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Can Maine take down the defending CHAMPIONS? · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:06
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome inside this episode of This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue here with Eric Galante.
• 0:11
  SPEAKER_00: And Eric, uh, we got a few games here on Nessen this week, but here to start with, we're gonna preview the game that's coming up directly after our show.
• 0:19
  SPEAKER_00: 6 p.m.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_00: puck drop between UConn and Boston College.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: These are two of the top four teams in the woman's side of Hockey East.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: They're separated by just one point in the standings coming into tonight's game.
• 0:31
  SPEAKER_00: And why don't we start with Yukon?
• 0:34
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, take us through some of the keys we're gonna need to know for this game.
• 0:37
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're excited to get back to college hockey here.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_01: Excited for the second half to begin.
• 0:41
  SPEAKER_01: Is it still, are we still able to say Happy New Year?
• 0:44
  SPEAKER_01: Are we too late?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: I don't know when the cutoff is.
• 0:46
  SPEAKER_01: So happy New Year.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_01: Um first of all, I think the big thing is that, you know, we've been talking all year about this top four in Hockey East, right?
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: And and we talked a little bit about on our last show before the holiday break that there's still enough games between these top four, right?
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: Northeastern Boston College, BU, and UConn that I don't think we're close to figuring out how these four are gonna settle in, let alone if someone wants to challenge from the back.
• 1:13
  SPEAKER_01: So these games head to head against each other are going to be crucial for how these teams are gonna play out.
• 1:20
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes it really exciting.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_01: And it makes it interesting because I think a lot of things you hear from coaches before this first game after a layoff is they're sometimes a little bit worried about that rust factor in the first period and what that might look like.
• 1:34
  SPEAKER_01: But these games are so important that it's kind of like you might get a playoff feel on the one hand and you might get a little rust on the other hand.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: So how those two things kind of play together should be sort of interesting.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Um I think with UConn, the thing that we're looking for is where is their scoring gonna be?
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_01: It felt like their offense ticked up a little bit as the first half of the season expired a little bit.
• 1:56
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, they had four goals in two of their last three games.
• 1:58
  SPEAKER_01: They'd only exceeded three goals once prior to that in the first half.
• 2:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now they played so many one goal games.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_01: They won seven of twelve one-goal games.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: Seven one goal wins as tied for the most in the country in the first half of the season.
• 2:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they've played a lot of those tough games, but a lot of them have been low-scoring Bridgets.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_01: So can they bring their offense up a little bit?
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think that'll be a really interesting thing to watch for this Yukon team.
• 2:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, one player that we have to talk about, though, who was red hot as the season went on, was Kyla Josefovic, who is our Jersey Mike's, a sub-above player of the week to watch for this week.
• 2:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, 10 points in her last seven games to end the half after just two points in her first 13 games, points in five straight to end the half, multiple points in three straight to end the half.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: She's been paired up recently with Claire Murdoch and Alard, and that combination has worked really well for UConn over this stretch.
• 2:58
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the thing I'm watching for is we know how good UConn is defensively, but where's their offense at as they enter this second half of the season?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and those are all uh, you know, fair things to look at.
• 3:08
  SPEAKER_00: We talked to head coach Chris McKenzie earlier in the week, and he told us that he likes how close these games are, but sometimes these are one-nothing losses, and so you need to get the offense going a little bit more.
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_00: But he also said the second half he'll focus on really being a lockdown defensive team as well.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_00: That's one of UConn's strengths.
• 3:27
  SPEAKER_00: It has been under him, and it has been in the past few seasons.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_00: And they're he said that he feels like they're in a good position right now to set themselves up for another deep playoff run and hopefully another Hockey East Championship for that program.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_00: And you talk about that line with Murdoch, Alard, and Joseph Ovik.
• 3:44
  SPEAKER_00: They've they've got good chemistry together this year.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_00: And Murdoch leading the team in points as a freshman, Alard leading the league in base off wins.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you just see that line with a lot of possession this season, and they're they're a go-to line for Chris McKenzie.
