A week ago, it was UMass Lowell that had an active streak, at that point a seven-game winning streak, best in the country. That imploded against Providence but Boston University picked up the torch with three wins since our last blog. That leads the three things we learned this week.
1. Boston University now earns title of “hottest”
The Terriers played well leading into the break, but it’s the play since then that is impressive. Think about it: An overtime win against a very good Union team without the World Junior players kicked off what is now five straight wins since break. Most importantly, the Terriers are playing with the confidence a team should that has the decorated World Junior talents combined with some proven upperclassmen. This is now easily the team to beat in Hockey East.
2. Providence is much better than their first-half league record
Being 1-5-2 in Hockey East to start the year, let’s admit it, is pretty scary for a Providence team that hoped to battle for a top-four spot. But a weekend split with Vermont followed by an impressive sweep of No. 5 UMass Lowell has everyone’s eyes turning to the Friars. This weekend, the Friars second line impressed with Scott Conway, Ryan Tait and Kaspar Bjrokqvist taking charge and earning the two wins against Lowell. This is a scary good team that has moved from 11th to 8th in two weeks and is six points out of the final first-round bye.
3. And lest we forget about the Huskies
We’re talking Northeastern here. For the third straight season, Northeastern has a horrid start. A year ago, though, a turnaround led to the Hockey East tournament title and an NCAA bid. This year has been a little more difficult for the Huskies but last weekend’s sweep of Merrimack puts every Hockey East team on guard: watch out for the second-half kids. When you possess a player as talented as Zach Aston-Reese, you can’t ever write a team like Northeastern.
