The Hockey East race has been wide open so far this season, so it should be no surprise that the league is well represented in the latest edition of New England Hockey Journal's Division 1 men’s power rankings. The league’s incredible parity is exemplified by three different teams having now held down the No. 1...
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The Hockey East race has been wide open so far this season, so it should be no surprise that the league is well represented in the latest edition of New England Hockey Journal's Division 1 men’s power rankings.
The league’s incredible parity is exemplified by three different teams having now held down the No. 1 spot in the rankings this fall. The latest reached the top this week while continuing a longstanding winning run. The national polls have taken notice of Hockey East’s resurgence.
A third ECAC team has now joined the ranks after beginning the year unbeaten in league play through five games.
Here is our latest look at the top teams in the region.Â
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1. Providence (8-1-2, 4-0-2 HEA)
Previous ranking: No. 2
The Friars have risen to the top of Hockey East with one of only two unbeaten records in the league, thanks to a 7-0-2 run that dates back to their opening series at Michigan. Tanner Adams’ two goals and an assist lifted the Friars to Saturday’s 5-2, series-sweeping win at Northeastern. With 11 points, Adams is tied for the team lead, which stacks him up with touted first-year stars across the league. Saturday also marked coach Nate Leaman’s school-record 249th career win, following a 2-1 overtime win Friday in which PC allowed just eight shots.
2. Boston College (7-2-1, 2-1-1 HEA)
Previous ranking: No. 1
After back-to-back sweeps of Michigan State and UMass Lowell, the Eagles had their win streak curbed in a 4-2 Friday loss at Maine before earning the extra point following a 2-2 tie the following night. The freshmen continue to play a key role, as Ryan Leonard (Amherst, Mass.) has scored in four straight games and linemate Gabe Perreault is riding an eight-game point streak. In net, their fellow National Team Development Program product Jacob Fowler posted back-to-back performances with at least 30 saves on the weekend.
3. Boston University (6-3-1, 3-1-1 HEA)
Previous ranking: No. 4
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The Terriers, who opened November with a marquee home series against North Dakota, have lost just once over the last three weekends and gone 5-1-1 over a seven-game span. Brown junior transfer Mathieu Caron seems to be settling down in net after closing out Friday’s 3-2 victory with 10 of his 18 saves in the third period. Caron also made 28 stops on Saturday, but sophomore Quinn Hutson’s first collegiate hat trick stole the show during a 6-1 home win.
4. Quinnipiac (7-3-1, 3-0-1 ECAC)
Previous ranking: No. 3
The Bobcats, who started just 4-3-1, are unblemished through their first two ECAC weekends. Longtime coach Rand Pecknold (Bedford, N.H.) would love for this past weekend’s five-goal outbursts against Brown and Yale to become a trend now that senior Collin Graf (Lincoln, Mass.) is back in the lineup. Graf returned from a four-game injury absence and proceeded to score one goal and add five assists across two games.
5. Maine (6-1-1, 3-0-1 HEA)
Previous ranking: No. 7
The Black Bears just earned four out of six Hockey East points against then-No. 1 Boston College, including a 4-2 Friday win that lifted them to their first 3-0 league start since 2005. Senior Lynden Breen centering freshmen brothers Bradly Nadeau and Josh Nadeau has remained a dynamic combination, as the trio sits in a three-way tie for the team lead with 10 points apiece. Bradly Nadeau has scored five of his six goals over the last two series, including the game-winner in Friday’s victory over the Eagles.
After beating Northeastern 2-1 in overtime to begin November, UMass split its latest Hockey East home series with Vermont, winning 4-1 Friday before the visitors’ run of six unanswered goals erased a 2-0 Saturday lead. Junior Ryan Lautenbach is one example of the offseason focus on creating further roster depth paying off. He's already reached his career-high goal total after scoring his team-leading fifth of the campaign and adding an assist on Friday.
7. New Hampshire (4-2-1, 2-1-1 HEA)
Previous ranking: No. 6
Before an idle weekend, the Wildcats were held to just two of six Hockey East points in their home-and-home set with Providence. Senior Jakob Hellsten has taken the reins in net recently, posting a .930 save percentage across the last four contests. Hellsten’s strong run has included stopping 38 of the 41 shots he faced against the Friars, but it was UNH being held to only one goal that kept him out of the win column in that series.
8. Harvard (1-1-3, 1-1-3 ECAC)
Previous ranking: No. 9
All but one of the Crimson’s games thus far has needed overtime or been decided by one goal, but Saturday’s 3-2 decision at then-No. 7 Cornell was a memorable first victory. Junior Alex Gaffney scored a pair of power-play goals to pace Harvard in its fifth consecutive win over the rival Big Red. Joe Miller opened the scoring with the team-leading third goal of his sophomore season.
9. Dartmouth (2-1-3, 2-0-3 ECAC)
Previous ranking: Not ranked
Another team playing in almost exclusively tight games, the Big Green took points from ranked Quinnipiac and Cornell in overtime ties and then beat Princeton and Colgate to finish the past two weekends, respectively. Sophomore Cooper Black is a major reason for Dartmouth’s rise. He ranks second in ECAC Hockey with a .928 save percentage following his 67-save weekend. He made 36 stops en route to Saturday’s 3-2 overtime win at Colgate, including denying a second-period penalty shot.
The Warriors picked up a 6-3 Friday victory at UConn while losing their other three November games — two against Maine and Saturday at home against the Huskies — all by a single goal. In only his third game back from injury, senior Alex Jefferies (Lunenburg, Mass.) netted his first career hat trick and added two assists on Friday. Sophomore defenseman Zach Bookman also had five points (one goal, four assists), and junior Matt Copponi (Mansfield, Mass.) had three helpers while being reunited on a line with Jeffries.
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6. Massachusetts (6-3-1, 2-2-1 HEA)
