Weekend Preview: Key Battles Highlight Weekend Series
Quinnipiac Could Make First Appearance In First With Sweep
Weekend Preview & Playoffs 2005 (PDF)

For the past three weeks, the race for the top spot in Atlantic Hockey has been tight. While it’s still too close to call a favorite for the regular season champion, one thing is for sure: it will all be over in the next ten days. The permutations for the standings after this weekend alone could give some analysts headaches, as key battles will be waged throughout the league that will have implications on positioning come the end of next weekend.

Last weekend the Pioneers took on the Crusaders in an attempt to regain first place, after falling out of first after the Crusaders gained two points on the idle Pioneers. This weekend, Sacred Heart is on top of the Atlantic Hockey mountain, and playing the role of challenger to the position is Quinnipiac, sitting one point behind the Pioneers in second. The two rivals will battle it out in a home-and-home series slated to begin Friday night at the Northford Ice Pavilion, followed Saturday with the final meeting of the regular season between the two at the Milford Ice Pavilion. It has been just about three months since these two teams met on the ice, a 5-2 decision that went Sacred Heart’s way on November 23 in Milford. A sweep by Sacred Heart will put the Bobcats out of contention for first place, while a sweep by Quinnipiac could give the Bobcats at least a share of first place, depending upon how Holy Cross fares on the weekend.

Crusader fans will probably pay as much attention to the Bobcat-Pioneer series as they will to their own series this weekend when the Lakers make the long trek from Erie to Worcester for a set beginning Friday night. Mercyhurst has a lot of work ahead of it in order to gain a spot in the home ice picture for the Quarterfinals, and only a weekend sweep of the Crusaders will guarantee the Lakers a place in the top four of the Atlantic Hockey standings after the weekend is over. Holy Cross on the other hand need all the points it can find, and a little help, in order to keep plans of repeating as regular season champion alive. The memories of a January 14 loss to the Crusaders are still fresh in the minds of the Lakers, after squandering three separate leads and falling 5-4.

American International and Army may be out of the home ice picture, but the Yellow Jackets and Black Knights have picked up some momentum in recent weeks and are challenging seventh-place Bentley. It will be interesting to see which of the two squads will have the best opportunity to do so, as AIC heads to Army for a pair of games this weekend. A sweep by either team could send the victim to the back of the pack for the remainder of the season. November 12 saw the last meeting between the two teams in West Springfield, a 2-0 shutout win for the Yellow Jackets.

Canisius fell to fourth place after last night’s 3-2 win by Quinnipiac over AIC, however the Golden Griffs are far from falling out of the race for first. A quick glance at the standings reveals that the Griffs may have the best shot at picking up four points this weekend when they host Bentley, as the Falcons sit eleven points behind the Griffs in seventh place. The month of February has not been kind to Bentley, with the last Falcon victory coming on January 28 against Mercyhurst. A strong effort for the Falcons could have them nipping at the heels of the Huskies, who sit idle this weekend.