Jim:<\/b> Well, Scott, a big week in the books and plenty to talk about. We’ve got a new number-one team in the country, upsets at the top of the rankings and a legitimate national title contender emerging in Northeastern. So let’s start with the Huskies, who last night made a loud and bold statement in manhandling Boston College in the opening round of the Beanpot. Northeastern may have been upset at Massachusetts on Friday night, but steamrolled a pretty decent Eagles team in a 6-1 victory. Northeastern did it by executing a game plan of pressure, pressure, pressure as the Huskies forced BC mistakes all night and took advantage. We’ve talked a lot about many of the top teams in the polls and the PairWise but Northeastern has flown under our radar at least. Maybe that’s because a year ago, the Huskies also charged to a hot start but collapsed in mid-January and never recovered. At this point, though, we’re into February and NU earns a huge win on a big stage at the Beanpot. Is it time to begin taking Northeastern seriously as an NCAA title contender? <\/p>\n
Scott:<\/b>Jim, we’ve both seen Northeastern live and in person — you in the course of your regular rounds out East and me here in Minneapolis when the Huskies played Minnesota in the title game of the Dodge Classic holiday tournament. The game I saw was about as even as it could be, and though the Gophers ended up with a 3-2 overtime win it could just as easily have gone the other way, especially when you consider that Minnesota’s OT goal came on the power play after a controversial and untimely delay-of-game penalty against the Huskies. So my up-close impression of Northeastern was a favorable one, particularly of Brad Thiessen in net. Come NCAA tournament time (and barring an utter collapse, NU will be there) the Huskies should be among the teams considered as true national-title contenders, especially if Thiessen is hot at the right times. Of course, the next step for Northeastern is to just win Monday’s Beanpot final against Boston University, which would give them unparalleled confidence down the stretch.<\/p>\n
Jim:<\/b> You bring up another team worth talking about: Boston University. The Terriers were supposed to have a walk in the park in Monday’s Beanpot opener but instead had to rally from a two-goal deficit and then needed instant replay after it appeared Harvard tied the game at the buzzer (replay, of course, showed that the puck entered the net after the clock showed all zeroes). There were rumors of the flu bug going through the team, which could have accounted for an uncharacteristic slow start. Regardless, BU did what it needed to do: win. That, of course, sets up a BU-NU final, which could conceivably be for the top spot in the national rankings and possibly the PairWise. Any thoughts heading into next Monday’s title game?<\/p>\n
Scott:<\/b>Thought number one is that I wish I had been there to see that. Thought number two is that I was going to say that Northeastern needs the win Monday a lot more than Boston University, but on a second look I’m not sure that’s true. Remember what happened to BU the last time the Terriers hit number-one in the poll? They immediately lost to UMass, then twice more the next weekend against Vermont. Of course, Jack Parker’s guys have lost exactly one game since then, so the funk didn’t last long. Regardless, the possibility of No. 1 versus No. 2 is always an interesting storyline, though I would assume that both Parker and Greg Cronin will have very little trouble keeping their teams’ minds off that fact given the circumstances. (Naturally, we also shouldn’t forget that NU isn’t No. 2 yet — Notre Dame is, and the Fighting Irish’s only recent transgression was losing to Michigan, which is hardly an embarrassment in any case.) Speaking of flying under the radar, though, how about Yale? The Bulldogs have lost just once in their last 10, are tied for first in ECAC Hockey with Cornell, and suddenly are on the right side of the PairWise bubble. This isn’t quite a situation where no one saw them coming — our own ECAC correspondent, Brian Sullivan, picked them third in the league despite the coaches and media agreeing on seventh — but I doubt many outside of Connecticut can name more than a handful of Bulldog players.<\/p>\n