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Top 10 Draft Picks Join Hockey East for the Second Half - This Week in Hockey East · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:07
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome into this episode of This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:10
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue alongside Eric Galanti.
• 0:13
  SPEAKER_00: We have a lot to talk about after a long break in the second half, getting underway for both the men and the woman.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_00: And later on, we'll be joined by UConn's Joey Moldowney, who just came back from playing in the Spangler Cup in Switzerland.
• 0:25
  SPEAKER_00: But Eric, it's nice to be back with you.
• 0:27
  SPEAKER_00: The break's finally over.
• 0:29
  SPEAKER_00: And I think it's a good time to re-rack and let everybody know where things stand.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: We'll start by looking at the men's hockey east standings just so that we can get into uh where everything is right now in the men's side of Hockey East.
• 0:42
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, we're past the statute of limitations on when we can still say Happy New Year, but happy second half to everybody.
• 0:47
  SPEAKER_02: And thanks for being back with us.
• 0:49
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is where we are, right?
• 0:51
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Yukon and Boston College have sort of separated a little bit, right, as we restart.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_02: 22, 21 points.
• 0:57
  SPEAKER_02: BC does have a game in hand in Hockey East.
• 1:00
  SPEAKER_02: And then you kind of have this chunk, just four points from Boston University at three all the way down to Merrimack at the eight spot.
• 1:08
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot still to sort out.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_02: There's some really good teams in that six, seven, you know, eight range there.
• 1:15
  SPEAKER_02: And then it's still kind of crazy to see UMass at 11 because I don't think we've we've heard the last of UMass this year.
• 1:21
  SPEAKER_02: So you look at that and you look at where Maine is and you look at where Providence is, and that's going to be our game to watch on Friday and Friday Night Hockey East on Nesson when we return at Schneider Arena.
• 1:32
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Maine coming off their biggest, most important weekend of the season against a Providence team.
• 1:37
  SPEAKER_02: Bridget trying to bounce back.
• 1:39
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, we'll start off with Maine here.
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh they finished off the second half on a three-game win streak, and they got off to a good start to their second half as well.
• 1:47
  SPEAKER_00: They've got two games under their belt in 2026, both at Denver.
• 1:51
  SPEAKER_00: So kind of a far away on the road.
• 1:52
  SPEAKER_00: They had a five to two win in that Friday night game, a shootout win, uh tie plus a shootout win in that Saturday game.
• 1:59
  SPEAKER_00: And there were a few key contributors that if they start to get going, could really change things for Maine in the second half.
• 2:06
  SPEAKER_00: And one of those guys is Thomas Pachette, uh Maine sophomore.
• 2:10
  SPEAKER_00: He had a great game in the Friday night game, two goals and an assist, his first three-point game of his career and his first multi-point game of the season for Maine.
• 2:18
  SPEAKER_00: He's our service credit union scoring leader from last week.
• 2:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Ben Barr told me yesterday, he said, when his line is going, it changes the dynamic of our team.
• 2:28
  SPEAKER_00: Knowing that you can put that line out against the fourth line, the top line, it adds depth when that line is going.
• 2:34
  SPEAKER_00: So if you can get guys like Thomas Bachet going in the second half, add that to what Poirier's been doing, add that to what some of the defensemen have been doing as well.
• 2:42
  SPEAKER_00: It could help them.
• 2:44
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think it's hard to state how big a weekend that was for Maine.
• 2:49
  SPEAKER_02: You know, even beyond the yes, you beat Denver, that's impressive to begin with, and then you back it up with a tie.
• 2:55
  SPEAKER_02: But in just those games, Maine went from out of the conversation, I mean out of the conversation.
• 3:00
  SPEAKER_02: They were 36 in the NPI.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_02: They're now 22nd.
• 3:04
  SPEAKER_02: So they're not in yet, but they are back in the conversation, and they have a chance to go on a run.
• 3:09
  SPEAKER_02: And the biggest thing is that it feels like Albin Boya is back to being Albin Boya.
• 3:15
  SPEAKER_02: And as good as Mattis Russo was a couple of times filling in, Maine needs Boya to be Boya, right?
