B.U. will be hard pressed to win its 6th straight HockeyEast title. The
freshman from last year as well as the incoming class will have to step up
to fill the huge holes left by the five graduating seniors and Tom Poti. The
late news that sophomore defenseman Joe DiPenta has broken his foot
certainly puts a grimace on the face of Terrier fans. I'm sure they're
hoping for a quick recovery. DiPenta (2g, 15a) is expected to be the
blueline leader this coming season on a very young crew. He'll have help
from senior Dan Ronan (1g, 6a) and fellow sophomore Colin Sheen (0g, 2a) but
the Terriers are surely hoping that highly-touted freshman Chris Dyment will
help fill the void left by Poti (14g, 31a), who was an incredible offensive
punch from the blueline. The National Dev. Program will also be supplying
B.U. with Pat Aufiero, one of 19 players entering college hockey this year.
 
The likely #1 preseason pick will be B.C.. I think the Eagles can overcome
the loss of Reasoner. This young, talent-rich squad now has valuable
post-season experience. They really rolled through the HockeyEast playoffs
and the NCAA tourney with very little trouble until they met Michigan.
 
B.C. should be #1 in the nation.
 
But, the difficult competition in HockeyEast will probably do quite well in
challenging the Eagles throughout the year. The top-to-bottom strength of
the league certainly makes it a tough call. But, here is mine.
 
#1 Boston University. I need only point to the 97-98 Wolverines to show you
what a perrenial power can do despite losing nearly its all its top players.
 
#2 Boston College. This make those BU-BC games an incredibly tough ticket to
get this coming year.
 
#3-6 (in alphabetical order) Lowell, Maine, Merrimack and New Hampshire. Not
that big of a gap between the #1-2 teams and this group, but these four will
likely grab 3-6 in the league. Lowell is my team and despite losing Koehler,
they had a very strong freshman class last season and a pretty solid
incoming class led by an exciting goalie prospect Jimi St. John from the
BCHL. Lowell does it every season without the top recruits. They lead
HockeyEast in consecutive trips to HockeyEast's Final Four with 6 straight.
Maine has the most talent and promise but with last seasons dissapointing
result, I've got to wonder if this squad can compete for the entire year.
Merrimack also had a very dissapointing loss with Scoville going pro, but
they return the top 1-2 punch in the league with Porter and Stringer. New
Hampshire lost almost as much as B.U., but they have the league's top Hobey
Candidate, Jason Krog ( leading B.C.'s Gionta by a neck).
 
#7 Northeastern. The loss of Robitaille is too great for this team. The
Huskies really played well against the top of the league last season and I
expect some of that will continue. But, they don't appear to be solid enough
to play hard every weekend and thereby muster enough points for home ice.
Maybe a Beanpot Championship for the Huskies.
 
#8-9 Providence and Amherst. Both capable of beating anyone in the league on
a given night, but not likely to be much of a threat. Both are strong
programs who bring in good recruits, but they need to change something to
get a contender.
 
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