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HOT STARTS & EARLY-SEASON SURPRISES · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to an all-new season of this week in Hockey East Denver here with Eric Galanti.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_02: Excited to bring you the 26-27 season here on Nessin.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, excited to work with you again.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: Nice to be back.
• 0:20
  SPEAKER_02: You excited about the season?
• 0:23
  SPEAKER_01: It's been great so far.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_01: We were only a couple of weeks into the year, but there's still a lot to talk about early on in the season.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_01: So many great storylines, so many great players we're going to get to follow this year, and uh can't wait to dive in.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and I think a good place to start is with this past season's men's champions, the Merrimack Warriors, off to a pretty good start.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, what have you seen from them so far?
• 0:45
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I'm so impressed with Merrimack, and I think I just want to declare right now.
• 0:50
  SPEAKER_01: I know that Scott Boric talks all the time about how Merrimack is undervalued and Merrimack is underrated and under the radar and any other way you can say that.
• 0:59
  SPEAKER_01: We're not doing it on this show this year.
• 1:02
  SPEAKER_01: We're staking our claim right now.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: We are not going to undervalue this Merrimack team.
• 1:06
  SPEAKER_01: And how could we?
• 1:07
  SPEAKER_01: They just put up 12 goals in a two-game sweep of Minnesota State over the weekend, including eight on Saturday, scored by six different guys.
• 1:16
  SPEAKER_01: They've scored at least three goals in their first four games of the season, their top 10 in goals per game in the country so far.
• 1:23
  SPEAKER_01: And again, like I guess it's not shocking, right, Bridget?
• 1:26
  SPEAKER_01: Because they do bring back 89% of their points from last year's hockey's championship team that's tied for the most in the country.
• 1:35
  SPEAKER_01: So maybe it shouldn't be surprising that they've gotten off to such a good offensive start.
• 1:40
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, you kind of now, I don't know how much we should look back year over year, especially because there's so many new players in college hockey for each of these teams.
• 1:49
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, we were talking about it all the end of last year, right?
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_01: From December 12th on, no one won more games in the country than Merrimack from December 12th to the end of the regular season.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_01: So just carry that through, right?
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: And they're off to a three-and-one start.
• 2:02
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, uh, even in the loss, you know, scored a bunch against a Quinnipiac team who's been very good to start the season.
• 2:09
  SPEAKER_01: The obvious big question is in goal.
• 2:11
  SPEAKER_01: And it's you can't just dismiss the fact that they lost the guy who played every single minute in goal and led them to a hockey's championship, Max Lundgren.
• 2:19
  SPEAKER_01: But they really like what they have out of this freshman, Lenard Svelbergs.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_01: He's been very solid, former Latvian World Junior goalie.
• 2:27
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, even Ryan Kaiz went Saturday, made 20 saves and a win.
• 2:31
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, they were picked sixth in Hockey East, but considering how much they bring back, I'm really impressed with what I've seen so far.
• 2:39
  SPEAKER_01: Now, can they go do it against Notre Dame this weekend?
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's gonna be a big question.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see if they can back up the weekend they just had.
• 2:47
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, pick sixth in Hockey East, but you're the defending champions.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure that puts a little bit of a chip on your shoulder to want to go out there and defend your title.
• 2:54
  SPEAKER_02: And Scott Borick talked a lot last year about how he was able to get his team to mesh, kind of a group from all different places, some transfers, some guys that even played in the ECHL, freshmen, all these groups of people coming together to help form just a connected group and win that Hockey East Championship.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_02: Obviously, Lundgren was a big part of that as well.
• 3:14
  SPEAKER_02: He's with the Bruins organization now playing up in Maine in the ECHL for them.
• 3:19
  SPEAKER_02: And so Merrimack off to a good start.
• 3:21
  SPEAKER_02: Another team off to a three and one start is the BU Terriers.
• 3:25
  SPEAKER_02: They went out to start the season in Alaska.
• 3:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh seemed like a fun trip for them.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: And they were able to come away with two wins uh for them out there.
