HOCKEY EAST HEADLINES
The Hockey East Opening Round begins with three games on Wednesday, March 13. #8 UConn hosts #9 Vermont, #7 Northeastern hosts #10 Merrimack, and #6 New Hampshire welcomes #11 UMass Lowell on NESN.
One quarterfinal is already set, as #4 Providence will face off with #5 Massachusetts on Saturday, March 16 at 4:00pm on NESN+ in a game that will decide who advances to TD Garden and could determine who makes a run at the national tournament. The Friars fell to eventual champion Boston University in double overtime of last year’s semifinals. Massachusetts has won two of the last three Hockey East Tournament titles.
Top-seeded Boston College claimed the Hockey East Regular Season crown for the 18th time in program history. The Eagles wrapped the regular season on a nine-game winning streak, an 18-2-0 record in their last 20, and riding a 13-game winning streak in league play.
The Hockey East semifinals are set tentatively set for 4:00pm and
7:30pm on Friday, March 22 at TD Garden in Boston, while the
39th championship game will be played Saturday, March 23 at
7:30pm. All three games will air live on NESN and NESN+. Tickets are available via the host institution for each on-campus game
while championship tickets can be purchased now at TicketMaster.com.
HOCKEY EAST PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Macklin Celebrini - Boston University
Macklin Celebrini (Fr., F; Vancouver, B.C.) led the country with six
points last weekend, totaling three goals and three assists to claim
the Hockey East scoring title with 44 points. He had two goals and
one assist and was on the ice for all for BU goals in its win at No. 10
Providence on Thursday. Celebrini then followed that with a one-goal,
two-assist effort against Vermont.
PRO AMBITIONS ROOKIE OF THE WEEK
Albin Boija - Maine
Albin Boija (Fr., G; Sundsvall, Sweden) went 2-0-0 against #12/11
UMass while stopping a league-high 60 shots. He had a .962 save
percentage and 2.00 goals against average and backboned the Black
Bears into the Hockey East Tournament as the three seed.
ARMY ROTC DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Cade Webber - Boston University
Cade Webber (Sr., D; Meadville, Pa.) blocked 11 shots last weekend
in a pair of wins for the Terriers, the second most in the NCAA and
more than double nearly other player in the country. The 11 blocks
brought his season total to 118, setting a new all-time single season
record in the NCAA.
STOP IT GOALTENDER OF THE WEEK
Jakob Hellsten - New Hampshire
Jakob Hellsten (Jr., G; Ljusdal, Sweden) was flawless over the weekend for New Hampshire, stopping all 39 shots he faced from UMass
Lowell to pitch a pair of shutouts and help New Hampshire secure the
sixth seed in the Hockey East Tournament.
HOCKEY EAST TOP PERFORMERS
Lane Hutson, BU (So., D; North Barrington, Ill.) Led all Hockey East defenders with four points in two wins this past weekend, totaling two assists in each Terrier victory. He was also a plus-two and blocked three shots.
Mathieu Caron, BU (Jr., G; Abbotsford, B.C.) The reigning Hockey East Goaltender of the Month posted a .933 save percentage and a 1.57 GAA, allowing just one even-strength goal in a pair of wins.
Lynden Breen, Maine (Sr., F; Grand Bay-Westfield, N.B.) Scored the game-winning goal on Saturday to become the only active Hockey East player with 100 career points. He led the league with 26 face-off wins on the weekend and had six shots on goal and one blocked shot.
Josh Nadeau, Maine (Fr., F; St-François-de-Madawaska, N.B.) Led Maine with nine shots on goal while having two points on one goal and one assist in a sweep of Massachusetts to secure the three-seed in the Hockey East Tournament.
Ty Daneault, MC (Fr., F; Red Deer, Alta.) Had two assists in Merrimack’s loss to Boston College on Saturday.
Brady Hunter, MC (Fr., F; Enfield, N.S.) Collected his first two NCAA points on Saturday on a pair of assists.
Frank Djurasevic, MC (Fr., D; New Rochelle, N.Y.) Scored the opening goal of the game on Saturday.
Hugo Ollas, MC (Jr., G; Linkoping, Sweden) Made 29 saves against Boston College on Saturday.
Ryan Conmy, UNH (Fr., F; Alexandria, Va.) Posted one goal and one assist for two points as UNH went 2-0-0 against UMass Lowell. He scored a goal in the 4-0 win on the road on Friday and posted an assist in a 4-0 win at home on Saturday.
Alex Campbell, NU (Sr., F; Chateauguay, Que.) Recorded a three-point weekend from a hat trick against #11/10 Providence, his second hat trick of the season ties him for first in the country. He finished with a career-high nine shots and added two blocked shots.
Pito Walton, NU (Gr., D; Peapack, N.J.) Recorded an assist against #11/10 Providence, tallying a point in back-to-back games - Additionally, recorded a season-high five blocks and four shots on goal
Cameron Whitehead, NU (Fr., G; Orleans, Ont.) Finished with a .935 save percentage over the weekend against #11/10 Providence. He recorded a career and season-high 43 saves in 65 minutes played, ranking him first among all Hockey East goaltenders with 684 total saves and tallied his 19th 30+ save game this season.
Nick Poisson, PC (Sr., F; Vancouver, B.C.) Poisson registered three points over two games, including a pair of goals in Providence’s 3-3 tie against Northeastern on Saturday.
Luke Krys, PC (Gr., D; Ridgefield, Conn.) Tallied a goal and an assist, with three blocks and six shots on goal in the Friars’ 3-3 tie against Northeastern on Saturday.
