FINAL REGULAR SEASON HOCKEY EAST STANDINGS 2/25/91 Hockey East Overall Non-league GP W-L-T Pts GF-GA || GP W-L-T GF-GA W-L-T ======================================================== 1 Boston College 21 16-5-0 32 106-77 || 36 27-9-0 177-121 | 11-4-0 2 Maine 21 15-5-1 31 110-73 || 37 28-7-2 203-116 | 13-2-1 3 Boston University 21 13-6-2 28 104-69 || 34 22-10-2 190-120 | 9-4-0 4 Providence 21 10-9-2 22 94-84 || 31 20-9-2 160-112 | 10-0-0 New Hampshire 21 10-9-2 22 79-78 || 34 22-10-2 150-120 | 12-1-0 6 Merrimack 21 7-14-0 14 71-103 || 32 13-18-1 133-155 | 6-4-1 7 Lowell 21 5-15-1 11 69-108 || 33 10-22-1 122-164 | 5-7-0 8 Northeastern 21 3-16-2 8 86-127 || 33 7-24-2 137-187 | 4-8-0 Providence wins tiebreaker over New Hampshire as follows: 1. Both teams 1-1-1 head to head. 2. Both teams have 10 league wins. 3. Both teams 1-2-0 against first-place Boston College. 4. Providence 1-2-0 against second-place Maine, New Hampshire 0-3-0. 2/23/91 Boston College 6 at Boston University 5 HE Lowell 5 at Merrimack 3 HE Maine 4 at New Hampshire 2 HE Northeastern 4 at Providence 3 HE (end of regular season) 2/27/91 Northeastern at Boston College NC Quarterfinal NESN 2/28/91 Merrimack at Boston University NC Quarterfinal 3/1/91 New Hampshire at Providence NC Quarterfinal NESN 3/2/91 Lowell at Maine NC Quarterfinal NESN 3/8/91 Hockey East Semifinals (Boston Garden) 3/10/91 Hockey East Championship (Boston Garden) There were three extremely exciting games played on the last day of the regular season; HE teams must have run up a record phone bill calling each of the other rinks to find out what was going on. I know we had the phone ringing every few minutes and our game didn't even mean anything. LAST MINUTE HEROICS GIVE BOSTON COLLEGE 6TH REGULAR SEASON TITLE IN 7 YEARS The Eagles, having already learned that Maine had defeated UNH and was temporarily holding first place, came back from a 4-1 deficit at BU and avenged their Beanpot loss to win Hockey East regular season title no. 6. BU led 4-1 with less than three minutes left in the second period. Tom Dion and Tony Amonte had each scored two goals to pace the Terriers, who were expected to paste the Eagles in the final game of the regular season, and Bill Guerin scored the lone BC goal. But Jack Callahan and Jeff O'Neill brought the Eagles within a goal at the end of two, and Guerin tied it at 4-4 just 56 seconds into the third period. Steve Heinze's blast beat John Bradley at 8:20 and shocked Terrier fans, who had seen their team blow this lead on home ice. Phil von Stefenelli gave BU a charge of life when he tied it up with 5:15 left in the game, but David Franzosa scored the game-winner with 2:50 left. Sandy Galuppo made 37 saves in the Eagle net and Bradley stopped 24 shots for BU. The top Hobey Baker candidate from the East, David Emma, who entered the game leading the nation with 32-45--77, was again silent just as in BC's loss at Providence Wednesday, and Emma ended up with only an assist at BU. Still, he won the HE scoring crown for the second straight year, finishing with 20-31--50 in 21 games. Right behind him were Maine's Jean-Yves Roy (19-24--43 in 21 games) and Jim Montgomery (12-30--42 in 21 games). Both Roy and Montgomery were kept off the board in the season finale at UNH. Bradley was the leading HE goaltender entering the final game, holding a slim 0.05 lead in goals-against over Scott LaGrand. With LaGrand sitting for BC in favor of Galuppo and Bradley's allowing 6 goals, LaGrand won the Hockey East Goaltending Award by default with a GAA of 3.01. BLACK BEARS DASH WILDCATS' HOME ICE HOPES, KEEP OWN 1ST-PLACE HOPES ALIVE Maine led UNH 3-1 after two periods and held on to defeat the Wildcats, 4-2, to move into first place for less than an hour. Maine would have finished first if BU had held on to beat BC. As for UNH, the Wildcats could have gained home ice with just a tie against Maine, but Martin Robitaille's empty-netter with 23 seconds left clinched the win for the Black Bears. It was Maine's 7th straight win against UNH. Bob Donovan put the host Wildcats ahead at 12:57 of the first, but Matt Martin and Dave Lacouture quickly made sure Maine led after the first period with two goals in 16 seconds (15:58 and 16:14). Scott Pellerin scored the lone goal of the second period to make it 3-1, but Savo Mitrovic's goal early in the third brought UNH within a goal. Coach Dick Umile's decision to pull Jeff Levy was thwarted with Robitaille's goal to close the scoring. Levy made 25 saves, and fellow freshman Mike Dunham stopped 27 shots for Maine. HUSKIES SURPRISE FRIARS AT HOME, 4-3 In an afternoon game before any