Hockey East Highlights: What to Watch in January

Well, hello, everyone. Can you believe it’s already 2026? I sure can’t, especially considering how quickly December went by. But since the new year and a new month are here in full, and since we’ve had a few weeks off in the NCAA world, it feels like we need a reset before games get back into action. 

Which games, you may ask, are the ones not to miss? 

Well, lucky for you, I’m here to go over which Hockey East games you just have to keep an eye out for as we enter the first month of the new year. Trust me, there are gonna be some good matchups.

Obvious Answer: The 47th Women’s Beanpot 

So technically these aren’t Hockey East games, however the majority of the teams playing in the Beanpot are Hockey East schools. And frankly the Beanpot is just a lot of fun, so I’m including it here. I’ll have more in depth thoughts later about the three HEA (and one ECAC) teams playing in the tournament, but basic information is as follows. 

Boston College and Harvard will square off first in the semifinals on Jan. 13th, this year hosted at Boston University’s Walter Brown Arena. The two teams have met in the consolation game each of the last two years, and this time out, they find themselves meeting in the first round. Last season, the Eagles came out swinging and beat the Crimson 4-1, and are looking for a repeat performance to advance to the title game for the first time since 2023. On the flip side, Harvard’s performing far better than they did a season ago, and will be a tough matchup this time around. Their game will start at 4 PM EST. 

Then, in the second semifinal, we have the host BU Terriers and the three-time reigning champion Northeastern Huskies. These two played each other twice on Halloween and Nov. 1st, with NU skating to back-to-back wins. Keep in mind, however, that BU is playing on home ice, and has been playing better of late. It’ll be interesting to see how two months change things for both teams when they hit the ice following the first semifinal. 

A week later, the second round returns to TD Garden for a third year in a row. The consolation game is scheduled for 4:30 PM, and the championship will follow soon after. The game at the Garden is always a fun one, and this year shouldn’t be any different. 

Best One-Off Game

Boston College at Holy Cross | Friday, Jan. 9th at 6 PM 

The second weekend of the month has all 10 teams back in action amongst their conference foes, including a game between two of the top five teams in Hockey East. 

Holy Cross will play host to Boston College on Friday night, their lone game in a two week stretch. The two teams started the Hockey East season against one another back in October, with the Eagles skating to a 4-2 win led by a three-point effort from rookie standout Ava Thomas. 

It was a solid showing from the Crusaders, who outshot BC 42-29 and forced the Eagles to block a further 20 chances. 

After a slower start in conference, Holy Cross found their stride before the break, going 7-2-1 in their final 10 games. With 14 wins, the Crusaders have already surpassed their record-high in wins for a single season in the Hockey East era. If they can continue to capitalize on their success from the first half to the second, I’d be shocked if they weren’t still in the top five of the conference at the end of the year. 

Mid-Month at the Gut

Maine at Vermont | Friday, Jan. 16th, at 6 PM and Saturday, Jan. 17th, at 2 PM

Let’s be frank — Maine and Vermont have both had a lot of struggles so far this season. The Catamounts more so than the Black Bears. 

With just two wins thus far, Vermont has struggled to find a consistent scoring threat in conference action. In 10 HEA games, the Catamounts have been shut out 40% of the time, including a 2-0 loss to Holy Cross right before the break back in December. 

Maine on the other hand has been marginally better, with a 4-5-2 record and 14 points in those 11 games. The Black Bears have also failed to find the back of the net consistently, with a 1.9 goals for average across all of their contests (21 total). 

What intrigues me about this weekend set is what it could mean for the lower seeds further down the line. With six points up for grabs, a win of any kind for either team can mean a lot moving forward over the next six weeks. If Maine finds a way to sweep, that brings them closer and closer to the teams in the top five. For Vermont, closing the gap to the teams in seventh (Maine, as of Jan. 6th) and eighth (Providence) could be the difference between hosting a playoff game or playing the opening round on the road. 

If we’re picking one thing to keep an eye on, it’s how the Vermont penalty kill holds up against Maine’s power play. And let me tell you, neither side is particularly strong. With a success rate of 69.6%, Vermont’s penalty kill is the worst in the NCAA, a full 10 percentage points worse than the next closest HEA team in Providence. 

They’ll be going up against a Maine power play that is second-worst in Hockey East and seventh-worst in the NCAA at a 9.7% clip (6-for-62 overall). I’m not saying it will be the best hockey ever played if/when Maine goes up a skater, but it might be interesting in a chaotic way for anyone watching along. 

