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The Women's Tournament Starts Now! - This Week in Hockey East · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome into this episode of This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:12
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue alongside Eric Galante.
• 0:14
  SPEAKER_00: This week we've started women's playoffs.
• 0:16
  SPEAKER_00: We're heading down the final stretch of the men's regular season, and we have some Olympic connections to talk to you about from former players in Hockey East.
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_00: But first, let's start with the men's hockey East standings.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: And right now, Eric, Providence has really started to separate themselves a bit.
• 0:30
  SPEAKER_00: You can see them up there at the top, most notably.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: That middle section, though, three points separate, fourth to seventh place, which is a difference between a team getting a quarterfinal home game or having to play that opening round matchup.
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_00: But let's start with Providence.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_00: They go on, they sweep UVM last weekend, continuing their incredible run in the second half.
• 0:52
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that 48 is their points this year.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's not the inches of snow that they got on Monday.
• 0:58
  SPEAKER_01: But they're uh but but they almost did.
• 1:01
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they're right there to clinch this thing.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And actually, potentially they could even clinch as early as Friday if everything goes right for them.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_01: But with three games left in the season, Providence's magic number is just four points.
• 1:12
  SPEAKER_01: That's all they need.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: So they can accomplish that themselves or Boston College, who's in second, losing points elsewhere.
• 1:19
  SPEAKER_01: So that would be their first ever number one seed in the Hockey East tournament.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: If BC were to take less than three points in their first game of the weekends against P uh against BU, and then PC got a full three, they actually could clinch as early as Friday.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_01: But they're right there, obviously.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: They've had an amazing year.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're 12-1 since January 9th, and they've done everything that they've needed to do to lock up that number one spot and basically at this point be a lock for the NCAA tournament.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: They have three games left, two against New Hampshire this weekend, and then the finale against Yukon Saturday afternoon on March 7th.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Hudson Malinowski with a really nice weekend.
• 1:54
  SPEAKER_01: He had a hat-trick in that second game against Vermont with Providence sweeping that series, and he's our service credit union scoring leader this week.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: Malinowski's up to 11 goals this year, which matches his previous career high.
• 2:07
  SPEAKER_01: He has seven of his 11 goals have come during this 13-game streak that we mentioned, which Providence is 12-1.
• 2:15
  SPEAKER_01: But it's everybody right now, right?
• 2:16
  SPEAKER_01: McQueen scored a couple more times this weekend.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: Mustard scored two more times this weekend.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: So everything is rolling right for Providence right now.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: But there's a lot underneath Providence that we still have to sort out that's gonna be exciting.
• 2:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so it's it's a good time to talk about that UMass UConn series as well.
• 2:33
  SPEAKER_00: Two teams trying to bounce back in a crucial series.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_00: That's our Friday night hockey east on Nessen game.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_00: And it's gonna be really important for seating, right?
• 2:41
  SPEAKER_00: UConn and UMass separated by just five points in the standings.
• 2:45
  SPEAKER_00: And last week, UConn fell from second to third after dropping five of six points against Boston College.
• 2:51
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to keep UMass at arm's length, keep them uh, you know, keep them away uh in that fourth spot.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_00: And also I think the weekend uh is about gaining confidence for UConn.
• 3:03
  SPEAKER_00: Mike Kavanaugh said he feels like they've been good, but also there's room to improve.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_00: And they got through that main series with a win and a shootout win, despite being uh despite allowing 88 shots against, and they have scored just 10 goals in their last five games.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: So definitely what he's talking about with room for improvement, some of that comes offensively.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: Um and you look at what they're gonna have to go up against.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, Michael Roble has been really good, so he's gonna try to slow them down from scoring as well.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh the Minimen split last weekend against UNH, they dropped Friday's game one to nothing.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And UMass has just been down bodies.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_00: They've been struggling to stay healthy.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_00: They finally got some people back, but then they were without Jack Musa last weekend dealing with an illness.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_00: He's expected to play this weekend.
• 3:52
  SPEAKER_00: So they're gonna get their leading goals, assists, and point scorer back.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_00: That's gonna be big.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think it certainly is.
