Hockey East 2015 Tournament Preview

Tonight at 5pm the Hockey East 2015 playoff tournament will open as four teams vie for the conference title. The tournament will take place at the TD Garden, the home of the NHL’s Boston Bruins, and typically is one of the most competitive college tournaments of the season.

Boston University doesn’t have much to worry about, as they will probably be in the national bracket one way or another. However, the other three teams are not ensured to make the playoffs, so this tournament will be very important for them.

At 5pm tonight the first game will be between the UMass Lowell Riverhawks and the Vermont Catamounts. Lowell swept Vermont just last weekend to close out the regular season.

Vermont is a scary team right now because they upset a historically good Boston College Eagles team in three games to advance. They’ve been hot, and in hockey, that usually is what brings a team to playoff success. Goaltender Brody Hoffman held the Eagles to just one goal in the final 155 minutes of the series last week.

Meanwhile, UMass Lowell defeated Notre Dame in order to advance to this game. They played very well, dominating in their two wins. CJ Smith, a freshman forward, has been scorching and leads the team with 16 goals. His matchup against the goalie Hoffman will be interesting to watch.

The second game as Boston University and their star Jack Eichel against the University of New Hampshire. New Hamsphire won eight games in a row before they recently lost to Providence, but it was that run that got them here and makes them a scary team for the Terriers.

Grayson Downing has a point in his last eight games and will be the player to key on for the Boston University defense. BU is the fourth ranked team in the country and are the obvious favorites to win this game and the tournament, but with the way New Hampshire has played of late, it might not be the gimme they think.

The winners of these two games will face off for the conference title, and if both favorites win the game, we will see a championship match of one of the best teams in the country with Boston University and the two-time Hockey East defending champion UMass Lowell Riverhawks.