Most Hockey East teams need no introduction. Greg Carvel has coached against them for six years. He knows them, and they know UMass.
This weekend’s opponent Boston University provides some intrigue under new coach Jay Pandolfo. The former Terrier went to four Frozen Fours as a player and finished as a Hobey Baker runner-up. He won two Stanley Cups as a player with the New Jersey Devils during an 18-year professional career.
No. 14 BU has gone 4-3 in the first seven games of the Pandolfo era, splitting series with No. 3 Michigan, No. 7 UConn and No. 16 UMass Lowell.
“It’s kind of exciting to see how they’re going to change, how they’re going to do things differently,” Carvel said. “The thing that won’t change is that they’ve got high-end talent that you can’t give high-end scoring chances to. That never changes.”
Twelve Terriers are NHL draft picks – compared to 10 Minutemen – led by the No.19 pick in the 2018 draft Jay O’Brien. BU also boasts four second-round picks and three third-round picks.
Senior Matt Brown, UMass Lowell transfer, leads the Terriers with 10 points and four goals.
“It’ll take a number of games before we try to figure out Pandolfo and vice versa,” Carvel said. “Merrimack and Providence, you knew those were going to be grind games, and you’ve got to figure out what it’s going to be now against BU.”
No. 11 UMass lost its past three games against the Warriors and Friars and has gone to overtime in three of its past four games. The Minutemen have seen the possibility and problems with relying on half a dozen freshmen at a time.
“It’s unfortunate, almost unavoidable. Most kids are going to make young mistakes. The upside is they’re giving a lot of offense, and that’s forcing my hand to play them more, which puts them more at risk to make mistakes, but I’m fine with that,” Carvel said. “They’re going to be good hockey players. They are good hockey players. But you’ve got to, at this point in the season, I understand that I gotta live with the good and bad of being a freshman.”
THE TAKEOVER – UMass hosts the Terriers at 7 p.m. Friday at the Mullins Center (NESN) and visits Agganis Arena in Boston at 7 p.m. Saturday.
The Minutemen have drawn massive crowds in Boston of late, regularly overrunning road arenas.
“That’s what I had hoped. Just knowing the massive volume of alumni and in the state, more specifically inside 495. That was the sleeping giant, and the school needed a team that could win and win in those environments where they weren’t used to winning,” Carvel said. “I hope and expect the same thing this weekend at BU, I hope we play well enough that they’re proud of the team.”
CLOSED FOR POLLS – The NCAA mandates that no required activities can take place on Election Day, so the team was given the day off from mandatory practice. To compensate that, UMass held a full practice Monday, which is normally a lighter day for the Minutemen.
STUFF THE BALLOT BOX – Hockey East teams occupy seven spots in the national rankings led by the Huskies at 7. Providence follows at No. 9. UMass is 11th, and BU, No. 15 Northeastern, the River Hawks and No. 19 Merrimack load up the back end of the poll.
“That’s a good sign. The league needed to get back and have more teams in the top 20,” Carvel said. “Our wins over Denver were big. UConn beat and Ohio State. The conference did a good job winning nonconference games early, and that always is a huge factor.”
Kyle Grabowski can be reached at kgrabowski@gazettenet.com. Follow him on Twitter @kylegrbwsk.