• 3:20
  SPEAKER_02: And we know what he's capable of being.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_02: And it was just kind of odd to see him not putting up the numbers that we were used to the last couple of years, but we know how good a goalie he was.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_02: You know, a shutout of Lyndon Wood to end the first half.
• 3:32
  SPEAKER_02: Maybe that built some momentum for him.
• 3:34
  SPEAKER_02: And then he had a really strong weekend.
• 3:36
  SPEAKER_02: I thought most notably was the six saves and overtime against Denver on Saturday to salvage the tie uh for Maine, which obviously jumps them up in the NPI.
• 3:47
  SPEAKER_02: But, you know, they're in this spot.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_02: Providence is in this spot, which you'll talk about.
• 3:50
  SPEAKER_02: It feels like these two coaches, as much as any, have just talked about, we've just been inconsistent.
• 3:55
  SPEAKER_02: And we can find that inconsistency.
• 3:57
  SPEAKER_02: We'll be in a good place, but we have to find it.
• 3:59
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, Providence kind of experienced that over the weekend.
• 4:03
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they did.
• 4:04
  SPEAKER_00: And it's one of those things because we're just coming back from break two, there's just some rust that you see.
• 4:09
  SPEAKER_00: And I think that's something that Providence experienced last weekend.
• 4:12
  SPEAKER_00: Nate Lehman said he wasn't happy really with the Friday game, despite them getting the five to two win.
• 4:18
  SPEAKER_00: Was happier with the Saturday game, which was a 5-1 loss both to Alaska Fairbanks.
• 4:22
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and so it it was kind of a tough re-entry into the season.
• 4:26
  SPEAKER_00: He says coming back from break, it almost feels like coming back to ground zero.
• 4:31
  SPEAKER_00: And he also told me uh before break, I thought we were in a really good place as a team.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: I thought we had guys playing well, including our young guys, and I thought that we were forming an identity and thought that Phillips Fedback was really excellent and maybe emerging as the top goalie in the league.
• 4:46
  SPEAKER_00: But unfortunately, Eric PC suffered a few major injuries in the in that series, including Sfedback, who went down awkwardly, got landed on in a scrum in the crease.
• 4:57
  SPEAKER_00: And uh, so that would be a big loss for PC because he's been one of the top goalies in the conference.
• 5:02
  SPEAKER_00: He's got a 930 save percentage, uh 1.83 goals against average, which is second best in hockey east in both categories.
• 5:10
  SPEAKER_00: That's in conference games.
• 5:11
  SPEAKER_00: And so we might see Jack Parsons this weekend if that uh indeed is uh an injury that keeps him out.
• 5:18
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and they like Parsons as a freshman coming from the Chicago Steels.
• 5:21
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot to like about him.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_02: They do trust him, but obviously with how well he was playing, that is a significant thing.
• 5:26
  SPEAKER_02: The the bigger thing was just the power play, just one for nine and that loss on Saturday.
• 5:30
  SPEAKER_02: So that's something that uh Providence is going to try to work on.
• 5:34
  SPEAKER_02: The other game we have for you on Saturday, big return of things here for college hockey on Nesson, Lowell and Yukon and Lowell going out to California and coming off.
• 5:44
  SPEAKER_02: I know they lost Saturday, but a really big win on Friday as they upset Minnesota State.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they they had a great tournament out there, the Cactus Cup.
• 5:52
  SPEAKER_00: And uh when I talked to Norm Bayzin, he talked about the second half.
• 5:56
  SPEAKER_00: He said, for us it's all about getting a reset.
• 5:58
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, thought that there they had too many weekends in the first half where they were winning one of the two games, not both.
• 6:04
  SPEAKER_00: Mercyhurst was the only weekend that they got a sweep, so we wanted to see more of that in the second half.
• 6:09
  SPEAKER_00: And Dylan Bentley is somebody that could be big for them this weekend.
• 6:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, he's somebody that even Coach Kavanaugh from UConn brought up.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_00: He said, This guy's one of the hottest players, so we have to know where he is on the ice at all times when we play Lowell this weekend.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I think that, you know, for Lowell, it was the it was these crazy numbers where you'd see in their wins they were averaging like five goals a game, and in their losses, they were averaging like one.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_02: So just finding that consistency, which again has been such a conversation.
