My thougths on the BC BU rivalry.

As we head into my favorite weekend of the year, I always take a little time to reflect on what a great rivalry these two schools have, especially when it comes to hockey. Jack Parker once said, "there would be no BC hockey without BU and there would be no BU hockey without BC", he is exactly right. Think about it, it's the two best programs in the history of the sport located just three miles away ! It is truly amazing.When you throw in the fact that both teams are headed by the two best coaches in college hockey (York has the edge in wins), both schools are great academic institutions, both teams are the best in the sport year in and year out, both schools have very loyal fanbases, and they are located on the same street, you can't tell me it gets better then that. As I watched BC practice this week, it is obvious that each player and coach are giving just a little bit more because they want to beat that other school so bad after they drubbing they gave us two weeks ago. Every BC BU matchup is physical and exhilarating as it always brings out the best (and sometimes worst) of each team and each player on that team. There have only been a handful of BC BU games in the last five years that have not been close at all. Each game is fun to watch and your always on the edge of your seat cheering for your team whether your a little ten year old boy that knows nothing about either team or your the most loyal supporter ever. For me, it's like Christmas Eve because im so anxious to watch the Eagles hopefully destroy them. No matter what happens, it's always a fun and memorable experience when BC plays BU.

GO EAGLES

I will have my preview tomorrow.

Weekend in review and looking ahead to the Terriers

The week after Turkey Day only means one thing to a true BC fan, Terrier week. The Eagles are coming off a big non conference win @ Yale on Saturday while the Terriers are riding high on a four game winning streak. Overall, I really liked the way BC did a lot of things on Saturday, especially the PK, goaltending, and creating chances. I thought guys like Bill Arnold, Barry Almedia,Kevin Hayes, and obviously Brian Billett played their games of the year vs a good Bulldog team. Whatever fun the team had after the win must come to an end now as they prepare for the biggest weekend of the year vs Jack Parker and the high flying Terriers.

What the Eagles need to figure out for BU

Goaltending- I have not stopped thinking about who I think should be goalie on Friday and I think for a couple of reasons, it should be Brian Billett. I know a lot of you will disagree with me, but Billett covers more of the net and proved himself by stopping 31 of 33 Yale shots. Billett was named Hockey East defensive player of the week for his outstanding performance. As for Milner, he has been AWFUL vs BU. In two career starts vs BU, Milner has given up ten goals combined. That can't happen. As for who will start, I can tell you that it is a daily competition in practice to see who will get the nod. We should know who it will be by Thursday night.

The Power Play- After going a whopping 0/7 vs Yale, the Eagles seemed to make a couple changes in practice by putting Paul Carey back to forward and Edwin Shea back to the point, Again, this is just something they are trying so I am not sure if the coaching staff will go with it on Friday. Another thing they want to do is get Johnny Gaudreau the puck more. To many times both units are taking bad shots from the point when they could be taking shots from up close with higher percentage scoring chances. If you get your best playmaker the puck more, good things will happen. BU takes more penalties than anyone in the country so you know BC will get their chances, they just have to convert.

The Penalties- If BC takes bad penalties such as they did last time vs the Terriers, BU will take advantage. I really liked BU's PP and the personel they have so if BC is going to lose, they will do it by taking a lot of penalties.

It should be a great weekend of hockey, another classic BC vs BU home and home. Go to bed knowing one thing, it won't be 5-0. This time, the Eagles are gong to be into the game and flying around. Watch out BU.

#5 Boston College Defeats #8 Yale in a Thrilling Come-From-Behind Victory

Boston College steals a win @ Yale by a score of 3-2

When I use the term steal, I am saying it literally. Yale led for a whole fifty eight minutes today, but once Tommy Cross took a bad hooking penalty with about three minutes to play, the Eagles started to soar. Barry Almedia showed why he is the best penalty killer not just on this team but maybe in the country by adding a shorthanded goal with 2:10 to play. Brian Dumoulin sort of flipped the puck up to Almedia, who took the puck through the Yale zone and beat Yale goalie Jeff Malcom and tie it up. Once BC killed off the remaining 1:10 on the Cross penalty, the Bulldogs were called for icing with about forty seconds to go. Bill Arnold won the faceoff over to Steve Whitney who made an absolutely fantastic play to Chris Kreider in front of the net for the game winner. I Could not be more proud of the Eagles after the win mainly because they continued to fight and it clearly showed throughout many moments during the game. The turning point of the game was when Yale went on a 5-3 for a full two minutes (I have no idea why they called two penalties on BC). Led by Bill Arnold and Barry Almedia, the Eagles prevented the Bulldogs from scoring because they forced the shots from the side and blocked shots from the point which made it easier for Billet to make the save. All in all, an outstanding team effort giving the Eagles some must needed momentum going into Terrier Week. 

