Hockey East Online

	Hockey East Player of the Week Chris Auger of UMass Lowell

WAKEFIELD, Mass. -- Boston College, New Hampshire and Northeastern all took three points in their respective series this past weekend, while UMass-Lowell got the best of Merrimack on Saturday night. In non-league action, Providence College opened the week with a 4-3 win in the Mayor’s Cup and Massachusetts picked up a big road overtime win on Thursday night at Yale.

UNH earned a 4-2 win in the series opener on Friday night in Durham, while the Terriers battled out a 3-3 tie on Saturday at Agganis Arena. Senior goalie Brian Foster (Pembroke, Mass.) notched 55 saves (.917 save%) on the weekend, which included 34 saves in Saturday’s tie. UNH junior forward Paul Thompson (Derry, N.H.) had a breakout weekend with five points (2g,3a) in the series with the Terriers. BU sophomore goalie Grant Rollheiser (Chilliwack, B.C.) stopped a career-high 27 shots on Saturday night.

The Eagles took three points in their road trip to Orono, pulling out a 3-2 win on Friday and ending Saturday in a 3-3 tie. Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week Pat Mullane (Wallingford, Conn.) had BC’s first goal in each of the games, for the first two of his BC career.

Northeastern rebounded with a three-point weekend of its own with a 4-1 victory on Friday night at Matthews Arena. The teams then battled to a 3-3 stalemate on Saturday at Schneider Arena. Kyle Kraemer (St. Louis, Mo.) had a solid three-point (2g,1a) weekend for the Huskies.

No. 4 ranked UMass-Lowell made quick work of Merrimack College on Saturday by a 6-3 score at Tsongas Arena for their league-leading eighth win of the season. Hockey East Player of the week Chris Auger (Belleville, Ont.) notched a career-high five points (1g,4a) in the River Hawks victory.

No. 11 Massachusetts also picked up its eighth victory with a thrilling 4-3 overtime win in New Haven. Junior sensation James Marcou (Kings Park, N.Y.) notched his fourth goal of the season for the Minutemen with 1:01 left in the extra frame. UMass extended in non-league record to a perfect 4-0-0 record this season.

Providence College scored four goals for just the second time this season in the 24th Mayor’s Cup on Tuesday night. The Friars won the Mayor’s Cup for the 14th time in school history. Junior forward Matt Germain (Rockland, Mass.) notched a career-high two goals for the Friars, including the game-winner vs. Brown.

Bobby Butler, UNH, (Sr., F, Marlboro, Mass.) Had four points on a goal and three assists in the weekend series vs. BU.

Matt Campanale, UNH, (Jr. D, Chester Springs, Pa.) Handed out three assists on the weekend including a career high two assists on Friday night.

Scott Campbell, UML (Jr., F, Navan, Ont.) Netted two goals, including the game-winner, and an assist in UML’s 6-3 win over the Warriors.

Zach Cohen (Sr., F, Schaumburg, Ill.) Tallied a goal and two assists in the Terriers’ weekend series with UNH.

Phil DeSimone, UNH, (Jr., F, East Amherst, N.Y.) Registered three points (1g,2a) in the three-point weekend vs. the Terriers.

Joey Diamond, Maine (Fr., F. Long Beach, N.Y.) Scored the first two collegiate goals on Friday night against Boston College

Matt Germain, PC (Jr., F, Rockland, Mass.) Scored two goals, including the game winner against Brown. Recorded two assists in a 3-3 OT game vs. NU Saturday.

John Henrion, UNH, (Fr., F, Holden, Mass.) Potted the game-winning goal in Friday night’s 4-2 win over BU.

Kyle Kraemer, NU (Sr., F, St. Louis, Mo.) Registered two goals and one assist in a victory and tie against Providence this weekend.

James Marcou, UMass (Jr, F, Kings Park, N.Y.) Scored the overtime game-winning goal at No. 9 Yale on Thursday and added an assist in UMass’ 4-3 win.

Daniel New (So., D., White Plains, N.Y.) Scored two goals, including the game-tying goal and added one assist in a 3-3 tie against Northeastern on Saturday.

Gustav Nyquist, Maine (So., F, Malmo, Sweden) Led Maine with two goals and one assist for three points in a pair of games against Boston College.

Grant Rollheiser (So., G, Chilliwack, B.C.) Made a career-high 27 saves in the Terriers’ 3-3 tie against UNH on Saturday

Paul Thompson, UNH, (Jr., F, Derry, N.H.) Had three assists and two goals for five points in the weekend against BU.

