Boston University is the clear favorite and may win their third
HockeyEast Championship in four years. However, there will be
some familiar foes looking to keep the Terriers from standing
atop the league once again. Clearly, the most troublesome foe
for BU this year will be missing ... namely the Maine Black
Bears which swept the Terriers all three games, which were three
of their four league losses. However, BU is 6-1-3 against the teams
remaining in the tournament.
h2h BU UNH UML BC Overall
BU -- 3-0-0 1-1-1 2-0-2 6-1-3
UNH 0-3-0 - 2-1-0 3-0-0 5-4-0
UML 1-1-1 1-2-0 - 2-1-0 4-4-1
BC 0-2-2 0-3-0 1-2-0 - 1-7-2
BU has some definite talent in the likes of seasoned scorers
Chris Drury, Sean Bates and Mike Sylvia. They also have two of the
most skilled freshmen in the league in defenseman Tom Poti and
forward Dan Lacouture. Hobey Baker candidate Drury leads the nation
in goals. A little quiet last weekend, as well as lately, Drury
needs to score in order for BU to stand a good chance. Speedster
Bates is one of the fastest skaters in the league and is often seen
breaking in alone on goalies. However, his scoring touch is lacking
and its not seldom that you see him stoned on breakaways or misfiring
on great opportunities as the puck sails high or wide. Still, breaking
down the side and firing a low slapshot is Bates hardest shot to stop
and he's always a threat. Sylvia has to be one of the flashiest
skaters around. His cuts and dekes are so damn pretty that he'd
clearly lead the nation if points were awarded as such. No one in
HockeyEast can reverse direction with such speed other than
Northeastern defenseman Schuwerk on a good night.
BU blueliner Tom Poti is a huge big-play force. If this is only
the beginning of what we'll see out of this kid, HockeyEast can
concede now that Poti will be the league's "Bobby Orr" for the
next few years. This kid makes few mistakes in his defensive end
and has great offensive instincts. Bates must be wishing he had
a few more years of catching this blueliner's up-ice feeds to
a lurking forward behind the opposition's defense. Helping Poti
shore up the defense is goalie Tom Noble. Noble has been winning
a lot of games over the last six years, the last two with BU. BU
can count on Noble to be steady and should hold the fort nicely
provided the defense doesn't break down.
BU's second most formidable nemesis is also their semi-final
opponent on Friday night ... namely the UMass-Lowell Riverhawks.
Lowell has had BU's number during the regular season, going
3-2-1 in the last two seasons and 5-6-1 over the last four.
However, BU has been able to solve the Riverhawks during post
season play when BU has been 3-0 .... meeting Lowell each of
the last three years in Fleet/Garden action. Being the only team
left to have beat BU this year, Lowell stands the best chance
of knocking them off.
Buffered by a freshman class that has clearly made a difference,
Lowell has a slight edge in depth and could make use of this
on Friday. This was clearly obvious last month during the rubber
game of the series when Lowell continuously came back to tie the
game after BU took several leads on their home ice. Lowell has
shown some great defensive efforts but also has shown some serious
defensive lapses. Starting goaltender Martin Fillion has never
really looked suspect but has had games where he could've used
some noxema for the redness on the back of his neck. Look for
Fillion to make the real difference in this game.
Lowell tried a lot of things during February ... and they all
failed miserably. Providence ran into a sleeping giant last
weekend and an awakened Riverhawk crew will likely show up
at the Fleet. One of the sore spots last month was the lack
of scoring form the previously dependable first line. Lowell
has had some great freshman contributions, but the mainstay
all year was the power of Neil Donovan, Marc Salsman and Doug
Nolan. Nearly absent for a month, this line scored often last
weekend, combining for nine points. Still missing is scoring
sensation Ryan Sandholm and Lowell will surely be hoping he
breaks out on Friday.
Leading the freshman crew have been Greg Koehler as well as
Chris Bell and John Campbell. Koehler has shown he'll certainly
be causing other HockeyEast coaches to shake their heads in
regret for letting this kid get by. Koehler leads more highly
touted rookies around the league and trails only Maine's Cory
Larose in overall scoring.
GP G A Pts
Cory Larose, Maine 35 10-27-37
Greg Koehler, UML 35 15-20-35
Blake Bellefeuille, BC 32 15-19-34
Jeff Farkas, BC 33 12-22-34
Pisani, Providence 35 12-18-30
Look for Lowell to score fast, taking a 2 goal lead out of the
first period. Lowell will take each period of this game and
win it 7-3.
BC upsets UNH ... report to follow.
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