Why BC Won 

1. They never gave up. Even after Cross took that bad penalty, this team continued to fight and were rewarded with a big road win. 

2. The penalty kill. Holding the #2 ranked PP to 0/5 and kill off a 5-3 for a full two minutes is a recipe for a victory. 

3. Brian Billett. When I waled into the rink and found out Billett was getting the nood, I was kind of worried but thankfully he proved me and other fans wrong with his great performance. 

4. The Hayes-Arnold-Krieder line was outstanding. Each player on this line played one of their best games of the year. 

Problems 

The only problem for BC was the PP continued to struggle. BC was 0/7 today and can’t seem to find a replacement for Philip Samuelsson on the second unit. 

Goalie Controversy ? I am really not sure of who should start next week vs BU. My gut tells me the coaching staff will go with Milner but I could definitely see Billett playing Friday @ home and Milner Saturday @ BU. To be honest, I like Billett because he covers a little more of the net and looked good tonight, so maybe he should get the start. 

Player of the Game- Bill Arnold. With an assist on the final goal and an absolutely outstanding job on the PK, Arnold is my player of the game. 

Previewing the Yale Bulldogs.

Tomorrow afternoon, the Eagles will travel down to New Haven, CT for a matchup against the # 8 Yale Bulldogs. Yale is coming off a lost to Sacred Heart, who is arguably the worst team in college hockey. So far this season, the Bulldogs are fourth in the ECAC and 8th in the country. It's probably safe to say this Yale team is ranked a bit to high based on some previous results. Yale has some pretty bad losses like Sacred Heart and a blowout to the hands of Cornell but they do have some nice wins vs teams like Colgate and RPI. In terms of stats, the Bulldogs do not take to many penalties as they rank near the botton of the ECAC with just eighty four penalty minutes (BC has 180 PIM, which isn't that bad compared to other Hockey East schools) and they also have the highest power play percentage of any ECAC team with 29 % conversion rate. A non conference win on the road vs a good team would mean some big pairwise points for the Eagles, who currently are ninth in the pairwise (Yale is sixteen).

Players to watch 

1. Forward- Brain O'Neil (3 G, 5 A). O'Neil is Yale's top returner from a season ago in which he registered twenty goals.

2. Forward- Kenny Agostiono (3 G, 6 A). Agostiono currently has the most points of any Bulldog.

3. Defenseman- Tommy Fallon (2 G, 4 A) Fallon currently leads all Yale defenseman in goals and assist.

Keys for the Eagles.

1. In terms of goaltending, Yale could be the worst team in the country. The Bulldog goalies gave up seven goals on nineteen shots vs Sacred Heart. The Bulldogs rank close to last in terms of goaltending in the entire country.

2. Now more than ever, stay out of the box. Yale has the second best PP in the whole country. If BC takes too many bad penalties they will have a hard time finding a win to win.

3. Get shots on goal. As I said in key #1, these goalies are really bad. Don't just get shots, get grade A shots.

Last time out- BC ended Yale's season in the 2010 NCAA tournament Northeast regional finals by a score of 9-7. BC leads the all-time series 42-11 and have also won the last three meetings.

Prediction- Eagles are ready to get going. With the Terriers lurking next weekend, BC sets the tone with a big win. 5-1 BC.

I will be down at the Yale Whale so make sure to look for live updates on Twitter @bchockeyblog1

Great article on Steve Whitney

Could not agree more with this article from the BC website. Steven Whitney is off to a great start on the season, hope he can keep it going.

http://www.bceagles.com/sports/m-hockey/spec-rel/112211aaa.html

My Picks for the weekend.

