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Hockey East leads Team USA to GOLD at World Juniors! · This Week in Hockey East

• 0:02
  SPEAKER_01: This week in Hockey East is back, and boy, did Hockey East have an impact on world juniors.
• 0:08
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about that.
• 0:09
  SPEAKER_01: We're going to talk about the position that the men's hockey East is in right now with six teams inside the cut line of the pairwise, and women's beanpot is right on the horizon.
• 0:18
  SPEAKER_01: There is plenty to talk about here on This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:22
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome into this episode of This Week in Hockey East.
• 0:24
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue here with Eric Galanti.
• 0:26
  SPEAKER_00: We're going to go around the men's and women's games in Hockey East this week, as well as talk a little bit about the women's beanpot that's coming up on Tuesday.
• 0:33
  SPEAKER_00: But first we want to get into some world junior talk.
• 0:35
  SPEAKER_00: We've been doing this the last few weeks, uh, and we finally know the winner.
• 0:40
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, it is Team USA winning gold for the second straight year.
• 0:43
  SPEAKER_00: And Eric, there were so many Hockey East players involved in this win for USA.
• 0:48
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna go through both what they did as well as some of the Hockey East players for the other uh national teams.
• 0:55
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it's really amazing.
• 0:56
  SPEAKER_01: This this didn't need to be one of those things we needed to like will a storyline into existence of hockey participation in this tournament.
• 1:03
  SPEAKER_01: They were all over it.
• 1:04
  SPEAKER_01: And most notably, they were all over it massive moments in this tournament.
• 1:09
  SPEAKER_01: And I think that's the thing that stands out more than anything else is this connection between the college game and specifically Hockey East and everything we're talking about in terms of, you know, what path are these athletes going to choose now?
• 1:22
  SPEAKER_01: That there's more and more options available to them.
• 1:25
  SPEAKER_01: And you look at the number of college players, the number of hockey East players that were involved in crucial, crucial spots in this tournament.
• 1:33
  SPEAKER_01: Um, it it really stands out as, you know, everyone was making the joke on Twitter, hey, this coach or that coach can just show this picture to any recruit coming in, right?
• 1:41
  SPEAKER_01: But it's really true.
• 1:42
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, you know, number one, Teddy Stega scores the overtime winner.
• 1:45
  SPEAKER_01: Talk about the moment that he's had the last month.
• 1:48
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, Bridget, we were talking about him having to play as the fifth or sixth defenseman for Boston College in that last series against UMass Lowell because BC was down so many D's, and now he's scoring the game-winning goal.
• 2:00
  SPEAKER_01: His first goal of the tournament.
• 2:01
  SPEAKER_01: By the way, three on three overtime for 20 minutes is completely insane, but I kind of love it.
• 2:05
  SPEAKER_01: It's crazy, but it's completely insane.
• 2:08
  SPEAKER_00: It was like it was simultaneously like incredible to watch and hard to watch as somebody that's used to the NHL format, where it's like five minutes at most for three on three seems like it seems like a lot.
• 2:24
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, but I actually was surprised how long the overtime went considering how many good chances happened before they got that final game winning goal from Stega.
• 2:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, it was pretty wild and uh, you know, fun to watch in a in a totally crazy way.
• 2:36
  SPEAKER_01: Um, I think the thing you have to start with, though, is some of these veteran guys coming back, right?
• 2:40
  SPEAKER_01: So Ryan Leonard and Gabe Perot are the two that stands out who played on last year's team in major roles, play on this year's team in major roles.
• 2:48
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, we've heard a lot of it from Leonard.
• 2:50
  SPEAKER_01: It's true of Perot, too.
• 2:52
  SPEAKER_01: Part of the reason these guys decided to come back was not just their unfinished business at Boston College, but wanting to be the first group of Americans to win this tournament back-to-back years.
• 3:02
  SPEAKER_01: And now they've accomplished that in a major way, right?
• 3:05
  SPEAKER_01: Leonard won the tournament MVP.
• 3:06
  SPEAKER_01: There probably were a lot of guys on the American team that could have won, but he led the U.S.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: in goals.
• 3:10
  SPEAKER_01: He was tied for second with the U.S.
