And Jules has anchored our our our back end, and um she's she's been great.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, she's she's probably averaging over 25 minutes a game for us.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: So um, you know, those two we you need your your best players to be your veteran players, and um, you know, and then we you know somebody that's not on the score sheet a lot but is playing amazing is Holly Abella.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, we've moved her up the second line, and that line's really going right now.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: And she's one of those players that does all the little things right, she pays attention to details, and she for me as a coach, it's reassuring when you have certain players that you know what you're gonna get out of them every night, and she's she's one of those.
• 11:11
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, goaltending has been solid, Lisa's been great, and then Renna's stepped in to uh you know give Lisa some rest here and there, and uh so two good goalies that we can rely on.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I've I've said it a million times, but you know, your success starts from your goal line out, and uh again we got two good goalies this year, three good goalies actually that we can rely on.
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: But um, you know, it's uh you know it's it's been nice to see.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_01: And like I said earlier, it's it's not just a couple players, like everybody contributes at different times.
• 11:47
  SPEAKER_01: Morgan Jackson's been really good, Ali Lalon's been good, Eloise Carran's been good.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, our third and fourth lines have bought into their roles and they're doing them amazing.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: And uh, you know, they they contribute on this score sheet when they can, but they're really good defensively, and so um, you know, it's it's great to see and a big part of our success so far.
• 12:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and well, and certainly, you know, having the ability to to clinch so early in the season, uh, you definitely have to have a lot of that stuff going right for you.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: And you guys uh definitely seem to have that going on.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_02: I did want to talk to you about kind of the weird second half that you guys have had with having to practice at Bach, having to play road games, not play at Matthews.
• 12:33
  SPEAKER_02: And and I know uh it's been talked about a lot, but I wanted to check back in and see how how the team's been adapting at this point now that they've had some weeks um under their belt of maybe getting more comfortable with the new situation.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think early in the semester, you know, being having a month off and then coming coming into a new rank and a whole new process.
• 12:56
  SPEAKER_01: And um we, you know, it took us a little bit of time to get our get our feet wet, but um, you know, the team's been handling it great, and you know, uh dealing with a little bit of adversity is a good thing, and um, you know, it helps us when things get tough.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: And uh so, you know, they show up here every day, good attitude, they work hard, and um, you know, they've embraced the challenge that's in front of them.
• 13:25
  SPEAKER_02: And I want to talk about some of the Olympic connections as well, because you have current player there, you have a lot of former players involved.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I guess I'll start with just in general, how often have the Olympics been on in your office and at your house this week?
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: How much are you tuning into the women's hockey?
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's uh it's been on pretty much all the time, even if we're even if women's hockey isn't on, we we have something on um in our office.
• 13:53
  SPEAKER_01: I think out there right now they have uh a men's game that's on right now.
• 13:57
  SPEAKER_01: But um, yeah, we've been following it really closely.
• 14:00
  SPEAKER_01: I know the team has to um to watch their you know previous teammates and current teammates.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_01: And um, so you know, we're we're just really proud of the accomplishments of of all our athletes that have made it to the to the biggest stage.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: And and um so we're all following them really closely.
• 14:21
  SPEAKER_02: And it you know, said in a very loving way, Northeastern has gotten a reputation as goalie you.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: Like the the just men and women have put out such great goaltenders in the past, and uh no different for Team USA in the Olympics, they have Gwen Phillips and Aaron Frankel, both with starts, both with wins in this tournament so far.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_02: Just unfortunate that uh Gwen didn't end up with a shutout because she came out with like what eight minutes left.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_02: But um, both teams playing really well, or both goals playing really well.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Frankel shutting out Canada uh in what was, you know, kind of a crazy um upset.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_02: So I just was wondering what your thoughts have been on how those two's careers have panned out since you you coached them.
• 15:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, when they were here at Northeastern, I knew they both had the ability to play at that level and and the Olympians and um a credit to them for for working really hard and and um and reaching their goals.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, a lot of people don't un don't that don't understand goaltending.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, the games they've had to play so far are actually really difficult games to play.
• 15:29
  SPEAKER_01: When you're not seeing a ton of shots and there's large long stretches in between shots, it's it's hard.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, I I look at the Switzerland game where Gwen played, and you know, it was one-nothing for for a while, and she had to make a couple huge saves, and one of those pucks goes in the net, and all of a sudden it's it's it could be a different game.