• 3:33
  SPEAKER_02: And then this past weekend, they split against Vermont.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: They actually either were tied or trailed for most of the series.
• 3:40
  SPEAKER_02: But then Ryder Ritchie, the sophomore, came in late in the game on Saturday.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: He scored the game time goal with 56 seconds left.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: And then he scored the overtime game-winning goal as well.
• 3:54
  SPEAKER_02: Just a nice move there, coming down to get BU the win in overtime, two to one.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: And we talked about last season Cole Hudson, Cole Eiserman.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_02: Those are big scorers for BU.
• 4:05
  SPEAKER_02: Who's gonna replace that scoring this year?
• 4:07
  SPEAKER_02: Ryder Richie already off to a good start there.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_02: He had a clutch goal last year in overtime against Maine.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_02: He actually had one in overtime called back as well last year.
• 4:15
  SPEAKER_02: He is a good clutch scorer.
• 4:17
  SPEAKER_02: So it was good to see him already get that under his way.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_02: He is our service credit union scoring leader for the week.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_02: And another point about this BU team, they're still the youngest team in the country.
• 4:28
  SPEAKER_02: They now have uh they got a bunch of returners back, but those guys were so young last year.
• 4:32
  SPEAKER_02: Like Tynan Lawrence is still one of the youngest players in the country.
• 4:36
  SPEAKER_02: He's still an 18-year-old sophomore.
• 4:38
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they bring in Caleb Malhotra, they bring in uh Hao Shi Wing, uh, Xavier Velneuve.
• 4:45
  SPEAKER_02: They have a really young team, but a really skilled team.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_02: And I think a guy we're gonna talk about a lot this season is the third overall pick in last year's draft, Caleb Malhotra, high hockey IQ, good two-way center uh in his freshman season.
• 5:00
  SPEAKER_02: Now his dad is the coach of the Vancouver Canucks, where he got drafted.
• 5:05
  SPEAKER_02: This is from his draft day, just an exciting time for him.
• 5:09
  SPEAKER_02: Really nice kid, too.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_02: And I think he's gonna start scoring more as we see the season go on.
• 5:15
  SPEAKER_02: But how she wang, 6'6, 230-pound defenseman from Beijing, uh, paired with Aiden Celebrini.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's gonna be a pair we look at as well.
• 5:24
  SPEAKER_02: And then Xavier Veleneuve, kind of a small defenseman.
• 5:28
  SPEAKER_02: We've seen those small mobile defensemen work well with BU before uh good vision, and he's somebody that's gonna add something from the back end there, and then Tynan Lawrence, Mikel Ugorov, some of the key returners this season.
• 5:42
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, like it I I don't want to be hyperbolic early in the season, but like does that Ryder Richie five-minute stretch save BU's season?
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_01: You know, like you lose Friday too.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_02: That is hyperbolic.
• 5:53
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, but I mean, like, you lose Friday to Vermont, and then Saturday, you know, if if you don't score those goals, all of a sudden you're facing a sweep at Vermont.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: You mentioned that young team effect.
• 6:03
  SPEAKER_01: Maybe it's not save their season, but boy, like you talk about a fork in the road momentum-wise, early in the year.
• 6:10
  SPEAKER_01: Like, that's a really clutch couple of goals from Ryder Richie.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_01: So that was exciting to see.
• 6:15
  SPEAKER_01: And especially when, like, I think there's a lot to like about Vermont, especially in their goaltending room.
• 6:19
  SPEAKER_01: Like, you know, Jacob Oster got hurt early last year.
• 6:22
  SPEAKER_01: Surgery knocked him out for the season.
• 6:24
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he comes in.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, this is a reigning, you know, guy who was an OHL goalie the year in 2024.
• 6:29
  SPEAKER_01: You still have Aiden Wright, who played a lot last year, more than they probably wanted him to.
• 6:34
  SPEAKER_01: You brought in Dylan Silverstein from Quinnipiax.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: So there's a lot in that room.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, it'll be interesting to watch that play out.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: Vermont was certainly impressive taking four or six points from BU.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_01: I think just one more before we go, Bridget.
