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There’s now just one weekend left in the Hockey East season and Boston College did what they had to do to put themselves in a position to lock up the #1 seed and the regular season title. BC’s wins over UMass and Maine on the road have them just one point away from clinching the top spot.
Here’s the updated table.
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With 16 wins to NU’s 13, BC now holds the tiebreaker over NU, which is why 1 is the magic number - but BC would need 2 to clinch sole possession of the trophy, for whatever that’s worth.
BC, Providence and Northeastern are now locked in to the top 3 spots no matter what happens; if NU wins out in their series against struggling UNH, they will lock down at least 2nd place.
BU has the inside track to 4th or at least 5th; if they sweep Vermont at home, they’ll end with the 4 spot and host a quarterfinal. All they need is one point to avoid the octofinals round.
UConn doesn’t control their own destiny to hang on to the 5th spot - they will need some help from their maroon and gold friends against Maine. The UConn/Maine tiebreaker is up in the air too as they went 1-1 head to head and the wins advantage is not guaranteed for either.
Lowell still has a remote chance at a first round bye but realistically they will be hoping to just stop their tailspin against Merrimack and lock up home ice in the octofinals.
The bottom 4 - UVM, UMass, UNH and Merrimack - will all be jostling for the last home ice spot in the opening round.
All in all, it’s shaping up to be a competitive postseason - and BC is among the many teams relying on the Hockey East playoffs to have a chance to get into the NCAA field. Let’s hope BC can finish the regular season strong and clinch that top spot.