• 3:12
  SPEAKER_01: in points with 10.
• 3:13
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, he was such a, you know, sometimes we talk about who's that guy on top of the scout that everyone's trying to gear their defense to.
• 3:22
  SPEAKER_01: That guy was Ryan Leonard, right?
• 3:23
  SPEAKER_01: It felt like every team was trying to get under Leonard's skin and do whatever they could do to try to take him out of the game.
• 3:30
  SPEAKER_01: He almost had the overtime winner in that three-on-three on that little couple of deep breakaway right to the net.
• 3:35
  SPEAKER_01: So I think it kind of just shows, you know, his decision to come back and to do this again and to be able to accomplish it and win this tournament again.
• 3:43
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's really an amazing thing.
• 3:45
  SPEAKER_01: And I kind of think it just speaks to that decision to come back.
• 3:48
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and that Leonard Pro Hagen's line was uh definitely high on everyone's scout.
• 3:53
  SPEAKER_00: You I heard uh the Canadian crowd booing that line at times every time Leonard would touch the puck, including in three-on-three overtime.
• 4:02
  SPEAKER_00: And that just shows you how these guys have just broken onto the scene and become such real assets.
• 4:08
  SPEAKER_00: And obviously, Leonard, uh, a capital's prospect, he'll head on to a great pro career after Hockey East, I'm sure, stuck around for a sophomore season, and now here he is uh the captain of Team USA.
• 4:20
  SPEAKER_00: But I wanted to go through some of the other numbers because you mentioned he's the MVP.
• 4:23
  SPEAKER_00: Well, Cole Hudson was the first defender to ever lead the tournament in points.
• 4:27
  SPEAKER_00: He had 11 points, and he was right there in the in the talk as well for a guy on Team USA that could have been MVP of the tournament.
• 4:35
  SPEAKER_00: And then, of course, uh Leonard's line mate, Gabe Perot, had 10 points.
• 4:39
  SPEAKER_00: They both were plus 10.
• 4:41
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, these were lines that were just carrying offense for Team USA and Higgins as well, plus nine, five goals, four assists.
• 4:49
  SPEAKER_00: But I also want to get into some of the the BU guys, and and you know, uh we have other other different hockey east teams that were involved in this.
• 4:58
  SPEAKER_00: But you look at Cole Eiserman, three uh three goals, four assists, seven points in his seven games, and that was despite him averaging less than 12 minutes of time on ice, uh, which is a much reduced role for him because he gets more time at BU.
• 5:12
  SPEAKER_00: And all of these guys pretty much got a little bit less ice time than they're used to, um, that are up that were on those second, third, fourth lines for USA because they're kind of the guys at their school.
• 5:22
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and then you look a little bit beyond USA, which won gold for the second straight year, and you look to what the Czech Republic was able to do and Michael Robbel out of UMass and how he was able to knock Canada out of the tournament two years in a row, win bronze two years in a row, uh, in net for them.
• 5:39
  SPEAKER_00: And as part of another crazy, like heart-stopping uh situation in international hockey that was a 14-round shootout.
• 5:49
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, that was insane.
• 5:50
  SPEAKER_00: So both the bronze medal and the gold medal game were so much fun to watch.
• 5:55
  SPEAKER_00: But if you're a UMass fan, you're rooting for Michael Robble in the Czech Republic to win that one, and he was successful.
• 6:02
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I thought Robel really had an excellent tournament uh for the second year in a row, and it's a chance for him to try to build some confidence off of this into the UMass season.
• 6:11
  SPEAKER_01: We know how big he is, physically big in goal and the way he plays and that style.
• 6:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's just sometimes about finding that consistency with him, and it felt like he had it in some big spots in that tournament.
• 6:23
  SPEAKER_01: Um, Jenko was a key contributor for Slovakia.
• 6:25
  SPEAKER_01: He had a couple of goals.
• 6:26
  SPEAKER_01: I thought Tom Wallander really stood out for Sweden, um, you know, BU uh defenseman.
• 6:31
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, you know, Sweden makes it to the metal round games, ends up losing that game to Chechia.
• 6:37
  SPEAKER_01: Um, but he was really good.
• 6:38
  SPEAKER_01: So I think that's the big takeaway from this.