• 6:46
  SPEAKER_01: We were, you know, in Amherst on Saturday watching Northeastern.
• 6:50
  SPEAKER_01: How about Sam Caulfield as a freshman goalie?
• 6:52
  SPEAKER_01: You know, Lawton Zaccher is out after a goalie interference call and a minor penalty on Friday.
• 6:57
  SPEAKER_01: So he's forced to leave the game.
• 6:58
  SPEAKER_01: Upper body injury.
• 6:59
  SPEAKER_01: We don't know how long that's gonna be.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: And Sam Caulfield comes in and was just great against UMass.
• 7:05
  SPEAKER_01: He makes 34 saves in the win.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_01: Northeastern was down a couple of guys.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're gonna talk a lot about this season for Northeastern, obviously the circumstances they're dealing with, but boy, they were impressive on Saturday, a two-and-one start for them.
• 7:18
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see them next week on Nesson against Boston College.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm looking forward to tracking that story as well.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_02: But we get a lot more to come as well to get into, Eric.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_02: And coming up next, we'll sit down with the Commissioner of Hockey East, Steve Metcalf.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_02: So stay here on this week in Hockey East.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: The 2026-27 season marks the 25th anniversary of the Hockey East Women's League.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_01: 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.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: 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.
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_01: Now back to the show.
• 8:05
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 8:08
  SPEAKER_02: We're now going to be joined by the Hockey East Commissioner, Steve Metcalf.
• 8:12
  SPEAKER_02: So welcome in, Steve.
• 8:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh we are happy to have you.
• 8:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh exciting season upcoming, including the woman's 25th anniversary.
• 8:22
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, it's uh what a great um thing to celebrate.
• 8:27
  SPEAKER_00: You know, um 25 years of great women's hockey in Hockey East, and kind of this this project has has helped us go back and and look at some of the names and the players and the memories.
• 8:39
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, it's been kind of just a fun discussion in the office, just even talking about it.
• 8:44
  SPEAKER_00: Um but then we you know we did jersey patches, helmet stickers, we made a logo.
• 8:49
  SPEAKER_00: But most importantly, and I think most impactfully, we're doing uh a video series on the history uh of the league, uh talking to former players, talking to coaches, uh even uh broadcasters, um administrators.
• 9:02
  SPEAKER_00: And so I think our our plan is uh I think either four or five part video series that will be coming out, and uh we're really excited to do that.
• 9:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, that'll be great.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, we've seen the growth of the league here, even in just the last five years, where players now uh come in and try to make their way into the PWHL since that has become a thing.
• 9:22
  SPEAKER_02: So it'll be exciting to see kind of the progression from when that first year started to now.
• 9:28
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so any specific um dates we need to put on our calendar in terms of celebrating this?
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_00: Well, I I I think the the um you know, Alison Yah putting together the video, um, I'm sure they're anxious to get the first part out, and uh, but they're also anxious not to tell me what that date is.
• 9:48
  SPEAKER_00: So then I'll be hassling them for uh, you know, if they're gonna be if they're gonna be done on time or when we're gonna do the next one.
• 9:55
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I think you know, we've got we've got almost all the video content we need.
• 10:00
  SPEAKER_00: And so now it's just you know putting putting it together.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: And I I guess I anticipate it'll be out here, you know, in the next couple of weeks, the first episode at least.
• 10:09
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, we're looking forward to seeing that.
• 10:11
  SPEAKER_01: You know, big topic of conversation right now on the men's side is the non-conference results that we've seen out of hockey so far.
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_01: I think most people know that directly affects where leagues are stacked in the NPI and before that, pairwise before the end of the year.
• 10:27
  SPEAKER_01: I've been really impressed, Steve, with how much coaches are talking about it.
• 10:31
  SPEAKER_01: Coaches are aware of it, and coaches are aware that last year was obviously a little disappointing in October, and even with a strong December and January, you couldn't quite make up that ground.
