FINAL 1991-92 HOCKEY EAST REGULAR SEASON STANDINGS
3/1/92 Hockey East Overall
GP W-L-T Pts GF-GA || GP W-L-T GF-GA
===============================================
1 Maine 21 17-2-2 36 115-54 || 33 28-3-2 183-83
2 New Hampshire 21 13-6-2 28 94-75 || 33 20-11-2 156-114
3 Providence 21 11-8-2 24 99-79 || 34 20-12-2 165-129
Boston University 21 10-7-4 24 92-88 || 33 22-7-4 155-115
5 Boston College 21 9-10-2 20 68-76 || 33 13-17-3 108-129
6 UMass-Lowell 21 6-11-4 16 75-91 || 33 11-18-4 127-148
7 Northeastern 21 6-15-0 12 72-110 || 34 15-19-0 140-163
8 Merrimack 21 4-17-0 8 60-102 || 33 13-20-0 128-142
NOTE: Providence and Boston University tied for third with 24 points
each. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head record, was even (1-1-1).
Providence is awarded third on the second tiebreaker, league wins.
2/28/92 Boston University 2 at Boston College 3 HE
Providence 2 at Maine 5 HE
Northeastern 2 at UMass-Lowell 7 HE
New Hampshire 5 at Merrimack 2 HE
2/29/92 Merrimack 4 at Boston University 7 HE
Providence 3 at Maine 4 HE
UMass-Lowell 0 at New Hampshire 4 HE
3/1/92 Boston College 2 at Northeastern 3 HE
END HOCKEY EAST REGULAR SEASON
HOCKEY EAST PLAYOFF SCHEDULE
3/6/92 UMass-Lowell at Providence NC NESN 7:00
3/7/92 Boston College at Boston University NC NESN 7:00
3/8/92 Northeastern at New Hampshire NC NESN 2:00
Merrimack at Maine NC NESN 7:00
3/12/92 Semifinals at Boston Garden (5 & 8 pm, NESN)
3/14/92 Championship at Boston Garden (8 pm, NESN)
QUARTERFINAL PREVIEW
There are some interesting matchups, since two of the four road teams have
won the season series from the home team. Best chances for upsets lie
with BC and UMass-Lowell. No predictions, but I will give the line from
the home office in Salem, NH.
#6 UMASS-LOWELL AT #3 PROVIDENCE
Season results: UML 2-1-1, 20 GF 18 GA. At PC: UML 2-1-0, 16 GF 14 GA.
11/2/91 UML 4 @ PC 1 (USAir Tourney Championship; NC)
11/16/91 UML 8 @ PC 6
1/10/92 PC 4 @ UML 4 (ot)
1/17/92 @ PC 7 UML 4
For UMass-Lowell to win: G Mark Richards must stand on head again; control
Boback and Gaudreau; play effective checking game; take advantage on
power plays; watch for Gaudreau to step up into play and develop 2-on-1s;
Gatti must be effective on special teams; O'Connell must come up with
timely goals; be aware of PC lapses during game and jump on them.
For Providence to win: not get shaky performance from G Mullahy; play three
solid periods and not go to sleep during key junctures; effectively use
PP and penalty-killing units which are among nation's leaders; not allow
Richards to get hot in net; have someone cover for Gaudreau when he steps
up into play; get good game from Boback.
Mike's Line: PC by 2. But if PC looks past this game, they may find
themselves watching Hockeyfest on tv.
#5 BOSTON COLLEGE AT #4 BOSTON UNIVERSITY
Season results: BC 2-0-1, 11 GF 9 GA. At BU: BC 1-0-1, 8 GF 7 GA.
12/7/91 BC 5 @ BU 4 (ot)
1/25/92 BC 3 @ BU 3 (ot)
2/28/92 @ BC 3 BU 2
For BC to win: Allow LaGrand to see shots and have him play well; get
goals from Franzosa and Beran; keep score low; take advantage of power
play chances; backcheck well and wait for scoring chances.
For BU to win: Get effective leadership from Sacco, Dion and Koskimaki;
rattle LaGrand and crash net often; stay out of box; keep crowd in game;
not get too emotional and commit bad defensive mistakes; have freshmen
rise to occasion and play well; not get erratic goaltending performance
from Cashman.
Mike's Line: BU by 1. It's tough to go four games in a season without
losing to a team. But Eagles have been playing better than Terriers
lately. Probably best of the four matchups. BC has not lost at BU in
two years (2-0-1).
