Defending league champion and national runnerup Boston University has been tabbed as the team to beat in the Hockey East Association’s preseason coaches poll.

The poll and the members of the Hockey East preseason all-conference team were announced during the Hockey East Media Day held Thursday in the Blades and Boards Club at Boston Garden.

Coach Jack Parker’s Terriers garnered 11 points and eight of a possible nine first-place votes, easily beating out No. 2 New Hampshire, which registered one first-place vote and 25 points.

Northeastern was picked to finish third with 26 points, while Maine was fourth with 31. UMass-Lowell and Boston College tied for fifth, followed by Providence, Merrimack, and first-year HE member UMass-Amherst.

Boston University also dominated the All-Hockey East preseason team. Senior goaltender Derek Herlofsky, sophomore defenseman Kai Linna, senior blue-liner Rich Brennan, and senior forward Jacques Joubert all were selected.

The picks at forward were sophomore Greg Bullock of UMass-Lowell, senior Chad Quenneville of Providence, and senior J.F. Aube of Northeastern.

Maine coach Shawn Walsh said the No. 4 ranking is a fair spot to put the Bears at this point in the year, although the recent loss of Mike Latendresse will hurt his team’s chances.

“(Latendresse) was with us when the votes were taken, and it will be a real challenge for us to reach the top four right at this minute,” Walsh said. “I think we can by the end of the year.”

The Black Bears were ranked ninth in the country in The Sporting News’ preseason poll and 10th in the WMEB media poll.

The Bears return a promising and relatively young group, including a much-improved defense corps. Senior Chris Imes is back on the blue line after playing with the U.S. Olympic team a year ago. He’ll be joined by junior Jeff Tory and senior Dave MacIsaac.

Imes appears to be a glaring omission from the preseason all-conference squad. The 5-foot-11, 195-pounder from Birchdale, Minn., had 12 goals and 23 assists as a member of Maine’s 1992-93 national championship squad.

Imes boasted a team-best plus-59 in the plus/minus category.

Boston University is equipped to repeat as Hockey East champion. The Terriers, who were 34-7 overall and 21-3 in league play last season, are blessed to have six of their top seven scorers back in the fold.

That group is headlined by Joubert, who registered 20 goals and 24 assists a year ago, and junior forward Jay Pandolfo (17 & 25). BU also has the league’s top returning goaltender in Herlofsky, who was 14-4 with a 2.50 goals-against average and a .909 save percentage.

“We’re going to be a team that should develop very well, but we’ll be very inexperienced,” Walsh said. “BU certainly has the returning nucleus to have a terrific club, and New Hampshire and Northeastern are the next two experienced clubs. I think you’d initially lump us with the rest of the league in terms of inexperience.”

The UMaine field hockey team faces a key North Atlantic Conference game Friday when the Black Bears play sixth-ranked Northeastern at Parsons Field in Boston. Game time is 5:30 p.m.

Coach Terry Kix’s Bears, 8-3-1 overall and 2-1 in the NAC, continue to battle for regional and national respect. Maine has a chance to make strides in that area against Northeastern, 10-2-1 and 2-0-0, respectively.

The Bears are paced by senior midfielder Michelle Gallan (7 goals), sophomore midfielder Annie Elkanich (2 & 8) and senior goalie Mary Lou Winstel (8-2-1, 0.42 GAA, .931).

Last winter, the men’s and women’s basketball teams at the University of Maine each won at least 20 games while battling for North Atlantic Conference supremacy.

The NAC runnerup Black Bear men and the NAC regular-season champion Maine women hope to build on last season’s success when practices begin this weekend at the Memorial Gym. The teams will practice Saturday and Sunday.

Coach Rudy Keeling’s men take the floor from 8 a.m. to 10 a.m., then return for another stint from 2-4. Joanne Palombo’s women work out from 10 a.m. until 1 p.m.

Hockey East Preseason coaches poll

(First-place votes in parentheses; teams are awarded one point for a first-place vote, two points for a second-place vote, etc.)

1. Boston University (8) 11 pts.

2. New Hampshire (1) 25

3. Northeastern 26

4. MAINE 31

5. UMass-Lowell 52

Boston College 52

7. Providence 62

8. Merrimack 65

9. UMass-Amherst 72