I can see Northeastern beating Michigan and Providence beating Miami but not risking my record.

My Thanksgiving Hockey East power rankings.

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and that only means two things in my mind. Lots of food and BU week next weekend. As we are about a third of the way through this season, it is time for my Thanksgiving Hockey East power rankings.

1. Merrimack College. Merrimack is currently the number one team in the country with a record of 8-0-1 and have the best goalie in the whole country.

2. Boston College. BC has had one tough schedule so far this season with dates @ Notre Dame, @ UNH, @ NU, @ North Dakota, and vs BU. So far the Eagles are #5 in the country and are a solid 9-4 heading into a key date with Yale.

3. Boston University. BU could not have started the year worse with loses to Holy Cross, Lowell,  and Providence but the Terriers got back on track with big wins vs BC and UNH.

4. Lowell. I know this may be a surprise to some of you, but Lowell will be there to compete with the three teams above them come playoff time. The Riverhawks seem to bring a really solid effort every time they play.

5. UNH. The Wildcats got off to the worst start of any Hockey East team by starting 0-4 but since then they are 5-2, including a blowout win vs Lowell.

6. Providence. PC was that team that really surprised everyone with their wins vs BU and UMass, but since then the Friars have come back down to earth with blowout looses vs NU and Maine (x2)

7. Northeastern. Watch out for the Huskies, I am telling you. NU has a bunch of skilled players like Dungara, Pimm, Qualier, and Rawlings so watch out for the suddenly hot Huskies.

8. Maine. Every since losing in the Hockey East championship vs BC two years ago, Maine has gone straight downhill. I really don't know what the problem is with the Bears but they have to fix it.

9. UMass. UMass just continues to struggle in Hockey East. Every year we say "this is the year" for UMass but they always stink.

10. Due to their record, UVM is last in my rankings but don't get me wrong, they are probably better than UMass and maybe Maine. UVM scored a nice win vs UMass last night to stop their bleeding.

Have a great Thanksgiving.

GO EAGLES.

My take on Hockey East so far.

We are almost a month and a half into this college hockey season and the Eagles are currently #1 in Hockey East and #5 in the country. So far so good for Coach York's squad, with a couple of bad losses as of late but some big games coming up to make up for those. Right now, Merrimack is number one in the whole country, thats right I said Merrimack. I was one of those people that thought MC would be good but not undefeated at this point after the loss of DaCosta. Shows how good a job Mark Dennehy is doing over in North Andover. Although going undefeated is always tough, Merrimack hasn't had the toughest of schedules. Their best win in my opinion is the one @ Agganis vs BU, but other then that they really don’t have any great wins. The Warriors don't get the Eagles till early January. As it always seems, Hockey East is pretty loaded from top to bottom. UMass, the second to last place team in the league beat BC and Lowell dominated BU, that just goes to show how deep this league is. In my opinion, last year was the first year of the "new big four" with BC, BU, MC, and UNH separating themselves from the other six teams in the league. Right now, Maine is just going the wrong direction and I really don't think they are going to get the ship righted for a couple of years, so they are out of the "big four". 

As for the middle part of the standings, I am really not sure where I would rank those teams. Out of UMass, Lowell, Providence, Maine, and NU the most dangerous is Northeastern. NU has something that not a lot of other teams have, which is a really solid goaltender. NU just blew out PC and UVM to get them back in the hunt to finish in the top half of the standings. I know UMass beat BC but I really don't think they are anything special. Versus BC, BU, MC, and UNH, Maine is a terrible 0-3 and they lost by a combined total of 10-5. Now the team I really have no idea about is Providence. I have yet to see the Friars (because BC hasn't played them) but just by looking at their results makes you wonder how good they are. PC has good wins vs teams like BU, UMass, and a two blowout wins vs UVM. On the other hand, they got killed by NU and lost @ Maine (x2). Lowell had two great efforts vs BC and then went on to kill BU. On the other hand, the Riverhawks also have bad losses vs UConn and @ UNH by a score 5-0. 

This is one of those years where anybody in Hockey East can beat anybody. Thats why each and every day BC must bring its best effort to win. 

Weekend in review and looking ahead.

