Midweek Column- Time to make a move, now.

This team needs a big half from guys like Kevin Hayes

With the exception of Other School week, this may very well be the biggest weekend of the year for this Boston College team. I know I say this a lot but this team is really struggling right now in many different areas even though the results haven't really showed it. Yes, Hockey East is a competitive league, I mean just look at Northeastern who is 8th in the league but they are 17th in the pairwise and are said to be favored vs BC this week. Over the course of the last four games, BC has averaged just two goals and are seemingly not creating many chances. I think the issue with this team is it's confidence. I think they were about to peak after the magical win at that dump of a campus on the other side of The Ave but the break killed them and then they didn't have Arnold for the GLI which created a lot of offensive problems. Now that this team has it's full opening day roster it is time to fly and the time is now.

As we look at the weekend ahead, UMass might just be the biggest road game this team has played in a while. The Minutemen are undefeated @ The Mullins and seem to be playing some very good hockey. UMass is similar to BC in that they have speed. TJ Syner is one of the more underrated players in the league so the BC defensive attack must be ready. Not only does BC need a win, they need to win BIG. Scoring 2-3 goals a game is not going to cut it vs teams like Maine, Merrimack, and The Other School. Some guys really need to start putting the puck in the net in order for this team to get back on track.

When I look at this team I think "wow they have some really good skill and speed" with these traits, you need to be able to put the puck in the net. Guys like Kreider, Gaudreau, Arnold, and Carey did a very good job of that in the first half but their production has dropped and it is clear on the ice. Those are the guys that have overall, have done their jobs and played pretty well. The guys I really want to see come up big are Whitney, Hayes, and Mullane. Of the returning players, Pat Mullane was second on the team in scoring from a year ago and Steven Whitney has more speed and skill than anyone on this team. They must step up on the offensive end for this team to succeed.

This team is good and they work hard. The talent is there for this team to really start to go on a run and go deep into the national tournament. My theory is that over the last 10 years here at BC, we have had some great scorers. Brian Gionta and Nathan Gerbe were two guys that could really light the lamp when their team needed it. This BC team does not have that. Somebody, whether it be Kreider, Gaudreau, Arnold, or Carey needs to step up and take control. If the scoring goes up, this team will win a lot of games. If it doesn't well this team is not going places this year.