• 6:35
  SPEAKER_02: Yukon maybe has been the most consistent team in Hockey East so far.
• 6:39
  SPEAKER_02: They really don't have a bad loss on their resume if you kind of look of it like a college basketball resume.
• 6:44
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they've only lost one game in regulation since November 8th, maybe still a little under the radar nationally, but they're in pole position for Hockey East and the NPI right now.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_02: Uh Tyler Muslick's been awesome this year at kind of picking up and being the number one guy after splitting time last year with Callum Tongue.
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_02: So it's been really fun to watch UConn.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_02: We're going to talk more about the Huskies with one of their leaders, Joey Muldowney.
• 7:07
  SPEAKER_02: That is coming up next.
• 7:08
  SPEAKER_02: Stay with us for that ahead of a big weekend for UConn against Lowell.
• 7:11
  SPEAKER_02: That's next on this week in Hockey East.
• 7:14
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 7:16
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to go around Hockey East, presented by Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_00: Plan your getaway today at bostonharborotel.com and experience Boston's best waterfront views.
• 7:25
  SPEAKER_00: It's time for us to talk to Yukon forward Joey Moldowney.
• 7:28
  SPEAKER_00: And Eric, we wanted to get a chance to talk to him about his experience at the Spangler Cup.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_00: A little bit more about Yukon.
• 7:34
  SPEAKER_00: Anything you wanted to say before we get to Joey?
• 7:37
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, really excited to have this conversation.
• 7:39
  SPEAKER_02: Yukon went on such a great run last year.
• 7:41
  SPEAKER_02: It was so much fun to watch.
• 7:42
  SPEAKER_02: And uh the Spangler Cup was kind of the talk of the hockey world for a couple days there in December.
• 7:47
  SPEAKER_02: So it should be fun.
• 7:48
  SPEAKER_00: All right, let's bring in Joey Muldowney from UConn.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_00: And that is where we wanted to start, Joey.
• 7:54
  SPEAKER_00: We wanted to ask you about what it was like going over there to Switzerland for the Spangler Cup.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_00: Is this something you've done before?
• 8:01
  SPEAKER_00: Is it unlike any experience that you had?
• 8:03
  SPEAKER_00: Just take us through what that was like for you.
• 8:06
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, no, I mean, um, I've never been over to Europe before.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so this was definitely something new.
• 8:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I've never had the chance to really represent, I guess, the US and that in a sense.
• 8:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, I know we had some uh Canadians and the Slovakian on our team, but it was still um, you know, still very cool to be able to do that.
• 8:28
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and I mean it was it was an unbelievable experience.
• 8:33
  SPEAKER_02: Joey, I mean, from you know, looking at the clips of the atmosphere from the building itself, which looked pretty cool, to, you know, even just the run that you guys went on, you know, beating the hosts, you know, playing a tough game against Canada, all these things.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_02: What did you feel like you guys proved as a group about college hockey?
• 8:50
  SPEAKER_02: I know it's not fully about that, but I imagine that had to be some of the motivation.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_02: What was kind of your takeaways there and what you felt like you guys were able to accomplish as a group?
• 8:58
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, I feel like there was a lot of unknown going into uh the tournament.
• 9:03
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I know that you know it was a big question if we were going to be able to compete with the pros over there and and uh keep up with them, but I think honestly we we pushed the pace for those older guys.
• 9:15
  SPEAKER_01: Um that was kind of our goal, is you know, they wanted to slow the game down.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: Um and we just wanted to push the pace, push the tempo, and play as fast as we possibly could, just because we had the younger, more conditioned edge, I think.
• 9:30
  SPEAKER_01: So um, and then in terms of just college hockey, I think that you know, I I believe the tournament was streamed across like 20 countries or something like that.
• 9:40
  SPEAKER_01: So um to show what level college hockey is at, and um, you know, in terms of what you know, comparing it to pro hockey in Switzerland and some of those other other leagues that played and participated, um, it just opened up the eyes for more young kids.
• 9:57
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, maybe have college hockey be an option for them.
• 10:02
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and you talk about how maybe it was an advantage for you guys to be a little bit younger, a little bit faster, but what was it like playing against pros?