• 6:41
  SPEAKER_01: It's not just the fact that, you know, you and I can sit here and read you a list of guys from hockey yeast who played in this tournament.
• 6:47
  SPEAKER_01: It was the fact that we could read that list and they were all so impactful over the course of the tournament.
• 6:53
  SPEAKER_01: Um, if you'd been following on social, we've been putting out some of the numbers.
• 6:56
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's just the fact that 24 of the Americans' 37 goals were scored by hockey yeast guys, right?
• 7:01
  SPEAKER_01: 24 of 37.
• 7:03
  SPEAKER_01: 28 goals total in this tournament were scored by hockey yeast guys, if you include Willander and Janko.
• 7:09
  SPEAKER_01: The craziest stat of all was that there was one American goal, one American goal the entire tournament that did not have someone from BC or BU getting a point on it.
• 7:19
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, it's completely insane that that happened.
• 7:22
  SPEAKER_01: But uh it's true, and you know, most notably, we could give you those goal numbers, but in the semis and the finals, seven of the eight goals scored by the Americans were scored by Hockey East guys.
• 7:32
  SPEAKER_01: So in the biggest moment, it was the Hockey East guys stepping up.
• 7:36
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, for us covering it that made it really special, but uh it'll be really interesting to see how those guys come back and now channel that into what we've sort of dubbed this long extended trophy season, uh starting now, running into you know, bean pot and going forward.
• 7:51
  SPEAKER_01: So it was a really special tournament to watch.
• 7:52
  SPEAKER_01: It was fun to get to cover it a little bit, uh, and I think it's one that we're certainly gonna remember.
• 7:59
  SPEAKER_01: When we come back, we will dive into around Hockey East a little bit, talk about some of the nesting games we have this week.
• 8:04
  SPEAKER_01: There's a lot to talk about on our show today.
• 8:07
  SPEAKER_01: Come back with us.
• 8:09
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 8:11
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to go around Hockey East, presented by the Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 8:15
  SPEAKER_00: Visit hockeyeastonline.com for your chance to win championship tickets and a two-night stay at the Boston Harbor Hotel.
• 8:21
  SPEAKER_00: And we're gonna start out by looking at the two nessing games we have this weekend.
• 8:24
  SPEAKER_00: First of all, we have some Friday night hockey east on Ness and UMass at Northeastern.
• 8:29
  SPEAKER_00: I will be part of that call.
• 8:30
  SPEAKER_00: I'm excited for that.
• 8:31
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, take us through the Northeastern side of things first.
• 8:35
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, did they finally get that win, right?
• 8:38
  SPEAKER_01: We've been talking about it, it feels like for so long.
• 8:40
  SPEAKER_01: Could Northeastern get that win in statement fashion?
• 8:43
  SPEAKER_01: You know, it felt like they had the pieces to do it.
• 8:45
  SPEAKER_01: We've thought it's been in there the whole time, and they finally get it with a big win on the road at Quinnipiac, a 5-1 final result that stood out in a big way.
• 8:53
  SPEAKER_01: And it starts to lead to this question: are we in for one of those Northeastern January runs that we've seen the last couple of years, right?
• 9:00
  SPEAKER_01: Last year, starting January 26th, a little bit later than now, they finished 10-4-2 and won a bean pot.
• 9:07
  SPEAKER_01: The year before that, starting right around now, January 7th, they won that game at Frozen Fenway.
• 9:11
  SPEAKER_01: They went 9-3-3 down the stretch, won a bean pot.
• 9:14
  SPEAKER_01: So are we in store for that today?
• 9:16
  SPEAKER_01: And it's always felt like there's that big win that starts the stretch.
• 9:19
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll see if that's it for Northeastern.
• 9:21
  SPEAKER_01: And to do it on the road against a Quinnipia team that had been red hot, by the way, that had lost just one game going back to Thanksgiving.
• 9:27
  SPEAKER_01: So that was impressive.
• 9:29
  SPEAKER_01: Jack Williams, once again, right?
• 9:31
  SPEAKER_01: I mean, he's the guy that, you know, last year we talked about is maybe the most underrated player in the league.
• 9:35
  SPEAKER_01: He's our night shift all-academic standout this week.