Garrett Vermeersch, NU (Fr., F, Macomb, Mich.) Recorded one goal and two assists to help the Huskies earn three points in a home-and-home vs. PC.

Chris Barton, MC (Calgary , ALB.) Extended his point streak to seven games with an assist

Justin Braun, UMASS (Vadnais Heights, Min.) Has a four-game scoring streak in place (1g,4a). He ranks 5th nationally in defenseman scoring (1.10 ppg) and averages over 30 minutes of ice time each night

Bobby Butler, UNH (MARLBORO, MASS.) Has 10 points (6g,4a) in a six-game scoring streak

Stephane Da Costa , MC (Paris, France) Notched an assist to extend his streak to six games

Joey Diamond, MAINE (Long Beach, N.Y.) Scored his first two career goals on Friday night against Boston College

John Henrion, UNH (HOLDEN, MASS.) scored the game-winning goal on Friday for his first career tally

Ben Holmstrom, UML (COLORADO SRPINGS, COLO.) Collected his 50th career assist in UML’s 6-3 over Merrimack

Wade MacLeod, NU (COQUITLAM, B.C.) Turned in his 40th-career assist and is on the cusp of his 70th-career point with 69 overall

Michael Marcou, UMASS (So., D, Kings Park, N.Y.) Has been hot of late with two goals and two assist in the last four games, including a goal and an assist at No. 9 Yale

Gustav Nyquist, MAINE (Malmo, Sweden) Scored his 20th career goal on Saturday night against Boston College

Tim Schaler, PC (Merrimack, N.H.) Scored his first career goal in against Northeastern on Friday

Kevin Shattenkirk , BU (New Rochele, N.Y.) Has tallied at least one point in eight of the last nine games, tallying 10 points (2g, 8a) during the stretch.

UNH’s top line of Bobby Butler, Phil DeSimone (EAST AMHERST, N.Y.) and Paul Thompson (DERRY, N.H.) Had 12 points (5g, 7a) in two games this weekend

Casey Wellman, UMASS (So., F, Brentwod, Calif.) Posted his fifth multi-point game of the season with a goal and an assist at No. 9 Yale

Patrick Wey, BC (Pittsburgh, Pa.) Tallied his first career point, an assist on Cam Atkinson’s goal at 2:40 of the third period in Friday’s 4-3 win at Maine

Hockey East, at least in my time here, has never produced pre-season all-star teams. I, for one, have never agreed with the practice. True, like much of what we do, the release of such information would get the extra publicity that these initiatives are meant to provide. But I have always thought it gave the honorees a leg up on the rest of the competition before they have done anything to deserve it. Would it make a big difference on the eventual all-stars as voted on by coaches, locally and nationally? Possibly. Not so much with the top, say, 4-5 forwards or 2-3 defensemen. But the last forward and last defensemen are often less obvious and the the idea that such honors were expected of some people might just make the difference. Look at a season like this: some of the best performances through the one-third mark of the schedule have come from players who weren’t exactly household names at the start. And that’s a good thing.

By the way....three more league series this past weekend and still no sweeps. Boston College (at Maine), Northeastern (home and home with Providence), and New Hampshire (home and home with BU) came close, each garnering three points in their respective series. Only two such series remain before the new year: on the December 4-5 weekend, Providence visits Maine for two and Northeastern and Merrimack have a home and home series.

Nov 24, 1979: Maine picked up its first Division I victory, a 6-3 win over Northeastern.

Nov. 24, 2001: UMass Lowell’s Anders Strome scores three goals and Cam McCormick and Jimi St. John combine for just seven saves to blank Army, 4-0, at the Tsongas Arena. The River Hawks outshoot Army 55-7. The seven shots are the fewest ever allowed by a Lowell team.

Nov. 25, 1995: Senior Jeff Daw scores three goals, including the 50th of his career, and sets up three others for a six-point game as UMass Lowell outduels New Hampshire, 9-6, in the consolation of the Governors Cup Tournament in Orono, Maine.

Nov. 28, 2001: Senior goaltender Cam McCormick registers his fourth shutout of the season and ties Brian Doyles’s school record with the sixth of his career, making 18 saves as UMass Lowell blanks Union, 3-0, in Schenectady, N.Y. The win is the 100th in the career of head coach Blaise MacDonald.

Nov. 28, 1990: Coach Umile earns his first Hockey East victory with a 7-3 win over Lowell at Snively Arena.

