WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- No. 9 ranked Boston University will host the 12th annual Ice Breaker
Tournament this weekend at Agganis Arena in a star-studded four-team field.
Massachusetts will take on No. 11 ranked Michigan State in the first official game of Hockey
East’s 25th anniversary season at 4:30 p.m. on Friday, while the host Terriers will skate with No.
5 ranked North Dakota in the nightcap at 7:30 p.m. Sophomore forward Colin Wilson (Winnipeg,
Man.) returns as the Terriers leading scorer from a season ago with 35 points. The Minutemen will
be captained by Cory Quirk (Brockton, Mass.) and Brett Watson (Media, Pa.) in 08-09. Hockey East
has had the most success in the Ice Breaker of any conference, having won 17 of its 22 contests
in the tournament, claiming six of the previous 11 titles.
The Boston College Eagles will also begin their National Championship title defense on Friday
night, as they entertain the WCHA’s Wisconsin Badgers at Conte Forum. The Eagles will hoist their
banner in a special pre-game ceremony. BC returns four of its top six scorers from its title run,
along with sophomore goalie John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.), who played every single minute
for the Eagles last year.
Head coach Greg Cronin will take his Northeastern Huskies cross country to the Kendall Hockey
Classic in Anchorage, Alaska. The Huskies open with Alaska on Friday (9 p.m.) and they will play the
host Seawolves late Saturday night. NU returns its top seven scorers and loses only two players
from last year’s team that finished sixth in league play. Senior captain Joe Vitale (St. Louis, Mo.) is
only one of four returning Hockey East All-Stars from 2007-08.
Vermont and Rensselaer will take the ice in Quebec City on Saturday (4 p.m.), renewing a rivalry
from the Catamounts days in the ECAC. UVM returns 97% of its offense from the team that made
its first Hockey East Championship Game in school history.
No. 7 ranked UNH will host Wisconsin on Saturday night at the Whittemore Center in Durham
opening its 82nd season of Wildcat hockey. The last time the two teams met was in the 1998 NCAA
East Regional, UNH won the game, 7-4, in Albany, N.Y.
Merrimack College will host Robert Morris on Saturday, while UMass-Lowell will travel to Colgate
for a single-game. The Warriors went a perfect 6-0 last season in non-conference play, while UMass-
Lowell returns all but two players from its 07-08 squad. Junior Kory Falite (Billerica, Mass.) had a
breakout sophomore year with 32 points, en route to being named a Second-Team Hockey East
All-Star. Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna has suspended UMass-Lowell assistant coach
Shawn McEachern for one game stemming from an incident in the 2008 quarterfinals at Vermont.
McEachern, who was on the Northeastern University staff at that time, will serve his suspension
this Saturday.
Maine will play a pair of exhibition games at New Brunswick on Friday and Saturday night. The
Black Bears officially open their season on Oct. 17 at Alaska-Anchorage. The Providence College
Friars are idle this weekend, they open up on Oct. 17 in a league game at Northeastern.
