Starting Thursday night February 23rd the final weekend of Hockey East & ECAC regular season play is shaping up to be one for the ages. Bragging rights and tournament seedings are on the line.

HOCKEY EAST

It kicks off with #18 Boston College hosting #8 UMass-Lowell. BC is atop Hockey East with 29 points, ahead of Boston University by 2 points, Notre Dame 3 points & UMass-Lowell by 4 points. BC has been struggling a bit as of late, going 0-3-2 over their last 5, while UML has been scorching hot going 5-0 over their past 5. This is a home & home series, BC is 8-3-2 @ Conte Forum & 9-4-1 away from it. UML is 8-4-2 @ Tsongas Arena &  11-5-1 on the road. Meanwhile #6 BU will be hosting #16 Notre Dame. 1 point separates the 2 of them. BU has been average the last few weeks, going 2-2-1 over their last 5. ND on the other hand has been picking up steam coming in 4-0-1 over their last 5. BU is a solid 10-2-2 @ Agganis Arena & ND is 6-4-1 away from Compton Family Arena. Too many scenarios to get into here but the excitement level for these 2 series is thru the roof, from status quo to a complete shake up. Plus #9 Providence College is in 5th @ 23 points, 4-0-1 last 5, has a home & home with the atrocious UMass-Amherst, & poised to crash the top 4 and secure a 1st round bye. Not to mention all 5 teams are vying to make the NCAA tourney too. Every win helps and every loss hurts. As of right now, BU, UML, & PC are in while BC & ND are bubble teams. #17 UVM is just outside the Hockey East & NCAA bubble, they host Merrimack, have 22 points & are 1-2-2 in their last 5.

ECAC

#7 Union is in 1st place in the ECAC @ 31 pts followed by #3 Harvard @ 30 pts, #10 Cornell @ 28 pts & #22 St. Lawrence is in 4th @ 26 pts. Friday night’s games are pretty good. Union is @ Colgate, Harvard hosts #25 Clarkson, Cornell is home vs RPI, & SLU is @ Dartmouth. Saturday night is when the fireworks fly. SLU travels to Harvard while Union visits Cornell. The Big Red are 6-3-2 @ Lynah Rink, the Dutchmen are 11-5-1 on the road. The Crimson are 9-0-2 @ the Bright-Landry Center, while the Saints are 5-7-3 on the road. Union is 4-1 , Harvard is 5-0, Cornell is 3-0-2, & SLU is 1-3-1 in last 5. Of all 4 SLU has been fading while the other 3 have been rolling along, none more so than the Crimson.  Hopefully this one comes down to the wire with all 4 teams winning Friday night to set up a spectacular Saturday night.