Boston College: BC killed 14-of-15 Maine power plays in the two-game series and is 51-of-58 (87.9 percent) through 10 games this season, a mark good for 11th among national leaders...With one win and one tie, BC improves went unbeaten in a two-game series for the second time in as many visits. The Eagles also went 1-0-1 in the 2007-08 season on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26.

Boston University: Sophomore goaltender Grant Rollheiser is undefeated in his last five decisions (3-0-2)…BU was undefeated in its last 10 games (9-0-1) it had been outshot in until UNH posted its 4-2 win on Friday with a 27-23 shot advantage. The Wildcats were also the last team to outshoot and defeat the Terriers, having performed the feat on Jan. 26, 2008…The Terriers have scored exactly nine goals in each period this season…BU is undefeated in its last 35 games (34-0-1) in which it has led after two periods, dating back to a 4-3 overtime loss to Boston College in the 2008 Beanpot semifinals…The Terriers are undefeated in the last 37 games (33-0-4) in which junior Nick Bonino (Unionville, Conn.) has scored at least one point…BU will take a break from Hockey East play with games against ECAC rivals Harvard and Cornell this week. The Terriers are 11-1-0 in their last 12 regular-season non-conference games.

Maine: Maine saw its 10-game streak of scoring at least one power play goal snapped on Friday night against Boston College, but the Black Bears were able to get a goal with the man-advantage on Saturday night…Maine’s 3-3 tie with Boston College was the first tie since the Black Bears skated to a 2-2 tie with top-ranked Boston University on Feb. 14, 2009…Goalie Scott Darling (Lemont, Ill.) registered his first career assist on Friday night against Boston College…Gustav Nyquist became the first current Black Bear to notch his 20th career goal...Nyquist, Spencer Abbott (Hamilton, Ontario) and Brian Flynn (Lynnfield, Mass.) each played in their 50th career games on Saturday night, having missed just one in their careers…Junior Jeff Dimmen (Colorado Springs, Colo.) played in his 80th career game on Saturday night… Maine’s sophomore class leads the team in scoring with 44.5 percent of the points…The Black Bears have outshot their opponents 116-91 in the third period.

Massachusetts: UMass’ next four games (including Tuesday night’s game) will be against ranked teams - three of which will be on the road…Eight of UMass’ next 11 games will be on the road. UMass is 3-0 on the road this year…UMass’ 8-2-0 record is its 2nd best all-time in the opening 10 games of the year: 1971-72 (9-1- 0), 2003-04 (8-2-0)…UMass has been nearly perfect of late on the penalty kill going 17-for-18 since the third period at Providence on Oct. 30…A quick start is key for UMass: the Minutemen are 3-2 when trailing after the 1st period and 4-0 when scoring the first goal of the game…The OT win at Yale was UMass’ first true road OT win since defeating New Hampshire 4-3 on Jan. 21, 2006 (UMass defeated Colorado College in OT in a neutral site game in 2007).

UMass-Lowell: The fourth-ranked UMass Lowell River Hawks (8- 2-1, 4-1-1) are currently riding their longest unbeaten streak (5-0-1) since 2004-05, when they set the program record of 14 games (11-0-3) from Nov. 23, 2004-Jan. 28, 2005. In its lone contest of the weekend, UMass Lowell downed valley rival Merrimack 6-3 in front of 4,735 fans in the Tsongas Arena. Senior forward Chris Auger (Belleville, Ont.) tallied five points (1g, 4a) in the win, the first River Hawk to score five points in a game since Scott Campbell (Navan, Ont.) against RIT last season. Campbell also made noise in Saturday’s game, scoring two power play goals and picking up an assist to retake the River Hawk season lead with 13 points (5g, 8a). Goaltender Nevin Hamilton (Ashland, Mass.) made 30 saves to remain unbeaten on the season at 4-0-1. After going 0-for-12 on the power play last weekend in Huntsville, Ala., UMass Lowell responded with a three-for-seven outing against the Warriors. The River Hawks have a short turnaround this week as they travel to Providence on Tuesday for a 7 p.m. contest with the Friars before returning home for a showdown with the Black Bears on Friday.

