Hockey Beast!

Melissa Wade

Vinny Saponari and John McCarthy celebrate Kevin Shattenkirk's goal that they both assisted on. The goal put BU up 2-0 in the second period and stood as the game-winner.

Maybe having a national champion in your conference rubs off on you. That argument could certainly have been made about the WCHA in recent years. The conference dominated the NCAA tournament for five consecutive years, and year in and year out was the strongest top-to-bottom. It may be early in the season, but Hockey East, at least this weekend, staked out its claim. Saturday night, Hockey East teams went 6-1 in intra-conference play, including 3-0 against the supposedly superior WCHA. The biggest surprise happened in the Icebreaker, where unranked Massachusetts topped perennial WCHA powerhouse No. 5 North Dakota 3-2. In the Icebreaker final, No. 9 Boston University continued to show signs that they are back in the mix, topping 2007 NCAA champion No. 11 Michigan State 2-1. Meanwhile, up the road, No. 7 New Hampshire pounded No. 14 Wisconsin 5-1. Out in Denver, No. 6 Denver broke a tight game wide open in the third period, knocking off No. 4 Notre Dame 5-2 in the U.S. Hockey Hall of Fame Game. Meanwhile, No. 2 Michigan again struggled against a tough St. Lawrence squad, seeing their three-goal lead evaporate before striking back for a 5-3 win, while No. 8 Miami, who lost a shootout to in-state rival Ohio State Friday, returned to crush the Buckeyes 7-3. In the AHA, Air Force looked strong again, starting their season with a sweep of conference rival Sacred Heart.