8th ANNUAL HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT The winner of the HOCKEY EAST Championship receives the Lamoriello Cup, named after the founder of Hockey East, Lou Lamoriello. Lamoriello was coach and AD at Providence and HE's first commissioner, and he is now President/GM of the New Jersey Devils. He was the driving force behind the interlocking scheduling agreement with the WCHA that lasted from 1984-89 and the first-ever college hockey television package with NESN that is in its eighth season. 1992 HOCKEY EAST Quarterfinals 3/6/92 UMass-Lowell (11-19-4) 0 at Providence (21-12-2) 7 3/7/92 Boston College (14-17-3) 5 at Boston University (22-8-4) 2 3/8/92 Northeastern (15-20-0) 2 at New Hampshire (21-11-2) 4 Merrimack (13-21-0) 0 at Maine (29-3-2) 7 1992 HOCKEY EAST Final Four at Boston Garden (all games live on NESN) 3/12/92 Boston College (14-17-3) vs Maine (29-3-2) 5:00 pm Providence (21-12-2) vs New Hampshire (21-11-2) 8:00 pm 3/14/92 Championship 8:00 pm SEMIFINAL NUMBERS (some info from team media guides, errors may exist) #5 Boston College vs #1 Maine 1991-92 Results: Maine 3-0-0 (12 GF, 3 GA) 11/10/91 Maine 4 @ BC 0 2/14/92 BC 1 @ Maine 4 2/15/92 BC 2 @ Maine 4 All-Time: BC 26-12-0 HE Final Four Finishes (1st-2nd-3rd-4th) BC 2-3-0-0 Maine 1-4-0-0 Last HE Championship BC 1990 Maine 1989 Head-to-Head in HE Tourney Play BC 2-1-0 (12 GF, 10 GA), all in HE Championship Games Last Meeting in HE Tourney Play at BC 4, Maine 3 (1990 HE Championship Game) All-Time Playoff Records BC 46-54-1 Maine 22-18-1 All-Time Boston Garden Records BC 86-54-1 Maine 3-3-0 Head-to-Head in Garden BC 1-0-0 (4 GF, 2 GA) Last Garden Game BC 5, Northeastern 3 (1992 Beanpot Consolation) BU 4, Maine 3 (ot - 1991 HE Championship Game) Last Garden Meeting BC 4, Maine 2 (1987 HE Championship Game) #3 Providence vs #2 New Hampshire 1991-92 Results: PC 3-0-0 (15 GF, 7 GA) 1/24/92 UNH 2 @ PC 5 2/8/92 UNH 3 @ PC 7 2/15/92 PC 3 @ UNH 2 All-Time: PC 34-32-8 HE Final Four Finishes (1st-2nd-3rd-4th) PC 1-0-4-0 UNH 0-0-1-0 Last HE Championship PC 1985 UNH none Head-to-Head in HE Tourney Play 2-2-0 (PC 13 GF, 11 GA), all in HE q-finals Last Meeting in HE Tourney Play at PC 4, UNH 1 (1991 HE quarterfinal) All-Time Playoff Records PC 35-33-0 UNH 19-26-2 All-Time Boston Garden Records PC 8-5-0 UNH 9-5-0 Head-to-Head in Garden UNH 1-0-0 (4 GF, 2 GA) Last Garden Game BU 7, PC 5 (1991 HE semifinal) UNH 5, SLU 2 (1983 ECAC consolation) Last Garden Meeting UNH 4, PC 2 (1982 ECACs) SEMIFINAL PREVIEWS BOSTON COLLEGE vs MAINE Why BC Could Win: * LaGrand playing as well as any goalie in the nation lately, seeing many shots but D lets him see all of them. * Eagles' special teams playing extremely well. * Physical play working to BC's advantage, especially in Garden. * Franzosa scoring big goals. * "Win it for Lenny." * Smaller Garden ice has proven to contain Maine skating game in past. Why Maine Could Win: * Opponents' concentration on big guns allows lesser-known players to break free and score. Too much power to control for 60 minutes. * All four lines playing solid two-way game. * Dangerous power play, relentless shorthanded forecheck. * Two superb netminders in Dunham and Snow. * Four losses in five HE title games gives incentive to win it now. Mike's Line: Maine by 2. Likely to be another game where Maine dominates on the shot chart but may not be decided till late in game. LaGrand has potential to be red-hot which could carry Eagles to upset, but Maine won't make the kind of mistakes that allowed BC to beat BU. PROVIDENCE vs NEW HAMPSHIRE Why PC Could Win: * Boback and Gaudreau give PC rarity of TWO 200-pt career scorers. * Mullahy playing well lately in net. * Defensemen much better offensively, not afraid to get involved in play. * Cowan and Darby provide additional offense if Boback and Gaudreau are watched too closely. * Nation's best power play vs HE's worst penalty killing (UNH); PC among nation's best penalty-killing. * UNH's defense vulnerable. Why UNH Could Win: * Four high-scoring senior forwards in Morrow, Mitrovic, Flanagan, Amodeo. * Stewart and Thomson also dangerous with puck. * Goalie Jeff Levy has been hot. * Forwards coming back to help out in own end. * PC defense vulnerable when Gaudreau steps up, which is often. * Loss to PC could seal UNH's NC$$ fate. Mike's Line: Even to 1/2 for PC. As the nightcap, this should be a great one. Special teams could be the difference if PC is allowed to run amuck on the man advantage. Both goalies can be hot or cold. Both teams have superb scoring. PC may have psychological advantage with 3-0-0 season record and win in 1991 HE quarterfinals in addition to NC$$ playoff experience. Without going heavily into predictions, I don't think Maine is stoppable. The elimination of BU and NU in the quarterfinals could be the biggest thing to propel Maine onto a championship. :-) BC is the only other team ever to beat Maine in the Garden, and the Eagles are nowhere near the caliber of the team that won that 1987 championship over the Black Bears (Leetch, Janney, Brown, Stevens, Littman, Hodge, Shea, Tim Sweeney, etc.).