Opening up the Hockey East notebook as the calendar turns to December…
— There’s only one all-Hockey East game this weekend, but it’s a big one as No. 9 Providence makes the short trip up I-95 to take on No. 2 Boston College on Saturday afternoon (4:30 p.m., NESN) at Conte Forum.
The Eagles go into Saturday ranked second not just in the USCHO.com D-I men’s poll, but also in the Hockey East standings with a 5-2-1 record (12-3-1). The USCHO voters didn’t punish the previous week’s No. 1 BC too badly after a split against Northeastern (previously winless in league play) last weekend, with each team winning on enemy ice. The Friars are 4-2-2 in Hockey East, a mere point behind BC, and 9-4-2 overall.
It’s the first of three meetings this season between the two programs and the last before the holiday break. The next PC-BC meeting will actually be BC’s next game — more than a month away — Jan. 12 in Providence. PC’s only game in the interim is a “New Year’s Eve Eve” contest at crosstown rival Brown (ECAC Hockey).
— Both BC and Boston University have spent time this season as the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com poll, but this week’s poll provided what could be a first — the schools are deadlocked at No. 2 behind North Dakota (NCHC).
Each school received 890 points from the 50 voters, with BU receiving eight first-place votes to the Eagles’ four. A week earlier, BC edged out North Dakota by a single point, 960 to 959.
Fans will have to wait for a BC-BU showdown — Jan. 26 is the first meeting of the year between the two schools, the first of a home-and-home weekend series that starts at BC. The only other scheduled meeting of the year will come on Feb. 6, the first round of the Beanpot at TD Garden. A lot of different things would have to fall into place for the teams to still be tied in the poll more than a month from now, but it’s a good bet the teams will at least both be highly ranked and battling for the top spot in the Hockey East standings.
— If Philadelphia is the City of Brotherly Love, Hockey East could be the Association of Brotherly Love. Two sets of brothers have recorded hat tricks this season, with Maine’s duo of Bradly and Josh Nadeau the latest to pull off the feat. The pair led the nation in scoring over the weekend with seven and six points, respectively, as the Black Bears beat rival New Hampshire, 5-2, and Connecticut, 7-3.
Both brothers scored hat tricks in separate games and had the primary assists on each of the other’s goals. They became the first brother duo to share Hockey East Player of the Week honors in more than 17 years.
The Nadeaus are listed as freshmen, though Josh is older by two years. Bradly was a first-round draft pick and 30th overall pick of the Carolina Hurricanes. As linemates for the Penticton Vees, the brothers helped lead the team to the British Columbia Junior Hockey League regular season and tournament titles a year ago.
Setting the precedent this season for hat-trick-recording brothers were the Hutsons at BU. Quinn Hutson, a sophomore forward, notched his first career three-goal game as part of a four-point night in a 6-1 blowout of UMass Lowell on Nov. 11. Six days earlier, sophomore defenseman Lane Hutson thrice lit the lamp in one game in a 5-4 overtime loss to North Dakota.
— Despite only one intra-conference matchup (PC-BC), there’s plenty of action on the weekend slate, with every team in action except BU and UConn. Union (ECAC Hockey) will be participating in three of those games — hosting Maine Wednesday, then a Friday-Saturday series at Vermont.