Top 10 Matchup

Northeastern at UConn | Saturday, Jan. 24th, at 3 PM and Saturday, Jan. 25th, at 6:30 PM 

Throughout the entire season, the two best teams in the conference have been the pair of Huskies. On a national stage, the squads have been ranked in the national poll since the early weeks of the season, and have found themselves firmly in the middle of the top-1o to begin 2026. 

The last time the pair met was back in the HEA tournament semifinal in March of last year. Thanks to a three-goal third period, Northeastern skated away with the win, ending UConn’s bid for back-t0-back HEA titles. This was off the heels of NU sweeping the season series in the regular portion of the schedule. 

Even with their success last year, I don’t expect this to be an easy weekend for Northeastern. Nor should it be an easy weekend for UConn either. While NU has one of the top offenses in the league, their Connecticut counterparts aren’t far behind them. And on the flip side, though UConn’s goaltending is top of the table, there’s a reason Northeastern likes the moniker ‘Goaltender U’. 

If the two teams can continue their success into the end of the month, similar to Maine/Vermont, the series could have serious implications in the season standings. The benefit for UConn will be the extra days off they’ll have before their Saturday matchup: Northeastern will play in their mid-week Beanpot game on Tuesday, while UConn is off following a game against Merrimack the previous Friday. 

Regardless, these are two top programs in this conference, and any chance to see them play one another is a treat.

Throw In: Any Game At Northeastern 

Alright, alright, yes there is a caveat here. Let’s call it how it is: that any game Northeastern plays ‘at home’ in the second half is going to be something to see. The Huskies closed their home rink — the Historic Matthews Arena — back in December, and are now spending the second half of the season without a dedicated facility to play their home games in. Instead, the team will host four home games at two different facilities: Bentley Arena and Walter Brown Arena at BU. 

As the current top team in the conference, the Huskies capitalized on playing the vast majority of their games at home in the first half of the year. Now, as that flips for the second half, it’ll be interesting to see how things change if at all for the squad. Not to mention their first home game will be played against the aforementioned tough competition in UConn on Jan. 25th, meaning their first six games of 2026 are technically on the road. 

It’s also not as though NU is playing all teams close to the Boston Area. They’ll have to travel to Storrs and Providence twice in the next two months, make a quick jump up to Burlington, and play their ‘home’ games off campus. 

Undoubtedly, it’s not going to be easy heading into the postseason for the Huskies. But if there’s a team that could handle this type of situation, it’s probably Northeastern. We’ll just have to see. 

Others to Press Play

For this section, we’re going to do rapid fire (AKA bullet points) on teams I didn’t hit on, but have some interesting storylines for what could happen this month. 

• Merrimack: Will this be the month the Warriors finally secure a win in conference? After starting the season 0-10-0, Merrimack is still on the hunt for their first victory in Hockey East in 2025-26. They do have three wins thanks to games played out of conference, but at just one point in their first 10 games, it’s getting late early for MC. I think they’ll finally squeak one out in the next few weeks here. When is that going to be? Unclear, but something’s gotta break at some point, right? 
• Providence: If there’s anyone in the conference that has a difficult schedule this month, it’s the Friars. They’re most recently coming off being swept by UConn, and follow it up with one-off games against Northeastern, Boston College, and a non-conference foe in No. 14 Yale, before a weekend set against Holy Cross as well. They’ll see action against Vermont to close out January. However, it could be a rough time getting to that weekend, depending on how the next five games go. 

• New Hampshire: While there’s been some noise around the rookie classes at Holy Cross, Boston College, and Northeastern, the youngest Wildcats have been having an outstanding season as well. This, in turn, is contributing to a better season for UNH than we saw from them last year. Leading the way is Nina Rossi, who paces her team with 23 points in 22 games, including nine goals. The rookie is third overall in the conference in total scoring. If she can continue that productivity moving forward, it bodes well for her squad in the last few weeks of the season — and makes the rookie of the year race all the more interesting. 
• Boston University: The Terriers have kept things moving along recently, thanks to two wins overseas at the Friendship Series in Belfast, Ireland over Quinnipiac and Harvard. While they’re still sitting at 5-11-3 thus far, if they can capitalize on the momentum brought forward by two wins against ECAC foes, that win total could go up quickly. It’ll be key to come out fast against UNH this upcoming weekend, and if they’re able to do that they definitely will have a better second half than first half of the season. 

All Hockey East games can be streamed on ESPN+ throughout the season. For the composite conference schedule, click here.