The playoffs started early in this league, and teams looking to catch their breath after the stretch run will find themselves gasping for air in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

New Hampshire staved off Boston College in their mini-playoff last weekend with the regular-season crown on the line, and that involved the least of the dramatics. There were a half-dozen teams that were on the cusp of either claiming a home-ice spot or missing the playoffs entirely, and the standings were so jumbled heading into the season’s final day that there were 33 tiebreaking scenarios listed on a Hockey East press release.

Once again, the tournament looks wide open. UNH and BC have been the most consistent teams throughout the season, but preseason favorites Boston University and UMass Lowell have the talent to make another March run. And don’t count out Vermont, a Frozen Four participant from last year and - sit down for this one - Merrimack Warriors. Finally, don’t sleep on Maine at Alfond, where the Black Bears can recreate some momentum and take it to the Garden.

With the balance in Hockey East, the next three weekends figure to be a blast.

THE FAVORITE

The Wildcats might take this as a slap in the face, but Boston College has to be the favorite in the Hockey East playoffs. The Eagles are 8-2-1 against Hockey East teams since Jan. 29, and they’ve been peppering opposing nets at a relentless rate. BC has outscored teams, 43-21, in that span, and all four lines are playing with a heightened sense of confidence.

And don’t forget, Boston College gained some valuable experience at the Garden last month when it won the Beanpot, and the Eagles have traditionally handled the Wildcats late in the season. BC has knocked UNH out of the Hockey East playoffs in four of the last five years, including twice in the title game.

THE GATE CRASHER

This spot was supposed to go to Northeastern, which was playing great down the stretch but couldn’t get into the playoffs after a hellish final two weekends with UNH and BU. It also could have gone to Vermont, but the Catamounts only took one point in Durham a few weeks ago. And it could have gone to Merrimack, but it’s tough to imagine the Terriers laying down in their first-round playoff series. If you’re looking for one lower seed to pull an upset, set your sights to UMass Lowell, which has the postseason experience that Maine lacks.

INCH’s ALL-HOCKEY EAST TEAM

F - Bobby Butler, UNH
Dick Umile did it again. Butler had nine goals and three assists as a freshman (12th on the team in scoring), but he emerged as a Hobey Baker candidate as a senior.

F - Gustav Nyquist, Maine
The sophomore had an outstanding season, far and away leading Hockey East in points (18-38-56), and Maine fans will love him for leading the program’s turnaround in 2009-10.

F - Brian Gibbons, Boston College
Gibbons has centered the best line in Hockey East with Joe Whitney and Cam Atkinson, and the trio’s emergence in the second half was a major reason for the Eagles’ charge. Gibbons led BC with 27 assists and 42 points.

D - Kevin Shattenkirk, Boston University
The junior blue-liner gets the nod on this list for the second consecutive year.

D - Jeremy Dehner, UMass Lowell
The River Hawks have a handful of really talented defensemen, but Dehner’s leadership, on-ice composure and puck-moving skills get him on the INCH First Team.

G - Carter Hutton, UMass Lowell
Hutton was too good for coach Blaise MacDonald to warrant a split, and Hutton has been the man down the stretch. Among goalies who played at least 900 minutes, he led Hockey East in goals-against average (2.06) and save percentage (.928).

COACH OF THE YEAR

It’s pretty amazing, but heading into the final weekend of the regular season, Merrimack was still in the running for a home-ice playoff spot. Mark Dennehy has changed the culture in North Andover, and he has brought in a roster full of players who have been winners at previous levels. Even though they hadn’t yet won together at Merrimack, junior forward Chris Barton pointed to a few Warriors who had won junior championships in Canada (himself, sophomore forward Jesse Todd, sophomore defenseman Karl Stollery and freshman defenseman Kyle Bigos).

Merrimack had five consecutive last-place finishes since its most recent playoff berth in 2004. During that stretch, the Warriors were 38-115-19 and 18-100-14 in Hockey East. Yet, Dennehy led MC to 15-17-2 (12-13-2 Hockey East) and a sixth seed this season. Don’t think this is enough for them, either. Barton told INCH in November, “[the Warriors] want to win a championship.”

PLAYER OF THE YEAR

Few saw a season like this coming, especially Bobby Butler. He had been as steady as they’ve come for his first three seasons in Durham, but Butler really added a scoring punch in his senior year. He has a league-best 25 goals to go along with 22 assists, and the Wildcats’ success has helped push Butler into the Hobey race.

“No, not at all. I definitely didn’t expect it,” Butler said of the individual recognition. “It’s just a bonus, but I’m glad the team is doing well. We’ve been in first place for a bit. I’m just having a fun time. I prepared for this year wanting to play my best as a senior, a leader, to show by example. I’m just having a good time, having fun with my linemates. I think it’s just more having fun and coming to the rink knowing that every time we’re on the ice, we have a chance for any of us to put the puck in the net.”

FRESHMAN OF THE YEAR

Merrimack forward Stephane Da Costa sent a public-service announcement to the league with a five-goal performance against Army in the second game of his career. Da Costa is a smart player who knows what he’s doing on the ice and has tremendous vision. His teammates instantly respected his work ethic, and they appreciated his ability to make them better players, as well. Da Costa has had a fabulous freshman season with 15 goals and 29 assists to easily lead the Warriors with 44 points.

BREAKTHROUGH PERFORMER

Boston College sophomore forward Cam Atkinson was an important piece for this young team. The Eagles have nine sophomores and 10 freshmen on their 26-man roster, and the younger guys were forced to make strides this season if they were going to experience this kind of success. Atkinson is second in Hockey East with 21 goals, and he was second on the Eagles with 41 points. The short, speedy, feisty winger has a little bit of Nathan Gerbe in him. For Atkinson to seriously draw those comparisons, though, he’ll have to perform in the postseason like Gerbe.