Another weekend, and another tough loss for the Eagles. BC has now lost two in a row for the first time in over a year and a half and the worst part is it only gets tougher. BC heads to the Yale Whale on Saturday to take on the eight ranked Bulldogs who are coming off a defeat of UConn. All signs were a little more encouraging vs Notre Dame, as the team gave a much better effort and got better goaltending (except the last play) vs ND. Beating Notre Dame in South Bend is hard for any team but if BC can keep giving that effort they gave on Friday on a regular basis, it will start to win more games.

So another game on the road vs a very good team for BC as they go to Yale on Saturday. While Yale is a good team but they are probably not as good as what they are ranked. The only really tough game they had all year was vs Cornell @ home and they still lost by a score of 6-2. Compared to the last couple teams from New Haven, this Yale team is probably not as good but they still are dangerous and are looking to take down the Eagles. It will be a tough road ahead for BC with Yale and BU coming up, but the Eagles can definitely get it done.

So where do the Eagles stand ?

After last nights brutal 3-2 OT loss to a good Notre Dame team, some how, some way, the Eagles moved up to # 4 in the pairwise rankings (which are by far the most important rankings). In terms of Hockey East, BC remains in first place and will remain there at least until the big weekend vs that other school in two weeks. The game against Yale on Saturday is a game of epic proportions since the Bulldogs are also ranked high in the pairwise, currently sitting at # 5. I know it's early in the season, but so far, even though we had that awful performance vs BU, this season has been a success. This was supposed to be a down year for BC and right now they are in the top five in the country. That right there is another example of great coaching. These next two weeks are critical in terms of how the rest of the season will go. With games against Yale and BU (x2) this young Eagle squad must be up for the task and give it's absolute best effort if it wants to get back on top.

GO EAGLES

BOSTON COLLEGE FALLS TO NOTRE DAME IN OVERTIME, 3-2

My final thoughts on Notre Dame

Quite honestly, I thought BC played pretty well vs a very defensively sound Irish club. Notre Dame's way of botteling up BC's high octane offense seemed to work for most of the night as BC didn't have a great amount of chances. Now, I have been thinking about the goaltending with Milner and have come to the conclusion that he simply made a mistake. He had a great game, just look at the saves he made in the OT. The one problem is that he just has a tough time catching the puck. Although it's a skill that he seemingly doesn't yet have, he can work on it and should be proud of himself the way he has played so far this season. Overall, I take a lot of positives out of this game, the Kevin Hayes goal that was called back was a the worst call I have ever seen, and it ended up costing the Eagles big time. The ref must have went to BU. Overall, good effort by BC, but just didn't get the bounces it needed to win the game.

Why BC lost 

1. Notre Dame is one heck of a team. On defense, ND is as good of a team that I have seen all year, and their two big horses up front in Tynan and Lee were as good as advertised.

2. Not enough grade A chances. This is mostly because of ND's great defensive play, but the Eagles need to find a way to create more chances.

Positives

1. I really thought BC played pretty solid vs a good ND team. I like the heart this team showed after an embarrassing game vs BU. This next game @ Yale is as big as this one was so the Eagles need to get right to work on a Yale team that is pretty darn good.

Next Game- @ Yale next Saturday.

Player of the Game-Johnny Gaudreau had another good game tonight with the tying goal, he earns my player of the game.

Happy Thanksgiving,

GO EAGLES

Eagles fall in heartbreaking fashion to Notre Dame

Thats the luck of the irish for ya. One second left in OT, and thats all the Irish needed for a lousy game winning goal in which Parker Milner fumbled the puck and it went in. This is becoming a trend with Milner, he simply cannot seem to catch the puck. Don't get me wrong, he played an OK game but his mistake cost this team some big pairwise points. I thought BC gave a pretty good effort out there toonight, I though guys like Almeida, Gaudreau, and Kreider were on their games but simply Notre Dame's style of forchecking the Eagles was to great to withstand. I didn't catch the whole thing so I will have a full preview tomorrow, just some initial thoughts on the game.

BC lands recruit Brendan Silk.

Brendan Silk, a 6 '1 forward out of Wakefield, MA announced yesterday via Twitter that he will suit up for the Eagles in the fall of 2012. Right now, silk is on the US under 18 development program.