• 3:58
  SPEAKER_01: Rabbel continues to play well.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: They really didn't give up that much in that Saturday game, but UNH blocked a ton of shots to their credit, and they get a win on Saturday at the Winamore Center.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_01: UMass is tied for fourth right now with Northeastern.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: UMass does have a game in hand, but Northeastern would have the head-to-head tie break right now, should it come down to that.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but going back to UConn for a second and the NCAA tournament conversation.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_01: So remember we told you last week they were 12th in the NPI going in?
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_01: Well, they also dropped there, right?
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_01: They're 14th.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_01: So BC and UConn basically switched spots last weekend.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_01: So they're okay in terms of positioning right now.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_01: Their odds are still probably better than 50% to make the NCAA tournament.
• 4:40
  SPEAKER_01: But when you're 14th, you're really at the whim of bid stealers coming up and taking a spot.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_01: If you're 12th or 11th, then you feel much better about things.
• 4:50
  SPEAKER_01: So it's crucial for them to try to jump their way up, to try to catch Boston College at 12 and some of those teams up there.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_01: Boston College is in a similar spot, right?
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_01: They take on BU this weekend, and again, another big series.
• 5:03
  SPEAKER_01: BC's odds, just in terms of how much, how crucial that series was against UConn, going into last week, BC was a 64% chance to make the NCAA tournament per playoffstatus.com.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_01: After they get five of six points, those odds moved up to 83% chance to make the tournament.
• 5:20
  SPEAKER_01: So they feel really good about where they are right now, but you still got to take care of business against your rival.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they've been getting contributions from those Bruins players a lot in the second half.
• 5:31
  SPEAKER_00: Another big weekend for those guys.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_00: Hagins posted a second half trick of the season.
• 5:35
  SPEAKER_00: Dean Laterno scored Saturday.
• 5:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then on the weekend, Haggins, Laterno, and Gasso each had four points.
• 5:41
  SPEAKER_00: And this is a fun little Bruins uh fact stat for you from BC.
• 5:45
  SPEAKER_00: 47% of BC's goals this year have been scored by the Bruins prospects, and that number is over 50% if you look at what they've done since January when Gasot came back from injury.
• 5:57
  SPEAKER_00: So uh BU BC again, Battle of Calm Av.
• 6:00
  SPEAKER_00: They're trying to, for BU, it's about trying to avoid that opening round.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: They're currently in seventh place in the hockey east standings, but this has been a tough matchup for them recently.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: BC has won eight of the last 10 meetings against BU and both of the meetings this year.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and that game will have Saturday's game for you right here on Nesson Saturday night following the Bruins game.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, but but everything really matters this time of year, right?
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Even look at like a Maine Northeastern series this week.
• 6:28
  SPEAKER_01: They're gonna play two games, one in Portland, one in Lowell.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: NU kind of has been playing well coming in, right?
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: They've won three of their last four.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_01: They're up to a tie for fourth.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Maine also had a good weekend, right?
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: They sweep Merrimack at home.
• 6:40
  SPEAKER_01: They put up 10 goals in two games.
• 6:42
  SPEAKER_01: Now they're only two points out of hosting a quarterfinal spot.
• 6:45
  SPEAKER_01: So sneaky, that might actually be the biggest series of the whole weekend in terms of you know the difference between being six versus being four is pretty massive the way the hockey's tournament shakes out.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot to be excited about.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot to figure out with just a couple of games to go.
• 7:02
  SPEAKER_01: But again, Friday night we'll be at UConn for UConn UMass, and then Saturday night we'll be there for BCBU.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll also have plenty of coverage of the women's tournament, which starts this week.
• 7:12
  SPEAKER_01: BC playing really well going in.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_01: They're the three seed, and Bridget talks with BC Head Coach Katie Crawley on the other side here on This Week in Hockey East.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to This Week in Hockey East.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: I'm joined by BC Women's Head Coach Katie King Crawley.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: Katie, thank you so much for being here.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: Our interview today brought to you by Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 7:31
  SPEAKER_00: Plan your getaway today at BostonHarborHotel.com and experience Boston's best waterfront views.
