Hockey East Picks – Jan. 25-26

Okay, I admit it. Last week was an unmitigated disaster.  But come on, who out there was picking Massachusetts, Northeastern, and Providence to all knock off Hockey East’s Top 10 teams?

You over there, with your hand up.  Liar, liar, pants on fire!

Fortunately, Jim’s picks matched my own for ineptitude so we stayed even.  And we were both 8-1-1 the week before.

Onward to a new week.  The countdown begins to when my lead over Jim reaches doubt digits.

Here are this week’s picks:

Friday, Jan. 25

Boston University at Providence
Dave’s pick:  With three losses in the last four games, I’m not sure if BU qualifies as a sleeping giant that has been awoken or just a sleeping maybe-giant.  Either way, the Friars are playing far better than the Terriers and hold serve at home.
PC 3, BU 2
Jim’s pick: There is something that makes me feel that BU will be ready to go after two straight home losses.
BU 3, PC 2

Maine at Boston College
Dave’s pick: If Maine’s anemic offense doesn’t cure BC’s defensive mediocrity, the Eagles are in big trouble.
BC 5, Maine 1
Jim’s pick: I think it will be a little closer than Dave does, but I see this as a BC sweep.
BC 4, Maine 2

Massachusetts-Lowell at Northeastern
Dave’s pick: Despite recent wins over Harvard and BU, I can’t go with the Huskies over the rampaging River Hawks.
UML 4, NU 3
Jim’s pick: Lowell is white hot right now and I don’t think NU is the team to cool it off.
UML 5, NU 2

Massachusetts at Vermont
Dave’s pick: The Minutemen looked really good knocking off BC last Friday.  Put that together with their upset over Dartmouth coming out of the break and it’s tough to pick Vermont even at home.  The Catamounts, who fell to Penn State while UMass was defeating the number two team in the country, will lose their fifth straight.
UMass 3, UVM 2
Jim’s pick: Vermont needs to start playing better hockey if they’re going to win. This will be an emotionally-charged series with John Micheletto returning to Burlington. And I think that matters to the home team, at least on night one.
UVM 3, UMass 2

New Hampshire at Merrimack
Dave’s pick: Merrimack begins its Murderer’s Row of a schedule.  As much as I like how well the Warriors have played, I just can’t go against the Wildcats.
UNH 3, MC 2
Jim’s pick: Same here. I see UNH winning, but this is the make-it-or-break-it time for Merrimack.
UNH 4, MC 3

Saturday, Jan. 26

Maine at Boston College
Dave’s pick: The Eagles maintain their margin at the top of the standings; the Black Bears sadly maintain their margin at the bottom.
BC 5, Maine 1
Jim’s pick: BC completes the sweeps.
BC 5, Maine 2

Northeastern at Massachusetts-Lowell
Dave’s pick: The River Hawks roll to their 11th straight.
UML 4, NU 1
Jim’s pick: Eleven in a row is pretty hard to do, but I think Lowell has what it takes.
UML 3, NU 2

Massachusetts at Vermont
Dave’s pick: On paper, this probably should be a split, but I’m going with the Minutemen sweeping with Big Mo on their side.
UMass 3, UVM 2
Jim’s pick: I’ll pick the split here, taking UMass in game two.
UMass 4, UVM 2

Providence at Boston University 
Dave’s pick: BU’s home and away records over the past few years have been almost indistinguishable, so this isn’t so much a vote for home ice as it is for the Friars’ lackluster performance on the road.  That, plus it’s hard to see the Terriers losing a fourth straight and fifth out of six.
BU 3, PC 2 (OT)
Jim’s pick: I know NESN would like to see an overtime game here. Home ice hasn’t been kind to BU, so like Dave, I see this as a pretty tight game.
BC 6, PC 5

Merrimack at New Hampshire
Dave’s pick: The Wildcats finish off a sweep, knocking Merrimack down to sixth place, where I suspect they’ll finish the year.
UNH 4, MC 2
Jim’s pick: Get out the brooms, Wildcat fans!
UNH 3, MC 2