Out of curiosity about how teams turned it on late in the season, or
collapsed late in the season, I looked at how each of the Hockey East
teams did in the first 12 league games vs. their last 12. Of course,
this doesn't take into account the relative strength of schedule, or how
many were home/away, or how non-conference meetings went, or how
injuries/suspensions affected teams, but it does give some info.
First 12 games Last 12 games
1. UNH 19 pts. 1. UNH 20 pts.
2. Maine 18 pts. 2. Maine 18 pts.
3. BC 16 pts. 3. BC 16 pts.
4. PC 14 pts. 4. UMA 13 pts.
5. BU 12 pts. 5. PC 11 pts.
6. MC 11 pts. 6. UML 10 pts.
7. UML 8 pts. 7. NU 7 pts.
8. NU 7 pts. BU 7 pts.
9. UMA 5 pts. 9. MC 4 pts.
Observations:
1. Consistency by the top 3 teams, no surprise. BC has been fairly
consistent in staying around the .667 winning percentage all year,
with no significant up or down trends. Because of the high expectations,
some are disappointed with this, but it is a reasonable result, I think.
2. UMass-Amherst is the big 2nd half improver, from 5 to 13 pts. And 3 of
those first 5 were against Maine! Growth by the youth?
3. Northeastern was mediocre all year, showing no improvement. Maybe all
the defensive injuries were impossible to overcome. And it is a very
young team, though that didn't seem to bother UMass-Amherst. Difference
in the goaltending?
4. Providence dropped slightly, Lowell went up slightly, no big trends.
5. BU, perhaps unusually for a Jack Parker team, especially one with lots
of youth that should have gotten better with more experience, actually did
better earlier in the year. Maybe all the emphasis on winning the Beanpot
took away some effort in the league games?
6. Merrimack dropped in the 2nd half big time. Injuries? Fatigue? New
coach/more away games/???
There was one curious thing that I noticed when adding up this data. (I
got the schedules/results from the team pages on USCHO web site.)
According to the listings, UNH had 13 home league games this year and only
11 away, while Merrimack was the reverse. I don't think it would have
made any difference in the standings due to the way UNH handled MC, but I
am surprised at the anomaly. Does anyone know why the schedule broke down
this way? Was there some past odd scheduling or conflicts that led to
this?
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Rick McAdoo [log in to unmask]
"Volunteer reporter" A pleased BC fan. GO EAGLES!
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