Weekly Hockey Primer: We're (Still) #1

I don’t get to watch nearly as much college hockey as I would like down here in New York. Luckily, Joe Grav over at the BC blog BC Eagle Log was on the scene and provided a great write-up of the Eagles 5-4 win over Wisconsin last Friday.

In the victory, freshman Cam Atkinson notched the game-winning goal and was rewarded for his performance by earning Hockey East Rookie Of The Week Honors.

The victory over the Badgers was good enough to keep the Eagles atop the USCHO.com/CBS College Sports XXL Poll.

Also, the Eagles were just 1 of 7 Hockey East teams to notch victories in the first weekend of the season. The victory over Wisconsin was one feather in Hockey East’s cap in a 5-0 Hockey East performance over WCHA teams. Could the power in collegiate hockey be shifting back East? Hockey East went 8-2-1 over the weekend.


Next Up

Bowling Green comes to Chestnut Hill for a date with the No. 1 Eagles on Friday night. Here is a good preview of Bowling Green from USCHO.com. The Bowling Green Falcons are not expected to compete for the CCHA crown this year.

After Friday night, the Eagles take the Green Line down to Northeastern for a Saturday night game at Matthews Arena. Probably not the best time for a hockey game as all eyes will be on the football team as they take on Virginia Tech Saturday night. Northeastern season preview here. The Huskies were picked to finish 4th in Hockey East and return nearly their entire squad from last season. This game opens the Hockey East schedule for the Eagles and also marks the 200th game between the Huskies and the Eagles. BC has a one-sided 145-41-13 advantage in the all-time series. More interesting factoids about this weekend’s games can be found at bceagles.com.


Keeping Tabs on the Pros

After being scratched for the first two games of the seasons, the Boston Bruins traded defensemen Andrew Alberts to the Philadelphia Flyers. In exchange, the Flyers received minor league forward Ned Lukacevic and a conditional fourth round draft pick.

Also, we missed this news earlier … but the Vancouver Canucks traded Ryan Shannon to the Ottawa Senators for offensive defenseman Lawrence Nycholat. (Thanks to Christian for the link). Shannon saw playing time for both the Canucks and their AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose last season. Currently, Shannon is on the Ottawa affiliate Binghamton Senators.

Peter Harrold is seeing some playing time with the Ducks of Anaheim, replacing injured defenseman Jack Johnson.