• 9:38
  SPEAKER_01: Um, three primary assists plus a shorty in that game.
• 9:41
  SPEAKER_01: And the most amazing thing is he's been kind of doing it banged up.
• 9:44
  SPEAKER_01: Jerry Keefe told us post-game that, you know, he hasn't really been taking face-offs because he's kind of banged up right now.
• 9:49
  SPEAKER_01: So uh that makes it even more amazing what Northeastern's accomplished.
• 9:52
  SPEAKER_01: Um, can they take care of home ice on Friday against a UMass team that's, you know, in a similar situation, Bridget, because we're looking to see can UMass gain some momentum after scoring eight goals in their final game out in Arizona?
• 10:04
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they're coming in off that they lost the first game of that tournament to number 18, Cornell, and then they came back and really just put up numbers against Robert Morris.
• 10:14
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and so they're coming off of that big win, and they're also getting Michael Robble back, who uh was not with them for that tournament.
• 10:21
  SPEAKER_00: So out in Tempe, Arizona.
• 10:23
  SPEAKER_00: So that'll be a big addition for him and him coming back with the confidence in the bronze medal, like we mentioned earlier, uh, could help them as well.
• 10:30
  SPEAKER_00: And there's a few things I want to focus on for the UMass side.
• 10:33
  SPEAKER_00: Uh their power play has been outstanding recently in particular, but they're now the first uh best power play in hockey east, second best in the country, 30.5% on the power play.
• 10:45
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and if you just look at their last few games, the last five games, they have seven power play goals.
• 10:50
  SPEAKER_00: And there's been six games this season that they've had multiple power play goals.
• 10:54
  SPEAKER_00: And this is the a power play unit that uh the top unit at least that Greg Carvel isn't afraid to roll out five forwards on, which you don't see necessarily all the time, but the offensive firepower that he rolls out there on that top unit is one of the main reasons why their power play numbers are so good this year.
• 11:12
  SPEAKER_00: And their penalty kill is 82.5%.
• 11:16
  SPEAKER_00: So that's pretty good as well.
• 11:17
  SPEAKER_00: And then you talk about just trying to find some consistency for UMass.
• 11:21
  SPEAKER_00: And Greg Carvel thinks that it's there.
• 11:23
  SPEAKER_00: He has the team to do it, but you've seen some ups and downs.
• 11:27
  SPEAKER_00: And when you look at their upcoming schedule, the next seven games could be a stretch where they could get back on track.
• 11:32
  SPEAKER_00: They have uh winnable schedule coming up, but then they have a really tough schedule to end the year.
• 11:37
  SPEAKER_00: They're playing Boston College and Maine again, UMass Lowell.
• 11:40
  SPEAKER_00: So these are some high-ranked teams that they're gonna have to play as the season comes to a close.
• 11:45
  SPEAKER_01: You know, you mentioned the power play.
• 11:46
  SPEAKER_01: It's worth noting the thing that made UMass's power play so good when they were getting into the national championship game and even the years past that, right, Bridget, was it was defender-led, right?
• 11:56
  SPEAKER_01: It was McCarr.
• 11:57
  SPEAKER_01: It was Scott Morrow.
• 11:58
  SPEAKER_01: It was Ryan Ufko, which is what's so amazing about the fact that they're where they are at over 30% now, and it's forward-led.
• 12:05
  SPEAKER_01: And sometimes, as you said, he's throwing five forwards on the ice.
• 12:08
  SPEAKER_01: So that's a really interesting distinction, but they found ways to make the power play work.
• 12:13
  SPEAKER_01: Um, maybe the biggest game of the weekend, we got to talk about Maine and Lowell.
• 12:17
  SPEAKER_01: That'll be a Saturday night game.
• 12:18
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see the second half of that game uh between those two teams on Nesson.
• 12:23
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, really impressive bounce back for Maine after losing two games in a row to Bentley in the first game against Denver, they come back for a two to one win.
• 12:30
  SPEAKER_01: It hasn't been lack of chances for Maine here, the last few games right there.
• 12:34
  SPEAKER_01: Expected goals have been nearly five in two of the last three games.
