Editor’s note: NESN’s Tom Caron is on the 50-member USCHO ranking committee, and you can find his votes and thoughts on the college hockey week that was every Monday on NESN.com.
The Terriers are back on top. At least in my book.
Last season, Boston University won just 10 games under first-year coach David Quinn. But that team didn’t have freshman phenom Jack Eichel.
This year, BU fans are buzzing about the 18-year old from North Chelmsford, Mass., as its top-line center. Friday night, Eichel and the Terriers made their first trip north to Alfond Arena in Orono — one of the most intimidating barns in all of college hockey — to take on Maine. When Connor Leen scored just 1:13 into the game to give the Brown Bears the early lead, The Alfond (as they call it up North) cranked up to fever pitch.
Eichel silenced the crowd with a goal and an assist, though, as BU won its sixth game of the season. With Minnesota and North Dakota being swept over the weekend, the path to the top was wide open, and Quinn’s team took advantage of the opportunity. The Terriers are 6-1-1 on the season and are back on top of my USCHO.com ballot for the first time since 2010.
With Eichel skating his way through defenses — and to one of the top two spots in this summer’s draft — Quinn’s team has bounced back from last year’s disappointing season. It doesn’t hurt that Matt Grzelcyk, who was lost for the season to an injury last January, is healthy again, and that former defenseman Ahti Oksanen has become one of the team’s top-scoring forwards.
Matt O’Connor, meanwhile, has posted a 1.51 goals against average and a .949 save percentage, both second best in Hockey East.
As one long-time BU observer told me in Orono, “without Eichel and O’Connor, we might be a .500 team. We’re happy to have them.” And BU is happy to have its moment as the top college team in the country. Folks on that end of Comm Ave are hoping the moment lingers.
Here’s my official USCHO.com ballot for the week of Nov. 17:
1. Boston University
2. Michigan Tech
3. Minnesota
4. North Dakota
5. Miami
6. Minnesota-Duluth
7. Massachusetts-Lowell
8. Minnesota State
9. Colgate
10. Boston College
11. Vermont
12. Denver
13. Ferris State
14. Union
15. Bowling Green
16. Nebraska-Omaha
17. Notre Dame
18. Providence
19. Northern Michigan
20. Quinnipiac
And here is the USCHO top 20:
1. Michigan Tech
2. North Dakota
3. Boston University
4. Minnesota
5. Massachusetts-Lowell
6. Colgate
7. Miami
8. Minnesota-Duluth
9. Minnesota State
10. Denver
11. Vermont
12. Boston College
13. Nebraska-Omaha
14. Quinnipiac
15. Union
16. St. Cloud State
17. Northern Michigan
18. Bowling Green
19. Providence
20. Robert Morris
Photo via Twitter/@BostInnoSports