Other Conference Recaps: Atlantic | CCHA | CHA | ECACH | Hockey East | WCHA

Playoff Preview Capsules: Atlantic | CCHA | CHA | ECACH | Hockey East | WCHA

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.

Playoff Preview Capsules: Atlantic | CCHA | CHA | ECACH | Hockey East | WCHA

Conference Recaps: Atlantic | CCHA | CHA | ECACH | Hockey East | WCHA

This is a weekend that has been in the making since late August. When Hockey East announced its schedule, players and coaches from Boston College and New Hampshire spotlighted their showdown during the final weekend of the regular season, and they instantly imagined the ideal scenario - Eagles and Wildcats, home-and-home series, regular-season title on the line.

And sure enough, that’s how this thing will go down.

Bobby Butler is a candidate for Hockey East and national postseason recognition.

“This weekend is going to be a battle,” said UNH senior forward and Hobey Baker candidate Bobby Butler, who leads Hockey East with 24 goals and is second in the league with 45 points. “It’s going to be a test. It’s playoff hockey from here on out. BC is fun to play. It definitely crossed my mind that it’s probably going to go down to the end of the season. There’s nothing better than having a [regular-season] weekend that is like a playoff series. Everyone is realizing what this week means to us.”

UNH (15-5-5, 35 points) has been the top dog throughout the majority of the season, but BC (15-8-2, 32 points) has used a late charge to put itself within striking distance. The Eagles need to sweep the weekend series, which begins Friday in Durham, to claim the outright championship.

Boston College has been dominant since its 3-2 loss to Boston University at Fenway Park. The Eagles are 10-4-0 in that stretch, which also includes a Beanpot title. Meanwhile, UNH is 8-3-3 since Jan. 8, but a handful of minor slip-ups have allowed the Eagles to hang around. Now, BC has given itself a chance to win its first regular-season championship since 2004-05, when it nipped BU and UNH by one point.

“One of our goals at the start of the season was to be in position to win a regular-season title because we haven’t done that in a few years,” said BC junior forward Brian Gibbons, who leads the team with 27 assists and 42 points. “When you look at the schedule at the beginning of the year, you knew it was probably going to come down to that last weekend at UNH. We put ourselves in a position to win a championship.”

These late-season battles are old hat for BC and UNH, but the Wildcats don’t particularly care for that reminder. Boston College has knocked UNH out of the Hockey East playoffs in four of the last five seasons: a two-game, first-round sweep in Durham in 2009; a 5-4, triple-overtime victory in the 2008 semifinals; a 5-2 victory in the 2007 championship; and a 3-1 win in the 2005 championship.

This is also the third time in the last five years that these teams have met in the final regular-season weekend, but it’s the first time the title has been on the line. BC swept a home-and-home in 2007 to earn the second seed in the playoffs, while UNH had already clinched the regular-season crown. In 2006, UNH took three points in a home-and-home to secure the fourth seed, while the Eagles finished with the third seed.

Butler conceded his Wildcats bear the most pressure this weekend - though not because of recent years, but due to the way UNH has played in recent weeks.

“I definitely think it’s going to be on us,” Butler said. “They’re ranked higher than us, and they’ve been on fire. I think the pressure is definitely on us, but I think the boys are ready to play. It’s going to be an exciting weekend.”

Gibbons, on the other hand, isn’t all that worried. After all, the Eagles have been scorching their opponents’ nets, posting at least six goals in five of their last nine victories.

“Coach [Jerry] York always says that pressure is for air tires, so he tries to take that out of our heads,” Gibbons said. “I don’t think we feel any pressure. We’re just going to take what we’ve built over the last few weeks and try to keep that going. We know we need two wins to take that championship, and we know that’s not going to be an easy task. UNH has a great team, led by Bobby Butler. We’re just going to give it everything we’ve got and see how that works out for us.

“We just wanted to put ourselves in position to have a chance at the end of the year. Luckily, we’ve been able to do that, and I can’t wait for this weekend.”

It must be late February because the Hockey East standings are a jumbled, chaotic mess. This year, the real fun lies at the bottom portion of the conference, where fourth-place Boston University has a four-point lead on ninth-place Vermont with two weekends remaining.

Six teams are fighting for the final five playoff positions, and it’s conceivable that one or two bounces of the puck could mean the difference between a home-ice playoff series and a seat in front of a television on a grungy couch in the basement of an on-campus apartment.

New Hampshire (14-5-4, 32 points) and Boston College (14-8-2, 30 points) have clinched playoff berths, and Maine (12-9-2, 26 points) isn’t far behind. After that, it’s a free-for-all between BU (11-10-2, 24 points), Northeastern (11-11-1, 23 points), UMass Lowell (10-11-2, 22 points), Massachusetts (11-13-0, 22 points), Merrimack (10-12-1, 21 points) and Vermont (7-10-6, 20 points).

“Everybody is real excited right now,” Lowell senior captain Ben Holmstrom said. “Obviously, the league is pretty knotted up right now, but the guys are excited to finish these last two weeks and still be in the hunt to get home ice and make a run into this thing going into the playoffs.”

Lowell had a blistering start out of the gate but is just 5-7-1 in conference play since Jan. 8. The River Hawks finish with a home-and-home against last-place Providence (mathematically eliminated from playoff contention) before hosting Vermont for two games.

“Everybody definitely looks at the standings, but I don’t think we’re nervous about the bad things that could happen,” Holmstrom said. “We’re taking a positive outlook on this and taking it one day at a time, doing what we have to do. I think if we get caught looking at what-ifs or the negative outcomes of things, then you’re just going to put yourself in a bad frame of mind and expecting things to go bad. It’s in our hands, and we know if we take care of business, then we’re going to be fine.”

