For what it's worth, here are my preseason rankings for Hockey East for 1997-1998.
1)Maine. I know, I know, I hate to say it but they really impressed me with the way they ended last year, plus they didn't lose too many seniors. I do hate I.C. Walsh (I Cheat), but they do have a lot of talent, and they played very well out at Minnesota splitting against one of the West's best.
2)UNH. This one I'm not too sure about, but they do have a lot of talent. They did lose Nickulas, a very important part of their offense, to the pros, but they also have a lot of talent remaining. On top of that, they have something to prove, since they believe that they should have won Hockey East last year, not BU.
3)UML. See above. This team is extremely young (9 sophomores, 8 freshmen), but they are fun to watch. If Marty Fillion and the defense hold up their share of the team, the offense will get better and better with more experience towards the end of the year. If they can hang around till the mid point of the year, they could prove a force in the latter stages of the year. If, if, if...
4)BU. Speaking of coaches I hate, here's another one. But once again, he has managed to put together a strong team, but what else can you expect when you always have one of the best recruiting classes every year. The weak point of this team is their goaltending though, as Tommy Nible (oops) Noble, and Larocque are both, in my opinion, extremely overrated.
5)BC. One of the top two/three recruiting classes of the year (and that's unusual?) should help this team move up in the Hockey East rankings, but when you have a lot of players who want the puck to pad their stats, that can be a problem. Their goaltending could be a problem with their number one hurt for at least a month.
6)Merrimack. Yeah I know this is a high rank for them, but from what I have seen and heard of this team, they are able to put the puck in the net on a pretty frequent basis. Yet another team though with a goaltending problem. This is my darkhorse for the year.
7)Providence. The Fryars are a question mark. They have a couple of good players, and a good first line, but after that, they are a very inconsistent team, including at the goaltending position. But they do have a good coach in Paul Pooley, who always has his teams playing good hockey towards the end of the year.
8)Northeastern. Coach Crowder is helping them improve, and they did get a good recruiting class in this year. Great goaltender in Robitaille.
9)UMass. Big players, some talent, but not enough. Still not ready for Hockey East competition. Do have a couple of good freshmen to build around though.