A Big Week Ahead

It's all about revenge this week for the Eagles.

One of the hallmark's of Coach York's regime @ BC has been his famous "24 hour rule". Basically, don't get too down on a loss and don't get too high off a win. You have 24 hours to enjoy the victory or on the other hand, 24 hours to get over a tough loss. Well, it's been almost seventy two hours since the Eagles put a beat down on the #2 Wisconsin Badgers so all focus shifts to UW's arch rival, the new #1 team in the nation, the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Everyone remembers last year's 8-1 blowout loss to Minnesota in the final of the Mariucci Classic and let's get one thing clear, even though BC didn't have Alber or Johnny G, eight goals is eight goals. It's embarrassing any way you look at it. It doesn't happen around here. Ever.

This week has to be one of the best weeks of preparation all season. I expect that BC will be practicing on Olympic ice surfaces throughout the week in order to prepare for the large sheet @ Mariucci. Historically, BC has been pretty solid on the big sheet, I mean they have played UNH really well up at the Whit over the course of the last four or five years but for some reason, they looked like a bunch of chickens with their heads cut off on the big ice last season versus the Golden Gophers.

Lineup wise, I don't think you will see the staff change anything. I thought Linell and Macleod were better on Friday although they were the only two Eagles that were -1. Look, BC doesn't need those two to be at the offensive level of McCoshen, Santini, Matheson, and Savage but they do have to be strong in their own end. In the final analysis, the play of these two guys were leaps and bounds better than it was versus Michigan or even RPI. Adjusting to the big ice versus a real fast team like the Gophers is going to be a brutal test but if they continue to trend upwards, good things will happen.


The final thing that needs to be addressed is the goaltending situation. I thought Billett was solid on Friday as he made some nice initial saves but he continues to struggle a bit in the rebound category. Obviously, he will start a game this weekend thanks to his continued consistent play and if I had to bet, it would be on Sunday. If that happens, Thatcher Demko will be starting his first ever road game in one of the most hostile environments in college hockey. Look, he's going to have to play in these type of situations one day so why not just break him in now instead of waiting ? He played well against RPI and I'm sure the rest of the guys are extremely confident in his ability to stop the puck so hopefully he gets a chance to show the rest of the country what he is all about on Friday evening.

That's all I got.

GO EAGLES !