Remember a couple weeks ago when everyone (including myself) thought Boston University was likely heading to the middle of the Hockey East pack after they lost a couple key players in a matter of days?  So much for that.  With their recent winning ways BU is starting to gain some first place votes in the USCHO poll which sees them as the 2nd ranked team in the country.  Merrimack moved up to #5 after splitting with New Hampshire over the weekend.  Maine’s sweep of Boston College sends the Eagles down to #7 while the Black Bears reenter the poll at #20.  UMass’ next opponent, Lowell, moved up three spots to #11.  BU is picking up first place votes in the USA Hockey/USA Today poll as well.

UMass moved down a spot from last week at this time in the most recent Pairwise ranking, sitting at #24.  Success this weekend against the River Hawks would help that as they currently sit at #3.

The Minutemen find themselves in 7th place in Hockey East, same as last week.  That’s actually a good thing since all the teams around them had two games while UMass and Vermont played just the single match on Friday.  Maine’s four point weekend however means home ice is now 6 points away.  Lowell is four points ahead of UMass in 5th place, however that could change as they take on Providence tomorrow night.  The Friars currently sit just ahead of UMass by one point while UNH is just behind in 8th place by a single point.  UMass has a four point lead on Northeastern who sits in 9th place, out of the playoffs.

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Conor Allen, Danny Hobbs, Steve Mastalerz, and Mike Pereira were all named Hockey East Top Performers for their efforts against Vermont this past weekend.

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The Daily Collegian has a couple of catch-up articles after returning from break.  The first covers the Florida trip, Frozen Fenway, and the upset of BC while the second is a story on the goaltending situation.

Here’s an interesting article out of Alaska regarding the future of the WCHA that suggests Iowa State, Wisconsin-Green Bay and Minnesota-Moorhead may be looking to upgrade their hockey programs.