About a month ago, UMass looked like a team with an outside shot to take the regular-season crown, but the Minutemen have recently performed with the grace of a Dutch speed skating coach. They have lost seven of their last eight, including five in a row (by a combined 22-5), and they’re coming off of home-and-home sweeps against Northeastern and Merrimack. UMass finishes its regular-season schedule with a solo shot at Boston College before visiting Maine for a pair.

“Guys have been gripping their sticks a little too tight, worrying about the standings, worrying about what is going to happen,” UMass senior co-captain Brett Watson said. “We’ve been working hard the last few weeks. We’ve been working very hard in the games, but for whatever reason, not getting the bounces or sometimes trying to do too much and not working together like we need to be. We have to be mentally tough and battle through this, and it’s a growing experience for our team. If we come through and finish off strong in the next couple of weeks and make the playoffs, it’ll make us a stronger team.”

Merrimack is 4-1-1 in its last six games and has given itself a realistic chance to make the playoffs for the first time in six years. Aside from its sweep of UMass, Merrimack has a win and a tie against Vermont and a victory against Lowell, making its recent unbeaten stretch even more impressive. The Warriors close with two home games against Maine before a home-and-home with Providence, and will need to bounce back from Tuesday’s 7-0 drubbing by BC.

Northeastern is another team that has caught fire, going 7-2-0 in Hockey East play since Jan. 15 and playing the gritty brand of hockey that coach Greg Cronin has demanded out of the Huskies. They’ve got home-and-homes against UNH and BU, though, so the last two weekends will require even more excellence.

Perhaps the team with the most pressure is Vermont, which is a year removed from a Frozen Four berth and its best season since joining Hockey East. The Catamounts have a five-game winless streak (0-2-3) and are 3-5-4 since Jan. 15. They’ve got a home series against BU before visiting Lowell for a pair, and the Catamounts are the only team among playoff hopefuls that doesn’t control its own destiny. Yet, things are so jam-packed in the standings that they could still potentially host a playoff series.

UVM senior co-captain Brian Roloff has helped the Catamounts establish themselves in Hockey East over the last three and a half seasons, but he said this is as much pressure as they’ve faced during his tenure.

“In terms of pressure, I guess you can say it’s bigger this year,” Roloff said. “Coming back [this season], I guess you could say there was pressure because [the Frozen Four] has kind of been on our minds from the start of the season. We’re not in the position where we want to be right now, but I think we can still get to where we want to be.

“It is exciting. We’re getting down to the end here. It’s about that time where it’s do or die. For some of us, especially the seniors, it’s a little nervous. The end is near, and we certainly know that. I think it’s kind of a good nervous, and we’re ready to give it everything we’ve got to be able to take this thing as far as we can.”

No matter where each of these teams is in the standings - and really, they’re all in the same spot - they’re excited to sort out this mess in the final two weekends. The passion will be heightened and the out-of-town scoreboards will receive more attention than their textbooks.

“It’s exciting,” Watson said. “It’s what hockey is all about. You get excited to see it, but you’ve got to take care of your own business first and worry about the other stuff second. It’s fun time of the year. This is always the best time of the year when everyone is competing so hard for these playoff spots and then in the playoffs trying to stay alive.”

Excuse Tim Whitehead’s Maine-sized smile. The Black Bears head coach is having as much fun this season as he’s ever had, and he’s got his team back on the perch of national relevancy.

After two trying years in Orono, Whitehead has Maine in contention for a home-ice Hockey East playoff spot, as well as a berth in the NCAA tournament. From an outside perspective, it’s been a wildly unexpected turnaround. After all, the Black Bears were picked to finish eighth in the Hockey East preseason coaches’ poll, and it wasn’t an entirely unfair projection, either, considering Maine’s 26-40-7 record over the last two seasons.

But Maine is 14-11-3 this season, including an 11-8-2 mark in Hockey East. The Black Bears have 24 points entering this weekend’s home series against UMass Lowell. They’re in third place behind New Hampshire (13-5-3, 29 points) and Boston College (12-7-2, 26 points), and the Black Bears have a slim edge on Boston University, UMass, Northeastern, Lowell and Vermont, who are all within five points.

“I know one thing for sure. I really like this team,” said Whitehead, who is in his ninth season on the Maine bench. “Our coaching staff really enjoys working with these guys. It’s really a great group of players. We had a couple down years, which may not seem that long to people outside the program. But for us, two years seems like 200 years. We’re really pleased to say we have that feeling back of the right culture, the right attitude, the right work ethic, and we’re very pleased and excited about the rest of the season and certainly the years to come.”

Prior to Maine’s two-year postseason disappearing act, Whitehead had the Black Bears in three of four Frozen Fours. Then, they were hit with a rash of graduating seniors and the stinging early departure of Teddy Purcell, who would be a senior this season if he stayed on campus.

Despite another youthful roster, Maine is back in the national landscape, and it’s got another Hobey Baker candidate in Gustav Nyquist, who is tied for the Hockey East lead with 42 points (14 goals, 28 assists). Nyquist traces this season’s success back to last year’s first-round playoff series against the Terriers, who advanced in three games.

“We played them really good, lost a 2-1 game,” Nyquist told Inside College Hockey in December. “I think that’s really when we felt we could do something special with this team.”

Whitehead saw the players take that momentum and turn it into a great offseason. They worked out with the right mindset, and Whitehead saw the attitude he’s grown to expect from the Maine hockey player.

“We had a pretty good hunch we would take a step this year,” Whitehead said. “It still remains to be seen how far we can get this year, but we think it is realistic at this point in the year to shoot for home ice in Hockey East and also an NCAA tournament berth. That’s what we’re pushing for. We think we’ve got as good of a shot as anybody.”

While the pair of losing seasons presented a unique challenge for Whitehead, this bounce-back campaign has created some different obstacles, too. Whitehead led Maine to six NCAA tournaments in his first six seasons in Orono, so he was also working with a roster of players who knew exactly how to win. If they were in third place in February during those seasons, they’d be working toward climbing up the standings during the final few weekends of the regular season. For those teams, the postseason was an afterthought - it was guaranteed.