• 12:39
  SPEAKER_01: Uh now, so if they can find a way to keep posting those numbers, you know, the goals are gonna come back.
• 12:44
  SPEAKER_01: But um, when you have guys like Harrison Scott, who's now up to second nationally, by the way, as of this recording of 13 goals, uh, you're gonna find some ways to win.
• 12:53
  SPEAKER_01: So they dive back into hockey's play.
• 12:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's worth noting here that as Maine takes on this UMass Lowell team, sometimes that Lowell style can be a little bit tricky to play against, as we know.
• 13:03
  SPEAKER_01: This could go either way.
• 13:05
  SPEAKER_01: But remember, who also plays that Lowell style?
• 13:08
  SPEAKER_01: Well, Norm Bayzin's former assistant coach, Andy Jones, who's done such a good job as the head coach of Bentley, who Maine just struggled with a couple of games ago.
• 13:15
  SPEAKER_01: So does that allow Maine to have seen the style a little bit, or is it the opposite?
• 13:19
  SPEAKER_01: We'll see.
• 13:20
  SPEAKER_01: But uh, that's something certainly worth noting as they take on this Lowell team, which continues to produce uh really impressive victories.
• 13:27
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, they've won their most recent holiday tournaments.
• 13:30
  SPEAKER_00: I mean, you we talked about it.
• 13:31
  SPEAKER_00: Norm Bazan likes to go to do those tournaments.
• 13:34
  SPEAKER_00: He thinks it's a good prep for trophy season as we approach the end of the season.
• 13:39
  SPEAKER_00: And uh other teams have, you know, the bean pot, but they have they uh make sure they pick the right tournaments they won and like placid at the Adirondack Invitational, finish first in that tournament.
• 13:48
  SPEAKER_00: Then they went out to Palm Springs and won the Coachella Valley Cactus Cup this past weekend.
• 13:54
  SPEAKER_00: And so they're rolling in with some momentum.
• 13:56
  SPEAKER_00: They like how they've played in these tournament style situations, and they're gonna take on a really good team in Maine this weekend.
• 14:02
  SPEAKER_01: And I just love the fact, you know, you look at their last three games, their last eight goals have been scored by seven different guys.
• 14:08
  SPEAKER_01: There's so much depth on this Lowell offense.
• 14:10
  SPEAKER_01: So that should be a really fun and important series in terms of hockey standings.
• 14:15
  SPEAKER_01: How about winning tournaments in Lake Placid and Palm Springs?
• 14:18
  SPEAKER_01: That's the the range of where you could win tournaments in the holiday season.
• 14:22
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, we have plenty more to talk about on our show, including a little look at the women's bean pot, which is coming up on Tuesday.
• 14:27
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that when we come back.
• 14:30
  SPEAKER_01: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East, and the women's bean pot is already upon us.
• 14:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's coming up on Tuesday.
• 14:36
  SPEAKER_01: Should be really, really exciting.
• 14:38
  SPEAKER_01: First round games being played at Matthews Arena before the final next week at TD Garden.
• 14:42
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, let's just kind of, you know, we've talked a lot about these teams uh through the course of the season so far, Bridget.
• 14:48
  SPEAKER_01: So, what are a couple of things that stand out to you you'll be there on the call that we should be watching for as we get set for another beanpot?
• 14:55
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and just to specifically hone in on some beanpot key points about hockey east teams, I think it's important to note that this is the second year it's happening at TD Garden.
• 15:05
  SPEAKER_00: When we talked to some of the coaches and players, they said it was kind of the most nervous they've been pregame uh for any event because obviously it's such a big venue and it's you're playing where the Bruins play.
• 15:16
  SPEAKER_00: And so keeping those emotions in check is important.
• 15:18
  SPEAKER_00: And so that means some of those veteran players just need to pass along the message to some of the freshmen that haven't done it before.
• 15:26
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and some of those freshmen to keep an eye on, Lola Reed out of BU, uh, Eloise Carran from Northeastern, Lauren Glazer, these are all really good freshmen forwards that have come in and started to take over key production roles on their teams.
• 15:40
  SPEAKER_00: And they're players that maybe will deal with a little bit of those nerves when they come into TD Garden for the first time.
