{"id":26004,"date":"2003-10-16T15:35:08","date_gmt":"2003-10-16T20:35:08","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2003\/10\/16\/this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-16-2003\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:55:32","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:55:32","slug":"this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-16-2003","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wwwproxy.uscho.com\/2003\/10\/16\/this-week-in-hockey-east-oct-16-2003\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Hockey East: Oct. 16, 2003"},"content":{"rendered":"
A Hockey East Homer?<\/h4>\n
I have been called “Homer” before, namely on a softball team I used to play for. <\/p>\n
Sadly, the nickname did not reflect my performance at the plate, but rather the one time I was allowed to pitch. I have since retired with a career earned run average of infinity. Batters accumulated a 1.000 on-base percentage against me and a slugging percentage of over 3.000. My former teammates claim their uniforms still have meatball stains.<\/p>\n
That regrettable disclaimer aside, however, I will now contend that I am not a Hockey East homer despite what the Top 15 list in the sidebar to your right shows.<\/p>\n
Yes, there are six teams from the league in my Top 15, including four in the top six, but a good case can be made for all of them.<\/p>\n
Everyone<\/i> had Boston College, New Hampshire and Boston University rated highly going into the season and they’ve done nothing to change that opinion. There were questions about Maine, but after convincing wins last weekend over defending national champion and top-ranked Minnesota and then Wisconsin, Maine deserves to be very close to the top.<\/p>\n
As for Massachusetts and Providence, that’s another story. They’re in the same boat as Northern Michigan, namely with 2-0 records accumulated against low-rated opponents. A month from now it will be a surprise if any more than one of them, if that, is still in the national rankings. <\/p>\n
But for now, they’re the teams that have gotten it done. There are no other teams with more than a single win. Ferris State, Ohio State and Michigan State have fallen out of my Top 15 because of bad losses.<\/p>\n
So is it homerism that six Hockey East teams are in my Top 15? <\/p>\n
Not when you realize that the league teams haven’t lost a single game<\/i> to date except for the intraleague contest on Saturday between UMass and UMass-Lowell. Contrast that with the CCHA, where only Northern Michigan (with two wins over rebuilding Bowling Green) and Michigan have winning records.<\/p>\n
Does that mean anything?<\/p>\n
Not yet. It’s waaaaayyyy too early to start the thumping of league chests. A month from now the scene could be completely different.<\/p>\n
But for now, seeing four Hockey East teams high in the rankings and another two sneaking in as well is very defensible.<\/p>\n
The Biggest Surprise<\/h4>\n
Without a doubt, the stunner of last weekend was Maine’s blanking of Minnesota, 4-0. The defending national champions had far fewer offseason losses than the Black Bears, who had struggled down the stretch last year while the Gophers rolled. <\/p>\n
While a lot of the focus on the Maine roster has been the gaping holes left behind by attrition, attention must be paid to the considerable strengths.<\/p>\n
That starts with goaltender Jimmy Howard, whose stellar play last year gave way to struggles down the stretch that mirrored the entire team’s. If the game against Minnesota is any indication, however, those struggles are long gone and it’s back to business as one of the top netminders in the country.<\/p>\n
“He was great,” Maine coach Tim Whitehead said after the win. “Every time he was tested he was sharp. I thought he was really focused this week in practice and it kind of culminated in this game tonight.”<\/p>\n
Todd Jackson also was a major force, scoring two goals, one of them a shorthander, in each game. He certainly seized the opportunity for extra ice time, especially on special teams, created by the departure of the team’s top five scorers.<\/p>\n
“Jackson just played so well,” Whitehead said. “It’s great when a senior can emerge like that. He just played with a lot of heart.”<\/p>\n
He was named tournament MVP, which bodes very well indeed for Maine’s offensive prospects.<\/p>\n
The Shutout King<\/h4>\n
Congratulations to New Hampshire goaltender Michael Ayers, who broke his school’s all-time shutout record with the ninth of his career in a 3-0 win over Vermont. Ayers had shared the mark with Sean Matile. <\/p>\n
“I really didn’t think about it,” Ayers said after the game. “I just thought it was great that the team got out to an early lead. This was more of a team-based win. Their work down low enabled me to make the saves that I needed to make.” <\/p>\n
Although Ayers is as instinctive at deflecting praise to his teammates as he is deflecting shots into the corners, his achievement is impressive. He played less than 26 minutes total as a freshman and as a sophomore didn’t record his lone shutout until late February. <\/p>\n
Since then, though, he’s been lights out. Last year, he posted seven whitewashings, including three in a row over Boston University.<\/p>\n
So don’t be surprised if by March he’s toppled all the Hockey East marks, which are based on regular season league games only. He already has four in that category and another four would match the career mark of Boston College’s Scott Clemmensen (1997-2001) as well as the season mark of fellow Wildcat Ty Conklin (2000-01).<\/p>\n
Based on how Ayers has had BU’s number of late, that matchup on Nov. 7 bears watching.<\/p>\n