Now, Whitehead and his players are dealing with the same set of expectations in Orono, but the coach is working with a roster that hasn’t accomplished anything in March or April. In that sense, these final three regular-season weekends might be exponentially more difficult as they deal with the unknown. Because of that, Whitehead is drawing back to his experiences as the head coach at Lowell, where NCAA berths and postseason success were anything but a given.

“This is different from where we were at as recently as ‘07, and I think that was [Maine's] ninth consecutive NCAA tournament,” Whitehead said. “We were expecting to win. We went through a process there where we were hoping to win. And we’re at the point now where we know we can win, but we’re not quite at the point where we’re expecting to win. We still have to earn more confidence, so I think that’s an ongoing process for us. I’m certainly very comfortable in this situation with a younger team. We’ve been in that situation before. I think the difference this year from previous years up here at Maine is most of the team has not been to the NCAA tournament. They’re just a little green in that area, and that’s fine. We’re gaining great experience right now.

“But these guys know they’ve prepared. They’ve worked very hard. Yes, we do have to remind them to focus on the task at hand, and that’s one practice at a time, one game at a time. If you do that, they won’t be as concerned with the end result, how many games we can win down the stretch and whether we make the tournament or not. Of course, that’s in the back of their mind, and that’s fine.”

Since taking over for Shawn Walsh in 2001, Whitehead has driven one of the most successful programs in the country, and these challenges are what make him tick. He is 194-120-36 (.606) as the coach in Orono, which trails UNH coach Dick Umile (209-98-41, .659), BC coach Jerry York (212-104-36, .653) and BU coach Jack Parker (198-110-43, .625) in that span.

Obviously, the last two years were an aberration to Whitehead’s stellar record, and he spent many sleepless nights trying to overcome the losses. It’s finally happened this season, and with their nine leading scorers and starting goalie all eligible to return next season, the Black Bears won’t be falling into another slump anytime soon. That’s got Whitehead beaming with pride yet again.

“Like most coaches, I hate losing,” Whitehead said. “The last two years were very tough and very challenging, but every year is challenging, and every year brings different challenges. This year happens to be a lot of fun. I really enjoy working with these guys. Our captains have been great. It’s a very tight-knit group of players and coaches, and I’m really enjoying working with these guys. There’s so much to look forward to with this team - not just this year, but next year as well. I think all of the players sense that, and they’re excited about the progress we’ve made. They know it’s real progress. It’s not an accident.”

BOSTON - The rivalry turned 250, and it’s hardly ever looked so young and energetic. Boston College outlasted Boston University 4-3 in a thrilling Beanpot championship Monday night at the Garden, and the teams’ 250th meeting was every bit as good as most of the rest.

John Muse was the tournament MVP and had the highest save percentage among goalies who played both Mondays. (File Photo)

The Eagles built a 4-1 lead with 15:38 remaining in the third period, but with the amount of scoring chances being generated by the Terriers, it still seemed far too early to declare a champion. BU rallied for a pair of goals in the final 11 minutes - cutting it to 4-3 with a six-on-four power play - and had the puck on the doorstep a couple of times in the final 60 seconds.

When the buzzer sounded and the puck dangled harmlessly in the neutral zone, the BC bench was finally granted a long-winded sigh of relief.

“If there was a classic Beanpot, that would be one of them,” said Jerry York, who won his fourth Beanpot as the BC coach. “I’ve been involved in a lot of good matchups here, but this particular one was quick. It was fast. Even at 4-1, none of us thought the game was finished yet. BU put a terrific surge on there at the end.”

Boston College claimed its 15th Beanpot in the tournament’s 58-year history, which still pales in comparison to the Terriers’ 29 titles. But the Eagles have won two of the last three ‘Pots to put a dent in BU’s Garden armor.

“It was a great game to watch,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “I thought it was a fabulous game to watch as a college hockey game. It’s the 250th time we’ve played each other. Where better to play each other than the Beanpot final? Other than the outcome, I thought it was a fabulous game.”

BU leads the all-time series, 125-108-17, and also remains ahead of BC in Beanpot games, 27-12. BU dropped to 13-7 in Beanpot championships. The teams have also split their four meetings this season, and each has added a feather to its cap. Boston University took a 3-2 victory at Fenway Park last month, and now the Eagles have the Beanpot banner hanging from the Garden rafters. Even sweeter, they got to take down BU’s 2009 banner.

“It’s what we all strive to do, put a really good college hockey team on the ice,” York said. “I think BC and BU have done that for years and years, but particularly this year, we’ve got two very good hockey teams.”

York believed there was even more significance in this win for his young club - only nine of BC’s 26 current players were on the team during their 2008 title run - because they got to experience the feeling of winning a championship, and that will pay important dividends in March and maybe April. After all, the last two Beanpot winners have gone on to win the national championship.

And the Eagles won the Beanpot in exciting fashion. Freshman Chris Kreider and sophomore Barry Almeida scored highlight-reel goals to bump BC’s lead from 2-1 to 4-1. BU answered with a pair of big-money strikes of their own, as sophomore David Warsofsky’s driving backhander cut the margin in half and Colby Cohen’s six-on-four conversion at 17:14 validated Parker’s aggressive move.

Even the goalies - BC’s John Muse (31 saves) and BU’s Kieran Millan (28) - were fantastic in net. The box score will never indicate their brilliance, but this thing could have wound up with a football score if either netminder was off his game.

With Hockey East getting ready to begin its final four weekends, the Eagles have placed themselves in strong position for the national tournament, while the Terriers will need a Terrier-like second-half surge if they want to defend their national hardware. Eventually, it’s only natural to think BC and BU will meet for a fifth time. Since three of their four meetings this season have been decided by one goal, there’s no reason to believe an encore wouldn’t be just as tremendous.