• 15:46
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, goaltending, once again, strong in all three of these teams uh from hockey east that are going to the bean pot.
• 15:52
  SPEAKER_00: Northeastern has two great goalies, Lisa Jansen and Paige Taborski, both top four in goals against average in hockey east.
• 15:59
  SPEAKER_00: And Jansen leads hockey east in safe percentage and goals against average.
• 16:03
  SPEAKER_00: Um, Northeastern looking to repeat.
• 16:05
  SPEAKER_00: They are looking for their 20th beanpot title.
• 16:08
  SPEAKER_00: They won it in overtime last year, and they do have Skylar Irving coming back.
• 16:13
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, she scored the overtime game winner to take that first title at TD Garden.
• 16:18
  SPEAKER_00: So uh keep an eye out for her as well as the goalies at Boston College has Grace Campbell.
• 16:24
  SPEAKER_00: She's been outstanding recently, just put up a shoutout against Maine and Callie Shanahan for BU finally healthy.
• 16:30
  SPEAKER_00: Last year she was heading into the bean pot after coming back from injury.
• 16:34
  SPEAKER_00: She didn't have a lot of time to ramp up for it this year.
• 16:36
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, she's top three in hockey east in save percentage.
• 16:40
  SPEAKER_00: She's looking healthy, she's looking confident.
• 16:42
  SPEAKER_00: So goaltending could be a big factor in this one as well.
• 16:44
  SPEAKER_00: And then to just hit on Harvard, they're coming in with a 2-11-2 record into tonight's game where they'll play against Maine to ramp up towards the bean pot on Tuesday.
• 16:55
  SPEAKER_01: Remember, Harvard does have a win over UConn, so it's not as if they can't throw a really great goaltending performance in and, you know, kind of uh throw a little curveball into this beanpot.
• 17:03
  SPEAKER_01: I think, you know, a couple of things on top of that.
• 17:06
  SPEAKER_01: You know, the one thing that I think we saw last weekend that really is intriguing me, Bridget, is I felt like that main game that you and Bob called was Boston College breaking out offensively and finally putting the puck in and matching the number of chances they have.
• 17:20
  SPEAKER_01: Can they do that consistently?
• 17:21
  SPEAKER_01: Someone like Julia Pellerin, who's first in Hockey East and shot, she's our sub-above player of the week after a hat-trick against Maine.
• 17:28
  SPEAKER_01: You know, can they find that offensive firepower?
• 17:30
  SPEAKER_01: Because we know how good the goaltending is across the board.
• 17:33
  SPEAKER_01: That could be the one X factor.
• 17:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, I'm curious to see if it plays out that way.
• 17:38
  SPEAKER_01: It'll be BU and Harvard first, BC and Northeastern will be the second game at 7:30 on Nesson before they get to TD Garden for the consolation and the finals.
• 17:47
  SPEAKER_01: We cannot wait.
• 17:49
  SPEAKER_01: We do have a lot of other still major games coming up this week on the men's side.
• 17:53
  SPEAKER_01: We'll talk about that when we come back.
• 17:57
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 17:59
  SPEAKER_00: I'm Bridget Prue with Eric Galanti.
• 18:00
  SPEAKER_00: It's time to look around the men's side.
• 18:02
  SPEAKER_00: This segment presented by Boston Children's Hospital, the official children's hospital of Hockey East.
• 18:08
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, I want to talk about just the way that the non-conference schedule over this holiday stretch has worked out for Hockey East teams.
• 18:15
  SPEAKER_00: Uh, and you look at recently this past Saturday and Sunday, eight, oh, and oh hockey team hockey east teams went against non-conference.
• 18:24
  SPEAKER_00: The weekend as a whole, they went 11-2-0 against non-conference opponents.
• 18:28
  SPEAKER_00: That's a just about a 71% win percentage for hockey East teams.
• 18:32
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, that's where they are in their non-conference overall.
• 18:35
  SPEAKER_01: It's the best position that Hockey East has maybe ever been in.
• 18:38
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, remember, we've talked about the non-conference record, is what sort of is the differentiator and the pairwise.
• 18:44
  SPEAKER_01: And last year we were going into the holiday break saying maybe five, maybe six teams.
