BCI Hockey East Power Poll #5: A New #1

The midseason break came at a good time for BC. Injuries and the norovirus, combined with a drop in quality of play in their own defensive zone, helped contribute to a shaky 1-1-1 finish to the first semester. Of course, you can't complain about the season to date, but the last few weeks have led to a change atop the BCI Hockey East power poll. The only undefeated team in college hockey is the new #1.

#1 Providence - 12-0-3, 4-0-2 HEA - 60 points, 5 first place votes - Last BCI poll: #2

Providence still hasn't lost since the Hockey East quarterfinals. Goaltender Nick Ellis has picked up right where Jon Gillies left off. The key to PC's season will be Ellis continuing on this hot pace.

#2 BC - 13-2-1, 6-1-1 HEA - 55 points - Last BCI poll: #1

This was about as good a first semester as you could have asked for, aside from the #notagrinder drama. Questions about their ability to do it against elite teams are due to be answered in short order.

#3 Lowell - 10-3-4, 6-2-3 HEA - 46 points - Last BCI poll: #3

It hasn't been a great few weeks for the River Hawks. The Belpot was kind of shaky, and then they got swept by the Icebus. They'll have to stew on that for three whole weeks before their holiday tournament in Pittsburgh.

#4 BU - 9-6-3, 4-3-2 HEA - 45 points - Last BCI poll: #4

BU is sort of the opposite of BC right now. Their record is just OK, but they've got some really good results against good teams. They beat KRACH/PWR #1 Quinnipiac on Saturday night, handing QU their first loss of the season. They have a pair of ties against poll #1 Providence. They also tied a really good Cornell team.

#5 Notre Dame - 9-4-4, 6-1-2 HEA - 42 points - Last BCI poll: #5

We saw Notre Dame do their thing on Thursday night at BC. That thing being beat BC, which they have quite a habit of. These guys are pretty high on the list of teams I don't want to see in the postseason.

#6 UNH - 6-6-4, 2-1-4 HEA - 33 points -  Last BCI poll: #7

UNH is playing some solid hockey over the past few weeks, going 3-0-1 in their last four since losses to BC and RPI three weekends ago. Can they go on a little run and give the fans at the Whit something to be excited about while they wait for deer season to ramp back up again?

#7 Merrimack - 6-4-5, 2-3-5 HEA - 30 points - Last BCI poll: #6

This is a very Merrimacky record. They're 0-3-3 in their last six games, which is Merrimackier. They play Canisius at home Sunday; a loss there would be the Merrimackiest.

#8 UMass - 6-8-4, 2-4-4 HEA - 20 points - Last BCI poll: #8

UMass has been pretty terrible - 0-5-3 in their last eight games. But nobody else has been unterrible enough to bump them from the #8 spot.

#9 Vermont - 5-11-2, 3-5-2 HEA - 19 points - Last BCI poll: #9

Vermont has been less bad (2-2 over the past two weeks) but still has a way to go to dig out of their early season hole.

#10 UConn - 5-10-1, 3-7-1 HEA - 16 points - Last BCI poll: #12

Sweeping UML appears to have undone some of the damage caused by losing to Army and going like nine months between wins. Given that the bottom half of the conference is a colossal garbage heap, maybe they can make another run at the 8 spot.

#11 Maine - 4-9-4, 2-5-1 HEA - 13 points - Last BCI poll: #10

A one point weekend against UNH was honestly not too bad of a sign for Maine, seeing how noncompetitive they looked a month ago.

#12 Northeastern - 2-12-3, 0-8-3 HEA - 10 points - Last BCI poll: #11

You could make a case that NU's last four games have been their best stretch of play this season despite going 1-2-1 with the only win over Colgate. That tells you two somethings. 1) ouch. 2) they're probably due for their hearts-aflutter pre-Beanpot run.