The rundown: Hockey East power rankings

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The Boston Hockey Blog team has assessed its own ranking for the Hockey East. Click on the plus signs next to the school names to read the BHB’s justification for each ranking.

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_toggle title=”1. Providence College — (16-4-4, 7-2-3 Hockey East) ” el_id=”1453948142939-369c5898-b056″]A season removed from a national title, the No. 4 Friars have not taken their foot off of the gas pedal. It took until Dec. 28 for them to even have a tally marked in the loss column.

It never seems flashy, but Providence gets the job done in all three zones. It’s a top-three Hockey East team in both scoring offense and defense, showing good balance. Defenseman Jake Walman, who leads conference defensemen with 25 points, has been an incredible force for the Friars.

And if there was any thought that goaltending would take a hit with the departure of Jon Gillies, Nick Ellis (.928 save percentage) has all but erased the doubts. The Friars are sound on and off the puck and do the little things right. Don’t be surprised to see them make another run come tournament time.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=” 2. Boston College — (16-4-4, 9-1-4 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453948269349-b6f731ad-d8ac”]

No. 5 BC is one of the best all-around teams not only in the conference, but the entire country as well. The Eagles have the sixth-best team defense in the nation, allowing just 1.88 goals a game, and boast the fourth-best team offense, averaging 4.17 goals for.

It’s no wonder BC is so potent on offense when it’s home to two of the conference’s top-five scorers in freshman Colin White (14g-17a—31) and junior Ryan Fitzgerald (14g-16a — 30). Backstopped by the ever-consistent Thatcher Demko, who has a .936 save percentage, the Eagles are set between the pipes.

This strong Eagles team’s only “weakness” is that it commits more infractions than any other squad in the country with 16.54 penalty minutes per game. “Weakness” has quotation marks because BC has the eighth-best penalty kill in the country and is second in the nation with eight shorthanded goals. The Eagles are an opportunistic and resilient bunch and will be tough to shake as the national tournament approaches.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=” 3. University of Notre Dame — (14-4-7, 10-1-2 Hockey East) ” el_id=”1453948446945-2040739b-1779″]

Picked seventh in the preseason poll, the No. 10 Fighting Irish have surely surpassed these expectations. Notre Dame seems to find itself at or near the top in most statistical categories in the conference.

The Irish have many different guys that can score, with 12 players already in double-digit point figures. Sophomores Anders Bjork (26 points) and Jake Evans (25 points) have been the catalysts for this bunch.

Goalie Cal Petersen, coming off a great freshman campaign, continues to be in control of the crease with a .927 save percentage. Notre Dame is one of the hottest teams in the country, compiling a 9-0-3 record in its last 12. The Irish can prove their national rank in the second half of the season with five games against BC, BU and Providence.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”4. University of Massachusetts, Lowell — (15-5-4, 10-3-3 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453948886934-f13fecf9-2b5c”]

The No. 8 River Hawks have gotten the job done offensively, but for most of this season, defense and goaltending have shone.

They’re allowing fewer than 30 shots per game and senior Kevin Boyle has been superb in goal, leading Hockey East in save percentage (.938) and goals-against average (1.70). UMass Lowell is actually toward the bottom of the league in terms of penalty minutes a game, but the penalty-kill unit is second best, just a tick under BC.

While the scoring depth might not be as deep as it was last year, sophomore C.J. Smith has built off a great freshman season and is tied for the team lead in points with senior Adam Chapie.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”5. Boston University — (13-7-4, 7-4-3 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453948950838-05b11753-b93b”]

It’s been an interesting season so far for the No. 9 Terriers, who won the conference both in last year’s regular season and conference tournament.

They still haven’t really established themselves as a definitively strong team, though big wins over top-10 opponents, recent dominant play and a 5-1-1 record in their last seven has them trending upwards. The Terriers are faring pretty well in terms of national statistics, as they score an eighth-best 3.58 goals a game and have a top-15 power play that converts 22.58 percent of the time. Goaltending started as a shaky piece of BU’s game, but has steadily improved as senior Sean Maguire continues to get better and better.