• 18:49
  SPEAKER_01: It's possible.
• 18:50
  SPEAKER_01: But then some losses around the holidays, it really brought the league's overall strength of schedule down.
• 18:55
  SPEAKER_01: It's the opposite right now, and they are in prime position to have kind of a historic year in terms of number of teams in.
• 19:02
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, some of these numbers, you know, there's five teams inside the top 12.
• 19:07
  SPEAKER_01: There's six inside the cut line right now.
• 19:10
  SPEAKER_01: And, you know, you could even add UConn at seven, who's been between 15 and 16.
• 19:15
  SPEAKER_01: And you have, you know, you have 10 teams in this league inside the top 26.
• 19:21
  SPEAKER_01: Now, not all of them are gonna make it, obviously, but uh, what it means is no one's schedule playing league games is gonna drop their strength of schedule.
• 19:29
  SPEAKER_01: So that's what's most important.
• 19:30
  SPEAKER_01: There is room to gain ground in the strength of schedule, even in conference play.
• 19:35
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the thing that's really amazing.
• 19:37
  SPEAKER_00: Um, and and Eric, I just want to throw in one quick thing here as well.
• 19:40
  SPEAKER_00: Like when you're losing to conference teams, if you're saying I just use Providence as an example because this happened to them last year, they just barely missed the tournament because they were losing to conference opponents that their str their strength, their the numbers weren't as high when the when they're losing.
• 19:54
  SPEAKER_00: Now you're losing to a better opponent, you're not dropping as far.
• 19:57
  SPEAKER_00: Like your your pairwise numbers are gonna look better now if you finish the season, you still want to finish the season as strong as you can in the final stretch, but we're at the point where Providence is as of this recording, top three in the pairwise right now.
• 20:12
  SPEAKER_00: Yes, and that's somewhere.
• 20:14
  SPEAKER_00: They've been so if they could finish that way.
• 20:16
  SPEAKER_00: That's I mean, that's crazy for them.
• 20:18
  SPEAKER_00: They've had such a great season.
• 20:19
  SPEAKER_00: Them in Boston College, Maine, they're all set up really well.
• 20:22
  SPEAKER_00: And then you get that second tier of UMass, Lowell, New Hampshire, BU that are they're hanging out there as well.
• 20:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, I think a couple important things, you mentioned those potential one seeds.
• 20:31
  SPEAKER_01: The fact that UNH has gotten inside the top 12, remember, they're a host in Manchester, which is one of the regionals this year.
• 20:39
  SPEAKER_01: So if they can sneak not only in, but in at a rate where they're a top three seed, that opens up a number one seed of a hockey team to be in Manchester.
• 20:48
  SPEAKER_01: If UNH is a four seed, then a Hockey East number one seed cannot go there.
• 20:52
  SPEAKER_01: So that's something to watch, number one.
• 20:54
  SPEAKER_01: Um, you know, I just think that, like you said, the fact that all of these teams are going to be playing a schedule that's gonna allow them to gain ground.
• 21:02
  SPEAKER_01: And you look at the chance.
• 21:04
  SPEAKER_01: Again, you got to take care of business, but playoffstatus.com, which is a great resource that gives you some percentages here, they have five hockey teams with a 69% chance or better to get into the tournament.
• 21:16
  SPEAKER_01: BC, Providence, Maine, Lowell, and UNH.
• 21:18
  SPEAKER_01: So that's the position that Hockey East is in right now.
• 21:21
  SPEAKER_01: BU's got a chance, and UConn's got a chance.
• 21:24
  SPEAKER_01: Let's quickly talk about UConn UNH, because this is a huge weekend for UConn.
• 21:28
  SPEAKER_01: The next three weekends, really.
• 21:30
  SPEAKER_01: If UConn can find a way to take care of business against New Hampshire to next week at Maine, and then the CT Ice tournament, if they can do that, we have the potential to be talking about seven teams in the Hockeys tournament, which is crazy to think, but it's that important these couple of series for UConn.
• 21:48
  SPEAKER_01: Can they make up that momentum a little bit?
• 21:51
  SPEAKER_01: They've maybe found their goalie here.
• 21:53
  SPEAKER_01: Callum Tung, ever since he started playing in the games he's played, he has a 960 save percentage.
