Hockey East: October thoughts

Jim Madigan has been behind the Northeastern bench since 2011. (Dave Arnold/NEHJ)

The first calendar month on the college hockey season has come and gone with a few intriguing developments, especially in Hockey East.

With most of the action taking place out-of-conference, it’s important to note that Hockey East is 22-17-5 against the rest of college hockey. League teams have a couple of marquee wins, including UMass Lowell’s victory at Minnesota Duluth and Boston College defending home ice against Wisconsin.

On the darker side, Hockey East is just 2-4-2 against Atlantic Hockey foes, which is concerning to say the least. In a short college hockey season, it’s never too early to be concerned about getting behind the eight ball in terms of Pairwise implications.

As was noted in the season preview, numerous Hockey East teams were negatively impacted by early departures. It’s been interesting to watch how teams and coaching staffs have adapted to change. Northeastern and Providence have made adjustments that are paying off while UMass Lowell is having success with a lot of underclassmen.