REGULAR SEASON CHAMPS !

Led by outstanding efforts from Destry Straight, Parker Milner, Patch Alber, and a bunch of others, the Boston College Eagles clinched a second consecutive Hockey East regular season title with a 4-0 win over the Vermont Catamounts. The Eagles didn't really get off to the hot start they wanted to have as UVM was able to hold BC at bay for the first 19 minutes until Destry Straight netted his second goal of the season to break open the deadlocked game. I thought this was by far and away the best game that Destry has played so far this season as he has been able to take his game to a whole other level over the past couple of weeks. With regards to Vermont, Coach York couldn't have been more complimentary of their effort over the weekend as they battled the Eagles really hard both nights and even had their chances to maybe even defeat the #1 team in the country. I thought Chris Kreider played his best game since the Beanpot tonight as he recorded a goal and a solid +2 rating for the team tonight. It seems that when it's a big game like the Beanpot, Hockey East titles, or an NCAA tournament game, Chris really seems to be playing his best hockey.

I know I have said this in every post since the magical night @ The Garden but the play of Parker Milner over the course of the last couple of weeks has just been special. Everyone likes to talk about Carr, Cannata, and for some strange reason Millan, but there is no goalie I would rather have on my team right now than Parker Milner. He leads the league in save percentage and has also recorded three shutouts in his last four games which is remarkable. When a goalie has the type of confidence that Parker has right now, it is really tough to get them off their game. I thought Patch Alber also had his best game of the season tonight. With Dumoulin a little banged up, Alber needed to step up big time and he did this weekend. He had a +4 rating tonight which is his highest of the year to go along with an assist on Destry Straight's goal.

As we look towards next weekend, the Eagles will meet UMass for a best of three series here @ Conte Forum for the 3rd straight season. The Minutemen actually hold a 2-1 lead in the season series vs BC but the Eagles defeated UMass 4-2 in the last meeting @ Conte Forum back in October (UMass won the next two). Thanks to another epic collapse by Jack Parker and his terrible team, BU missed out on the #2 seed. Here are the matchups...

#1 BC vs #8 UMass

#2 Lowell vs #7 Providence

#3 BU vs #6 UNH. Go Wildcats

#4 Maine vs #5 Merrimack.


WHY BC WON 

1. The penalty kill was fantastic. Vermont had their chances all game on the power play but the BC penalty kill, led by Almeida, Mullane, and Linell, prevented any goals for the Cats.

2. Chris Kreider played great. In games in which Chris Kreider scores a goal, the Eagles are 15-3.

3. I thought a lot of key guys stepped up all weekend. You know guys like Carey, Kreider (mostly), Mullane, Johnny G, and Almeida are going to play great every weekend but guys like Destry Straight, Patch Alber, and Danny Linell had fantastic weekends for the team.

Problems 

1. BC played much better than last night but still need some tuning to their game for next weekend.

Player of the Game- Destry Straight.

Next Up- Playoff series next weekend @ home vs UMass.

NOTE- If you would like to skate with the team tomorrow, come on down to Conte @ 1:30 to skate with the players, get autographs, and take pictures. It's really fun to go to.