• 10:41
  SPEAKER_01: You know, kind of give us a sense of where you feel like the league is versus some of the other conferences and and the buy-in as well from the coaches and understanding this is a whole group effort as a league.
• 10:53
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, look, um, you know, I think we all know uh how very important these non-conference games are.
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_00: And, you know, um, there's been a couple nights so far, you know, at this early part of the season when I've been delighted to look at the scoreboard, and then there's been a couple nights when I'm looking at the scoreboard, and you know, I'm I'm the opposite of delighted.
• 11:14
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but I know, you know, to your point, like our coaches know this, they understand it, they uh they're supporting each other uh and rooting for each other because they know you know the impact that it's got on all of us.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: Um you know, the non-conference records, especially when you've got some really good strength of schedule games on your schedule, those are just so critical.
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't matter whether the game is played in October or February, you know, it's uh it's just all part of the MPI math, as you know, Eric, at the end of the year.
• 11:44
  SPEAKER_00: And so I do find myself like obviously watching the school board closely, but you know, just trying to remember like there's still a lot of hockey to be played.
• 11:51
  SPEAKER_00: We've played like uh, you know, a small percentage of our non-conference games, but you know, and in some of these weekends coming up, uh, we've just got you know big time series against um you know big, big, big, highly ranked teams out west, and and these games are obviously very important.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: I promised Bridget I wouldn't talk about the MBI until Thanksgiving, but it does sort of, you know, that this time of year does end up affecting stuff, Bridget.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, yeah, I knew you were gonna get there.
• 12:19
  SPEAKER_02: I I wasn't fooled.
• 12:20
  SPEAKER_02: I knew you were gonna talk about it, but so Steve, another thing that's changed this year, there's quite a few rule changes, both on the men's and the women's side.
• 12:28
  SPEAKER_02: I guess we'll start with the women's, they have their own separate rules governance uh this season.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_02: What impact do you think that will have?
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, so that this all was born out of the the fact that um you know men men's and women's hockey, well, I'll start on the men's side and it and I'll kind of explain how how we got to the separate rule books.
• 12:48
  SPEAKER_00: But um, as I think you know, like in some sports, many sports at the end sub-lay, they got these oversight committees at the Division I level.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_00: And and so men's hockey, you know, um got an oversight committee, uh, that's the name of it, but they have more autonomy to make decisions for men's hockey without going through multiple layers uh above them, multiple you know, committees.
• 13:09
  SPEAKER_00: And this is part of a you know kind of an overhaul of streamlining of the governance process at the NCAA.
• 13:14
  SPEAKER_00: And so the women's hockey has their own uh you know separate women's hockey committee.
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_00: And then kind of born out of this was um instead of having one combined rules committee, let's have a you know rules committee for men's own women's hockey, and then kind of an offshoot of that, like, oh, let's talk about uh separating the rules, if you will.
• 13:35
  SPEAKER_00: The men uh have you know gradually, slowly but surely, they've moved some of their rules more in line with the NHL, which is exactly what the coaches want.
• 13:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then on the women's side, there's always been you know this um discussion about physical play and and body checking and and and you know, where's the line there?
• 13:55
  SPEAKER_00: And that's garnered a lot more conversation now the PW is up and running, and obviously they've got quite a bit of physical play in their league, and and they've got some rules that are unique to uh the PW in women's hockey.
• 14:06
  SPEAKER_00: So I think it's been it's been really good.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_00: I think men's hockey coaches and women's hockey coaches are both happy with the way this has gone.
• 14:13
  SPEAKER_00: Um, but it's all been part of like this new governance structure, which I think is also gonna serve you know hockey uh much better than the old one.
• 14:23
  SPEAKER_01: You you mentioned it about on the men's side kind of matching up more and more to the NHL.
• 14:28
  SPEAKER_01: And you know, as we're gonna talk about right, the number of draft picks in college hockey and the pipeline and all that stuff, it it does feel like that's a really maybe under the radar piece, but important piece.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: We had a lot of rule changes this year.