• 4:00
  SPEAKER_01: And there's a lot of trust with that line, right?
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_01: They're on the ice quite a bit.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_01: And I think it's gonna be interesting to see how they fare against a Boston College team, Pridgett, that you have to feel like is gonna be super motivated coming out of break.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_01: They were red hot.
• 4:13
  SPEAKER_01: They'd won 11 of 13 before that loss to Holy Cross to finish out first semester.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_01: So you you think this is gonna be a motivated Eagles team.
• 4:21
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and this is a team that has offensive threats for sure.
• 4:25
  SPEAKER_00: Sammy Tabor now in her sophomore season.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: Abby Newhook, these are players that are great playmakers and they can finish pucks.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_00: So uh they also contribute to a power play for Boston College that's gotten better throughout the year.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and Molly Jordan is also a threat, both five-on-five and on the power play.
• 4:43
  SPEAKER_00: She's an offensive-minded defenseman also in her sophomore season uh with Boston College.
• 4:48
  SPEAKER_00: So these are some players that can really facilitate the offense.
• 4:52
  SPEAKER_00: And there's some players that you the Yukon Huskies have had to game plan against because uh they know that they're they're ready to just jump on any turnovers and and they have some really good offensive minds.
• 5:04
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that power play you mentioned, I think, is gonna be interesting because we feel like it's a strength this year for BC compared to maybe the last couple of years.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_01: But Yukon did such a good job.
• 5:13
  SPEAKER_01: They only took one penalty in the first series between these two teams this year, a home and home split in November.
• 5:19
  SPEAKER_01: So if they're only taking one penalty, Boston College is not gonna have the opportunity to really show what that power play can do.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think just one final note on that Holy Cross game, it's important to look at DC had 39 shots in that game.
• 5:32
  SPEAKER_01: It's the second most they've had all year since the opener against Stonehill.
• 5:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so it wasn't for lack of chances, just a really good performance by Holy Cross, who, as we've talked about a lot on the show, has shown an ability to defeat some really big-time teams so far this year.
• 5:48
  SPEAKER_01: So I think all of these games are gonna be fascinating between these two teams.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really looking forward to uh, you know, seeing how it plays out coming up right after we're done with our show.
• 5:59
  SPEAKER_01: Boston College is gonna feature in to another Nessing game.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: It's on Sunday when they host Maine.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that.
• 6:05
  SPEAKER_01: We'll go around the women's side a little bit and then jump into some holiday tournaments here on This Week in Hockey East.
• 6:12
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to This Week in Hockey East.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: We mentioned Boston College is gonna feature into our Nesson coverage twice this week.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: They'll host Maine on Sunday on a Nesson game.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: We talked a little bit about Boston College, uh, the big one against UConn after we're done, but then they'll meet Maine coming up on Sunday, Bridget.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and they have that weird schedule where it's one day off in between, and we know that you know, sometimes coaches want to prepare like it's a Thursday because normally they're, you know, they're doing back-to-back games.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_00: It gives them a little bit of time to have some rest in between playing Maine for Boston College.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_00: But this game is important for Boston College as well.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_00: Maine is right in the middle of the pack, looking to gain ground on that top four, and they're, you know, they're right there at wanting to keep pace.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_00: But Boston College wants to keep that pairwise ranking up right now.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_00: As of this recording, they're number six in the pairwise, uh, which is the highest of any hockey east team.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_00: BU also just inside the cut in Northeastern and Yukon just outside right now.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_00: But Boston College, if you can finish in that top seven or eight teams in the pairwise, you feel pretty good that you're gonna potentially get an at-large spot in the uh women's tournament, which uh is a little bit closer than the men's.
• 7:21
  SPEAKER_00: They start uh a little bit sooner.
• 7:23
  SPEAKER_00: And so that's why this is an important game for them.
• 7:26
  SPEAKER_00: And uh just to give you a little bit more information, their special teams, BCs, power play, and penalty kill, also both in the top of the conference in both of those categories.