• 15:51
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, Aaron yesterday, you know, playing against Canada, shutting them out for the first time ever in Olympic history.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, that's that's pretty amazing.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: And it yesterday was one of those weird games where she didn't see shots for a while, but then she would see a flurry of shots, and um the amazing players are on Canada, you know, when they're when they're when they get chances, they're usually great A's.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: And so both both goalies have stepped up and and performed really well, and it's it's so great to see.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and then and we I think we don't even have time to talk about uh Alessia Beckler, who is over there, and then you hopefully you get guys get her back um after the completion of of her turn with uh playing on the Swiss national team with Alina Mueller and uh Ivana Way, your commit for next season.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_02: So um, coach, thank you so much for joining us for talking Olympics, talking about your team this season, and good luck the rest of the way.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for having me.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: Time for standings check here on the women's side.
• 16:57
  SPEAKER_00: As we talked about, Northeastern has already locked up the number one seed in the regular season title.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: But there's much still to figure out here in these last few weeks.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_00: UteConn in the two spot right now, they've clinched at least a bye in a home quarterfinal game.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_00: We'll get to them in a second.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then I think the big question right now for me, Bridget, is can Holy Cross hold on to one of those top four spots?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're in a good position right now to get a home game in the Hockeys quarterfinals, but both BC and UNH are right on their heels right now, and then you have that big chunk in the middle as well.
• 17:27
  SPEAKER_00: We talked a lot of Northeastern with Dave Flint, but let's just chat a little bit more about how they got there last weekend to clinch the regular season title.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, so it starts with an overtime win, which they only needed, uh they needed two or three points.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_02: They get the two points, obviously going to overtime.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Uh the win on Saturday, and it's kind of crazy when you look at their their schedule against Hockey East opponents.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: They haven't lost in regulation all year.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_02: Their most recent loss, just in general, was an overtime loss in round one of the bean pot already over a month ago uh to Boston University.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_02: So it's just it's crazy.
• 18:05
  SPEAKER_02: They haven't had a regulation loss since January 6th against Yale, a non-conference game where they were rusty coming back from the break.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_02: So the second half has been so solid for them.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh their special teams have been have been good, especially that penalty kill up towards the top of the country once again.
• 18:20
  SPEAKER_02: They took a lot of penalties, but they killed off 11 of 12.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: And we want to look at Lily Shannon as well.
• 18:27
  SPEAKER_02: An impressive game last Thursday versus Maine.
• 18:29
  SPEAKER_02: She's our Jersey Mike's sub-above player of the week.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_02: She had two goals, three points, and eight shots.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_02: She leads hockey east with 18 goals right now.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, then moving down the standings a little bit, the Yukon Huskies.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: They'll play UNH on Friday, and then they'll be at BU on Saturday.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_00: We'll have that game for you on Saturday right here on Nesson.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_00: As we said, Yukon's already clinched a bye.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_00: The lowest they can finish is fourth, so they're in good position right now.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: It had been a little while since they had a sweep.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: They had a couple of uh mixed weekends, but they get a sweep last weekend, an OT win against Providence.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: And then they beat BC with 58 shots on goal on Saturday.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_00: So they seem like they figured it out, Bridget, as they take on BU.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and BU, really tough weekend, right?
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_02: Going in, playing the two ranked teams in Hockey East on Friday.
• 19:17
  SPEAKER_02: They play number five Northeastern.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Saturday, they play number six UConn.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, like you mentioned, that game Nesson, 4 p.m.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: on Saturday.
• 19:25
  SPEAKER_02: But BU right now, they've they've been up and down in the second half.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_02: They've rotated goalies evenly the last 10 games, five starts for Peterson, five starts for Posechnik.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_02: So still kind of going back to a figuring out what they want to do in net and you know, playing short, a few forwards.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_02: They're only running three lines right now without the Welkies.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_02: They're away playing for Team Germany at the Olympics.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_02: So watch to see if that factors into just how much stamina they have in those third periods of games.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and then I'm kind of interested to see what happens with Maine and Vermont playing a one-off game on Friday.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're in that cluster in the middle of the standings that we showed you a little bit earlier.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_00: Who can get out of that opening round?
