PairWise Rankings<\/a>. The Wildcats struggle at times out of league and are much closer to the bubble than is comfortable for the team that perennially is a postseason contender.<\/p>\n“A win against a Boston College will help us tremendously [in the PairWise],” said Umile. “We need to win some more hockey games to solidify that we’re going to get to the NCAA tournament.”<\/p>\n
For now, though, most everyone will be focused on the games at hand. Friday’s game will be televised on NESN Plus, as the Red Sox-Yankees spring training game will be on NESN — beginning at 7:30 p.m. EST.<\/p>\n
And definitely get ready for some great hockey for, once again, this Hockey East race is the one to watch!<\/p>\n
End-of-season hardware<\/h4>\n With just a week left in the regular season, I’m going to go ahead and cast my vote for some of the key league awards. Understand, these are my selections solely and don’t reflect the opinion of my counterpart, Dave Hendrickson (maybe he’ll share his selections with you next week!).<\/p>\n
So here we go:<\/p>\n
Player of the year:<\/strong> Paul Thompson, New Hampshire<\/p>\nRunners-up: Joe Cannata, Merrimack; Gustav Nyquist, Maine; John Muse, Boston College<\/p>\n
This honestly was the most difficult of the major awards for me to pick, as I think any of the four players I mentioned above can win the award. To me, Thompson was the offensive spark plug on a talented top line for the Wildcats. He did a great job of filling Bobby Butler’s shoes and is a major reason that the Wildcats are playing for the league title this weekend.<\/p>\n
Rookie of the year:<\/strong> Charlie Coyle, Boston University<\/p>\nRunners-up: Brodie Reid, Northeastern; Michael Pereira, Massachusetts<\/p>\n
Coyle lived up to all expectations for the Terriers and was consistent in his offensive production throughout the season. I think that Reid’s impact on Northeastern was strong but when it came down to it, Coyle to me is the rookie who made the biggest impact in league play.<\/p>\n
Coach of the year:<\/strong> Mark Dennehy, Merrimack<\/p>\nRunner-up: Tim Whitehead, Maine<\/p>\n
This award, to me, isn’t even a race. I think what Whitehead has done down the stretch to get his team tuned up for the playoffs is impressive, but Dennehy’s team has consistently achieved greatness throughout the year, reaching a number of major program milestones along the way.<\/p>\n
All-Hockey East first team<\/strong><\/p>\nG: Joe Cannata, Merrimack \nD: David Warsofsky, Boston University \nD: Brian Dumoulin, Boston College \nF: Paul Thompson, New Hampshire \nF: Cam Atkinson, Boston College \nF: Gustav Nyquist, Maine<\/p>\n
All-Hockey East second team<\/strong><\/p>\nG: John Muse, Boston College \nD: Blake Kessel, New Hampshire \nD: Jeff Dimmen, Maine \nF: Stephane Da Costa, Merrimack \nF: Wade MacLeod, Northeastern \nF: Brian Gibbons, Boston College<\/p>\n
All-rookie team<\/strong><\/p>\nG: Dan Sullivan, Maine \nD: Adam Clendening, Boston University \nD: Anthony Bitetto, Northeastern \nF: Charlie Coyle, Boston University \nF: Brodie Reid, Northeastern \nF: Michael Pereira, Massachusetts<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
We’re almost at the point of handing out postseason awards (see below). Before I even think of a player or coach who deserves an award, I think we have to recognize the folks at the Hockey East office who have, once again, assembled a schedule that will allow the league regular-season championship to be played […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\n
Boston College, New Hampshire on collision course to decide Hockey East title - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n \n \n \n \n \n\t \n\t \n\t \n