of the exciting action Saturday night got under way, Northeastern won only its third league game of the year at Providence. The first period was scoreless, but with the teams skating 4x4 in the second, Rob Gaudreau nailed his 29th goal of the year at 4:01 to get PC on the board. With the teams again 4x4, Rob Cowie tied it for NU at 11:32, his 18th of the season. Joel Bishop gave NU a 2-1 lead entering the third when he beat Brad Mullahy at 14:09. Mike Taylor was the hero of the third period and of the game for the Huskies. His goal just 36 seconds into the period gave NU a commanding 3-1 lead, and after Gaudreau cut the lead to one, Taylor scored again at 13:03 to make it 4-2. Erik Peterson's goal with one second left and goalie Mullahy on the bench made the final 4-3. Tom Cole made 22 saves for NU, but Mullahy was forced to make 37 saves as the Huskies must have picked up some offense hitchhiking on Route 95 into Providence, outshooting PC 41-25. CHIEFS GET RILEY FINAL WIN, 5-3 AT MERRIMACK I won't repeat the details posted by Kevin Yetman earlier. This game had no bearing on the playoffs or on the teams' final positions. Still, both teams like to beat each other, and even though it was Lowell coach Bill Riley's final regular season game (and likely, last win), Ron Anderson stated that he liked to win more than he liked Bill Riley. :-) Riley was given a gift certificate to Bliss Marine from Anderson and Merrimack hockey, since he is an avid boater. The Warriors continued to sink in their eighth straight loss. *PLAYOFFS* THE single-elimination quarterfinals begin Wednesday with Northeastern traveling to BC. BC has won all four games: Boston College 7 at Northeastern 4 HE Northeastern 4 at Boston College 6 HE Boston College 5 vs Northeastern 3 NC Beanpot Northeastern 8 at Boston College 10 HE although they have been relatively close. A hot Tom Cole gives the Huskies a shot at an upset, but BC should be too strong for NU. THURSDAY, Boston University hosts Merrimack. Merrimack has never really beaten BU; the only recorded win came wihen a 9-0 loss was reversed due to BU's use of an ineligible player some years ago. This year, we had: Merrimack 1 at Boston University 7 HE Merrimack 0 at Boston University 4 HE Boston University 6 at Merrimack 2 HE indicating that there's every reason to believe this game won't be close. Yet, Ron Anderson is known for getting his team prepared well for one game (last year's q-finals with BC, 1988 NCAAs with Northeastern and LSSU), so anything could happen. Still, the betting man will put his $$$ on BU. FRIDAY, in a rematch of last year's quarterfinals, Providence hosts New Hampshire. I think this is the biggest game of all four, partly because it is the most difficult to call (UNH lost the first game, then won the next two in last year's best-of-three at PC) and partly because not only will the winner continue onto the Hockey East Final Four, they will have the edge on being selected the fourth HE team to make the NCAA tourney if the committee chooses to select four (very possible this year with five outstanding teams from HE). The winner would be 2-1-1 against the loser. Here's how this year's games went: Providence 6 at New Hampshire 1 HE New Hampshire 2 at Providence 2 HE ot Providence 3 at New Hampshire 4 HE This is one of those flip-a-coin games. I pick UNH, just because I think they are playing a little better right now. IBM presents, you make the call! SATURDAY, in another rematch from last year, Maine hosts Lowell. Last year the Black Bears blew out the Chiefs, 7-3 and 16-0 - but that second game score is a little misleading since Lowell put a JV goalie in net after falling behind 7-0 in the first period. You might think this game shouldn't be close, but the only team to beat Maine at home this year is not Northern Michigan, Clarkson, Boston College, or Boston University. You got it. I wonder how concerned Shawn Walsh is right now. Maine rolled up an 18-1-2 home record, 9-1-1 in Hockey East. They took the series, 2-1: Maine 6 at Lowell 2 HE Lowell 5 at Maine 4 HE Lowell 2 at Maine 4 HE Again, I'll call Maine the favorite because they usually win the big games on their home ice and because on paper they should have no trouble with Lowell. Yet, I think it will be a close game. A hot goalie could again be the difference, for either team. SO, I'm calling BC, BU, UNH, and Maine to again make the Final Four, just as they did last year. But the single-elimination format unquestionably allows for a high probablity that an underdog will pull out an upset, so we will have to see. Hope the local fans enjoy the playoffs. - mike