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_00: Want to get into the season that you've had so far.
• 7:40
  SPEAKER_00: We finished out the regular season, and just your general thoughts on what your team's been able to do this year.
• 7:45
  SPEAKER_00: They end up finishing third in Hockey East.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, um overall I'm proud of the way our our our our team played, especially uh towards the end of the semester.
• 7:55
  SPEAKER_02: You know, we had some hiccups along the way, but um but also had a really challenging schedule, especially non-conference, and and uh so happy with the way we handled everything and and uh happy with the you know you know finding a way to finish in the in third place in hockey.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: And you guys had a strong finish too.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_00: We saw the game that you had against BU a four-nothing shutout.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_00: You won the last three games heading into the playoffs.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_00: What was going right for you guys at the end there?
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think um you know the the Northeastern game uh that we won in overtime really boosted our our team's confidence.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_02: I think uh we played hard in that game.
• 8:32
  SPEAKER_02: We played really, really well and and defended really well, and I I think um that really helped us uh in the last couple of games uh here as well.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_02: So we need to continue that for the playoffs and and up here against Vermont.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, hopefully, hopefully that confidence carries through to Saturday.
• 8:52
  SPEAKER_00: Got a few questions about some of your individual players as well, but because we're just coming off the Olympics, I wanted to get to this kind of earlier on in the interview and talk to you about your thoughts on what you saw in Milan.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: Obviously, you're part of a few different Olympic women's hockey teams.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_00: You won gold in Nagano back in 1998.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_00: How nice was it to see what the women were able to do in Milan?
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, it was awesome.
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_02: Um, it was awesome watching, following along.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and and for them to win gold.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, you know, it's uh I was ecstatic.
• 9:24
  SPEAKER_02: I know our team, our 98 group chat was ecstatic uh watching the game and and uh and just following along with the team uh you know through the Olympics.
• 9:34
  SPEAKER_02: So obviously proud of Team USA and and uh for Megan Keller for us to to uh to score that goal was was huge.
• 9:43
  SPEAKER_02: It was awesome uh and really, really fun to see for us.
• 9:47
  SPEAKER_00: What was your reaction when you saw her score the overtime game winner when you jumped up and down the same way I was like, jumping up and down for sure.
• 9:54
  SPEAKER_02: Jumping up and down for sure.
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_02: It was uh really exciting.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_02: Uh and and uh you know, she's been in those big moments before at you know at in college and uh and in the pro leagues and in in the Olympics before.
• 10:08
  SPEAKER_02: So um, you know, her poise and composure was was tremendous and and uh really happy for her to to to to have that moment.
• 10:16
  SPEAKER_00: I talked to you a little bit last week ahead of one of our broadcasts this this uh past Saturday, and we were talking about how strong this women's team was, and you know, at the time they hadn't played their gold medal game, and we were kind of talking about, oh, you know, is this the best women's USA team that there's ever been?
• 10:36
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think this was the strongest roster that they've had?
• 10:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I mean, I I think the game just keeps getting better.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_02: These players just keep getting better.
• 10:44
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and uh, I mean that team was was really, really elite, and and obviously you get to a gold medal game, you never know what's gonna happen.
• 10:52
  SPEAKER_02: I I thought Canada played really well in that game as well.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_02: And um, but uh but I thought you know the US was was dominant throughout the whole Olympics.
• 11:02
  SPEAKER_00: And you being on that very first team, the first time women's hockey was in the Olympics, winning gold in 1998, there's been so many players that have come after and said that that was an inspiration for them to go play uh for team USA and to just get involved in women's hockey in the first place.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, 1998 to now, there's been so many changes in the game of women's hockey.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: What are some of the biggest differences between this atmosphere that you've seen in this state of the game compared to back then when when you guys won?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, I mean the game itself, I think is a it's faster, it's more physical, even more physical, I should say, because it was physical back then, but even more physical now.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_02: Um but you know, I I the the attention that the game gets now is great.
