Sizing up the eight contenders for the Hockey East tournament title, all of which enter this weekend's quarterfinal action with a legitimate shot to win the league's automatic NCAA berth.

No. 1 NEW HAMPSHIRE vs. No. 8 VERMONT Whittemore Center - Durham, NH
WILDCATS	* * *	CATAMOUNTS
16-11-7	OVERALL RECORD	15-12-7
15-6-6	LEAGUE RECORD	9-11-7
T10	PAIRWISE RANKING	T16
9-2-5	HOME/ROAD	5-7-4
4-3-3	LAST 10 GAMES	3-3-4
1-1-3	LAST 5 GAMES	2-1-2
6-4	ONE-GOAL GAMES	6-3
2-0-1	HEAD-TO-HEAD	0-2-1
116 (98 HE)	GOALS SCORED	105 (78 HE)
3rd (2nd)	LEAGUE RANK	5th (7th)
108 (77 HE)	GOALS ALLOWED	99 (82 HE)
T7th (2nd)	LEAGUE RANK	T3rd (4th)
16.9 (17.0 HE)	POWER PLAY	17.7 (16.5 HE)
9th (8th)	LEAGUE RANK	8th (10th)
80.7 (78.1 HE)	PENALTY KILL	80.6 (79.1 HE)
5th (8th)	LEAGUE RANK	6th (6th)
Butler: 25-22-47 Thompson: 16-18-34 Kessel: 8-25-33	LEADING SCORERS	Irwin: 15-19-34 Vock: 11-17-28 Roloff: 8-17-25
7	20-POINT SCORERS	5
Brian Foster 15-11-7, 3.06, .906	GOALTENDER	Rob Madore 11-10-7, 2.70, 9.07
0	SHUTOUTS	2

Welcome to Conte Forum, where -- with the Hockey East title all wrapped up -- the University of New Hampshire hockey team looks to solidify its standing in the national picture by taking on Boston College. Coming into the night UNH is 10th in the PairWise Rankings, while BC is tied for sixth.

DURHAM – When he caught his own slip-up, a smile burst on Bobby Butler’s face. “It was a big win,” he said before a quick correction. “A big tie, I mean.”

He was right the second time, his University of New Hampshire hockey team having just fought Boston College to a 3-3 draw. But, given what that meant, it was easy for the captain to be momentarily mistaken.

Welcome to the Whittemore Center, where the University of New Hampshire looks to clinch its seventh Hockey East regular-season title -- and third in the last four years -- by notching at least a point against Boston College in this two-game weekend series. Tonight's being televised live on NESN, but stayed tuned here for instant analysis throughout the night.

Friday night at the Whittemore Center the University of New Hampshire hockey program will announce its team of the decade for 2000-09, choosing six forwards, four defensemen and two goaltenders to comprise the ultimate collection of 'Cats from the past 10 years. We made our picks in Thursday's print edition, and welcome you to do the same in the comments section below -- but now let's take it one step further: Here are our top 21 Wildcats of the 21st century.

As Hockey East enters its final regular-season weekend there are only three teams who've guaranteed they'll be playing hockey next weekend as well -- and there's five teams that could either be could be done by Sunday or could be waiting to host a league quarterfinal. The pieces will all come together this weekend, and here's a capsule look to help you figure out what might happen:

DURHAM – The University of New Hampshire hockey team didn’t lead for even a single second of the first 120 minutes and 10 seconds of this weekend’s home-and-home series with Northeastern. In fact, the Wildcats trailed for all but 2:40 of that span.

But somehow, some way, the ‘Cats came through. Again.

Welcome to the Whittemore Center, where after coming back from three goals down last night in Boston, the University of New Hampshire hockey team looks for a more complete effort against Northeastern. The Wildcats can't clinch anything tonight, and will leave with a lead of at least one point, but a win tonight would mean Boston College would need to sweep next weekend's series with the Cats in order for UNH not to be crowned Hockey East's champion.

Technical difficulties prevented us from the delivering the multimedia options you've come to expect from our game recaps. They should be back for Saturday's rematch -- but, in their place, let's take a look at how Friday's slate (including UNH's 4-4 tie with Northeastern) impacted the Hockey East playoff race...

Welcome to Matthews Arena in Boston, where the University of New Hampshire takes on Northeastern University in what it hopes will become a big step toward clinching Hockey East's regular-season championship. This is the first of a home-and-home weekend series -- which surely won't be easy for the Wildcats, considering the Huskies enter with seven wins in their last eight skates.