• 7:35
  SPEAKER_00: But let's take a look into Maine, Eric.
• 7:38
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, I want to start with just where they stand in Hockey East.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_00: They're 416-0 overall, but all four of those wins have come in Hockey East against uh opponents in the conference.
• 7:49
  SPEAKER_00: They have wins over PC, Merrimack, and two against UVM this year.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, and I think the thing that stands out for Maine is they come on the road once again.
• 7:58
  SPEAKER_01: They played a really competitive game against UConn right at the end of the first half.
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_01: They took UConn to overtime.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: It feels like we've seen some sparks, right?
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: And it'll be interesting to see as they get the second half going.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_01: We talk about the top four all the time, but there's really a jam-packed group, as you said.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a chance to move up, to move down outside of that top four, maybe even scare that top group, depending on if things go right.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_01: So it'll be really interesting to see how they fare uh as they get started here.
• 8:25
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and just to point out a few of the key players to keep an eye on for Maine.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Talk about their number one goalie in net this year.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_00: 15 starts of their 20 games, Kaya Lawton and uh she's been their go-to person in net, uh 3.46 goals against average and an 894 save percentage for her this season.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh you look to the goal scorers for this main team, Alyssa Rubble and Lily Fetch both lead Maine with five goals on the year.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_00: And then uh on the power play, it's it's been a power play that's struggled a little bit at times, just seven power play goals on this season for Maine.
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_00: But Kendall Sunby has three of those goals.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_00: She's been pretty effective on the power play.
• 9:06
  SPEAKER_00: And uh if you look into the special teams as well, PK hovering rate around 80%.
• 9:12
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, they've taken a lot of penalties this year.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_00: So uh looking for more of a clean series, uh clean game against Boston College, and then the power play at 13.5%.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_00: And and so Eric, yeah, they they're playing uh Boston College, they're playing UNH uh this weekend.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_00: And uh like, I don't remember if you said this off the top or not, but Bob Duraney and I have the call for that Sunday game on Nessend.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, excited to have Bob Duraney back on the fold and watch you guys.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the other thing that's interesting this week, with all of the odd schedules, um, Maine will play UNH in that border game on Friday, and then UNH will play Boston College next Tuesday.
• 9:50
  SPEAKER_01: So uh we might as well pull a Seinfeld here and connect all the stories together and talk about UNH a little bit.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_01: They're the five seed, right?
• 9:56
  SPEAKER_01: We just talked about it with Maine in the middle of the pack.
• 9:58
  SPEAKER_01: UNH kind of right there, too.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_01: Uh still a lot of respect for what they did last year.
• 10:03
  SPEAKER_01: They have dropped three straight to end the first half, but uh that was after a six and one stretch in November, including a win at Northeastern.
• 10:12
  SPEAKER_01: Uh you know, we've seen Blair and goal.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_01: She's been so solid her whole career, right?
• 10:17
  SPEAKER_01: And even in some of these losses, right?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: You look at her last six starts, she's only allowed seven goals total and has two shutouts.
• 10:24
  SPEAKER_01: So I think the thing we're gonna see is as much as we talk about this top four, there's a group underneath with really, really good goaltending.
• 10:32
  SPEAKER_01: You just mentioned Maine.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_01: We could talk about almost any team that has the potential to steal one night in and night out.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: And how that's gonna affect the race is gonna be really fascinating to see.
• 10:43
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and I think Sedona Blair is an X factor for that UNH team.
• 10:47
  SPEAKER_00: And I think you look at a team like Providence College, uh, their goaltending could be a factor in getting them back in uh up the standings as well, uh, with Hope Bolinski uh having a good season for them, I think.
• 10:59
  SPEAKER_00: So uh if you start to get outstanding goaltending from some of the middle of the pack teams or some teams that are a little bit behind that as well, you could see some changes in the standings and how we finish here on the women's side now that we're talking about the back half of the schedule.
• 11:15
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, excited to be there.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're still gonna stay in the holidays, though, for a minute.
