Well, I'm sure some will disagree with some of this... and a few may be quite
right!  :-)
 
This seemed like a nice little break in action near the 1/2-way point in the
regular season to analyze some of what's happened so far.
 
This is NOT meant to be an all-inclusive, indepth analysis, just some quick
things that I have noticed about some different teams.
 
Maine
 Negative:  This team lacks any true offensive stars.  This team's best
offensive player would be struggling to make the 3rd line of the '92-'93 Maine
team.  Some feel this could hurt them come tourney-time.
 Positive:  Solid team-defense keeps them even with their opponents until their
power play can score the goals.  To quote an old coach of mine when talking
about an opponent who we were not taking seriously, yet was winning the league,
"They don't do anything...   except win."
 Botton Line:  This team will not awe you with their skill or play, but they
understand better than any team for a while that the purpose of all this
skating and hitting is to win the *&%$# game.  Somebody out there WILL beat
Maine, but Maine will not "lose" the game.
 
 
Boston University
 Negatives:  With a 9-3-3 record, the only top 10 team they have played is
Maine (against whom their record is 0-2-2).  Although a 9-3-3 record is
nothing to be ashamed of, it is not worthy of the #1 preseason ranking they
held.
 Positives:  In BU's 15 games, only 2 of them (vs UMass) have been against
teams that are presently under .500.  Thirteen of those games have been against
winning or .500 teams.  BU's 3 losses were by a total of 4 points, and one of
those 4 was an empty-netter (vs. NU).
 Bottom line:  After losing Pandolfo, Johnson, and Herlofsky for various parts
of the season, BU will now lose Grier, Coleman, and Bates for a few games due
to the Jr. Nationals.  If BU can ever get the entire team (minus JP McKersie,
of course) on the same ice at the same time (something that has not happened
yet this year), they could be quite good.  If they all click like the team was
just before the break (withough Johnson or Herlofsky), BU could become very
scary.
 
 
New Hampshire
 Negatives:  This team started out much slower than expected.  This team is
still travelling at least 45 minutes each day just to get to and from practice.
 Positives:  UNH seems to have pulled it together, going unbeaten in its last
9 straight games.
 Bottom line:  This team looks like the real deal after all.  They've got good
goaltending and guys who can score.  Watch for them to challenge Maine and BU
down the stretch, especially if one of them begins to slip at all.
 
 
Northeastern
 Negatives:  Their defense has fallen apart the past few weeks.  It was looked
bad enough to make me wonder if they will be capable of keeping over .500 by
the end of the season.
 Positives:  With 2 good scoring lines and one of the best goaltending tandems
in Hockey East, if NU's defense can get itself healthy and then get its act
together, NU could make a return trip to the tourney.
 Bottom line:  This team is definitely going somewhere, I'm just not sure
where yet.
 
 
Lowell
 Negatives:  The loss of so many top stars from last year's team makes a return
trip to the tourney just a dream.  The goaltending is young and there is not
a lot of depth in the scoring department.
 Positives:  Considering how much of a struggle most of the "Hockey studiers"
thought it would be for Lowell this year, the fact that they have a winning
record is a tribute to coach Bruce Crowder.
 Bottom line:  Young talent and veteran role-players led by sophomore Greg
Bullock have surprised all.  This team should win the games they are supposed
to and may surprise a top team every now and then.  In a word, "respectable."
 
 
Providence
 Negatives:  This team lacks in the area of talent.  Quennville (sp?) is the
only forward who would break the top two lines at NU, UNH, and BU, or the top
line at Lowell.  For the new coach, there just isn't a lot to work with.
 Positives (reverse order):  The new coach has already made his mark, leading
this team to a much better record than expected.  The wins are not pretty, but
they are wins.  Heck, the penalty kill of Providence was frighteningly
reminiscent of LSSU's the past few years.  It was booring, but it works.
 Bottom Line:  That penalty kill was reminiscent of LSSU's!  It worked, but it
was SOOOOooooo boooooooring!!!  If you are at a Providence game, and the other
team gets a power-play, go to the bathroom, get some food, check-out the
program... watch the paint peel... ANYTHING BUT THE PENALTY KILL!!!  Watching
people stand against the boards and keep the puck between their skates,
interrupted occassionally by someone kicking it to a teammate who then ties it
up against the boards can make 2 minutes seem like hours.  It works, and it is
intelligent if it works, but it just really stinks from a spectator's
standpoint.
 
 
Merrimack
 Negatives:  The lack of scoring that some feared is worse than I thought it
would be.  Wins are very hard to come by if you can't score.
 Positives:  The defense and goaltending are young and talented.  Merrimack
is not an easy win, and they managed to give Maine all they could handle,
forcing Maine to escape from Volpe with a win and a tie (SO loss), the win
coming after some Maine 3rd period heroics.
 Bottom line:  [fitting title for this section] :-)  Merrimack needs a scoring
line.  Occassionally upsetting a top team is nice, but to be a top team,
Merrimack needs either a scoring line, like BU, UNH, NU, Lowell, and even BC
have, or a power play like Maine has.  With a good scoring line, Merrimack
could be fighting for home ice in the HE playoffs, but until they get one,
they won't get it.
 
 
Boston College
 Negatives:  The team's play.
 Positives:  The new coach has some good recruits coming in next year (with
no scholarships at that... (I *ASSUME* they have been promised the last 2-3
years or something)) and goalie Taylor is only a sophomore.
 Bottom line:  This team is a few years away from really turning it around,
but never count any team out of a play-off situation who has a goaltender
like Taylor.  (Remember Tom Cole, NU in 1991, Chris Terreri, Providence in
1985)
 
 
UMass-Amherst
 Negatives:  The minutemen's season is going as badly as the hockey studiers
feared it would.
 Positives:  They are not getting horribly blown out in most of their games.
They have serious size and could help Hockey East as a league by preparing the
rest of the teams for any possible rough-and-tumble tourney games.  The
beautiful arena could help attract talent in the next few years.
 Bottom line:  This team is young and lacking in serious talent at all levels.
The focus here is to win a few games first and gain some respect.  Any thought
of making any noise in the NCAA's or even the HE tourney are years away.
 
 
 
 
Please feel free to disagree with anything I said.  The purpose is not to
dictate what I "know to be right," but to share what I have observed.
 
 
 
Just the humble bablings of a crazed hockey fan,
Tony  BU'92'93
Former Ogre
 
 
 
* - For the purposes of this article, "hockey studiers" will refer to the
undefined group of people on the list who have been on for a while (few years)
and follow not just their own teams, but see other games when they have a
chance as well.  There is a unique perspective that those who regularly watch
games that do not involve their favorite team have.  I would not say they are
unbiased (heck, some would say they simply have a totally new bias), but I
tend to give more credence to the opinions (hockey-wise, of course) of those
who have seen more than just their own team play.