Looking Back/Looking Ahead

Let me first say that it stinks having your friends come up to you and ask "what the heck is wrong?", "is the golden age of BC Hockey really over?". It's no secret, everyone that pays attention to the program is deeply concerned about the direction this club is headed in after a disappointing loss @ Hockey East newcomer UConn and a terribly upsetting come from behind loss versus arch rival Boston University. 

As for Wednesday's game, credit UConn's goalie and the always reliable Mike Cavanuagh penalty kill. They made one more play than BC did even though the Eagles had more than a minute of 5 on 3 and outshot the Huskies by more than a 3 to 1 margin over the course of the final two periods. To be honest, I'm still in the state of shock that BC lost that game mainly because those are the type of games that they used to always find a way to win. The Huskies continued to give the Eagles chances to comeback and tie it up but for whatever reason, the maroon and gold couldn't put the puck in the back of the net. Congrats to UConn on not just a great, program changing win, but a terrific start to a new era. 

Friday was a flat out collapse. The main pillars of this club were totally invisible. The goaltending wasn't up to where it had been, the power play continued to be completely inept, and perhaps most shockingly, red and white jerseys were given free passes to walk right in and take any shot they wished. I'll bet that there won't be another time all year in which Noah Hanifin is out there for all four opponent goals and Thatcher Demko allows a pair of goals from practically behind the goal line. When I look back at it, this team will lose to BU 10 out of 10 times when they go 0 for 4 on the power play especially when a couple of those power plays came at times in which BC held a one goal lead. As for BU, I thought they looked like the faster, stronger, and much more physical team from the get go. For large portions of the game, especially in the third period, they vastly outplayed the Eagles and eventually capitalized on some quality scoring chances. What a turn around by Coach Quinn and his team. We'll see them again in January. 

Look, I'm really concerned about where this team is at in so many aspects. They don't play as a collective unit, they can't get anything from the senior class, the defenseman are not helping out on the score sheet, the lack of depth is a lot more apparent than it was a couple of weeks back, and unfortunately, if they don't get their act together soon, there may not an NCAA tournament berth. Tomorrow presents a chance for this team to pick up what I believe will look like a quality non-conference victory by years end. Harvard has played just three games so far this season but they boast one of the most talented rosters in the ECAC, which includes star forwardsJimmy Vesey, Alex Kerfoot, and Patrick McNally. It's going to be a tough game and if BC doesn't show up, they're going to get run out of their own building. This team doesn't have the ability to win games based on talent alone because this team does not have the talent that last years team had. Like I said Friday, losing is the worst thing in the world. It's awful. There is nothing worse, at least from my perspective. At one point or another, Coach York is going to get them going but if that time doesn't come sooner rather than later, it may be to late. Let's hope they can get back on track with a solid win at home tomorrow vs a quality opponent. 

Go Eagles