Providence dominates, but hungry contenders ignite a fiercely competitive Hockey East bracket. Who will claim the TD Garden crown?
It was quite a deep conference that the Hockey East brought to the table. Vermont was the lowest seed, and they still achieved eight conference wins, the most by a bottom seed in Hockey East history.
With eleven talented programs, it makes complete sense that everyone makes the Hockey East tournament, which starts tonight. A look at the bracket below:
Credit: Sebby Fitzgerald/ The HeightsThe opening round welcomes three exciting matchups: #11 Vermont vs #6 Boston, #10 New Hampshire vs #7 Northeastern, and #8 Merrimack. Even the Vermont-Boston matchup will be intriguing, considering the Catamounts split with the Terriers on the road in the regular season.
When you look at the top dogs of the conference, there is no denying that top seed Providence is a threat, having finished eleven points ahead of anyone else in the conference. The Friars closed the regular season winning five of their final six and will seek their first Hockey East title since 1996, led by potentially the most balanced offensive unit in the nation.
John Mustard, Logan Sawyer, and Roger McQueen all collectively lead the Friars with 26 points to each name.
Besides that, there is still a reason to consider every other team in the conference for a shot at the title.
Second-seeded UMass carries a nation’s top ten scoring defense into battle, third-seeded UConn can play up to talent with five ranked wins on the season, fourth-seeded BC has high-end talent and the 8th best power play nationally, we could go on, but you get the point.
The semifinals and finals will be back-to-back between March 20th and 21st. Those games will be at TD Garden, as it has for a 30th consecutive season, disregarding COVID-19.
When it comes to the four teams there on that given Friday, the unpredictability of the Hockey East will lead us to just wait and see.