• 10:10
  SPEAKER_00: Do you think that it helps you guys that that got to experience that maybe understand a little bit more about what you might be going against once you graduate?
• 10:19
  SPEAKER_00: What just what was it like compared to what you see day-to-day in the NCAA?
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, those guys are they're men, right?
• 10:26
  SPEAKER_01: Like the average age on those teams are probably 30 years old.
• 10:29
  SPEAKER_01: Um, and there's a lot of guys in that team that have played hundreds of games in the National Hockey League.
• 10:34
  SPEAKER_01: So, I mean, they're just you know bigger, faster.
• 10:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um they're strong.
• 10:40
  SPEAKER_01: They're super strong in the puck.
• 10:42
  SPEAKER_01: Their details are um, you know, sharp.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_01: So it's it was uh a learning thing, right?
• 10:48
  SPEAKER_01: Like you, it was also, yeah, it was an opportunity to be an observer and kind of compare yourself and see where you're at, right?
• 10:55
  SPEAKER_01: Like for me as a younger, um, you know, smaller guy, like I know I gotta, I gotta get in the gym, right?
• 11:01
  SPEAKER_01: Like I gotta get stronger on the puck, I gotta make faster plays, I gotta do a lot of things, right?
• 11:07
  SPEAKER_01: So um it was definitely uh a great experience in the sense of you know evaluate evaluating yourself and um maybe some stuff that you need to prove, improve um to play at the pro level.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_02: You know, Joey, speaking of that, you it kind of ties into everything we're talking about.
• 11:25
  SPEAKER_02: Take us through the decision for you to come back and play another year at UConn and you know, what was kind of the biggest things for you and wanting to give it another go?
• 11:35
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's college, right?
• 11:36
  SPEAKER_01: Like it's it's fun.
• 11:38
  SPEAKER_01: You know, I'm when I never rushed to juniors, I played and graduated high school um at my uh school in Buffalo uh when I was 17, 18 years old, and then went and played juniors, right?
• 11:52
  SPEAKER_01: Like I've never really rushed anything in my career.
• 11:55
  SPEAKER_01: So, you know, why why do that to the pro level?
• 11:59
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the level when when it's a job, when it's a serious business, um where you know it's it's if you're not prov uh providing value or if you're not um you know producing, then you just get sent somewhere else, right?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: Right?
• 12:14
  SPEAKER_01: It's like uh why not come back to school, enjoy my time, develop, get bigger, stronger, faster, and just enjoy the year with my brothers, right?
• 12:24
  SPEAKER_00: So I talked to your head coach Mike Kavanaugh earlier today, and I asked him if there was anything fun about you or any comps that he had about about you.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_00: He said he compared you to somebody he coached earlier in his career, Brian Gianta.
• 12:37
  SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you've had a chance to talk to him.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_00: And then I also heard that you idolized Patrick King when you were growing up, used to wear 88.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_00: Is that is that correct?
• 12:46
  SPEAKER_00: Is are those two guys that maybe you you take a little bit from?
• 12:49
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, yeah.
• 12:50
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, uh growing up, Gianta, Buffalo guy, um yeah, I've seen him around the ranks.
• 12:57
  SPEAKER_01: Uh his younger son, uh, he's a year younger than me.
• 13:00
  SPEAKER_01: He played um at the Junior Sabres at the same time that I did.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: So um it was pretty cool growing up and seeing Brian Gianta around the ranks.
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Um and then yeah, Patrick Kane, um, that was always a fun guy to watch.
• 13:12
  SPEAKER_01: I know he's a Buffalo guy, uh, one of the greatest American players of all time.
• 13:18
  SPEAKER_01: Uh he's smaller like me.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: So yeah, that was definitely uh a guy I idolized growing up and um you know try to take parts from his game and you know put it in mine.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_02: Joey, that run last year that you guys went on to get to TD Garden, to get to the NCAA tournament for the first time, it feels like Yukon hockey is in a really good place right now.
• 13:41
  SPEAKER_02: And obviously the success of last year stood out, but it also just felt like a special group.
• 13:46
  SPEAKER_02: We got to do a bunch of those games on Ness, and it was so much fun to follow you guys.
