Providence College is halfway to a fifth straight 20-win season. Brown University is on track to hit double figures in wins for the first time in four seasons.
With the second half of the college hockey season about to get started and the Mayor's Cup dead ahead, it’s time to take stock of how the Friars and Bears got here and where they could be headed.
We’ll start with 11th-ranked PC, which is 10-7-1 overall going into Friday’s game against Arizona State in the Three Rivers Classic in Pittsburgh. While the Friars rank 12th in the PairWise and are tied for third in Hockey East, it feels like they left a win or two on the table through the first 18 games (even if there are approximately four dozen Division I programs that would gladly trade places).
Asked if he had a New Year’s resolution for his team, PC coach Nate Leaman said, “I just want to get us playing Friar hockey.’’
As good as the Friars have been on some nights, they’ve often been underwhelming the next.
“I don’t think we’ve done a good enough job of holding the guys accountable to what our standards are and our identity. That’s what we focused on before we left for break. What we want to focus on now is getting us playing our type of hockey,’’ Leaman said after practice on Tuesday.
“If we do that, I think we’ll score consistently. I think we’ll defend consistently. I don’t think it’s about lack of talent or anything like that. It’s more about our mentality and our standards.’’
PC faces three non-conference opponents – including the Mayor’s Cup matchup with Brown on Wednesday night -- before returning to the Hockey East gauntlet. Eight of its 13 league games will be on the road.
Who the Friars play is secondary, says Leaman. If they are on their game, success will follow.
“It’s about us. It’s about us playing our type of game, because we won’t have any success at the end of the season if we don’t figure out who we are and how to play,’’ he said.
“That to me is the reason that we’re world beaters one night and we don’t look so good the next. We have to do a better job of holding the guys accountable to our style of play and getting them to better understand that.
“When they do that, we’ve had a lot of success. When we get away from it or more importantly when we just don’t stick with it and we become a little bit individual, we struggle.’’
Over on College Hill, Brendan Whittet’s Brown squad is 5-7-1 overall and tied for fifth in the ECAC, already beating last season’s four wins.
A resolution for the New Year?
“The biggest thing for me and for the team would be to continue to practice good habits and consistency in how we play,’’ said Whittet.
In a recent home loss to Bentley and a tie with Vermont on the road, Whittet said, “We were free-flowing a little bit and getting away from some of those little things that had made us a pretty exciting team to watch for most of that first half. It’s just getting back to those consistent fundamentals and habits, playing the game the right way, competing hard.
“I know I say it a lot, but I really like the makeup of the team. I like the senior leadership and the way the guys play and how hard they work. It is a true team. If you look at individual statistics, we’re probably not wowing too many people on the national level, but if you look at some of the Corsi numbers, goals against and team stats, we’re much improved over last year.’’
The Bears are in the hunt for home ice in the opening round of the ECAC playoffs, something they have not accomplished since 2004. Even if, realistically, there are too many games left to place much emphasis on reaching that milestone, it's a good place to be.
“We can’t get ahead of ourselves. I know it sounds so cliché, but we’ve just got to focus on playing the game the right way and good things will happen. We have enough ability and enough chemistry that the wins will come,’’ Whittet said.
Regardless of records or how the teams are playing, the stage is set for what should be a good Mayor's Cup. How competitive is this rivalry? PC leads the all-time series, 48-46-3.
And even when the Friars won the national championship in 2015, Brown took home the Mayor's Cup that season. Wednesday night should be fun.