Inside College Hockey | Hockey East Quarterfinal Playoff Capsules

March 12, 2010

Hockey East Quarterfinal Playoff Capsules

By Joe Gladziszewski

No. 8 Vermont at No. 1 New Hampshire
Vermont: 15-12-7 (9-11-7 Hockey East)
New Hampshire: 16-11-7 (15-6-6 Hockey East)
Season Series: UNH, 2-0-1
Catamounts Fact: Vermont has made the playoffs in all five of its seasons in Hockey East, but only advanced past the quarterfinal round once in four previous series.
Wildcats Fact: UNH’s Hockey East regular-season title was the eighth in team history, tied for second most with Boston University and trailing only Boston College (10).
How Vermont Wins: Get big production out of the top line. Seniors Colin Vock and Brayden Irwin have combined for 18 points in 20 career games against UNH and freshman linemate Sebastian Stalberg had a goal and two assists in two games against UNH this year.
How New Hampshire Wins: Bobby Butler leads the way for the Wildcats with his 25 goals and 47 points this year. He’s also been a Catamount killer, with seven goals and 13 points in 12 career games against UVM.

No. 7 Massachusetts at No. 2 Boston College
Massachusetts: 18-16-0 (13-14-0 Hockey East)
Boston College: 21-10-3 (16-8-3 Hockey East)
Season Series: BC, 3-0-0
Minutemen Fact: The Minutemen have qualified for the Hockey East playoffs eight straight years, the longest streak in program history.
Eagles Fact: BC is 42-10-3 all-time against UMass and has won eight of the 25 Hockey East tournaments all-time.
How UMass Wins: Special teams can make the difference in a short series, and UMass is just 6-for-49 on the power play in its last 10 games, but showed some life in last weekend’s sweep of Maine, with a PPG in each game and nine goals on the weekend.
How BC Wins: Keep doing it with defense. They held UMass to one goal in all three regular-season wins.

No. 6 Merrimack at No. 3 Boston University
Merrimack: 15-17-2 (12-13-2 Hockey East)
Boston University: 16-15-3 (13-12-2 Hockey East)
Season Series: BU, 2-1-0
Warriors Fact: Merrimack is back in the Hockey East playoffs for the first time in six seasons, and is just 3-25-0 all-time in the conference tournament, but two of those wins came against BU in 1998 when they made their only trip to the semifinals.
Terriers Fact: BU has advanced to the semifinals of this tournament for eight consecutive years, a league record.
How Merrimack Wins: It’ll be the first playoff experience at the college level for all of Merrimack’s players, so freshman nerves shouldn’t be an issue. Stephane Da Costa scored in all three regular-season games against the Terriers.
How BU Wins: The Terriers will have to tighten things up defensively, as they allowed 14 goals to Merrimack over three regular-season games. Penalty killing is a good place to start, as Merrimack is third nationally on the power play.

No. 5 UMass Lowell at No. 4 Maine
UMass Lowell: 18-14-4 (12-11-4 Hockey East)
Maine: 16-15-3 (13-12-2 Hockey East)
Season Series: Maine, 2-1-0
River Hawks Fact: UMass Lowell is 2-1-0 in its last three games at Maine’s Alfond Arena over the last two seasons, including a 4-2 win Feb. 20.
Black Bears Fact: Maine is 12-0-0 all-time in the playoffs against UMass Lowell.
How UMass Lowell Wins: Get off to a good start. The River Hawks are 12-5-0 when scoring first and 10-2-1 when leading after the first period.
How Maine Wins: Maine’s power play is the best in the nation with 56 PPGs and a 29.5 percent success rate. They’ll need to make their chances count this weekend, as UMass Lowell is one of the nation’s least-penalized teams.