2/28/93 Hockey East (24 games) Overall GP W-L-T Pts GF-GA || GP W-L-T GF-GA =============================================== 1 !Maine 22 20-1-1 41 148-53 || 36 33-1-2 236-83 2 !Boston University 23 17-5-1 35 114-78 || 33 24-7-2 161-105 3 !New Hampshire 23 11-10-2 24 100-93 || 33 16-14-3 138-126 4 UMass-Lowell 23 10-12-1 21 96-95 || 34 18-15-1 141-128 Providence 23 9-11-3 21 85-97 || 33 16-14-3 136-125 6 Boston College 22 6-13-3 15 73-104 || 34 9-20-5 107-160 7 Merrimack 23 7-16-0 14 80-137 || 33 13-18-2 125-166 8 !Northeastern 23 5-17-1 11 82-121 || 32 9-22-1 124-172 !-current position is where team will finish. Maine, BU & UNH have clinched home ice for quarterfinals (top 4 teams host best of 2 w/sudden death if series tied). RESULTS 02/26/93 Providence 3 at Boston College 4 HE 02/26/93 New Hampshire 2 at UMass-Lowell 2 HE ot 02/26/93 Maine 4 at Merrimack 2 HE 02/26/93 Boston University 4 at Northeastern 3 HE ot 02/27/93 Northeastern 3 at Boston University 5 HE 02/27/93 Maine 8 at Merrimack 1 HE 02/27/93 UMass-Lowell 2 at New Hampshire 5 HE 02/27/93 Boston College 4 at Providence 4 HE ot UPCOMING 03/02/93 Boston College at Maine HE 03/05/93 Northeastern at Boston College HE 03/05/93 Boston University at Providence HE NESN 03/06/93 New Hampshire at Maine HE 03/06/93 Merrimack at UMass-Lowell HE (end of regular season) 03/12-13 Hockey East Quarterfinals (best of 2, sudden death if series tied) 03/19/93 Hockey East Semifinals at Boston Garden, 5:00 (NESN)/8:00 (NESN) 03/20/93 Hockey East Cons/Champ at Boston Garden, 5:00/8:00 (NESN) RECAP Maine kept alive its 19-game road winning streak by sweeping Merrimack, 4-2 and 8-1, but neither win was an easy one. BU swept Northeastern in a pair of games NU needed to win, and BC got three points out of a possible four against PC to help its chances for 6th place. UNH also took three of four points, against UMass-Lowell, to wrap up 3rd. PLAYOFF PICTURE Maine, BU & UNH have clinched home ice for the best-of-2 quarterfinal round. They will finish 1st-3rd respectively. The only other position clinched is 8th by Northeastern, meaning the Huskies will be travelling to Orono March 12-13. Here's the lowdown on the fight for the final home ice spot and the fight for sixth: THREE DOWN, ONE TO GO Only one home ice spot remains, 4th place, and it is being contested by two teams who are tied for 4th with 21 points, and one game remains for each team. UMass-Lowell has the edge because of league wins, with a 10-12-1 record; Providence is 9-11-3. The first tiebreaker, head-to-head, was even at 2-2-0 so if the teams finish tied, it will come down to the 2nd tiebreaker - most league wins. Therefore, UML controls its own destiny while PC needs some help. UML can clinch fourth by beating Merrimack March 6th, even if PC beats BU the night before. PC needs to get one more point than UML does in each team's final game. Thus, given the following outcomes, here's what would happen - note that the team finishing fourth will host the other team in the first round: UML beats Merrimack *OR* PC loses to BU - UML 4th UML ties Merrimack, PC beats BU - PC 4th UML loses to Merrimack, PC ties or beats BU - PC 4th Both teams lose or both teams tie their last game - UML 4th UML also has the advantage of being able to watch the scoreboard Friday to see what PC does, then UML will know going into the Merrimack game Saturday exactly what it has to do to clinch home ice (or if they've already clinched, should PC lose to BU). TO BU, OR NOT TO BU BC (6-13-3, 15 pts) has a one point edge on Merrimack (7-16-0, 14 pts) in the battle for 6th place. The team losing this battle will