• 14:39
  SPEAKER_01: Usually we printed out it's a page long the differences this year.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: This year it's 14 pages long, the differences in the rule book from from last year.
• 14:47
  SPEAKER_01: But you know, how important is that from a big picture standpoint, whether it's the face-off dates down on the ice, whether it's possession into the zone, the track so I rule beyond.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_01: How important is even these little things trying to match up with the NHL as much as possible to help college hockey as a pipeline?
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: Well, you know, um I think like I said, the the the coaches are very interested in aligning the rules with with the with the NHL, but but I think most importantly the players.
• 15:14
  SPEAKER_00: Let the players aspire to play in the NHL.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_00: They're all aspiring to play at that level or at least play pro hockey.
• 15:21
  SPEAKER_00: And so having the rules more aligned just just makes sense.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_00: And it's you know, whether you're trying to um, you know, uh coach uh coach players and play the game, like that the rules are gonna make sense, um, and they're gonna be more in line with you know what the uh what the highest level is doing, the NHL.
• 15:42
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, the NHL I think has been great partners with college hockey and like explaining why they've made some of their rule changes and they've they have a lot of data points um and can offer counsel on you know what why something has been good or or maybe not good.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: And uh so college hockey's benefit from that guidance.
• 16:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and obviously a lot of guys go on to go to the NHL.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_02: I'm sure it's exciting for you to watch draft nights, see some of the guys that are coming into hockey east go really high in the draft.
• 16:14
  SPEAKER_02: We have a few uh this season, if you could comment quickly on what draft night's like for you and how proud you are when you see that happen.
• 16:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
• 16:21
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, draft night, um, look, always excited to see hockey players get drafted or or guys that are coming into the league.
• 16:28
  SPEAKER_00: Um, you know, and and this year was a was a huge year for college hockey.
• 16:32
  SPEAKER_00: 19 of the of the uh 32 that went in the first round are going to play college hockey, and obviously a number of them are coming to hockey east.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And um, you know, sometimes these these high round uh picks, you know, they're only in the league a short amount of time, but uh it still doesn't mean they're we're not super proud of them and we you know we follow their career.
• 16:50
  SPEAKER_00: Uh just Monday night I was in Toronto for uh some meetings and I went to see San Jose Sharks uh play the Maple Leafs, and and sure enough, I see uh celebrities and Will Smith.
• 17:00
  SPEAKER_00: I'm like, hey, what's up guys?
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_00: Good luck.
• 17:02
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, you know, that's pretty cool.
• 17:05
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, no, it's cool to see them.
• 17:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's cool to see the new guys coming in.
• 17:09
  SPEAKER_02: Also, I know something that's like your baby is the Spangler Cup.
• 17:12
  SPEAKER_02: You guys are going back again this year.
• 17:14
  SPEAKER_02: Uh what are you what are your thoughts on that?
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: Getting to go again to out to Switzerland.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I mean, this has been um this has been incredible so far.
• 17:24
  SPEAKER_00: You know, we we we obviously uh had some success last year with our team, like you know, basically a college hockey all-star team.
• 17:31
  SPEAKER_00: Uh great experience for everyone involved and uh you know got ourselves to the championship game.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_00: And so we got uh invited back uh you know for the next two years, and then you know, and hopefully those invites will continue.
• 17:42
  SPEAKER_00: But for the next two years, um, you know, an invite is there to go back.
• 17:46
  SPEAKER_00: So we've started building the team.
• 17:48
  SPEAKER_00: I think we've probably announced, I'm gonna say approximately half of our 25-man roster.
• 17:54
  SPEAKER_00: Um, a couple more uh players, you know, just getting announced every couple days as we talk to coaches.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: And um I think all the players, you know, when they get the call or they get the an opportunity to join the team, they're they're excited.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I've been excited for them to have that experience because I know how much fun they're gonna have.
• 18:12
  SPEAKER_00: And and being with you know such great hockey players uh even for a short time is is just a great, great experience.