• 13:50
  SPEAKER_02: What was that like going on that run and being able to push Yukon hockey to heights that it's never been to before with the group that you guys have had?
• 13:59
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I mean, it's a it was it was a privilege to be a part of that team, right?
• 14:04
  SPEAKER_01: Um, we seriously built something in that locker room that is gonna stick now, right?
• 14:12
  SPEAKER_01: Like we set the standard, we set the culture last year, and you know, there's still parts to add to the culture, but I think last year was a serious step in a huge direction for uh this program.
• 14:26
  SPEAKER_01: And um, you know, we had it started with great leadership um between Hudson and John Spetz.
• 14:33
  SPEAKER_01: And then um, you know, it's it was just everybody buying in and you know being able to be a part of it and be an important part of it.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: It's it's pretty cool, right?
• 14:43
  SPEAKER_01: And you the only thing that I want to do now is be able to leave the impact that those two left um when they left UConn.
• 14:52
  SPEAKER_02: Well, we're looking forward to watching you try to get back to the garden and to the NCAA tournament over the next couple of months, Joey.
• 14:57
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks so much for being with us.
• 14:59
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for having me.
• 15:00
  SPEAKER_02: That's Joey Maldowney of UConn Hockey.
• 15:02
  SPEAKER_02: When we come back, we're gonna move over to the women's side and look at the standings and talk a little bit of Beanpot, which is right here.
• 15:07
  SPEAKER_02: It's on the horizon.
• 15:08
  SPEAKER_02: Stay with us.
• 15:09
  SPEAKER_02: That's next.
• 15:10
  SPEAKER_02: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 15:12
  SPEAKER_02: Here's where we are right now as this is entering the weekend, the women's hockey standings.
• 15:17
  SPEAKER_02: And Northeastern, off of their incredible start, is in pole position right now, 11 and 1 in Hockey East play entering the weekend.
• 15:25
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, they've opened up a pretty sizable gap on the leaders, but you have UConn, Boston College, and how about Holy Cross, right there?
• 15:33
  SPEAKER_02: Those three teams kind of in a chunk, two, three, and four.
• 15:36
  SPEAKER_02: And then you have a next group after that, all knocking on the door.
• 15:39
  SPEAKER_02: New Hampshire, BU, Maine, Providence, all kind of right there.
• 15:43
  SPEAKER_02: So there's a lot to sort out.
• 15:44
  SPEAKER_02: Remember, the women's season ends a little bit earlier than the men's season, so there's not a ton of time left.
• 15:49
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, we're already in trophy season, Bridget.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_02: One of those was handed out over the weekend in Belfast.
• 15:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, that seems like a good place to start with BU.
• 15:58
  SPEAKER_00: They were able to put together a really strong tournament.
• 16:01
  SPEAKER_00: It started out with them playing number eight Quinnipiac, which going into it, you know, is always going to be a tough opponent.
• 16:07
  SPEAKER_00: Well-coached team, a lot of solid players.
• 16:10
  SPEAKER_00: Um, so they're able to go in and win that game to send themselves to the championship game against Harvard.
• 16:15
  SPEAKER_00: They end up beating them.
• 16:16
  SPEAKER_00: It was another close game.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: They end up winning the bell pot and some key contributors in that game.
• 16:22
  SPEAKER_00: You see, Lily Welkie, she was able to score.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: She also had the shootout uh winner the game before against Kunapiax.
• 16:29
  SPEAKER_00: So Neely Nicholson got the game-winning goal for them, and another key contributor was Sidney Healy.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: Two goals and BU's shootout win in the first game.
• 16:37
  SPEAKER_00: And then you see them celebrating there.
• 16:39
  SPEAKER_00: And maybe most importantly for them, they got great goaltending in that tournament.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: So Mari Peterson was great.
• 16:46
  SPEAKER_00: She was named the MVP, and she is our Jersey Mike's a sub-above women's player of the week.
• 16:51
  SPEAKER_00: We've talked a lot about BU's goalies this year and how there was kind of a 1A, 1B.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_00: While Mari Peterson is starting to settle in there as the number one goalie, she's now started seventh straight.
• 17:01
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, I feel like that was just such a needed confidence boost for BU, right?