#7 NORTHEASTERN AT #2 NEW HAMPSHIRE
Season results: UNH 3-0-0, 23 GF 10 GA. At UNH: UNH 2-0-0, 12 GF 8 GA.
11/16/91 @ UNH 6 NU 4
1/25/92 @ UNH 6 NU 4
1/14/92 UNH 11 @ NU 2
For Northeastern to win: Get outstanding performance from erratic G Tom
Cole; keep line of Morrow-Flanagan-Mitrovic in check; also watch closely
2nd-liners Amodeo and Thomson; not take stupid penalties; keep crowd out
of game; have Laplante, Schiavo and Kenny work puck well in offensive zone.
For New Hampshire to win: Pressure Cole with lots of screen shots; score
early to keep crowd in game; get leadership from seniors; not neglect
defensive responsibilities; get inspired performance from sometimes shaky
Flanagan; adequate showing from G Levy should be enough given these other
factors.
Mike's Line: UNH by 2. If Cole looks hot early and Levy shaky, could be
a close, tough game. First home HE playoff game for UNH since 1985, a
two-game, minigame loss to Lowell, so Snively should be Lively.
#8 MERRIMACK AT #1 MAINE
Season results: UM 3-0-0, 23 GF 8 GA. At UM: UM 1-0-0, 10 GF 4 GA.
1/17/92 UM 7 @ MC 2
1/19/92 @ UM 10 MC 4
2/10/92 UM 6 @ MC 2
For Merrimack to win: Get superb goaltending from Steve D'Amore; not allow
Maine forwards to get close enough to bang in rebounds; get goals from
big guns Gravelle and Fowler; have 2nd-4th lines backcheck effectively;
stay out of box; keep Maine off board early/establish strong checking
game early. Also: keep crowd out of game; not enter game with lack of
confidence that can allow opponents to jump ahead early. Key periods
are first and third.
For Maine to win: Pressure D'Amore early and often; develop strong attack
from all lines; control Gravelle; give Merrimack forwards physical
pounding; not look ahead to Hockeyfest.
Mike's Line: Maine by 4. Chances likely lie with how well Maine plays -
talent edge is clearly there - but Merrimack is capable of jumping
on any lapses and coming back quickly as last couple of games in Orono
have shown. Merrimack has not beaten Maine since 1980 when both teams
were DivII and has only won one HE playoff game, 6-3 over BC in 1990 in
a best-of-three series (HE playoff record 1-3-0).
SOME WEEKEND BOXSCORES (others to come if I get them)
at MAINE 5, PROVIDENCE 2 (Fri 2/28/92)
Providence (20-11-2, 11-7-2 HE 3rd) 0 1 1 - 2
Maine (27-3-2, 16-2-2 HE 1st) 1 1 3 - 5
1ST: UM, Jean-Yves Roy (Jim Montgomery, Garth Snow) 10:47.
2ND: PC, Brian Ridolfi (Chad Quenneville) 4:04; UM, Kent Salfi (Patrice
Tardif) 10:53.
3RD: UM, Scott Pellerin (Martin Robitaille) 5:53; UM, Roy (Cal Ingraham,
Robitaille) 7:18; UM, Pellerin (unassisted) 15:18; PC, Mike Boback
(Gary Socha) 18:37.
SAVES: PC, Brad Mullahy 19, Mike Heinke 0. UM, Garth Snow 13.
at UMASS-LOWELL 7, NORTHEASTERN 2 (Fri 2/28/92)
Northeastern (14-19-0, 5-15-0 HE 7th) 0 2 0 - 2
UMass-Lowell (11-17-4, 6-10-4 HE 6th) 0 1 6 - 7
1ST: No scoring.
2ND: NU, Jay Schiavo (Sebastien Laplante, Chris Foy) 5:41; L, Normand Bazin
(Ian Hebert) 11:06; NU, Adam Hayes (Tom O'Connor, Laplante) 17:28.
3RD: L, Dan O'Connell (Mike Murray, Dave Stevens) 3:58; L, Hebert (Travis
Tucker, Bazin) 5:41; L, Dave Gatti (Murray, Tim Smallwood) 7:52;
L, Stevens (O'Connell, Don Parsons) 11:07; L, Aaron Kriss (Murray)
18:09; L, Greg Carter (Stevens) 19:52.
SAVES: NU, Todd Reynolds 25, Tom Cole 1. L, Mark Richards 30.
---
Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] mikem@{beanpot,bubba}.ma30.bull.com
|