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of those big questions that we'll see right now.
• 20:09
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk a little Olympics and we'll talk a little men's NPI on the other side as we wrap things up on this week in Hockey East.
• 20:17
  SPEAKER_00: We continue around Hockey East, presented by Boston Children's Hospital, the official children's hospital of Hockey East.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_00: Boston Children's where the world comes for answers.
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_00: This is such a great time of year.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_00: We're hitting the stretch run in college hockey.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_00: And of course, we are in the thick of the Olympics right now.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: And hockey East is factoring in majorly across the pond in Italy, Bridget.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, just awesome representation there.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_02: 16 alums are competing on the men's side, 34 on the women's side, and also 18 staff members from Hockey East out there as well.
• 20:49
  SPEAKER_02: Plus, four hockey east officials are working in the tournament.
• 20:53
  SPEAKER_02: So just a lot of people heading over.
• 20:55
  SPEAKER_02: You see some uh familiar faces as well.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, you look at Team USA's uh on the men's side, their three goaltenders all come from Hockey East, Connor Hellibuck, Adol, Jay Gottinger, BU, Jeremy Swayman, Main, and then you know, you got Jack Eichel, you got Charlie McIvall, you got Kale McCard.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_02: There's gonna be a lot of familiar hockey east faces on the men's side.
• 21:15
  SPEAKER_02: And for the women, I think the the big thing that when you're watching uh Team USA has been dominant so far, and a lot of that is happening because of Northeastern's two goalies that are there in net for USA, Aaron Frankel and Gwen Phillips both have starts in the tournament, both have wins.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_02: And Aaron Frankel did something that no one has ever done before in the women's side of the tournament, which is shut out Canada.
• 21:39
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so exciting to see what happens next for them.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_02: Women's quarterfinals are underway today and tomorrow.
• 21:47
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I love the uh all basically all the American goalies are hockey east alums.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_00: Uh speaking of hockey east and where we are at the national picture right now.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: Let's just take a quick peek.
• 21:57
  SPEAKER_00: And it's kind of time to start looking at the bubble a little bit, right?
• 22:00
  SPEAKER_00: Providence is in a really good spot, as we talked about.
• 22:02
  SPEAKER_00: This is on the men's side, but BC in 12 right now, UConn at 15, UConn is the de facto cut line right now because there's no Atlantic hockey representative that's in.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: I'm kind of fascinated with these two teams and their weekends coming up, right?
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_00: We mentioned BC earlier.
• 22:18
  SPEAKER_00: So how do they come down now from the high of the bean pot, taking on a Merrimack team that's absolutely rolling right now?
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_00: They're 9-2-1 in their last 11 games.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Then you have UConn who needs wins here.
• 22:31
  SPEAKER_00: They're in a good spot, but they need wins.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_00: They have two road games against Maine, who's still a top 25 NPI team, despite their inconsistencies.
• 22:39
  SPEAKER_00: So that has a chance to be two really high-quality wins on the road.
• 22:44
  SPEAKER_00: As we're looking at the bubble, you now start to look at the other teams around, right?
• 22:49
  SPEAKER_00: And you look at where are some of the pitfalls.
• 22:51
  SPEAKER_00: So, for example, you saw Miami's 20th.
• 22:54
  SPEAKER_00: They play North Dakota on the road this week.
• 22:56
  SPEAKER_00: North Dakota's three.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_00: So if Miami's able to pick off either of those games, all of a sudden they shoot into the bubble conversation, right?
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: Wisconsin with two games against Ohio State this week, they're in right now.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_00: If they were to lose either of those, they're probably out.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_00: So all these things are interconnected, and it becomes really important this time of year to watch.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_00: The most important thing is getting wins, but those are some interesting games to watch outside of the obvious importance of the hockey's teams on the bubble.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: Getting close.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_00: There's only about a month left in the regular season now.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_00: So this is the fun time of year.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_00: We'll continue to watch it with you and pay attention to where teams are as hockey's push and get three.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Who knows?
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_00: Maybe if UMass goes on a run four teams in the NCAA tournament.
• 23:39
  SPEAKER_00: Should be a fun week.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: Thanks so much for joining us, folks, for another edition of This Week in Hockey.