Hockey East Semifinals Preview

Tonight at the Garden, the other March Madness continues with the Hockey East semifinals.

5:00pm - NESN/NBC Sports
#1 BOSTON COLLEGE vs. #7 PROVIDENCE COLLEGE
The Friars surprised UMass-Lowell last weekend to advance to their first Hockey East semifinals since 2001. however, BC has won 13 straight games. Two of those came against Providence (3-0, then 7-0). The Eagles are on fire. Their power play is clicking, and goalie Parker Milner has found a groove. BC will advance to their 3rd straight Hockey East Final, their 6th in the last 7 years.

8:00pm - NESN/NBC Sports
#3 BOSTON UNIVERSITY vs. #4 MAINE
It's hard to pick against BU after their dramatic series against UNH. The Terriers have had so much self-inflicted adversity this season, but they've managed to persevere. Maine beat BU at Agganis twice in late January, but the Black Bears' season has been defined by inconsistency. I think BU grinds out a tough win, possibly in OT.

That would set up a classic BU/BC final. BU won the regular season series 2-1, but BC won the Beanpot. And as well as BC is playing right now, they'll be tough to stop. BC will win their 11th Hockey East Tournament Championship.

The Final will be Saturday night at 8:00pm, on NESN locally and NBC Sports nationally.

Hockey East Quarterfinals

BC grinded out two very physical games against UMass, winning their 12th and 13th straight games. BC also now has a 10 game winning streak in this tournament. The Minutemen are big and can skate, which forced BC to play out of their comfort level. UMass tried to keep the game along the boards, but they lacked the finishing touches on scoring chances. BC beat them 2-1 then 3-2. BC is in the semifinals for the 8th straight year.

BU needed 11 periods plus 8 minutes to beat UNH in a series that twice went into Double OT. It was a marathon series with 228 minutes of grueling hockey played. Kieran Millan made 68 saves in Game 3. At one point the Terriers were down 4-1, they tied it at 4-4 and the 3rd, and Alex Chiasson won it in the 2nd OT. The series was just the latest in a long series of dramatic events for the BU hockey program this season.

Maine likely eliminated Merrimack from the NCAA Tournament by beating them 2 of 3 up in Orono. The NCAAs only have 11 at-large bids and right now Merrimack is ranked 17th in the PairWise Comparison Rating. Maine solidified their standing, but could use a win against BU to really feel safe.

Providence advanced to the Hockey East semifinals for the first time since 2001 by upsetting UMass-Lowell. The Friars ended the regular season with two losses to UML, but were able to beat them Thursday and Sunday night. They'll play BC, who they lost to twice before losing to UMass-Lowell twice.

The semifinal round will be played Friday night at the TD Garden. The games will be on NESN.

5:00pm - #1 Boston College vs. #7 Providence
8:00pm - #2 Boston University vs. #4 Maine

The Championship game will be played Saturday at 8:00pm.

Also, Harvard beat Yale two out of three to advance to the ECAC semifinals in Atlantic City. They'll play Cornell on Friday.

HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT BEGINS FRIDAY

Now I know that not many people care about hockey, and even fewer people care about college hockey. But it's my blog, and I like college hockey; the OTHER March Madness.

Here's a bracket for the Hockey East Tournament. For the first round, it's a best of 3 series played at the home ice of the better seed. The semi-finals and final are played at TD BankNorth Garden. #1 UNH hosts #8 UMass at the Whittemore Center in Durham. #2 BU hosts #7 UMass-Lowell at Agganis Arena. #3 Vermont hosts #6 Northeastern. And #4 Boston College hosts #5 Providence College at the Conte Forum.

I'll be at the BC/PC games, working as an usher.



Source:
Hockey East