Stretch begins in earnest

Exams are over, the holidays are in the past, and the second half of the Hockey East schedule is upon us. Can Northeastern keep up its winning ways? Will Boston University overtake the Huskies and everyone else in its path? Will Boston College get on a roll similar to last season? Will Maine ride freshman goaltender Scott Darling to success down the stretch? Right now there are more questions than answers, but here is a look at what to expect as play resumes this weekend:

BC (9-5-2, 5-4-2) - The Eagles head to Vermont for a pair of games this weekend and will likely face all they can handle. BC's holiday play consisted of two exhibition games in New Brunswick, where the team earned a split. Coach Jerry York said despite the fact those games don't count in the standings, he learned something about his squad. "We had a chance to play some players who hadn't played," he said. "We have a little more depth than we fully understood. That's a good sign."

BU (13-4-1, 6-4-1) - The Terriers began 2009 by winning the Denver Cup, beating Rensselaer and Denver without Colin Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk (who were participating in the World Junior Championship). They are winners of four straight and unbeaten in seven (6-0-1). Next up is Maine at Agganis Arena Saturday night. "Everybody can improve no matter what you're doing or how it looks on paper," said coach Jack Parker. "We have one of the best power-play rates in the league [No. 1 at 23.7 percent] but it's been deceiving in the fact that we've been inconsistent on it. We've been terrific lately killing penalties, but it was the opposite situation in the first half of the semester. We did a real good job [last weekend]."

Maine (10-7-2, 5-5-1) - The Black Bears lost at home to New Hampshire last Sunday. After three wins in a row, Maine recorded a loss and tie in a pair of nonconference games before falling to the Wildcats, 5-4. One of the top performers has been Darling (8-5-2, 1.84 goals-against average, .928 save percentage). "He was thrown into the fire when Ben Bishop signed [with the St. Louis Blues] and he has really responded," said coach Tim Whitehead. "For a freshman, he has been remarkably consistent. He will keep getting better with experience."

UMass-Amherst (9-8-1, 4-4-1) - The Minutemen's longest winning streak is just two, which they've done three times. "The first half has been all about the unpredictable, and I think that has been the nature of our team," said coach Don Cahoon. "We have had some games where we have played at a very high level and executed well, but quite frankly it has been a while."

UMass-Lowell (8-10-0, 5-6-0) - The River Hawks have lost five games in a row. If there's a positive, and coach Blaise MacDonald believes there is, they were one-goal losses with the exception of a 2-0 defeat to UNH (which included an empty-netter). Next up is Providence Saturday at Schneider Arena. "I like the way we've been playing, I like our style of play," said MacDonald. "I like our commitment on both sides of the puck. We need to get back to the basics and the fundamentals that gave us a chance to have success in the first half."

Merrimack (5-9-3, 2-7-2) - The competitive spirit is there, but the wins haven't been. Coach Mark Dennehy's Warriors will be tested with a home-and-home series this weekend against Northeastern. "The areas where we're struggling are on special teams," said Dennehy, whose squad is last in the league on the power play (9.2 percent success rate) and seventh in penalty killing (81 percent). "We've given up 19 power-play goals and scored just seven. Our special teams' numbers need to be closer to even."

UNH (9-6-3, 6-4-2) - The Wildcats have won four in a row and five out of six. They take on UMass-Amherst at the Mullins Center tomorrow night and host the Minutemen Saturday. Coach Dick Umile said he's hoping last Sunday's victory over Maine will kick off a strong push. "It helped with our confidence," he said. "I think we lost it in November, started to get it back in December, and it was a real character win for us on Sunday." It will help that goalie Brian Foster is healthy. Foster had 29 saves against Maine. "He felt a lot better than he did in the first half," said Umile.

Northeastern (12-4-2, 8-2-1) - The Huskies were beaten by Minnesota, 3-2, in overtime in the final of the Dodge Holiday Classic last Saturday for their first loss in four games. Greg Cronin, who has likened his coaching to playing musical chairs because of injuries, said his squad's early success was keyed by goalie Brad Thiessen, and the Huskies boast the league's best penalty killing (90.7 percent). "[Thiessen] has been terrific and when your goalie's good, your penalty kill is good," said Cronin.

Providence (3-12-1, 0-8-1) - Coach Tim Army is hopeful his squad can turn it around. "We've got 18 games left in the league," he said. "We certainly had expected a better first half but it didn't play out that way. We've dug ourselves a bit of a hole but we'll look forward to getting back underway." The Friars host UMass-Lowell Saturday.

Vermont (11-4-2, 6-3-1) - The Catamounts are 9-2-1 in their last 12 and have lost back-to-back games only once - Oct. 24 and Nov. 1. Their power play is second best in the league (22.5 percent) but their penalty killing is second worst (78.9 percent). "Our year has been a moderate success to date," said coach Kevin Sneddon. "We love our team. I feel we haven't hit our stride yet. We've got a lot to work on. We will be very challenged this weekend [against BC]."