• 18:19
  SPEAKER_00: And you know, I think the get kind of the offshoot of this is I've ended up talking to some coaches all over the country and and not just about their players, but just talking about college hockey, the Insible A tournament, TV, things, you know, things we could do to collectively grow our game.
• 18:36
  SPEAKER_00: And uh that's been kind of a fun um, you know, fun uh benefit of uh of just talking to coaches that you might not normally talk to.
• 18:45
  SPEAKER_02: Well, thank you so much, Steve, for joining us today, talking about all of that.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_02: We do have a lot of show uh still to come.
• 18:51
  SPEAKER_02: We're gonna look ahead of the standout moments and players on the women's side so far this season.
• 18:56
  SPEAKER_02: That's coming up next on This Week in Hockey East.
• 18:58
  SPEAKER_01: Friday Night Hockey East Don Nesson returns this week as seventh ranked Providence visits UMass Lowell in Hockey East action.
• 19:06
  SPEAKER_01: Join me and Jim Connolly at 7 p.m.
• 19:08
  SPEAKER_01: from the Sangha Center as the Friars and Riverhawks play their first conference games of the season and begin the chase for the Lamarillo trophy.
• 19:19
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
• 19:20
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we're already into the woman's season, about a month in.
• 19:24
  SPEAKER_02: And so let's go through some of the key moments and players that have stood out so far.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_02: Eric, what do you think stands out to you?
• 19:32
  SPEAKER_01: I think it's Boston College.
• 19:34
  SPEAKER_01: I think this is a different-looking BC team, and we're gonna really see it this weekend, right?
• 19:39
  SPEAKER_01: Because they get two against Cornell over the weekend, who's ranked, and then Man Cato on the back end of them playing in the icebreaker on Monday at that's an 11 a.m.
• 19:46
  SPEAKER_01: game.
• 19:47
  SPEAKER_01: But, you know, we saw them last Wednesday in that game against Merrimack with Courtney Kennedy coming back to coach against Katie Crawley for the first time.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_01: And the chemistry of those top couple of lines really jumps out, right?
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_01: We all know what Ava Thomas is, but now you put her with Callie Rice, who's a transfer from St.
• 20:03
  SPEAKER_01: Thomas, who just had two assists last year.
• 20:05
  SPEAKER_01: She already has four goals and five points this year.
• 20:08
  SPEAKER_01: You put her with Sarah Powers, who's a freshman from Phillips Andover.
• 20:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh Katie Crawley talked about she just creates chaos and takes pressure off of Ava Thomas in the offensive zone.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_01: It's a good combination because Rice and Thomas, you can flip the left-right on the face-off so they can split that.
• 20:24
  SPEAKER_01: Then you go to Max Tremblay, who had a nice year last year, really good goal against Merrimack, and you put her with two freshmen, Jillian Klein and Mila Edvani, who were together at Shattock the last couple of years.
• 20:37
  SPEAKER_01: So they have a built-in chemistry.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: Those lines were really gelling early in the season.
• 20:43
  SPEAKER_01: And again, it's early.
• 20:45
  SPEAKER_01: I think we're gonna see um this weekend against Cornell Bridget, but that was I was really impressed with the depth I saw out of BC.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: And that was without Sammy Tabor, right?
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: BC's really only had one bad period the whole year of the first period against Providence.
• 20:57
  SPEAKER_01: So I'm I'm very interested to see what we get from the Eagles this weekend.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_02: And I think also Northeastern, it feels like every year, but they're a top 10 ranked team again, and they're off to a good start as well.
• 21:09
  SPEAKER_02: You talk about, you know, Ava Thomas for BC had a great rookie year last year.
• 21:14
  SPEAKER_02: Well, so did Striker Zablockey she was the hockey east player of the year as a rookie, already got three game-winning goals through four games this year.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_02: And then they add Ivana Way, another one of these Swiss players down the pipeline that played in the Olympics and won a bronze medal, uh, playing with Alessia Beckler, who's also on the team, and Alina Mueller, who uh was on, uh was a prolific player in Northeastern history.
• 21:37
  SPEAKER_02: And then they bring back Lisa Junson, one of the best goalies in the country.