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, we have the pro league, so that um escalates uh the the you know our sport, which is awesome too.
• 12:00
  SPEAKER_02: And it's not just every four years, you see women's hockey now on TV a lot more, whether it's college games or the pro games.
• 12:06
  SPEAKER_02: Um, and I think you know, to your point of 98, um the 98 team helping uh you know boost the numbers in in women's hockey, you're gonna see that again here um after watching these Olympics.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, my daughter was definitely watching the game with her friends and and little girls are are inspired by these players, and and you're gonna see another uh jump in the in the in the growth of our sport, I think.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like I could talk to you all day about all of the different indications of the Olympics, and then I'm just so interested in your perspective on it.
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_00: But I want to make sure we get to your current team as well and ask you about a few individual players.
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Ava Thomas, named to the all-rookie team.
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_00: Just tell people who maybe haven't haven't seen her play.
• 12:51
  SPEAKER_00: What does she do that that makes her so successful as a rookie?
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, she's just so dynamic.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, um, especially offensively.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_02: She she gets an offensive opportunity in every game for that like a quality scoring chance in every game, and and uh her speed um really truly sets her apart in in um from others, I I think, and and and her competitiveness.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, she's she's someone that wants to win, she wants to help her team win.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_02: She knows that one of her big roles is scoring goals for us and and helping produce.
• 13:24
  SPEAKER_02: And uh, you know, I think she's done a tremendous job at that this year, and and um yeah, she's she's really a dynamic player.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_00: And then Emma Connor, uh the defensive forward of the year award in Hockey East, she has been incredible with her her blocked shots leaving Hockey East and just watching what she's able to do.
• 13:45
  SPEAKER_00: What makes her a good uh candidate for this award?
• 13:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, you know, she um Emma you know has done a tremendous job with on the PK.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_02: She's blocking shots, she's selling out for for her teammates.
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_02: And um, you know, early on we saw that with our team where she was the one that was uh you know blocking shots whenever she could and making the simple play when she could.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh I think that really helped um you know our team grow throughout the year and and it and I think our players seeing her as a grad student uh you know jumping in front of pox and and selling out for her teammates, and I think it really spurred on others to do the same thing.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_02: And we moved her to center, so she probably would have had more block shots as a wing, but um, but she she's she's been tremendous for us.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_02: She's been a great addition um uh you know for this year.
• 14:41
  SPEAKER_02: And and uh I'm I'm really happy that she was um you know voted in for that award because I think she she truly um cares about that defensive zone and and and takes pride in in helping her team uh be successful.
• 14:56
  SPEAKER_00: Well, thank you so much, Katie, for joining us.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_00: Excited to see what your playoffs have in store for you uh starting on Saturday.
• 15:03
  SPEAKER_00: And when we come back, we'll talk more about the Women's Hockey East playoffs coming up next on this week in Hockey East.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_01: The women's playoffs are here at quarterfinal Saturday, it's right on the horizon.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_01: There's so many exciting games to talk about.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_01: But Bridget, one I really want to dive in on is this Holy Cross New Hampshire game, which is gonna take place at two o'clock on Saturday.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_01: Holy Cross finishes its best season ever.
• 15:28
  SPEAKER_01: They get to host the hockey's quarterfinals for the first time.
• 15:31
  SPEAKER_01: Even as they struggled a little bit here down the stretch, literally every one of these games were one goal games.
• 15:38
  SPEAKER_01: Like seven consecutive one-goal games, with four of them going to overtime.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they lost their loan game of last weekend to UVM in overtime, despite 39 saves from Abby Hornig.
• 15:50
  SPEAKER_01: So they're in every game that they play, which makes it so interesting to see.
• 15:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's a year that they should certainly be so proud of.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_01: First winning season in program history.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_01: They had eight wins more than their Division I record.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_01: They played UNH three times this year.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_01: UNH won 3-2 in February after Holy Cross took 506 points back in November.
• 16:11
  SPEAKER_01: And then they take on this UNH team that's coming off this crazy game, 6'5 in overtime.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_01: They dropped the finale to UVM on Saturday.
