Given three games in the next five days the weekly post cadence is being compressed so tonight we’ll take a look at how the recruits are doing, the big Hockey East news in the polls, and find out if Eichel swept the conference awards for last week.
There won’t be a separate preview for the Turkey Tuesday Tilt. For reference you can read last week’s preview of the Vermont game and my thoughts following Saturday’s game. Despite the offensive eruption that occurred on Saturday, it’s still Vermont’s defense and goaltending that will likely decide the game. Brody Hoffman made some key saves early on Saturday that helped set the tone for the Catamounts. Still I don’t think too many UMass fans will be focused on what’s going on with the Cats and will be more concerned with how their team reacts to getting beaten 11-1 just days ago. Personally I think we’ll likely see a very different UMass team than what they witnessed on Saturday. Will it be enough to get the win? I don’t know. But even a hard-fought, close affair will be a vast improvement.
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Brandon Montour – D – Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL) – Dec 2014
15 GP /4 G / 14 A / 18 Pts / 30 PIM /-3
Montour had to sit out Waterloo’s lone game this past weekend due to a suspension for hitting from behind.
Brandon Egli – D – Vernon Vipers (BCHL) – 2015
15 GP / 0 G /2 A / 2 Pts / 17 PIM
Egli had an assist this past week.
Jake McCarthy – D – South Shore Kings (USPHL) – 2015 or 2016
0 GP / 0 G / 0 A / 0 Pts / 0 PIM
McCarthy is still nursing an injury that is delaying his debut for the Kings.
Kurt Keats – C – Powell River Kings (BCHL) – 2015
24 GP / 21 G / 13 A / 34 Pts / 41PIM
Keats continues to dominate the BCHL with two goals and an assist in two games this past week. Keats is 2nd in the BCHL in goals, 3rd in points, and 3rd in PPG.
Austin Plevy – C – Brooks Bandits (AJHL) – 2015
26 GP / 16 G /26 A / 42 Pts / 48 PIM
Plevy had another big week, scoring three goals to go with an assists in three games. Plevy is 4th in the AJHL in goals, 2nd in assists, 1st in points.
Shane Bear – D – Brooks Bandits (AJHL) – 2016
27 GP / 0 G / 13 A / 13 Pts / 37 PIM
Bear had an assist in his last three games.
Troy Conzo – RW – Wenatchee Wild (NAHL) – 2016 or 2017
3 GP / 0 G / 0 A /0 Pts / 0 PIM / –2 Des Moines (USHL)
7 GP/ 2 G/ 1 A / 3 Pts / 2 PIM / 0 Wenatchee (NAHL)
Last week I reported that Conzo had four goals in his first few games with his new team. It appears the NAHL website double counted one of the games. So he actually has two goals and an assist since moving leagues.
Kyler Nachtigall – LW – Brooks Bandits (AJHL) – 2016
27 GP / 6 G / 6 A / 12 Pts / 39 PIM
Nachtigall had a goal and and two assists in his last three games.
Ty Pelton-Byce – C – Team Wisconsin U18 (Elite)/Madison Memorial (WI HS) – 2016
21 GP / 12 G / 12 A / 24 Pts / 8 PIM Team Wisconsin U18
0 GP / 0 G / 0 A / 0 Pts Madison Memorial
Madison Memorial’s season kicks off on November 28th.
John Leonard – F – Springfield Rifles (Mass Selects)/Springfield Cathedral (MA HS) – 2017
14 GP / 21 G / 11 A / 32 Pts Springfield Rifles
0 GP / 0 G / 0 A / 0 Pts Springfield Cathedral
Cathedral’s season starts December 13th.
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The big news around Hockey East today is that Boston University gained the top spot in this week’s USCHO poll. It didn’t take second year head coach David Quinn long to get BU back to where they were customarily used to in college hockey. It’s unknown if they can remain so highly ranked for the rest of the year, but you have to be impressed to see them bounce back from being the 9th best team in Hockey East last year to tops in the nation in such a short time.
Lowell moved up a spot to #4 after taking three points at Notre Dame. Boston College stays at #12 despite beating UMass and Maine during the weekend. The Catamounts 11 goal effort over the Minutemen wasn’t enough to make up for their loss to UConn in the voters’ eyes and they dropped a couple spots to #13. This weekend’s opponent, Quinnipiac, stayed pat at #14. Providence dropped to #20 despite beating UNH this past weekend. The Friars and Wildcats were supposed to play two but Friday’s game was postponed due to ice problems.
Elsewhere in Hockey East Merrimack and Northeastern split a series that saw the Warriors lose one of their goaltenders. Maine got swept by BU and BC in a trip to the Hub. The Terriers dominated UConn 5-2 on Saturday. #1 BU will be action on Tuesday as well taking on Harvard, because it’s not like they’re already slated to play in the Beanpot or anything (oh wait, they are).
USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll
November 24, 2014
| Team | (First Place Votes) | Record | Points | Last Poll | |
| 1 | Boston University | (42) | 8- 1-1 | 988 | 3 |
| 2 | North Dakota | ( 3) | 9- 3-1 | 889 | 2 |
| 3 | Minnesota | ( 1) | 7- 3-0 | 825 | 4 |
| 4 | Massachusetts-Lowell | 8- 2-3 | 806 | 5 | |
| 5 | Miami | 10- 4-0 | 764 | 7 | |
| 6 | Michigan Tech | 10- 2-0 | 748 | 1 | |
| 7 | Minnesota State | ( 3) | 9- 3-0 | 746 | 9 |
| 8 | Minnesota-Duluth | ( 1) | 9- 5-0 | 615 | 8 |
| 9 | Colgate | 9- 4-1 | 575 | 6 | |
| 10 | Denver | 8- 3-0 | 572 | 10 | |
| 11 | Nebraska-Omaha | 7- 2-1 | 435 | 13 | |
| 12 | Boston College | 7- 5-0 | 425 | 12 | |
| 13 | Vermont | 8- 3-1 | 423 | 11 | |
| 14 | Quinnipiac | 8- 3-1 | 319 | 14 | |
| 15 | Bowling Green | 10- 3-1 | 292 | 18 | |
| 16 | St. Cloud State | 5- 6-1 | 249 | 16 | |
| 17 | Union | 6- 5-1 | 214 | 15 | |
| 18 | Harvard | 5- 1-2 | 147 | NR | |
| 19 | Northern Michigan | 7- 2-1 | 141 | 17 | |
| 20 | Providence | 5- 5-1 | 115 | 19 | |
| Others receiving votes: Robert Morris 96, St. Lawrence 48, Merrimack 30, Yale 17, Penn State 15, Ferris State 4, Notre Dame 2. | |||||
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Jack Eichel won the Hockey East Player of the Week Award with UConn and Providence also represented in this week’s superlatives.
Updated previews from UMass Athletics and Vermont.
The Burlington Free Press preview talks about forgetting about Saturday. Sounds good to me!
Fear The Triangle - UMass Hockey Blog 