• 21:58
  SPEAKER_01: The only games they've lost were to at Lowell 1-0 and at BC in overtime.
• 22:03
  SPEAKER_01: So UConn may have found something here.
• 22:05
  SPEAKER_01: UNH is 6-0-1 in their last seven games.
• 22:07
  SPEAKER_01: They're 8-1-2 since November 9th.
• 22:10
  SPEAKER_01: Um, they took care of business in their non-conference in a way they did not last year.
• 22:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they are both in really great position, but it is UConn who's the team that could take this from five or six to maybe even a really historic seven.
• 22:23
  SPEAKER_01: And that's something that we're gonna watch with their series this week against UNH.
• 22:28
  SPEAKER_00: Welcome back to this week in Hockey East.
• 22:30
  SPEAKER_00: It's time for our final segment.
• 22:32
  SPEAKER_00: We're gonna take some short shifts presented by the Shift Group, helping former athletes and veterans become elite business professionals.
• 22:38
  SPEAKER_00: Eric, start with your short shift.
• 22:40
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, you know, you mentioned how good Hockey East was last weekend on the men's side, that 7-0 record on Saturday.
• 22:47
  SPEAKER_01: Four of those seven teams set season highs and goals on the same day.
• 22:52
  SPEAKER_01: Vermont scored eight, UMass scored eight, UConn scored seven, and Northeastern tied their season high with five.
• 22:57
  SPEAKER_01: So that stood out.
• 22:59
  SPEAKER_01: But I want to talk about Vermont specifically because they had wins six-nothing and then eight against Army, an eight-one against St.
• 23:05
  SPEAKER_01: Lawrence.
• 23:06
  SPEAKER_01: They have five straight wins.
• 23:07
  SPEAKER_01: They've scored 30 goals over their last five games, six plus goals in four of those five.
• 23:14
  SPEAKER_01: So they are really clicking offensively here.
• 23:16
  SPEAKER_01: And they're gonna take on a Boston University team that's gonna be a motivated Boston University team that has not played since their loss to Yale before the new year.
• 23:24
  SPEAKER_01: So that could be a really interesting series for a Vermont team that you know is really clicking offensively, and what can they do with BU, their first game back, bringing their guys back from World Juniors?
• 23:35
  SPEAKER_00: Yeah, and my shortshift has to do with the series on the women's side that's Providence against Holy Cross.
• 23:40
  SPEAKER_00: And I think this is important because uh we talked about a lot about this over the course of this show this year, just the compact nature of the top four teams in Hockey East.
• 23:50
  SPEAKER_00: Well, these teams are both outside of that, but they're looking to gain ground, get closer to those top four teams of BC, BU, UConn, and Northeastern.
• 23:58
  SPEAKER_00: So uh these are points on the line.
• 24:00
  SPEAKER_00: Uh it's a two-game series, a home and home uh for Providence and Holy Cross.
• 24:05
  SPEAKER_00: And I think they both have good goaltenders.
• 24:07
  SPEAKER_00: Hope Wolinski is doing a good job for Providence once again this year.
• 24:10
  SPEAKER_00: Abby Hornug now up in top three in hockey east and goals against average.
• 24:15
  SPEAKER_00: So, I mean, she's been making strides, she's doing well.
• 24:18
  SPEAKER_00: And like I mentioned, this is just one that feels important to both of these teams in terms of the second half making ground on that top pack.
• 24:27
  SPEAKER_01: Yeah, who's gonna get a home game in that, you know, quarterfinal and that opening round weekend?
• 24:32
  SPEAKER_01: Where is this gonna fall in terms of the standings?
• 24:34
  SPEAKER_01: It's all packed together.
• 24:35
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, so there's a lot to, I think, still figure out there, and it'll be really interesting to see what happens there.
• 24:40
  SPEAKER_01: Uh, it's a jam packed weekend.
• 24:42
  SPEAKER_01: We're rolling right into beanpot.
• 24:44
  SPEAKER_01: There is so much exciting college hockey coming up, and we appreciate you joining us each and every week.
• 24:48
  SPEAKER_01: And we'll talk next week with plenty more on This Week in Hockeys.