• 16:19
  SPEAKER_01: They were down 5'2 late in the third, but they score those three answered, excuse me, late in the second.
• 16:25
  SPEAKER_01: They score those three unanswered goals, Bridget, and that was enough to push them one point ahead of Vermont and get this five seed to get in this matchup against Holy Cross.
• 16:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, well, that was crazy when we were following on the last day of the regular season.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: I was like, uh, now I have to do all this math because they got, you know, they get the point, what, you know, what have you.
• 16:45
  SPEAKER_00: So yeah, it ended up being kind of a dramatic game to finish out the regular season.
• 16:49
  SPEAKER_00: But for UNH, uh, you're gonna look at what they've been able to do on the road this year.
• 16:53
  SPEAKER_00: Four and one in their last five road games, 11-4-2 this season on the road.
• 16:58
  SPEAKER_00: And you watch for Nina Rossi in this game.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: She finished the regular season, tied for fourth in hockey east in points, including goals in three straight games to finish out her season.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then we also have another matchup on Saturday, UVM, against Boston College.
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_00: We talked to Katie Crawley a little bit earlier on about how she had her team finish strong.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_00: That's a 1 p.m.
• 17:19
  SPEAKER_00: puck drop on Nesson Plus.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_00: And BC finished out.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they could have finished anywhere as low as fifth, but they end up winning out the final weekend.
• 17:29
  SPEAKER_00: They beat BU, they end up solidifying their spot in third place.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so they're hosting in this round.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And they've come, they're coming in on three straight wins.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_00: Going back to a win against Northeastern, that was a big confidence boost for that team.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: Because remember, Northeastern's the number one team in the conference.
• 17:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, so that that was a that was a very big one.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: And you look at their record in February, Boston College is five and two.
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_00: So that's the way you want to finish out the regular season heading into playoffs.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_00: And in that final weekend, we saw a few players stand out.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: One in particular was Emma Connor.
• 18:01
  SPEAKER_00: She's a Redshirt senior who transferred to BC from Minnesota for this season.
• 18:06
  SPEAKER_00: She had a four-point weekend.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: She's our Jersey Mike's sub-above player of the week.
• 18:10
  SPEAKER_00: And Connor scored one goal on Saturday against BU, two goals and an assist in the Friday win over UNH.
• 18:17
  SPEAKER_00: She has 21 points in her last 22 games and just received the best defensive forward award in Hockey East.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, this, by the way, is the 16th consecutive year that BC has finished at least in the top four of the hockey standings.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_01: The special teams really stood out, though, Bridget.
• 18:33
  SPEAKER_01: You were there on Saturday for that BU game.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_01: BC's power play has been sneaky good for a while here.
• 18:39
  SPEAKER_01: Their last nine games, they're 10 for 27, 37% on the power play.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_01: But it was the penalty kill on Saturday, which went six for six, after that penalty kill had struggled a little bit in some of the games before that.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_01: So now they take on this UVM team, and this becomes really interesting, right?
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_01: Because you look at where UVM is with their special teams, they've killed 21 straight penalties coming in to the playoffs.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: So how that power play versus penalty kill matchup plays out should be pretty important.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Um, UVM goes on the road.
• 19:09
  SPEAKER_01: They get two road wins in the final weekend of the season at Holy Cross and at UNH to get themselves up to the sixth seed.
• 19:16
  SPEAKER_01: Just it's been an impressive second half, generally speaking, here for the Catamouts, right?
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_01: We talked with Jim Plumer a couple of weeks ago.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_01: They end up finishing 9-4-3 in the second half of the season.
• 19:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, these two teams last played that last weekend of October, BC winning Halloween night, and then they played to a scoreless tie in the shootout in game two.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: So I think those two matchups are really intriguing.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_01: And then you have the two favorites, right?
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_01: You have UConn and you have Northeastern.
• 19:41
  SPEAKER_01: Outstanding goaltending there.
• 19:43
  SPEAKER_01: They just played each other on Friday in the final game of the regular season.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: Is that a precursor for what we might see when we talk to you next week as we're previewing the championship game?
