That the Hockey East men’s standings are all jumbled heading into the final weekend of the regular season is not unusual. What makes this season different, though, is that teams are not entirely sure where they stand, with the Hockey East Power Index being created to determine the seedings for the conference’s postseason tournament set to begin on Wednesday.
The league is using a mathematical formula to try to account for the imbalanced schedules throughout the league. For example, Providence has played 22 games, the most games in the league, while Vermont managed to play just 12 games. Boston College sits at the top of the HEPI at 58.32, and would seemingly clinch the top seed with a win at home over Northeastern Friday. Boston University (56.36) and UMass (56.34) are the next two teams and will be jockeying for second place.
That BU finds itself contending for a top seed is impressive considering some of the obstacles it has had to overcome. The Terriers did not play their first game until Jan. 8 and have played just 13 games. They managed to go 10-3 despite dealing with several injuries, including losing captains Logan Cockerill (four games), and David Farrance (five games), as well as freshman goalie Drew Commesso. All three are back now.
“You have to give credit to the players, and the attitude and leadership of the captains,” said BU coach Albie O’Connell. “We have had a lot of ups and downs, but everyone has this year. We seem to master having the ups and downs compared to some others.
“We’ve had to do a lot of things not super-conventional, but it’s worked. I think a lot of it has to do with the competitiveness of our guys. Some of the downs that we’ve had brought the group a little bit closer.”
The Terriers close out the season at UMass Lowell on Saturday, while the Minutemen will host Maine Friday afternoon. In a typical year, the distinction between finishing second and third would not be considered consequential, since the semifinals have been held at TD Garden. But with each round being played at the higher seed this season, the second-place finisher would have the opportunity to host at least two playoff games. And while there will be no fans in attendance, playing on home ice is still preferable than a bus trip between Boston and Amherst.
The next three teams are also bunched together, with both UConn (51.45), and Providence (51.43) ahead of Northeastern (50.53). With Merrimack having to withdraw from the tournament due to contact tracing and state mandatory quarantine, the top six teams will receive a bye into the quarterfinals. Teams seven through 10 will play first-round games.
Providence will travel to UConn on Friday. Should Northeastern prevail over BC, there is a possibility that the loser of the Providence-UConn game would slip out of the top five, and NU could move up.
Stay tuned.
Doggone shame
Another quirk in this strange season: BU and Northeastern will not play each other, at least in the regular season, marking the first time the cross-town rivals will not face each other since World War II.
“It’s disappointing, but you understand it,” said Northeastern coach Jim Madigan. “For us, we were hoping to play BU just because it’s a Boston school, and it’s good for hockey in the Boston area.”
“I think the league did a good job of trying to get us every opponent,” said O’Connell. “Normally we end up playing them three to four times a year, so to not play them, it’s a little unfortunate, but it’s an unfortunate year in a lot of different ways.”
NU women roll
The honors continue to roll in for the Northeastern women’s hockey team, which punched its ticket to the Hockey East championship game with a 2-1 win over a feisty UConn team in the semifinals, and is ranked No. 1 in the nation.
Senior goaltender Aerin Frankel and junior forward Alina Mueller received the 2021 Cammi Granato Award as Hockey East co-players of the year, while Dave Flint was named the league’s coach of the year for the third consecutive year, and fourth overall.
“I think our players do a good job of handling the accolades. They’re pretty humble kids,” said Flint. “You ask any one of them that have won awards and they credit their teammates for their success. That’s just the type of camaraderie that the team has. They give each other credit for any awards that they win.”
Flint took the same approach when discussing his award, crediting associate head coach Nick Carpenito and assistant coach Lindsay Berman for running the team while he missed time for personal reasons.
“They kept the ship going,” said Flint. “They’ve done an amazing job. I’m really lucky to have them on my staff and be able to trust them to run things.”
Lonergan a Kazmaier finalist
In mentioning the 10 finalists for the Patty Kazmaier Award last week, we failed to include Clarkson forward Caitrin Lonergan. The Roslindale native missed all of the 2019-20 season with an injury, but returned this year to post 12 goals and five assists for the Golden Knights in the abbreviated season, Before transferring to Clarkson, she scored 59 goals and 88 assists in 112 career games at BC.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.