“We’ve played BU four times this year, and they’ve all been really outstanding college hockey games, two of which have been on big, big stages, and we’re split 2-2,” York said. “There’s not a heck of a lot of difference between these two clubs.

“Maybe we’ll play them again at some point.”

MONDAY NIGHT WAKEUP CALL

It’s not always easy getting up for a game like the Beanpot consolation affair, since the cobwebs outnumber the fans in the Garden for the matinee matchup. Suffice to say, Northeastern handled the letdown and quiet barn better than Harvard on its way to a 4-1 victory.

“It’s an interesting dynamic, the consolation game,” Northeastern coach Greg Cronin said. “You go after the afterglow of the Monday night [semifinal] game with a big crowd, a lot of energy and the enthusiasm is sky high. It’s tough for both teams to go out in a big arena like this when there’s nobody in it. We tried to refocus after the BU game, keep our eyes focused on making progress as a group.”

The Huskies used the win to continue their 2010 momentum and build their confidence before their vitally important Hockey East stretch run. Northeastern is 5-2-0 in its last seven games and closes the regular season with home-and-homes against UMass, Boston College, New Hampshire and Boston University. NU sits in eighth place in the conference standings, but they’re a mere point behind BU, Lowell and Vermont.

At this point in the season, any win is truly an important win, despite how many people are in the building to witness it.

“We went into this game not really worrying about the fans or anything else like that,” said Northeastern junior forward Tyler McNeely, who scored the first goal of the game. “It was just that we needed to win, and we pulled that out.”

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE TD GARDEN

• Greg Cronin spent some time praising freshman goalie Chris Rawlings, who stopped 60 of the 63 shots (.952 save percentage) he faced in the Beanpot. “Brad Thiessen will go down as one of the best goalies in Northeastern history,” Cronin said. “Brad’s been known as a poised goalie and level-headed. I’ve really felt that Chris has made some incredible strides, particularly after the Vermont game when he had his worst outing of the year. Going into the Beanpot, that first game for a freshman, particularly against BU in the 8 o’clock game when there’s 17,000 people here is probably one of the most pressure-packed games a goalie in college hockey can face outside of a national championship game. I thought his poise and his consistency, his aggressiveness in that BU game was outstanding. He backed it up with a great game in Merrimack and then again tonight. I think the one common thread that’s visible when he’s on his game is how aggressive he is, how square to the puck he is. If you notice tonight, there were very few second shots because he was really controlling the rebounds well. … His future looks extremely bright. I always tell the goalies I have a very short-term memory, so he puts this one in the bag and then moves forward to the UMass series.”

• Harvard lost its legs in the third period, which was a byproduct of an ill-timed schedule. The Crimson played their third game in the last four nights, which is an extremely rare occurrence for the Beanpot schools. “In the third period, it was a combination of Northeastern wearing us down and us running out of gas,” Harvard coach Ted Donato said. “I give Northeastern a lot of credit, but for us, the bench got too short too soon. Playing a lot of hockey over the last four or five days kind of caught up to us.”

• Cronin echoed the sentiment. “I thought Harvard battled hard. One of the backdrops of the game is Harvard played three games in four nights,” Cronin said. “I think we were fortunate that we had a lot of energy in the third period.”

• The BC student section went to the well with their “BU football” chant in the first period, to which the BU students - each fan base was located directly behind the nets - replied with an “undefeated” chant. Isn’t that just admitting defeat?

• The BC student section’s best chant of the night was “Jesus loves us.” The majority of the rest were, well, curious. In the spirit of equal reporting, the BU student section was off its game, too, but there weren’t many things for them to cheer about anyway.

• Jack Parker concluded his opening comment in the postgame news conference with a stern demand. “I have instructed my players not to make any comments whatsoever about the refereeing. Don’t ask any questions about the refereeing. They will not answer any questions regarding the refereeing.”

• BC goalie John Muse was the Beanpot MVP and Eberly Award winner, which is given to the goalie who had the highest save percentage over two games. Muse stopped 64 of the 67 shots (.955) he faced and became the first player to double up on the awards since BU’s John Curry in 2007.

• BC captain Matt Price praised Muse’s offseason work ethic to recover from a torn labrum and get himself back to form from his stellar freshman season. “Some guys use it as an offseason,” Price said. “John didn’t. He was working as hard as ever, and it’s showed. He’s been playing unbelievable.”

• Price was eventually asked if the win was any more special because the Eagles had to hang on to get it. “From my standpoint, a win’s a win,” he said. “A championship’s a championship. You never go into a championship game expecting it to be a cakewalk. Tonight was case in point. You know it’s always going to be a battle.”

In theory, Hockey East gets one automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, just like the nation’s other five conferences. But in reality, Hockey East can virtually guarantee four of its teams will earn a spot in the national tournament if they make the right moves along the way. Consider it the longest playoff format in sports.

Since 1990, when Hockey East added Merrimack as its eighth team, the conference has used a standard playoff bracket with eight teams playing in the quarterfinals. And since 1990, 62 Hockey East teams have finished in the top four of the regular-season standings and then gone on to win in the quarterfinals. Fifty-five of those teams (88.7 percent) have earned a spot in the NCAA tournament.

Blake Kessel and New Hampshire are likely headed to the NCAA tournament; how many Hockey East teams will join the Wildcats in this year's field?

Surely, it’s easier said than done, but there is very little ambiguity for these teams in October when they begin their season-long journey. If they take care of business, they know they’ve got a great chance to skate for the national championship, whereas teams in other conferences have to play well and hope things fall into place for them.

“Our record speaks for itself on a national level,” Boston College coach Jerry York said. “Maine has won titles. BU has won titles. BC has won them, and that bodes well for us with at-large teams. All the coaches feel that a minimum of three teams [in Hockey East] should be almost guaranteed to go to the nationals and in particular strong years, a fourth and maybe a fifth team.”