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_02: I mean, it's just been a little bit of a struggle in the first half, but there were a lot of pieces still there.
• 17:10
  SPEAKER_02: And, you know, you start to get a little bit of good goaltending, and who knows?
• 17:13
  SPEAKER_02: And like you said, we're jumping right into, you know, beanpots coming up on Tuesday.
• 17:17
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk about that in a second.
• 17:18
  SPEAKER_02: So uh important weekend for Boston University as they play Harvard, might get them again.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: We'll see.
• 17:23
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, one of the other beanpot schools, Boston College, they're gonna take on Holy Cross on Friday.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_02: And how about the fact this is three versus four, as we just showed you, in the hockey standings?
• 17:34
  SPEAKER_02: BC has lost four straight coming in, though that's over a long period of time, obviously going back to the end of November.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Uh St.
• 17:40
  SPEAKER_02: Lawrence, Northeastern, and then Colgate.
• 17:43
  SPEAKER_02: Their goal scoring's down a touch, just five goals in their last four games after they've been pretty steady for a little bit.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but I just love it.
• 17:51
  SPEAKER_02: It's not for lack of trying, right?
• 17:52
  SPEAKER_02: Ava Thomas had nine shots in the game against Colgate on Saturday.
• 17:56
  SPEAKER_02: Boston College, though, was 0 for 5 on the power play.
• 17:58
  SPEAKER_02: So where's their offense as they kind of get back into things for this second half?
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_02: That's what we're gonna see against a Holy Cross team that usually plays low-scoring games.
• 18:07
  SPEAKER_02: BC did beat Holy Cross 4-2 in the meeting earlier this year, back in October.
• 18:11
  SPEAKER_02: But remember, Holy Cross outshot BC 42-29 in that game.
• 18:16
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, the Crusaders lost 2-1 to Maine last week after they swept Vermont to end the first half.
• 18:21
  SPEAKER_02: So uh this is unprecedented territory for Holy Cross.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_02: They've been great so far, trying to get uh maybe even a buy in the opening round of the Hockeys tournament.
• 18:30
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, so it should be fun to see how they do.
• 18:31
  SPEAKER_02: Intriguing matchup here on a Friday.
• 18:34
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and and another team to talk about, you showed them at the top of the Hockey East standings, the Northeastern Huskies.
• 18:41
  SPEAKER_00: They played a Tuesday game against Yale.
• 18:42
  SPEAKER_00: They dropped it.
• 18:43
  SPEAKER_00: Just a little bit of rust still left for them after the break, but they're heading into a really important part of the season with a 10-point lead in the standings.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_00: They head in to the Duncan women's beanpot up next for them.
• 18:54
  SPEAKER_00: And it's a matchup against Boston University.
• 18:57
  SPEAKER_00: The whole school first round is Tuesday, January 13th at Walter Brown Arena.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_00: They play the night game at 7:30.
• 19:04
  SPEAKER_00: BC plays Harvard at 4 p.m.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_00: And then once again for the women, Beanpot Championship is January 20th at TD Garden for the third straight season.
• 19:14
  SPEAKER_00: So that's exciting for them.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_00: I know uh Northeastern is going in trying to win four straight.
• 19:22
  SPEAKER_00: So uh for them it's it's another important tournament, and they've been uh really hard to beat.
• 19:27
  SPEAKER_00: They haven't been beat at TD Garden yet since they've been playing there.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_00: So when we come back, we're gonna talk about two exciting new additions to the men's side of Hockey East, two players coming in for the second half of the season.
• 19:38
  SPEAKER_00: We'll talk about that after the break.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to go around Hockey East, presented by Boston Children's Hospital, the official children's hospital of Hockey East, Boston Children's where the world comes for answers.
• 19:50
  SPEAKER_00: As I said, two exciting players coming to Hockey East, and they're both going to be playing against each other in this comav rivalry.
• 19:58
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, take us through who VC added for the second half.
• 20:02
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, this is you know something that's happened throughout the course of college hockey.
• 20:07
  SPEAKER_02: The best example of it, of course, was last year with Mikhail Yagorov joining Boston University after the semester break.