• 19:53
  SPEAKER_01: Uh so it should be fascinating.
• 19:55
  SPEAKER_01: This time of year is always so, so special.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_01: Can't wait to see what happens on this quarterfinal Saturday.
• 20:00
  SPEAKER_01: Well, when we come back, one of the reasons this time of year is special is the Olympics.
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about that before we go.
• 20:06
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: We continue here, presented by Boston Children's Hospital, the official children's hospital of Hockey East.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_01: Boston Children's where the world comes for answers.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_01: Well, the world was all focused on Milan for the last two weeks.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And hockey certainly had a major impact on the men's and the women's hockey tournaments.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: And even a week out here, Bridget, it's it's hard not to look back and celebrate just how special a couple of weeks it was.
• 20:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it was awesome.
• 20:35
  SPEAKER_00: I feel like every time I was talking to people, I was like, oh, that person played at BC and she played at BU.
• 20:42
  SPEAKER_00: And it was just all in the conversation that we were having.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_00: So in total, when we just look at the gold medalists, 18 Olympic gold medalists in hockey played for hockey e schools.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_00: 28 were represented from hockey e schools among all of the personnel that captured gold.
• 20:58
  SPEAKER_00: So you look at what we have here, a lot, you see a lot of the BC Eagles, Terriers, uh, UMasslow.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_00: It's it's all here represented for USA, both of those teams winning gold this year at the Olympics.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And hard not to start with BC alum Megan Keller.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, we discussed her with Katie Crawley, the golden goal in the gold medal game for Team USA to beat the Canadians.
• 21:20
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, that along with Northeastern's Aaron Frankel, who stopped 97 of 99 shots across the tournament, continuing her ridiculously good play this season.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_00: She was the first woman ever to record three shutouts in the Olympics and the only goalie to ever shut out Team Canada.
• 21:36
  SPEAKER_00: So two really important players, front and center in that gold medal game, uh, both coming from Hockey East.
• 21:43
  SPEAKER_00: And also worth mentioning Hockey East referee Kelly Cook served as an official for the Women's Olympic gold medal game as well.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, that whole day of the women's gold medal game was so defined by hockey's players, right?
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: You had Frankel, you had Keller.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Even in the bronze medal game, you had Alina Mueller, who scored the game winning gold in overtime for the Swiss.
• 22:04
  SPEAKER_01: She also set the Swiss's record for all-time goals and her 16th goal of the Olympics, and she carried the flag during the closing ceremony for Switzerland.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: So that was certainly quite an honor.
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_01: And then you go over to the men's side, and Connor Hellebuck played the way he did, and Matt Boldy scored the first goal for the US, and Kale McCarr scored for Canada.
• 22:25
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it was it felt like there were hockey people everywhere.
• 22:29
  SPEAKER_01: But the thing that really kind of stands out to me was, you know, that the games happen.
• 22:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then, you know, we talked to Greg Carville this week ahead of the UMass UConn game that we have, and we talked with Mike Kavanaugh.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Um, all these coaches talked about how they were fans again, it felt like for the first time in a long time, right?
• 22:46
  SPEAKER_01: They're so focused on their jobs, their roles, everything they're doing.
• 22:50
  SPEAKER_01: But then all of a sudden, Greg Carvel, who famously, of course, you know, has his story with the 1980 game, he talked about how he can't remember the last time he was a fan like that, right?
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: And how into the game he was.
• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, Katie Crawley told you about how she's standing up, jumping up and down when Megan Keller scores that game-winning goal.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: So it really has a unique way of bringing this whole hockey world together.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_01: And especially here in Hockey East, we have so many different connections to some of the players that were playing.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: So it really was special to see.
• 23:18
  SPEAKER_01: And um, what a great tournament for the whole sport of hockey.
• 23:22
  SPEAKER_01: It was it was really fun to watch, fun for us to talk about a little bit, as these games will, with just two weekends to go on the men's side and quarterfinal Saturday coming up on the women's side.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_01: I can't wait.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's gonna be great.
• 23:32
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us on this weekend hockey.