• 21:40
  SPEAKER_02: So you kind of see the the offensive pieces are there, the goaltending is there, and right now they're number four in the USCHO poll.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: That's a good weekend against Quinnipia.
• 21:50
  SPEAKER_01: That's a hard weekend.
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: Quinnipiac had scored 25 goals in their first five games.
• 21:54
  SPEAKER_01: Northeastern held them to three for the weekend.
• 21:56
  SPEAKER_01: That's that's a pretty impressive result.
• 21:59
  SPEAKER_02: And also this weekend, a tournament here in Boston.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_02: BU is hosting number 12 Yale on Friday at seven.
• 22:06
  SPEAKER_02: The other two teams in that tournament are Minnesota State and Robert Morris.
• 22:11
  SPEAKER_02: So that'll be hosted at Walter Brown Arena.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_02: Interesting to see what BU can do.
• 22:15
  SPEAKER_02: They've played some really hard opponents.
• 22:17
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they've lost to Colgate, they've lost to Wisconsin, but those were tough teams.
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see how they do against another ranked team in Yale on Friday, and then maybe in the championship game on Saturday.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_02: When we come back, we will wrap it up with our preview of tonight's game that is Providence versus UMaslow when we come back.
• 22:37
  SPEAKER_01: This week in Hockey East is brought to you in part by Venoustis Heated Apparel, the official Heated Apparel partner of Hockey East.
• 22:44
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• 23:01
  SPEAKER_01: Now back to the show.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_02: Well, this week we have some Friday night Hockey East on Ness in our feature game, Providence Against U Maslow, 7 p.m.
• 23:12
  SPEAKER_02: at the Sangha Center.
• 23:13
  SPEAKER_02: Let's start with PC, Eric.
• 23:15
  SPEAKER_02: What do you expect?
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, this thing's interesting, right, with Providence because they had such a good second half to the season last year and obviously just came up a little bit short in the playoffs.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: But Nate Lehman is really trying to use that as motivation and really as a learning lesson more than anything to try to carry that over with this group because they do bring a decent amount back.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_01: They're three and oh to start the year.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_01: They've done what they're supposed to do, but that was a gritty win against Union.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_01: They had to come back in that game, and you know, they have the you know OT winner against Union to start 3-0.
• 23:45
  SPEAKER_01: Couple of guys who you're hoping make that jump from freshman to sophomore year, right?
• 23:49
  SPEAKER_01: Jonathan Fauchon has points in all three games.
• 23:52
  SPEAKER_01: He had the tying goal late against Union.
• 23:54
  SPEAKER_01: Julius Sumpf was the first hockeys player of the week, six assists over the first weekend against St.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_01: Lawrence and Clarkson.
• 24:02
  SPEAKER_01: Um, so can those guys keep taking the jump, right?
• 24:04
  SPEAKER_01: I think that's gonna be really important.
• 24:06
  SPEAKER_01: As for Lowell, you know, just a one and three start, but they've generated a lot of offense and it's been impressive.
• 24:11
  SPEAKER_01: Their expected goals offensively is higher than what they've they've scored so far.
• 24:16
  SPEAKER_01: So can they keep doing that?
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_01: Really interesting game.
• 24:19
  SPEAKER_01: Hope you can join us on Friday.
• 24:21
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, goaltending, gonna be a story as well, right?
• 24:24
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Jack Parsons, Gibson, Homer.
• 24:26
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the goaltenders for PC this year, Nate Lehman saying he's very comfortable with both guys.
• 24:31
  SPEAKER_02: So I wonder if they'll split the weekend or if we see one in both of those games.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Homer Gibson, a new addition as a uh grad transfer out of North Dakota, very athletic, goalie.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_02: Jack Parsons kind of saved the season last year once Fedback got hurt.
• 24:46
  SPEAKER_02: So that is coming up on Friday night hockey east on Ness.
• 24:50
  SPEAKER_02: I want to say thank you to our listeners for today and say, enjoy this Hockey East matchup.