Previewing the Holy War on ice.

Tomorrow, the Eagles will take on a Fighting Irish team that ranks amongst the top teams in the country. Notre Dame is currently ranked #4 in the USCHO poll, and are #2 in the pairwise rankings. The Irish are led by big forwards Anders Lee (12 G, 5 A) and TJ Tynan (3 G, 17 A) and are strong at the goaltending postion with Mike Johnson leading the way with a 2.24 GAA  which ranks him fifth in the CCHA. Like I said last weekend, BC has not lost two in a row since losing to BU at Fenway and then to St Lawrence in a Christmas tournament which was over a year and a half ago. If BC gives that effort they gave vs BU, expect them to lose by a wide margin simmilar to last weekend. The Irish are an extremely talented team up front with five of their forwards being NHL draft picks, and four defenseman to go along with that. This year, Notre Dame moved into the brand new state of the art Compton Ice Arena, and will show it off tomorrow vs the Eagles in a game that will be televised on CBS College Sports, puck drops at 7:35. After last weekend, not many people are giving the Eagles a chance vs an Irish team that has won six of it's last seven, and are also coming off a huge win @ #10 Western Michigan on Tuesday. If the Eagles give that effort we have seen at times this season like the ones @ North Dakota, @ UNH, @ NU, and vs Maine, I know BC can win a game that means A LOT (I will get into that in a little). It will be tough, but a win in South Bend could give this team the confidence it needs when it plays BU in two weeks.

Keys for the Eagles. 

1. Get pumped for this game. BC just got killed by BU, If that sentence alone doesn't get them amped up to play this game then I don't know what will.

2. ND's PP ranks first in the CCHA and twelfth in the country. If BC gets penalties like they did vs BU, guess wat ? they will lose.

3. Limit Tynan's and Lee's chances. These two players are good, very good. Try to keep them as far away from Parker Milner as possible. Try to limit the shots from the perimeter, not up close.

4. Give a solid effort. This a huge game, and when I mean huge I mean one if the biggest games of the year. Give it your all and you can win, play like you did vs BU, your gona get killed.

Why this game means so much 

For those of you that are not familiar with the pairwise rankings, it is the system that the NCAA selection committee uses to select the sixteen teams that will play in the NCAA tournament. Right now, BC is seventh in those rankings, and ND is second. A win on the road vs a good team = a good amount of pairwise points. If BC can win on the road vs a great team, then they should move up big time in the pairwise.

Last time out and series info- The last time these two teams met was on 10/23/10 and the Irish managed to bring down the then #1 Eagles by a score of 2-1. Boston College is 16-12-2 all time vs Notre Dame.

Prediction- Losing two games in a row under Coach York doesn't happen often especially after that effort vs BU. BC in a nail bitter, 4-3.

My picks for the weekend.

My Notre Dame preview will be up later tonight.

GO EAGLES

Looking back at a wildly disappointing weekend

Any weekend when you lose to those Terriers is considered a tough weekend, no matter the circumstances. The Eagles were able get off on the right foot with an exciting win vs NU on Friday in which Tommy Cross scored a goal with 2.8 seconds to go to give the Eagles win. The Eagles seemed to be right back on track but once again, the inconstancy of this team showed on Sunday vs BU. BC was flat right from the get go and really got it taken to them from start to finish by a BU team that I was very impressed with. Our PP is horrible at the moment for two reasons. We can't seem win a faceoff if our lives depended on it, neither center Arnold or Mullane can find a way to win it back to the point to get the PP set up. Another problem is the defensive parings on both units. Paul Carey has really struggled from the left point postion on the unit with the Hayes line and Brain Doumoulin (who also had his worst game in a BC uniform). BC now looks forward to it's two biggest non conference games on the schedule with Notre Dame this weekend and Yale next. Time to get down to business, no more of those games I saw vs UMass and BU or else this team won't do anything this year. Never again will BU celebrate on our home ice, it's embarrassing to see them skating around on our ice after crushing us 5-0. It's an image that this team must take with them the next time these teams meet on December 2nd and 3rd.

