With the players finishing up finals and heading out of town this week there hasn’t been too much to pass along for UMass hockey fans.  However here are a few things I’ve come across.

The Boston Globe gave out grades to the Hockey East teams.  UMass gets a “C”.

Dick Baker asks an excellent question, where the hell is the Alumni Cup awarded to the winner of the regular season series between UMass and Lowell.  With a sweep last year of the River Hawks, UMass owns the cup currently.  I’ve said for years if you want to strengthen the rivalry between the flagship and satellite campuses the cup should be awarded after the third and final matchup of the year.

A couple of Hockey East power rankings, one from the New England Hockey Journal the second from College Hockey News.

It’s a tough week to be a Boston University Terrier fan.  After losing leading scorer Corey Trivino after he was arrested on some disturbing charges earlier in the week, they lost sophomore star Charlie Coyle yesterday.  Coyle is off to QMJHL after reportedly being unable to handle the academic rigors of BU.  I think Coyle was one of the more exciting players in the league and I absolutely hate seeing kids leave to go major junior, but if education isn’t a priority along with your hockey then major junior is the way to go.

UMass will not be the only Western Mass team to take the Fenway ice next month.  Springfield Cathedral will take on Rhode Island hockey powerhouse Mount St Charles on January 2nd as part of a high school hockey triple header.  The game will serve as a fundraiser to help rebuild Cathedral high school which suffered extensive damage in last spring’s tornado.  Minuteman Peter DeAngelo is a Mount St Charles graduate and was a star for them before moving on to junior hockey.

Matt Irwin is still up with the San Jose Sharks but has been a healthy scratch through the two games while he’s been there.  Hopefully he gets a chance tonight when they take on Edmonton.