2/28/93                Hockey East (24 games)     Overall
                       GP  W-L-T   Pts  GF-GA  || GP   W-L-T    GF-GA
                       ===============================================
 1 !Maine              22 20-1-1   41  148-53  || 36  33-1-2   236-83
 2 !Boston University  23 17-5-1   35  114-78  || 33  24-7-2   161-105
 3 !New Hampshire      23 11-10-2  24  100-93  || 33  16-14-3  138-126
 4  UMass-Lowell       23 10-12-1  21   96-95  || 34  18-15-1  141-128
    Providence         23  9-11-3  21   85-97  || 33  16-14-3  136-125
 6  Boston College     22  6-13-3  15   73-104 || 34   9-20-5  107-160
 7  Merrimack          23  7-16-0  14   80-137 || 33  13-18-2  125-166
 8 !Northeastern       23  5-17-1  11   82-121 || 32   9-22-1  124-172
!-current position is where team will finish.
Maine, BU & UNH have clinched home ice for quarterfinals (top 4 teams
 host best of 2 w/sudden death if series tied).
 
RESULTS
02/26/93 Providence          3 at Boston College      4 HE
02/26/93 New Hampshire       2 at UMass-Lowell        2 HE ot
02/26/93 Maine               4 at Merrimack           2 HE
02/26/93 Boston University   4 at Northeastern        3 HE ot
02/27/93 Northeastern        3 at Boston University   5 HE
02/27/93 Maine               8 at Merrimack           1 HE
02/27/93 UMass-Lowell        2 at New Hampshire       5 HE
02/27/93 Boston College      4 at Providence          4 HE ot
 
UPCOMING
03/02/93 Boston College        at Maine                 HE
03/05/93 Northeastern          at Boston College        HE
03/05/93 Boston University     at Providence            HE    NESN
03/06/93 New Hampshire         at Maine                 HE
03/06/93 Merrimack             at UMass-Lowell          HE
(end of regular season)
03/12-13 Hockey East Quarterfinals (best of 2, sudden death if series tied)
03/19/93 Hockey East Semifinals at Boston Garden, 5:00 (NESN)/8:00 (NESN)
03/20/93 Hockey East Cons/Champ at Boston Garden, 5:00/8:00 (NESN)
 
RECAP
Maine kept alive its 19-game road winning streak by sweeping Merrimack,
4-2 and 8-1, but neither win was an easy one.  BU swept Northeastern
in a pair of games NU needed to win, and BC got three points out of a
possible four against PC to help its chances for 6th place.  UNH also
took three of four points, against UMass-Lowell, to wrap up 3rd.
 
PLAYOFF PICTURE
Maine, BU & UNH have clinched home ice for the best-of-2 quarterfinal
round.  They will finish 1st-3rd respectively.  The only other position
clinched is 8th by Northeastern, meaning the Huskies will be travelling
to Orono March 12-13.  Here's the lowdown on the fight for the final
home ice spot and the fight for sixth:
 
THREE DOWN, ONE TO GO
Only one home ice spot remains, 4th place, and it is being contested by
two teams who are tied for 4th with 21 points, and one game remains for
each team.  UMass-Lowell has the edge because of league wins, with a
10-12-1 record; Providence is 9-11-3.  The first tiebreaker, head-to-head,
was even at 2-2-0 so if the teams finish tied, it will come down to the
2nd tiebreaker - most league wins.
 
Therefore, UML controls its own destiny while PC needs some help.  UML
can clinch fourth by beating Merrimack March 6th, even if PC beats BU the
night before.  PC needs to get one more point than UML does in each team's
final game.  Thus, given the following outcomes, here's what would happen -
note that the team finishing fourth will host the other team in the first
round:
 
UML beats Merrimack *OR* PC loses to BU - UML 4th
UML ties Merrimack, PC beats BU - PC 4th
UML loses to Merrimack, PC ties or beats BU - PC 4th
Both teams lose or both teams tie their last game - UML 4th
 
UML also has the advantage of being able to watch the scoreboard Friday
to see what PC does, then UML will know going into the Merrimack game
Saturday exactly what it has to do to clinch home ice (or if they've
already clinched, should PC lose to BU).
 