Looking ahead to Friday now. This game @ Notre Dame is huge for BC. If the Eagles can squeak out a win in a tough environment vs a very very good hockey team, the reward would be a great amount of pairwise points. Losing to BU leaves an awful taste in my mouth as it should with those players after that horrific performance in front of their fans that came down to watch them play their archrival and I guess the BC players were looking forward to a party or something because they sure didn't want to be playing hockey vs  Jack Parker and the Terriers. That performance was unacceptable and based on past results, will never happen again, hopefully. To be the best you have to want to be the best, and the way this team is playing as of late it looks like they don't want to be the best. They want to go out and give it fifty percent vs their archrival and yet they still think they can win. Until next time,

GO EAGLES.

Boston University embarrasses Boston College 5-0

Alex Chiasson had a goal and and assist for BU. 

When you are playing your playing your biggest rival on national TV, you are supposed to be pumped up and try your heart out. Not the case with this BC team. BU got it started with a goal just fifty four seconds into the game and just dominated a BC team that is looking for answers after it's worst lost in a long time to BU. BC came into the game thinking "hey were better then these guys let's just go out fifty percent" o did Jack Parker and the Terriers have something for them. BU dominated every phase of the game whether it was power play, penalty killing, blocking shots, creating chances, goaltending, coaching, you name it BU was better. BC had it's chances, going a whopping 0/8 on the PP including 0/3 in the first. I could nto be more impressed with BU's PK and their ability to get down and block shots and hustle to the puck giving BC forwards no time to make plays. An embarrassing performance from an Eagle team that continues to think that they can go out and give fifty percent effort and beat a good team like BU. Awesome job by Jack Parker and the Terriers coming in and dominating from start to finish.

Why BC lost 

1. Goaltending. Parker Milner really struggled out their as it seemed he could not track the shots that BU sent his way.

2. The Power Play. The Power Play is the worst I have ever seen it, neither unit seems to want to get any quality shots to the net. On the other hand, BU's PP was the best I have seen this year.

3. The Penalty Kill. Maybe it was the fact that BU's PP is so good, or maybe our PK was just horrible.

4. No Chances created. BU did an amazing job of getting down and blocking shots agianst a BC team that could not getting anything to the net.

Positives 

1. Nothing, all around horrible game.

Next Game- Friday @ Notre Dame

No player of the game today. 

Rivalry Renewed: Previewing that other school

Here we go... chapter two hundred and fifty five between Boston College and Boston University. Tomorrow's game is obviously a big game, it will be physical, emotional, and a great display of hockey between two extremely talented teams. As of late, BU has really been on a skid with embarrassing losses to Holy Cross, Providence, and Lowell but they did beat Denver, kill UNH, and probably should have beat Merrimack last night. Compared to last year, this BU team is definitely more talented , as their big line is the line of Chiasson-Coyle-Nieto, all of who are the top scorers on the team. Compared to BC, BU is not as fast but  definitely has a little more size up front with Chiasson, Coyle, and Wade Megan all of whom are big boys who can play. The biggest problem for this years Terriers ? goaltending. Goalie Kerrian Millan has a 3.37 GGA so far this season, ranking third to last amongst all goalies in the league. If BC can get pucks to the net on Millan (who will most likely be in net) good things will definitely happen based on Millan's struggles so far this season. Here we go, BC vs BU, the best rivalry in sports.

Players to watch- Matt Nieto (6 G, 5 A), Charlie Coyle (1 G, 8 A), and Alex Chiasson (4 G, 4 A)

Keys for the Eagles 

1. Feed off the crowd. The crowd will be rocking tomorrow at Conte meaning the Eagles must get off to a good start vs a Terrier team that is going to be flying after a tough loss vs Merrimack.

2. Goaltending. BU will sustain some pressure on Parker Milner. Milner needs to be at the top of his game, and the defense needs to prevent grade A chances for the Terriers.

3. Take it to this defense. This defense can be lazy at times with the puck, so get it deep an be on the attack.

4. Get shots on Millan. Millan can be shaky at times, get pucks to the net and goals are bound to go in.

Last time Out- BC beat BU in the first round of the Beanpot 3-2 in OT.

Note- According to the BU Hockey Blog, Corey Trivino could play tomorrow.


Prediction- BC 4 BU 2