In the Hockey East preseason poll released Monday, the Boston University women’s hockey team has been tabbed to finish second for the 2015-16 season.
The four-time defending Hockey East champions earned one first-place vote, while Boston College earned the top spot in the poll. Outside of those two, Northeastern University is slated to finish third and a tight pack follows for the remaining positions.
The poll largely affirms the hierarchy that has defined Hockey East in recent years, but BU coach Brian Durocher said he feels it also reflects a wide open field after the predicted top schools.
“On paper, ourselves and Northeastern are pretty close in the next group,” Durocher said. “If they can stay healthy … they can be a very, very good team.
“And then I’m having a hard time with the rest of the league,” he added, “because some teams might have the goaltending, some teams might have the experience, some teams might have the size, some others might have the speed, one team may have succeeded two years ago … and one team was on the way up.”
The Terriers, who finished 25-9-3 last season, also placed eighth in the preseason U.S. College Hockey Online Division I Women’s Poll, which looks at the national college hockey scene. Much like the Hockey East preseason poll, the USCHO selected BC to finish ahead of BU in the No. 2 spot, while Northeastern again trailed the Terriers.
Though that national recognition speaks volumes about the program Durocher has built up over the years, the 11-year coaching veteran was quick to quell the heightened expectations.
“I also just saw the national poll which had us at [No. 8], so it’s great to, on paper, look like you have a good team,” Durocher said. “But there’s no question that there are many hurdles we’ll have to get over this year and if you keep looking at those things or take too much stock in those things, you might miss on a few games or fall asleep for a few weeks.”
A corps of veteran forwards will lead the Terriers, all of whom will be tasked with replacing the lasting impact of graduated forward Marie-Philip Poulin. Whether it is senior forward Sarah Lefort, sophomore forward Victoria Bach or senior forward Kayla Tutino, the burden of coping with the departed Patty Kazmaier Award finalist is in good hands.
“The biggest thing is we have a large committee of talented forwards, so I don’t know if we’ll miss [Poulin] so much on the offensive side,” Durocher said. “But we’ll definitely miss her leadership and unbelievably tough defensive ability. She was the type of player who could cover the elite players in the league and outscore them 2-1.”
Though Poulin’s defensive impact will be missed, Durocher said he is confident his forwards can rise to the occasion in the 2015-16 season.
“That’s the important thing and it will be really hard to replace, but after that we’ve got to make sure that everybody is working both ends of the ice,” Durocher said. “These kids can’t just be content they’re getting points and scoring, they’ve got to be playing the other end of the ice as well.”
While he is mindful of the challenges ahead, Durocher said he believes his team could build on its reputation.
“I like the fact we’ve got experience, and it might be experience not just on the first line, but on the second line and third line,” he said. “That comes because we do have a lot of seniors. … When you’ve got that many juniors and seniors you’ve got experience on all lines, so it’s not their first time playing in big games or a tough environment. They’ve got that all in place. That’s probably our calling card if you’re looking at our team.”
Jonathan's a New Englander who writes about sports, features and politics. He currently covers men's hockey at BU, worked as Sports Editor during the spring 2016 semester and is on the FreeP's Board of Directors. Toss him a follow on Twitter at @jonathansigal.