Only seven teams have finished with a top-four seed, won their Hockey East quarterfinal series, and then been left out of the national tournament—Boston University (1992, 2008), Maine (1996), UMass (2004), UMass Lowell (2002), Providence (1999) and Vermont (2008).

The numbers are similarly favorable since 2003, when the NCAA tournament expanded from 12 to 16 teams. Since 2003, 20 of the 23 teams (87 percent) that have earned and won a home-ice playoff series have advanced to the national tournament.

Hockey East has sent 26 teams to the NCAA’s in that span, which means six teams—Boston College (2004), BU (2003), Maine (2007, 2003), UNH (2009), and Vermont (2009)—bypassed the two requisites of earning a top-four seed and winning a quarterfinal series. Interestingly enough, the 2007 Maine squad is the only Hockey East team since 1990 to advance to the NCAA tournament without finishing in the top four of the regular-season standings or winning a quarterfinal playoff series. And that 2003 BU team is the only other Hockey East team since 1990 to finish outside of the top four of the regular-season standings and still earn a national tourney bid (the Terriers did advance to the Hockey East championship game, though).

Since 1990, 64 of the 80 Hockey East teams (80 percent) that have finished in the top four of the regular-season standings have earned an NCAA bid. However, since 1990, winning a quarterfinal series increases a team’s chance to make the NCAA tournament by 8.7 percent.

Those numbers haven’t increased as much since 2003, though. In the seven years since the tournament has expanded to 16 teams, 24 of the 28 Hockey East teams (85.7 percent) that have finished in the top four of the regular-season standings have earned an NCAA bid. Teams that finish in the top four only improve their chances by 1.3 percent by proceeding to win a quarterfinal series.

“There’s very good balance in our league, and there’s been a shift of balance a little bit sometimes,” York said. “All of a sudden now, UMass is coming on very strong and Lowell has got a very good club. BC, BU, Maine, and New Hampshire are always trying to stay with it, and now teams like Vermont go to the Frozen Four last year. It’s been a remarkably competitive league over the years.”

UNH is the only team that has really cemented itself in the top four this seasons, so teams like Boston College, UMass, Maine, Lowell, BU, Vermont, and Northeastern understand how important it will be to finish in the top four and earn a playoff series on home ice. After all, those “automatic qualifiers” are still up for grabs, and Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna can’t help but feel the pride of his conference’s position on a national scale.

“The WCHA has all of those championships going way back, like the Yankees with [36 national championships since 1951] or whatever it is,” Bertagna said. “But in the last decade, we had [nine] years with a team in the final, so there’s some consistency there.”

BOSTON - Northeastern fans regretfully do this to themselves every year. They build up the Beanpot, hoping like hell this will be the one that ends the dry spell. In the back of their minds, they feel like they already know the outcome, but they can’t stomach the thought enough to admit it.

This year was no different. Boston University scraped past NU 2-1 in the Beanpot semifinals, and the Huskies’ title drought now stands at 23. It was, unquestionably, a phenomenal game that featured a number of twists, turns and loops. In the end, despite the dramatics, BU claimed another victory and will play - who else? - Boston College in next Monday’s final.

Northeastern’s Kyle Kraemer tied the game 1-1 with a slap shot from above the left point, capping off a long power play to justify the Huskies’ momentum seizure at 9:34 of the third period.

“When we scored that goal, I thought we were going to win the game. We had the momentum going,” Kraemer said. “The bench was as good as it had been all game, probably all year. We all thought we were going to win. It’s a shame.”

But less than five minutes later, BU freshman Alex Chiasson netted the game-winner, as his wrister from the right point barely trickled past goalie Chris Rawlings and over the goal line. It was Chiasson’s first career Beanpot affair, but he doomed the Huskies like he had been at BU forever. The Terriers, after all, have beaten NU 15 consecutive times since falling in the 1988 Beanpot final.

“It was a great game, obviously, to go down to the wire like that. There was a lot of drama in the game,” Northeastern coach Greg Cronin said. “I like the way our team played. I told them after the game I don’t like the outcome, but I like the way we played.”

The redeeming factors don’t count for a thing on the stat sheet, but Cronin was right. His Huskies fought like rabid, starving dogs scraping to find a piece of meat in a junkyard. The effort was ferocious. The result will be as bland as any statistic, fading into a black-and-white etching for eternity.

Kraemer and his teammates played for themselves as much as they played for the packed student section that lifted their bench for 60 minutes of passionate hometown hockey. In the end, the result was all too familiar. The Huskies hoped to write a storybook, but the reality bit with cruelty.

“Seeing the fans up there going at it is unbelievable,” Kraemer said. “Playing college hockey in Boston is probably the best thing for a college kid. It’s like playing college football in Texas. It’s the same thing with hockey here.”

Meanwhile, the Terriers have a chance to win their 30th Beanpot in the tournament’s 58-year history. He understands Northeastern’s pain - heck, he’s caused the majority of it - but Parker can’t really relate to the disappointment on that opposing bench.

“I truly believe that there’s more pressure on the teams that haven’t won it in awhile,” Parker said. “We’ve got guys in the dressing room who have won the Beanpot. I think there’s a lot more pressure on the teams that haven’t won in awhile to win. Let’s get this done, and the longer it goes, the worse it gets.

“In the end, it’s hard to take. It’s hard to take if you’ve played four years at X school and have never won a Beanpot.”

BOX SCORE: Boston University 2, Northeastern 1

MUSE RISES UP

John Muse earned his reputation as one of the nation’s elite goalies by playing his best brand of hockey on the brightest stages. His image suffered a bit during the last year, as he showed a human side that resulted from a torn labrum.

Now, as of Monday night, consider Muse back on top. The Boston College junior made 33 saves to lift the Eagles to a 6-0 win against Harvard in the first game of the Beanpot semifinals.

