October is here, which means college hockey is right around the corner. Today, I’ll be briefly going over every team, my predictions and a quick rundown of this week’s schedule.
Boston University
Fresh off a National Championship appearance, the Terriers will be hungry this year to return. Losing Quinn Hutson and Tom Willander hurts, but the addition of Sacha Boisvert and Ryder Ritchie should ease that pain quite a bit. BU opens the year as the favorites to win Hockey East.
Boston College
BC suffered a disappointing second-round exit to Denver last season, and the loss of forwards Gabriel Perreault and Ryan Leonard and goalie Jacob Fowler will leave the Golden Eagles in disarray. A lack of outside recruitment leaves the team mainly in the hands of James Hagens and Teddy Stiga. BC is likely to take a notable step back this year.
Northeastern
Northeastern had a good Cinderella story in the Hockey East tournament last year but fell short of winning it. Things look grim with the loss of forwards Cam Lund and Jack Williams, defenseman Jackson Dorrington and goalie Cam Whitehead, all to the NHL. Without last year’s stars, the Huskies could fall to the bottom of the conference.
Maine
The reigning Hockey East champions will be without Harrison Scott and Taylor Makar this year, but they’ve made up for it elsewhere. The Black Bears put heavy emphasis on QMJHL imports, bringing in quite a few CHL players under draft rights of NHL teams. Maine’s roster makeup looks a lot different this year, but with a strong import class combined with arguably the best goalie in the conference in Albin Boija, talent is the least of their worries. The only question is chemistry since there are so many new faces, but it’s hard to see a world where this much talent fails.
UMass Amherst
UMass may be looking at a down year in the program. Cole O’Hara is heading to the Nashville Predators and Aydar Suniev also left for the NHL. All the weight now falls onto Jack Musa’s shoulders, and unless he can fill that role O’Hara left, UMass is likely in for a long season.
UMass Lowell
Lowell chose to place their faith in CHL imports this offseason, bringing in eight of them, five from the WHL. Owen Cole and Scout Truman are out and the team’s goaltending is all freshman, making that aspect a complete mystery. With such a youth-heavy team, Lowell is really tough to predict, but more than likely it’ll take time before anything clicks.
Merrimack
Merrimack is one of the few teams where it’s hard to find a way they improved in the off-season. Zach Bookman left for Western Michigan, and the team brought in some CHL imports and a few transfers, but overall Merrimack just doesn’t look that promising for this year. The goaltending tandem Max Lundgren and Nils Wallstrom are still around, and with those two, the name of the Warriors’ game may yet again come down to stopping goals as opposed to scoring them.
New Hampshire
Ryan Conmy and Robert Cronin are out. Four QMJHL imports and plenty more freshmen are in. Their roster looks weak for this year, so it’s unlikely that they will do much this season, but if the freshmen play well, UNH could be dangerous in the future.
Providence
Following quick exits in both the Hockey East and NCAA tournaments, Providence only really lost forward Trevor Connelly, and they replaced him with the NHL’s 2025 tenth overall pick, Roger McQueen. Providence looks to run it back, hoping that the year of growth and addition of McQueen can propel them to be a true threat this year.
Vermont
The Catamounts may have lost their top scorer in Joel Maatta, but with Max Strand and Colin Kessler coming in second and third as freshman last year, they may be due for some big jumps this year. Vermont didn’t bring in much, but with quite a few quality freshmen last year, the foundation may be getting set for the future, and they should have a shot to play some spoiler against the conference’s best this year.
UConn
It’s hard to seem unbiased when the Huskies just simply look so good. Losing Hudson Schandor will hurt, but the Huskies’ numerous CHL imports along with quality talent down the middle should fill in nicely. In what is most likely Joey Muldowney and Jake Richard’s final year in Storrs, it should be a great one, and the Huskies enter the year as a top-ten team nationwide.
My Preseason Predictions
I predict the Hockey East top three to be Boston University, UConn and Maine this year, with UConn ultimately taking the Hockey East Title. I expect those three, along with Providence, to make the NCAA tournament this season.
This week’s matchups (excluding exhibitions)
Friday: Quinnipiac @ Boston College, Merrimack @ UMass Lowell, UConn @ Colorado College
Saturday: LIU @ Boston University, Northern Michigan @ UMass Amherst, Holy Cross @ Northeastern, UConn @ Colorado College
Sunday: Northern Michigan @ UMass Amherst, RPI @ Boston University