TO BU, OR NOT TO BU
BC (6-13-3, 15 pts) has a one point edge on Merrimack (7-16-0, 14 pts)
in the battle for 6th place.  The team losing this battle will play at
BU in the first round, and both BC and Merrimack went 0-4-0 vs the Terriers
this year.  The team finishing 6th will play at UNH.  BC holds the
tiebreaker due to head-to-head record (2-1-0) which shows you how big
those MC-BC games were a month ago - if one of those BC wins had gone to
Merrimack instead, Merrimack would have wrapped up 6th.  However, here's
what each team needs to have happen to take 6th place and avoid BU in the
first round:
 
BC can finish 6th by gaining at least one point in its final two games
at Maine & at home vs NU; OR, if BC loses both, it will still finish 6th
if Merrimack ties or loses to UMass-Lowell.
 
Merrimack can only finish 6th if BC loses both of its final two games AND
Merrimack beats UMass-Lowell; a tie is not enough.
 
Again, as in the UML/PC situation, BC has the advantage because it controls
its own destiny, but Merrimack will still know prior to its last game
whether a win can get them 6th or not.
 
WHO GOES WHERE
The only two guaranteed matchups are #8 NU at #1 Maine, and UML vs PC
(site yet to be determined).  #2 BU will host the #7 team, either BC or
Merrimack, and #3 UNH will host the #6 team, also either BC or Merrimack.
 
NEXT WEEKEND
Of the five games left, four still have playoff ramifications as of this
time; only UNH-Maine on 3/6 is guaranteed not to affect the standings.
Tuesday, BC is at Maine in a rare mid-week game that means more to the
Eagles.  Friday, BU visits PC in a game the Friars can't afford to lose,
and NU is at BC in a game where the Eagles may still need at least a point.
Saturday, Merrimack is at UMass-Lowell, and depending on how BC and PC
have fared previously, the game may mean nothing, or it may mean something
to one team and not the other OR it may mean something to both teams.
 
HE 3 LEADING SCORERS THROUGH FEB 27
   PLAYER/CLASS/POS/SCHOOL      GP    G  A PTS
1  Paul Kariya/Fr/LW/Maine      30   22-60--82
2  Jim Montgomery/Sr/C/Maine    36   22-50--72
3  Cal Ingraham/Jr/RW/Maine     36   37-30--67
 
LAST WEEK'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (from HE release 2/22/93)
HE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Mike Prendergast, So RW, BU: Prendergast notched two goals and one
 assist for three points in BU's 7-6 ot win over #1 Maine, including
 the GWG in overtime.
Gary Socha, Sr LW, Providence: Socha scored his first career hat trick
 in 7-3 win over UMass-Lowell and added 1-1--2 in a 4-2 loss.  Named
 first star on Friday and second star on Saturday.
Honor Roll: Jack Callahan, BC; Jim Montgomery, Maine; Dwayne Roloson,
 UML; Mike Doneghey, Merrimack; Greg Klym, UNH.
 
HE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Jacques Joubert, So C, BU: Joubert scored 1-2--3 in 7-6 ot comeback
 win over Maine, including the game-tying goal.  He added assists on
 goals which brought the score to 6-4 and 6-5.
Paul Kariya, Fr LW, Maine: Kariya tallied seven assists on the weekend
 in a split with BU, including 3 assists in the 7-6 ot loss and 4
 assists in the 6-1 win.  He now has five games in which he has four or
 more assists.
 
KARIYA WATCH (2/21/93)
Paul Kariya had one goal and two assists in the two games against
Merrimack, bringing his scoring streak to 30 games, his entire collegiate
career.  He now has 22-60--82 in 30 games, 15-46--61 in 22 HE games.  He
is 5 assists away from tying Craig Janney's (BC) record of 51 assists in a
HE season.  Saturday night against Merrimack, Kariya picked up one assist
to tie the HE record for scoring in 22 consecutive league games (Clark
Donatelli, BU, and Janney), and Kariya can break that with at least a
point in Maine's next game Tuesday night vs BC.
---
Mike Machnik    [log in to unmask]   Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors
(Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.)    *HMN*