“John Muse was very good in goal,” said Jerry York, who will be coaching in his 11th Beanpot final. “He made some good saves down around the net in loose-puck situations. It’s an area he’s trying to get better at. He battled a lot better tonight for loose-puck situations.”

Muse didn’t need to be great in this game. Quite frankly, he barely needed to be average, at the Eagles scored six goals. But Muse was in lockdown mode prior to the conclusion of the first period, swatting aside a pair of shots from the point to keep BC ahead, 1-0. Boston College senior Matt Price rewarded Muse’s efforts by doubling the Eagles’ lead 18 seconds into the second period, and BC kept going from there.

“It always builds confidence when you make saves in the last minute of a period, especially in a 1-0 game like that,” Muse said. “It was real helpful that we went out with a 1-0 lead after the first, and we built off that.”

York pulled Muse in favor of third-stringer Chris Venti with 2:34 remaining in the third period, so Muse wasn’t credited with a shutout. Still, it was the team’s first shutout of the 2009-10 season, and it was BC’s first shutout in the Beanpot since 2002.

The performance was the epitome of Muse’s turnaround from last season when he gave up six goals on 24 shots in a 6-1 loss to Northeastern on the first night of the Beanpot. All in the past, Muse said, and for good reason. With the hip healthy and another great showing on national television, Muse appears to be ready to lock down the net for another long run.

“Last year’s game was last year’s game,” Muse said. “I think I had plenty of confidence coming in. I think I’ve been playing pretty well lately. I wasn’t looking for a shutout. I was looking for a win. Luckily, we scored a bunch of goals. That always help, and we play next week in the late game.”

BOX SCORE: Boston College 6, Harvard 0

SEEN AND HEARD AT THE TD GARDEN

• If there are two Fighting Sioux fans on any milk cartons in North Dakota, we’ve found them. They somehow found their way to the Garden for the first night of the Beanpot, and they were proudly wearing their Sioux sweaters. As far from home as they were, the fans did find a familiar sight - a Boston College victory.

• A Northeastern fan wearing a Hartford Whalers sweater was featured on the arena’s video board and the NU student section honored the classic display by singing “Brass Bonanza.”

• Harvard defenseman Alex Biega must have mistaken Boston College goalie John Muse for Bruins netminder Tim Thomas in the second period, when Biega launched a shot from center ice. Unlike Thomas, Muse had no problem keeping the puck out of the net.

• The Boston College student section was overheard cheering, “Safety school,” at the Harvard faithful in the second period of their game.

• As the first game was wrapping up, the Northeastern student section looked toward the BU students and chanted, “Sasquatch, Sasquatch, you suck!”

• The BU fans erupted when the video boards showed two young kids - one BU supported and one BC denizen - clamoring for attention. Eventually, the BU kid shoved the BC fan out of the way, and the Terrier faithful loved every second of it.

• Northeastern fans were chanting, “Yes you can!” in the first period of the NU-BU game, which was a play on President Barack Obama’s campaign slogan. However, Obama held a rally for Martha Coakley at Northeastern prior to this month’s Massachusetts Senatorial election, and things didn’t turn out too favorable for the Democratic party in that debacle.

• The second game was great for a number of reasons, but the atmosphere was made that much more special because the BU and Northeastern student sections were adjacent to one another.

• The BU students wrapped up an entertaining battle with the NU section by chanting “1988″ after the Terriers wrapped up their victory.

• Jack Parker was asked how much he enjoys playing Boston College in a Beanpot final, and the BU coach replied, “We like to play anybody in the Beanpot final.” Parker then lamented it isn’t good for the tournament when BU and BC keep winning the thing, and though he didn’t say it, that might have had something to do with the light crowd on hand. “People are tired of [BU and BC always winning] in some way,” Parker said.

• The Huskies had a number of odd-man rushes and good looks at the net, and they didn’t always take the shot, which displeased Northeastern coach Greg Cronin, who said, “My biggest problem with the odd-man rush or the even-man rush is we wouldn’t shoot the damn puck.” Cronin “conservatively” estimated there were six times when the Huskies held onto the puck when they should have shot it.

It’s the same old story around Northeastern. Although, this time, there’s a bit of a different twist.

With the Beanpot just days away, and the Huskies’ tourney title drought just that much older, the questions have again surfaced around Huntington Avenue. Will this finally, quite possibly, just maybe be the year Northeastern wins its first Beanpot since 1988?

There was some genuine optimism at Northeastern in 2008 and 2009, when the Huskies had two of their best teams of the last two decades, but those high hopes have again faded. To some extent, it’s just another year when the Hounds are underdogs, and the Huskies might be able to use that to their advantage in Monday night’s tournament opener against Boston University.

Northeastern captain Tyler McNeely ranks third on the team in goals (7) and points (15).

“Hopefully, BU thinks that way, but I think BU knows who we are and we know who they are,” Northeastern junior captain Tyler McNeely said. “Either way, you’re going to get an unbelievable game. It doesn’t really matter what you’ve done prior to this game. Anything can happen. We’ve been playing well of late, and we hope that teams take us for granted a little bit, but I don’t think that will be the case.”

The Huskies are 5-4-0 since their 5-7-1 start, and they’ve been the poster children of an up-and-down team - they haven’t won or lost more than two consecutive games all season. Northeastern is 6-10-1 in Hockey East and sits in eighth place in the conference, although it is just two points shy from being all alone in sixth place.

It’s a far cry from where NU stood prior to the last two Beanpots. Northeastern had a 12-8-3 record heading into the 2008 tournament, when it was the people’s choice to win the ‘Pot. However, the Huskies surrendered three goals in the first 7:02 of their first-round game against Harvard before falling, 3-1. Coach Greg Cronin said his team was overly excited before the game, perhaps too wrapped up in its own potential. Then, in the consolation game, BU rallied from a 4-2 deficit to claim a 5-4 victory against Northeastern.