One problem, which was previously a strength last season, is team defense. The entire defensive corps is back, making one wonder why teams are finding more success in front of Maguire and sophomore Connor LaCouvee. There are still things to tighten up, and that needs to happen as BU makes a strong push toward the postseason with four of its final 10 regular season games coming against Notre Dame and Lowell.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”6. University of Vermont — (11-14-2, 5-7-2 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453948967768-6d448f61-3fbd”]

Not that Vermont’s defense has been bad — currently fifth in Hockey East — but it hasn’t been able to counteract an anemic offense.

Forward Mario Puskarich has seven goals and 22 points, but he’s the only Catamount with more than 20 points. A positive note for Vermont has been the play of goalie Packy Munson. After starter Mike Santaguida went out with a lower-body injury, Munson has put together a 7-4 record and a .917 save percentage.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”7. Northeastern University — (9-12-4, 4-8-3 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453949007715-623a55e9-bb24″]

As has become pretty typical for Northeastern, the Huskies struggled to start the year and won just one of their first 14 games. They have, however, mastered the second-half turnaround and are undefeated in their last eight.

This has all been done without senior Kevin Roy finding the back of the net. The captain has missed 12 games and has recorded seven assists in the 13 contests he’s been in the lineup. He hasn’t scored a goal, though.

If Northeastern is playing this well right now and Roy finds his scoring touch again, the Huskies have a chance to really make some noise in the coming months.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”8. University of Connecticut —  (8-15-3, 4-8-3 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453949038278-11cc85ab-365f”]

The Huskies have played like a middle-to-bottom team like most predicted coming into the year. The one-time BU recruit Max Letunov has been a revelation for UConn, leading the team with 29 points, making himself a candidate for the Hockey East All-Rookie Team.

Goaltender Rob Nichols continues to hold down the fort in net, but there might be too much of a reliance on him, as the Huskies are allowing more than 31 shots per game. They have also won three of their four conference games against BU and Lowell, so they can beat quality teams.

It’s a program that’s still up-and-coming, but they’re headed in the right direction.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=” 9. Merrimack College — (7-13-5, 2-7-5 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453949057907-167d148a-957c”]

A team that looked great to begin the year and was even ranked for a while, Merrimack has just about completely fallen off as the season has progressed.

Now in the midst of a nine-game losing streak, the Warriors have the eighth-worst team offense in the country with just 2.16 goals per game and concede 2.88 to opponents, good for 35th overall.

They’ll have the remainder of the season and the conference tournament to try and turn things around, but this team is doing the opposite of what you want one to do as things come to a close.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”10. University of New Hampshire — (8-12-4, 2-6-4 Hockey East) ” el_id=”1453949094855-cac67c0a-4015″]

If one takes one quick glance at UNH, one thing stands out among the rest — the duo of forwards Andrew Poturalski and Tyler Kelleher.

Poturalski leads the nation in goals and points, and Kelleher has the highest assist total in the country. But the team’s defensive corps hasn’t lived up to the success of these two. Though goaltender Danny Tirone went on a good run into last year’s Hockey East playoffs, his performance this year is nowhere near that level of play.

Right now, the Wildcats are 10th in Hockey East, but it’s conceivable that they could finish as high as seventh before the postseason starts.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”11. University of Massachusetts, Amherst — (7-14-4, 2-9-4 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453949121218-d3fbc040-55d1″]

The Minutemen started the season off on a high note, posting a 4-0-1 record through their first five games. Since then, however, they’ve registered a 3-14-3 mark and have had two separate six-game losing streaks.

UMass is weak in many facets of the game, scoring 2.4 goals per game and allowing just under four with a 3.9 average. Of its three goaltenders, none have a save percentage more than .897 and are collectively at .889 on the season.

For the last few years, the Minutemen’s weakness has really been their goalies, and without an end to the netminding woes in sight, it’s hard to imagine them being competitive this season.

[/vc_toggle][vc_toggle title=”12.) University of Maine — (5-15-6, 2-8-2 Hockey East)” el_id=”1453949148227-be58ebb5-fa23″]

The Black Bears have a respectable 5-4-3 record at home at Alfond Area. But that’s one of, if not the only, bright spot for this year’s Maine squad.

Forward Blaine Byron is the only skater that has more than 15 points on the lowest-scoring team in Hockey East. Things might not look great now, but Maine has a chance to turn things around somewhat when it begins its final 10-game stretch with a weekend series at UMass.

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