• 11:19
  SPEAKER_01: A lot of holiday tournaments going on on the men's side.
• 11:22
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that when we come back.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back inside this week in Hockey East.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue here with Eric Galante.
• 11:29
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to go around Hockey East, presented by Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 11:33
  SPEAKER_00: Visit hockeyeastonline.com for your chance to win championship tickets and a two night stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: And one game we want to spotlight here, though all of uh Hockey East men this week are in non-conference play, uh, we want to spotlight one of the bigger games on the slate.
• 11:50
  SPEAKER_00: These are two top teams uh in the pairwise, you know, up there at the top of the pairwise as well as the USCHO.com poll.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_00: That's Maine against Denver uh here tonight.
• 12:01
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, such credit to Denver for doing this again.
• 12:03
  SPEAKER_01: David Carl's made a habit of coming east uh and playing some of these games, and they'll be at Maine for a two-game series.
• 12:10
  SPEAKER_01: Maine trying to bounce back after a loss to Bentley.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: They had they'd only lost the two games at BC all year, but they lose to Bentley the other day uh down in Portland.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I think a couple things that are gonna come out of that.
• 12:21
  SPEAKER_01: Number one, I think Bentley's pretty good.
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're gonna prove to be pretty good.
• 12:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and I think they'd probably be the favorites in Atlanta hockey right now.
• 12:29
  SPEAKER_01: They're up into the top 30 in the pair wise, so that's not a terrible loss for Maine, number one.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, that stands out.
• 12:36
  SPEAKER_01: But even a couple of performances in that game, right?
• 12:38
  SPEAKER_01: Harrison Scott scores two goals again.
• 12:40
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, how good has he been?
• 12:41
  SPEAKER_01: He's up to 12 goals as of this recording, tied with Ryan Leonard for the Hockey East lead, second nationally.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so he's way up there in our service credit union scoring leader race, tied with Ryan Leonard for first and goals in Hockey East.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Brandon Holt, who has been a standout, and in fact, let's call him our night shift all-academic standout this week.
• 13:02
  SPEAKER_01: He assisted on Harrison Scott's power play goal.
• 13:04
  SPEAKER_01: He has 12 assists now.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: That's second most among hockey's defenders behind only Vinnie Borghese as of this recording.
• 13:11
  SPEAKER_01: So we talked about it, but I still think we may have underrated how good Maine's first half was, Bridget.
• 13:17
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, they were just, it was only those two games against BC.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: But now, look at what they have ahead of them.
• 13:22
  SPEAKER_01: And I'm so excited to see them challenged here, right?
• 13:26
  SPEAKER_01: Two games against Denver, maybe a little shorthanded.
• 13:29
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_01: And then two on the road at Lowell.
• 13:32
  SPEAKER_01: That's their next four games.
• 13:33
  SPEAKER_01: So, what kind of main team is this going to be now that they've dropped out of that top four in the pairwise?
• 13:38
  SPEAKER_01: I'm really excited to see it.
• 13:40
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, these are the six and seven teams in the pairwise.
• 13:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Denver is an interesting story, too, because they've they've played hockey east teams already this season.
• 13:47
  SPEAKER_00: They swept northeasters and they do have a history with playing hockey east teams.
• 13:51
  SPEAKER_00: They they actually uh dropped a game to Providence College last year at PC.
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: Uh so like you said, they do like to come out east, but uh they've they're they've been an interesting store because they're so high in the pairwise, yet they're uh sixth place in their own NCHC standings.
• 14:07
  SPEAKER_00: And it's because a lot of the struggles that they've had have been within their own conference.
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_00: And Denver, Maine is definitely one to keep an eye on just because these are two top teams.
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_00: And they're teams that don't play often, so that they're not necessarily super uh frequent opponents, but they could meet in in the postseason still in the uh NCAA tournament.
• 14:29
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, there's no doubt about that.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: This should be fascinating.
• 14:31
  SPEAKER_01: A bunch of non-conference games that are really interesting.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: We'll run through those when we come back.