play at BU in the first round, and both BC and Merrimack went 0-4-0 vs the Terriers this year. The team finishing 6th will play at UNH. BC holds the tiebreaker due to head-to-head record (2-1-0) which shows you how big those MC-BC games were a month ago - if one of those BC wins had gone to Merrimack instead, Merrimack would have wrapped up 6th. However, here's what each team needs to have happen to take 6th place and avoid BU in the first round: BC can finish 6th by gaining at least one point in its final two games at Maine & at home vs NU; OR, if BC loses both, it will still finish 6th if Merrimack ties or loses to UMass-Lowell. Merrimack can only finish 6th if BC loses both of its final two games AND Merrimack beats UMass-Lowell; a tie is not enough. Again, as in the UML/PC situation, BC has the advantage because it controls its own destiny, but Merrimack will still know prior to its last game whether a win can get them 6th or not. WHO GOES WHERE The only two guaranteed matchups are #8 NU at #1 Maine, and UML vs PC (site yet to be determined). #2 BU will host the #7 team, either BC or Merrimack, and #3 UNH will host the #6 team, also either BC or Merrimack. NEXT WEEKEND Of the five games left, four still have playoff ramifications as of this time; only UNH-Maine on 3/6 is guaranteed not to affect the standings. Tuesday, BC is at Maine in a rare mid-week game that means more to the Eagles. Friday, BU visits PC in a game the Friars can't afford to lose, and NU is at BC in a game where the Eagles may still need at least a point. Saturday, Merrimack is at UMass-Lowell, and depending on how BC and PC have fared previously, the game may mean nothing, or it may mean something to one team and not the other OR it may mean something to both teams. HE 3 LEADING SCORERS THROUGH FEB 27 PLAYER/CLASS/POS/SCHOOL GP G A PTS 1 Paul Kariya/Fr/LW/Maine 30 22-60--82 2 Jim Montgomery/Sr/C/Maine 36 22-50--72 3 Cal Ingraham/Jr/RW/Maine 36 37-30--67 LAST WEEK'S PLAYERS OF THE WEEK (from HE release 2/22/93) HE PLAYER OF THE WEEK Mike Prendergast, So RW, BU: Prendergast notched two goals and one assist for three points in BU's 7-6 ot win over #1 Maine, including the GWG in overtime. Gary Socha, Sr LW, Providence: Socha scored his first career hat trick in 7-3 win over UMass-Lowell and added 1-1--2 in a 4-2 loss. Named first star on Friday and second star on Saturday. Honor Roll: Jack Callahan, BC; Jim Montgomery, Maine; Dwayne Roloson, UML; Mike Doneghey, Merrimack; Greg Klym, UNH. HE ROOKIE OF THE WEEK Jacques Joubert, So C, BU: Joubert scored 1-2--3 in 7-6 ot comeback win over Maine, including the game-tying goal. He added assists on goals which brought the score to 6-4 and 6-5. Paul Kariya, Fr LW, Maine: Kariya tallied seven assists on the weekend in a split with BU, including 3 assists in the 7-6 ot loss and 4 assists in the 6-1 win. He now has five games in which he has four or more assists. KARIYA WATCH (2/21/93) Paul Kariya had one goal and two assists in the two games against Merrimack, bringing his scoring streak to 30 games, his entire collegiate career. He now has 22-60--82 in 30 games, 15-46--61 in 22 HE games. He is 5 assists away from tying Craig Janney's (BC) record of 51 assists in a HE season. Saturday night against Merrimack, Kariya picked up one assist to tie the HE record for scoring in 22 consecutive league games (Clark Donatelli, BU, and Janney), and Kariya can break that with at least a point in Maine's next game Tuesday night vs BC. --- Mike Machnik [log in to unmask] Color Voice of the Merrimack Warriors (Any opinions expressed above are strictly those of the poster.) *HMN*