Last year, the Huskies smoked Boston College, 6-1, in the first round and carried a 19-6-2 record into the title game against the Terriers. McNeely’s second-period goal tied the game, 2-2, but BU skated away with a 5-2 victory. McNeely said they were much more composed during last year’s tournament, but they got burnt by a bad bounce and it snowballed from there.

“We had a little bit of pressure [in 2008] with having a better team and a chance to win,” McNeely said. “Last year, we just had a good team, and we went through it game by game. Guys knew we had a good team last year. We went in there prepared and knowing that we had a chance to win. There was a lot of excitement.”

The excitement hasn’t tempered around campus, but the Huskies are still fighting a serious battle to end that dry spell. Northeastern is 12-30 in Beanpot games since winning the 1988 title - 5-16 in the first round, 0-5 in championship games and 7-9 in consolation games - and every team in the tournament has won the championship at least twice (BU has 15 in that span, but who’s counting?).

Since Northeastern beat BU in the 1988 championship game, the Huskies are 0-14 against the Terriers in the Beanpot. Ten of NU’s 12 victories in that span have come against Harvard.

So, the Huskies enter Monday night in a familiar position as the tournament’s underdogs, which might make things a little less nerve-wracking along Huntington. But that’s not to say the Huskies aren’t ready to head to the Garden and give the school something it’s been desperately missing for 22 years.

“Oh, absolutely, you feel [the excitement] around campus,” McNeely said. “Around this time, everyone is looking at the Beanpot. You hear about it all over the place, so it’s surrounding you and you know it’s a huge part of the Boston culture. To bring a Beanpot home to this school would mean the world to us.”

It’s looking like a frigid weekend for much of college hockey country, but it likely won’t keep people away from the rink … at least not with series like the ones we chose to feature in this week’s INCH Friday Four-cast on tap.

Denver at North Dakota (Friday-Saturday): If nothing else, this weekend’s series in Grand Forks will provide a look at the resiliency of these two teams. The Fighting Sioux—in the midst of grueling seven-week stretch during which they’ve faced or will face Minnesota, Cornell, Denver, St. Cloud State, Minnesota Duluth, and Colorado College—are trying to get back into the top half of the WCHA standings. The Pioneers were clipped by Wisconsin in Madison, getting just one point from the Badgers.

Denver’s healthier and has the edge in goal with Marc Cheverie (pictured), but consecutive high-stakes series at unfriendly venues like Wisconsin and North Dakota can be mentally draining. And you can bet that the Engelstad Arena crowd, which hasn’t seen the Sioux play at home in three weeks, will be at a fever pitch for this series.

St. Lawrence at Cornell (Friday); Union at Yale (Friday): The top four teams in ECAC Hockey line up against each other Friday night and have an opportunity to shake up the top of the league standings. First-place Union leads by a single point over three second-place teams in Yale, St. Lawrence, and Cornell.

Yale hosts Union at Ingalls Rink. These teams tied in the first meeting of the year back in early November in Schenectady, but the Bulldogs have a chance to hold serve in their barn this weekend. Yale is just 2-2-0 in its last four league games and Union suffered its first two conference defeats last weekend on home ice.

Cornell and St. Lawrence played to a 1-1 tie two weeks ago and will meet again at raucous Lynah Rink. The Saints have surged into second place and are among the title contenders after going 4-0-2 in their last six conference games. The Big Red are also 4-0-2 in their last six ECAC Hockey games and earned a difficult split at home last weekend against North Dakota.

Michigan vs. Michigan State (Friday at East Lansing, Saturday at Joe Louis Arena in Detroit): Interesting that word of a Cold War redux in Ann Arbor in December broke Thursday; while the granddaddy of outdoor hockey games was all about spectacle and rivalry, the Spartans and Wolverines head into this weekend’s games focused inward.

Michigan State is on track to earn a CCHA first-round playoff, but the Spartans are just 1-2-2 in their last five games. Defense has become a bit of an issue; the Spartans have allowed 18 goals in their last five matches after giving up a total of 10 goals in seven games from Dec. 4-Jan. 8. Michigan, meanwhile, is in seventh place in the conference standings but just four points out of fourth place and the final opening-round bye. The Wolverines, who are 4-1-1 this month with the lone loss coming last weekend at Ferris State, are searching for offensive consistency.

BEANPOT SEMIFINALS, Harvard vs. Boston College, 5 p.m.; Northeastern vs. Boston University, 8 p.m. (Monday): The first Monday in February means the return of college hockey to Boston’s downtown arena. This year’s semifinal games match last year’s second day schedule when BC and Harvard played in the third-place tilt and BU defeated Northeastern in the tournament final—BU’s 29th Beanpot title.

This season hasn’t gone according to plan for the defending national champion Terriers, currently in sixth place in Hockey East, can use what has been unofficially dubbed the “Terrier Invitational” as a second-half spark plug. BC has won just twice in seven games since the calendar turned to 2010 and has lost twice to BU in that span. Harvard comes into the Beanpot as the hottest team among the four, with a 3-0-1 record in their last four, including wins over nationally-ranked Yale and Union. Northeastern is the only team of the four Beanpot participants that has a tournament title to its credit this year. The Huskies started 2010 by capturing the Ledyard Bank Classic at Dartmouth.

Also: Huge weekend in the WCHA—in addition to Denver at North Dakota, St. Cloud State travels to Colorado College and Wisconsin is at Minnesota Duluth. … Robert Morris travels to Bemidji State in a College Hockey America showdown featuring teams responsible for 75 percent of Miami’s losses this season. … Ferris State scored 14 goals in two games against Ohio State in Big Rapids in November. The two teams meet again this weekend in Columbus. … Scott Darling should be back in goal this weekend for Maine as the Black Bears take on Vermont in a key Hockey East series.

TV Schedule | INCH Pick ‘Em