• 14:37
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to This Week in Hockey East.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: This segment is brought to you by Boston Children's Hospital.
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we talked about these holiday tournaments, really a lot of exciting ones.
• 14:46
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, the one that stands out is Providence, wins the Ledyard Bank Classic Up at Dartmouth Bridget, and they are now a top four pairwise team and in the driver's seat for potentially a number one seed.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: We're obviously so far away from that.
• 14:58
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, let's talk about this Friars team who just continues to uh roll along here as we start second semester.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I would say that one of their key strengths is their depth.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_00: They've been getting scoring from the first line through the fourth line.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_00: They've been having good defensive efforts.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: They have a lot of good 200-foot forwards and they have good goaltending with Phillips Fedback once again in net for the Friars this season.
• 15:20
  SPEAKER_00: They've their new additions, a few freshman new additions, have been really great for them.
• 15:24
  SPEAKER_00: They've also added to the production and some good grad transfers, uh, adding a little bit of that veteran ability to motivate.
• 15:32
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is might be the deepest team they've had in a while.
• 15:35
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, when I talked to their head coach Nate Lehman, he was uh very happy with the depth that they had.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And just the way that the team has started to click uh as a whole, and you talk about the Ladyard thing classic, though, they they win both games.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_00: They start out with a win against Northeastern 3-1 on Saturday, and then in game two, uh, they they actually were trailing early in this game to number 17, Dartmouth, who was the host team.
• 16:00
  SPEAKER_00: So you're playing them on home ice for this championship game.
• 16:04
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but the Friars were able to turn on the offense later.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: They ended up with five goals in that game.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was a 5-3 win.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: And they outshot Dartmouth pretty heavily.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, despite it being a really close game, shots were not close.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was 32 to 12.
• 16:17
  SPEAKER_00: Spedback ended up only with nine saves on the night.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: So uh that was an interesting dynamic, the way that the Friars were really getting their offense going, but had a little bit of trouble early on putting the back in the net.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: But some milestones for some of the guys as well.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: Uh freshman defenseman Alexander Bales got his first NCAA goal and point.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: And Grant Mash had a two-goal weekend, one assist as well.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: He's been playing really well.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh Poisson, Logan Will, and Chase Yoda are also tallying uh goals in that championship game.
• 16:48
  SPEAKER_00: And for the Friars, that's their seventh uh win in a row.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: So they're coming right through the break.
• 16:54
  SPEAKER_00: They've they've uh didn't lose the momentum they had at the end of the first half, and they've just kept rolling.
• 16:59
  SPEAKER_01: And remember, they did that all without Trevor Connolly this weekend, who's at World Juniors.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: So that that stands out as well.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_01: Um, a couple of other holiday tournaments that are commencing today.
• 17:08
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about expanding markets of hockey.
• 17:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we're going to Arizona and Palm Springs, California for these two hockey tournaments.
• 17:16
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, UMass is gonna play in the Desert Hockey Classic starting today, Cornell, Arizona State, and RMU.
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: And Lowell is part of this first ever Cactus Cup in Palm Springs.
• 17:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, Holy Cross, Omaha, and then Michigan Tech is the team that Lowell's gonna open with in game one.
• 17:32
  SPEAKER_01: First of all, it just great to see not just, I mean, we know the NHL's expanded to these markets, but to see college hockey expanding to these markets.
• 17:41
  SPEAKER_01: Um, for UMass, you know, they were four and two to finish the first half.
• 17:44
  SPEAKER_01: This is a chance to build some momentum going into the second half.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: I feel like they're closer to healthy and closer to getting right.
• 17:50
  SPEAKER_01: I think they're gonna have a lot to say about this hockey's race in the second half.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_01: And for Lowell, you know, the one thing that Norm Bezen told us a couple years ago, they didn't play an exhibition game coming out of the holiday break.
• 18:03
  SPEAKER_01: And they went in and they played a series against Anchorage and they got swept, and it probably cost them the NCAA tournament.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_01: And he has noted that he thought at the time that's something that they needed to adjust with their scheduling.
