The Most Important Weekend of The Year

From The Vault
Wade Megan sets up a play
along the boards in a game
at Lowell last season.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Say what you want about the Beanpot. Yes, it's a great tournament and it's great to win the thing, but it is way overplayed. Yes, it would have bean nice to beat BC in the championship game, but this weekend's games against Lowell have far greater value on the season than the Beanpot.

Currently, Lowell stands atop the Hockey East standings with 28 points, just one point ahead of the Terriers. Lowell is also 5th in the PairWise. Not to put down the Beanpot, but besides bragging rights and a shiny trophy the Beanpot does nothing for a team in a league title race. A pair of wins this weekend would go a long way to helping that cause.

As said before, Lowell is in first place in Hockey East and are firmly intrenched in the PWR but they also own the best record (win % based) in the Nation at 19-8-0. After being swept by Boston College in the last weekend of October, the RiverHawks rolled off an impressive streak where they went 10-2-0, before losing a stunner at Vermont. That streak got started with a 7-1 beat-down of BU -the worst hockey game I have ever been to- and also included a tournament victory -The UConn Hockey Classic- with wins over Rensselaer and UConn. The RiverHawks had a five game streak snapped last weekend, as Maine beat them at Tsongas Center 2-1.

Scouting the RiverHawks
Scott Wilson and Rilely Wetmore are tied for the team lead in points at 28 apiece. Wilson has 13 goals and 15 assists in 26 games played. Wetmore has racked up 9 goals ad 19 assists in 27 games. Lowell's leading scorer is Derek Arnold who has 15 goals in 27 games.

In Goal
Doug Carr has taken over the goalie position this year and in 23 games played he has a record of 18-5-0 with a goals against average of 1.81. He also boasts a .935 save percentage and four shutouts.