It's crowded at the top in Hockey East

There's no denying the logjam in Hockey East this season. Perennial contender Boston University is down in the standings and Boston College has gone from a slow start to a point out of first. Northeastern, which showed promise last season, is atop the conference. New Hampshire, which is always flirting with the top spot, is tied with the Huskies with 13 league points.

BC, UMass-Amherst, and UMass-Lowell are each a point behind. Only 6 points separate the top teams from the bottom. What can we expect from the remainder of the schedule? BC coach Jerry York believes it should be a close race to the end.

"We lost a lot of good players to graduation and pro signings," York said of the conference. "I still think as the year goes we're going to have some legitimate teams that can win a national title. The records don't seem to indicate that, but I think there's something there that as the year progresses, it could be different teams. Northeastern and UMass are having fabulous years. There's enough in our league that when we get toward March and April, we're going to have some really good teams, and hopefully BC will be one of them. It could be a really interesting second half."

The Eagles were 3-1-2 in October before struggling in November, going 0-3-3 in the first six games of the month. BC headed into the holiday break with three straight wins.

"We've really shown some good improvement," said York. "Even when we went through an [almost] 0 for November, we were very competitive. We were real close. We had a lot of one-goal games and tie games. I didn't think we needed a major overhaul as a team but just a consistency of special teams, maybe in the different systems we used like forechecking and defensive-zone systems, but we were right there.

"The real mainstay in all of this has been [freshman goalie] Johnny Muse. He's been giving us a chance every night to really be competitive and win games. During these last three games, the BU games and Harvard, I thought we showed not a marked improvement, but just a little bit more consistent in the areas I talked about. I think more patience with the puck, we're starting to make better plays, and Nathan Gerbe got red-hot during that stretch and that certainly helps. He's really gone to a whole new level the last three or four weeks. It kind of shows you what he's capable of during the second half. He's really kicked it into gear."

Gerbe has eight goals and four assists in his last three games. He's tied for 10th in the nation in scoring with 21 points.

Next up for BC is the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis this weekend. The Eagles take on Air Force in the first game Saturday at Mariucci Arena. RIT faces host Minnesota in the second game. Air Force, the top team in Atlantic Hockey, is led by senior forward Eric Ehn (21 points).

"I've never coached against an Air Force team," said York, who is in his 36th season. "We've certainly seen in the last few NCAA Tournaments that these teams that are successful in their leagues, they really can compete against us, especially the single-game shots."

Minnesota took a hit earlier this week when sophomore right wing Kyle Okposo signed with the New York Islanders.

"They're going to miss some guys [too, because of the] World Junior Championships, but I'm certain as the year goes on they're going to be a factor in the national race," said York. "North Dakota and Minnesota are staples in the NCAA Tournament."

Tourney time

In other tournaments involving local teams, Maine will take on Clarkson and UMass-Lowell will face Cornell tomorrow in the first round of the Florida College Classic in Estero; Northeastern will face Bowling Green tomorrow in the opening round of the Badger Showdown in Madison, Wis.; at the Great Lakes Invitational in Detroit, Providence goes up against Michigan in tomorrow's first round; and UMass will travel to Tampa to square off against Notre Dame in the Lightning Classic on Saturday. BU and Merrimack resume play Sunday at Agganis Arena.

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.