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The Hockey East regular season has come and gone, and the playoffs begin next Friday at campus sites. The most shocking result of the final weekend of the regular season was Boston University's sweep of Northeastern.
The four points did very little for the Terriers except to move them up one spot ahead of Massachusetts, but the pointless weekend sent Northeastern plummeting in the standings. The Huskies started the weekend in third with a realistic shot at second, but finished in fifth. Jim Madigan's team still earned a bye, but now will travel to New Hampshire for the Hockey East Quarterfinals.
Another key result was Providence sweeping Maine in Orono. The Black Bears controlled their own destiny for a bye and home ice, but instead will have to host Merrimack in the first round. Providence jumped from sixth to third and will have a weekend off before hosting a quarterfinal series. Interestingly enough, if Maine beats Merrimack, the Black Bears will travel to play the Friars in the quarterfinals.
Hockey East Tournament Schedule
First Round
Friday, March 7
No. 10 Massachusetts at No. 7 Vermont
Saturday, March 8
No. 9 Boston University at No. 8 Notre Dame
No. 11 Merrimack at No. 6 Maine
Quarterfinals
March 14-16, 2014
TBD at No. 1 Boston College
TBD at No. 2 UMass Lowell
TBD at No. 3 Providence
No. 5 Northeastern at No. 4 New Hampshire
Semifinals
March 21, 2014
5 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Final
March 22, 2014
7 p.m.
Final Hockey East Standings
| Team (Overall Record) | GP | W-L-T | Points | Playoff seed | First Rd. Opponent | |
| 1 | Boston College * ^ # (25-5-4) | 20 | 16-2-2 | 34 | 1 | Bye |
| 2 | UMass Lowell ^ # (21-8-4) | 20 | 11-5-3 | 25 | 2 | Bye |
| 3 | Providence ^ # (19-9-6) | 20 | 11-7-2 | 24 | 3 | Bye |
| 4 | New Hampshire ^ # (19-16-1) | 20 | 11-9-0 | 22 | 4 | Bye |
| Northeastern ^ (18-12-4) | 20 | 10-8-2 | 22 | 5 | Bye | |
| 6 | Maine (15-13-4) | 20 | 9-8-3 | 21 | 6 | Merrimack |
| 7 | Vermont (18-11-3) | 20 | 10-10-0 | 20 | 7 | UMass |
| Notre Dame (20-12-2) | 20 | 9-9-2 | 20 | 8 | Boston University | |
| 9 | Boston University (10-20-4) | 20 | 5-12-3 | 13 | 9 | @ Notre Dame |
| 10 | Massachusetts (8-21-4) | 20 | 4-13-3 | 11 | 10 | @ Vermont |
| 11 | Merrimack (8-21-3) | 20 | 3-15-2 | 8 | 11 | @ Maine |
* Clinched Hockey East regular season championship
^ Clinched a bye to the Hockey East Quarterfinals
# Clinched home ice in the Hockey East Quarterfinals
Jeff Cox covers college, junior and high school hockey, NCAA recruiting and NHL Draft prospects. Follow him on twitter @JeffCoxSBNation.