Merrimack: Through 11 games, Merrimack is 6-0 at home and 0-5 on the road following a 6-3 loss to #4 UMass Lowell on Saturday…In the loss, the Warriors scored first for the first time in a Hockey East game this season…Junior captain Chris Barton (Calgary, Alb.) extended his point streak to seven games with an assist. Barton, who is tied for sixth in scoring in Hockey East, has points in 10 of 11 games this season…Stephane Da Costa (Paris, France) who notched an assist in Saturday’s loss, extended his point streak to six games and has points in seven of nine games this year. Da Costa is first in the country in points per game among rookies and second overall with 15 points…Merrimack’s power play, ranked first in Hockey East, scored on its only opportunity over 43 seconds in the game…Merrimack has potted at least three goals in nine straight games and is tied for the conference lead with 43 goals (3.91 per game)…The Warriors will try to improve its seven-game winning streak at home dating back to last season on Saturday when they host the University of New Hampshire at 4 p.m.

New Hampshire: UNH is in a first place tie with Boston College, marking the first time since the end of the 2007-08 season the Wildcats sat atop the standings…Bobby Butler extended his six-game scoring streak with four points on the weekend including a career-high three assists on Saturday. Butler is the league’s leading scoring and the first player in Hockey East to get to double-figure goals…New Hampshire has scored three or more goals in six-straight games…UNH’s top line of Butler, Thompson and DeSimone accounted for 12 points (5g, 7a) in the weekend against BU…The Wildcats improve to 4-1-3 lifetime at BU’s Agganis Arena…Freshman John Henrion tallied the game-winning on Friday, it was his first career goal…New Hampshire is 3-0-1 in its last four games at Whittemore Center…UNH has scored a goal in 15 of the last 17 regulation periods…Blake Kessel notched his 10th assist over the weekend. He is one of three players in Hockey East with double-figure assists and is one of just four defensemen nationally with double-figure helpers.

Northeastern: Northeastern joined Boston College by notching three points in conference action this weekend with a win and a tie as the Huskies remain unbeaten it their last three games. Northeastern scored 20 overall points in the Providence series to bolster the Huskies to a three-way tie for fifth place in Hockey East...Senior forward Kyle Kraemer leads a pack of four NU skaters with a career-best five-game pointstreak. Kraemer continued his dominating play with two goals and an assist against Providence this weekend. Freshman Garrett Vermeersch joined the senior with a three-point weekend as well to overtake the team lead with nine points (3-6-9). Vermeersch is currently third amongst all rookies for points in Hockey East and tied 12th in the country. Sophomore Alex Tuckerman composed a three-game streak with two goals and an assist while freshman Jake Newton registered a pair of assist for a two-game point stretch...Senior Greg Costa (Crownsville, Md.) completed NU’s contingent of players who have played in all 11 games to score a point. Costa notched his 15th-career goal by drawing first blood at Providence on Saturday night...Freshman Drew Daniels (Suffern, N.Y.) achieved his first-career point with the assist on Costa’s tally, but did so in unique fasion. Drew’ twin brother, Justin, was awarded the second assist on the play and marked the first time the brotherly tandem scored a point on the same play for Northeastern...Northeastern converted at least one powerplay goal in its 10 of its 11 games this season. The Huskies have sent in six powerplay goals in their last three games.

Providence College: The Friars defeated Brown, 4-3, on Tuesday to capture its third consecutive Mayor’s Cup trophy and the fourth in Head Coach Tim Army’s five years…The Friars are now 14-8-2 all-time in the Mayor’s Cup…Junior Matt Germain recorded a career-high two goals in the victory over Brown…Providence has posted a 5-1 record in non-conference games this season... The Friars, who played three games last week, are in the midst of playing five games in 11 days as they will host UMass Lowell on Tuesday and play at Dartmouth on Friday...The Friars ended a four-game losing streak against Northeastern with a 3-3 overtime tie on Saturday…Sophomore Daniel New scored a career-high two goals and added one assist in the tie…Sophomore Matt Bergland (Faribault, Minn.), who had 10 goals in 34 games last season, already has seven goals through 11 games this season…The Friars are averaging 34.3 shots per game … PC is one win shy of equaling last season’s win total…Four of the Friars’ six wins this season have been by one goal, while they posted three one-goal wins last season.

Vermont: Vermont meets UMass for the 13th consecutive year on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving this week…The Catamounts hold a 7-4-1 edge in the annual tradition…Vermont is unbeaten in seven straight games against UMass and the Catamounts went 2-0-1 against the Minutemen last season…The last five meetings in the series have been decided by one goal or have gone to overtime…Vermont travels to Northeastern on Friday at 7pm…The Catamounts went 1-2 against the Huskies last season.