• 18:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they played the exhibition against Simon Fraser a couple of games ago and scored nine goals.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_01: So uh I say that to say I think their offense is going to continue to be a factor, uh, and we've talked a lot about that.
• 18:25
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm interested to see how they do play that Michigan Tech team, remember who played Boston College in the first round of the NCAA tournament last year.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, and it'll just be interesting to see how they do uh out in California in a new setting for college hockey.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: When we come back, we'll finish up with some short shifts, including a look at world juniors that's coming up on this week in Hockey East.
• 18:46
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 18:48
  SPEAKER_00: It's time for short shifts presented by the Shift Group, helping former athletes and veterans become elite business professionals.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_00: And we wanted to talk a little bit about world juniors.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: I think uh most of the hockey world has been paying attention to them this uh previous week, and especially with college hockey away, uh in between then, just good to get a little bit of extra hockey still watching some of our college players from Hockey East out there.
• 19:12
  SPEAKER_00: In particular, Team USA uh has 10 different players on the roster uh coming out of Hockey East, and they've been big parts of their team.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I thought it was so special that first game against Germany.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_01: The first six scores were all hockey school scorers.
• 19:28
  SPEAKER_01: It was pretty amazing.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, yeah, there's a lot of different ways we can go with this, and you know, we might be able to do a better recap of the tournament once it's over, but I think that, you know, it just continues to be such an amazing showcase, not just of hockey, but now of college hockey and what college hockey can bring and needs changing times.
• 19:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's a really amazing thing.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: I think the one thing, if I was, you know, trying to pull something out that could we, you know, learn something for the second half of our season, you know, of the c of the hockey season.
• 19:59
  SPEAKER_01: The one spot where Boston College has not quite clicked yet is their power play, right?
• 20:04
  SPEAKER_01: Greg Brown's been very open about that.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk more about that when VC's back at it next week.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: And we've seen Leonard Perot and Higgins not just play together on their regular line, but they've played together on the power play.
• 20:15
  SPEAKER_01: And the power plays looked pretty good for Team USA, generally speaking, through the tournament.
• 20:21
  SPEAKER_01: And you wonder if that might help them unlock something for the second half, right?
• 20:26
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm really interested to see how that potentially plays out.
• 20:30
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I think what sticks out for me about Team USA is how much uh David Kral has been leaning on the hockey East guys because you look at that top line with Hagens, Perot, and Leonard, and then you you look at the times that that all the hockey East guys seem to be getting on special teams and just how they've been uh able to really lead in production.
• 20:51
  SPEAKER_00: And then somebody like Trevor Connolly out of Providence College, when I talked to Nate Lehman, he said he wanted to see how he handled the role with fewer minutes than he gets at Providence College because now he's on a team full of some of the top players in all of college hockey.
• 21:05
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I think he's handled those minutes pretty well.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_00: He's still been able to find production uh for a team USA.
• 21:11
  SPEAKER_00: And then I don't want to neglect some of the players from Hockey East that are on the other teams either, because uh Bradley Nato from Maine is playing for Canada.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_00: Michael Robel out of UMass is in net again this year for Czech Republic.
• 21:23
  SPEAKER_00: He won a bronze medal last year with them uh in the World Junior Championship.
• 21:27
  SPEAKER_00: Sweden has Tom Willander, one of the best defensemen at Boston University.
• 21:32
  SPEAKER_00: And then Slovakia uh also has UMass player Daniel uh Jenko and uh and also give a shout out to Scott Moser, who is coaching Slovakia.
• 21:42
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he is the UVM assistant coach, so he's away from the team, uh, has been away from the team, helping out there with Slovakia.
• 21:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, can't wait to watch a couple more days of what is a fantastic tournament and can't wait to watch a bunch of hockey East games, starting with UConn and Boston College, which is up next.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: Thanks for joining us, folks, and we'll talk to you next week on This Week in Hockey East.