• 20:13
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, it's happened, but maybe not to the level of guy that we're starting to see come in.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_02: So it started a couple of weeks ago with Boston College when they announced that Oscar Hemming is joining BC from Finland, has played the last couple of years over there, was slated to play in Canada this year.
• 20:28
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, long story short, finds a home with Boston College, uh projected first round pick in all likelihood, so just 17 years old.
• 20:36
  SPEAKER_02: Um, but BC needed him in a massive way.
• 20:40
  SPEAKER_02: Because remember, when BC played in Milwaukee in their holiday tournament, they were without Hagen, they were without Stega, they were without Greg Brown, who were all at World Juniors, uh, and they were still down Gasso and down Yup.
• 20:50
  SPEAKER_02: So I mean, they just needed bodies, they needed guys.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_02: And I thought it was really impressive how Hemming steps in game number one against the defending national champions, by the way, in Western Michigan, um, and was very noticeable.
• 21:01
  SPEAKER_02: I think that's the word that comes to mind.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_02: Um, he had eight shots in two games, he had two assists in the game against Lake State.
• 21:08
  SPEAKER_02: Um, so he could be a really big factor for BC, which remember is nine and two in their last 11 games, and they've done all that without Andre Gasso, who's expected back pretty soon here in the month of January.
• 21:19
  SPEAKER_02: So it really, it's two guys infused in the lineup, but Heming could be pretty significant.
• 21:25
  SPEAKER_02: But with this rivalry, it becomes uh anything you can do, I can do situation.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_02: So here comes BU with uh an even higher ranked prospect joining their team.
• 21:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, this announcement came as maybe more of a surprise than the Heming one just because Tynan Lawrence was in the middle of a season with a USHL uh playing for Muskegon and he decides that he's gonna come to BU early.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_00: He was committed for to come to them next season, but he's ending up coming uh to start this second half.
• 21:55
  SPEAKER_00: And so he leaves Muskegon, they put out a statement saying uh that they're happy for him and that they hope that this will help him move up to compete for being the first overall pick in the NHL draft.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_00: And he's considered to be by many people the top center available in the 2026 draft class.
• 22:13
  SPEAKER_00: So if he has a good season, can he compete with Gavin McKenna?
• 22:16
  SPEAKER_00: Can he, if if the team that wins the draft lottery needs a center, is he gonna go number one overall?
• 22:21
  SPEAKER_00: That's the kind of caliber guy that BU is adding.
• 22:24
  SPEAKER_00: I know he had an injury in the first half of his season that sidelined him.
• 22:27
  SPEAKER_00: He is healthy now, so that'll be good for BU.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: Uh and the Terriers are currently out of the USCHO top 20 pole.
• 22:34
  SPEAKER_00: So this could be that infusion that they need, like you mentioned, the way that they got Mikely Agorov last year to start out.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_00: He was such a big difference maker that they went all the way to the title game once they got him.
• 22:45
  SPEAKER_00: So that's good news for them.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_00: Also good news, Sasha Boumenian, one of their defensemen, just won World Juniors uh the championship game with Sweden.
• 22:55
  SPEAKER_00: He scored in that game to make it three to nothing and went on to beat the Czech Republic four to two.
• 23:00
  SPEAKER_00: There he is with his gold medal celebrating.
• 23:03
  SPEAKER_00: That was a good Switzerland team, too.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_00: So he's gonna come back with some confidence for BU in the second half.
• 23:10
  SPEAKER_02: Yeah, and remember BU plays UMass this weekend, and then they'll play Harvard on Monday.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_02: We'll actually have that game for you on Nessen.
• 23:17
  SPEAKER_02: Important because it's a road game and potential NPI points for BU, which they desperately need.
• 23:21
  SPEAKER_02: So the MPI doesn't really account for teams adding key players late in the season, but BC and BU are going to try.
• 23:27
  SPEAKER_02: It should be fun to watch those guys.
• 23:29
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, there's a lot going on.
• 23:30
  SPEAKER_02: Thanks for joining us.
• 23:31
  SPEAKER_02: Looking forward to the second half.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: We're back.
• 23:33
  SPEAKER_02: We can't wait for it.
• 23:34
  SPEAKER_02: Uh, a couple of good games this weekend.
• 23:36
  SPEAKER_02: We'll talk to you after them all.