Taking a look at next years schedule

Now that August is upon us and hockey season is just two months away, it is time to start to take a look at next years title defense schedule. First off, this is by far the best home slate we have had in a long time. The Eagles have a couple of great non-conference games @ home vs teams like Notre Dame, Dartmouth, and Yale. Also, the Eagles get two home games vs in league rivals like Maine, UNH, and Lowell. BC will have just one home game vs archrival BU but I consider two games @ Agganis home games because we win there so much. For the second time in three years, the Eagles will open @ Northeastern and then host the Huskies on Banner Night the next week (Merrimack was at Conte for the last Banner Night). Personally, I love the fact that BC plays a rival like NU on Banner Night. One of the big similarities between this years slate and last years is that the first half is much tougher than the second. Playing @ Northeastern is always tough, Lowell will be real good, Notre Dame is loaded this year, and road trips to Maine, UMass, and BU certainly won't be cakewalks.

Like I said, the aspect that I like the most about this schedule is that while it has some real tough games to start with, the second half is much easier. Obviously Vermont won't be very good this year, Maine will struggle, and Merrimack may have a tough time scoring goals. The one team that could be dangerous in the second half is Providence but PC, like every other team in Hockey East (besides BU), never wins at Conte Forum. Another game that is sure to be a barnburner is the first round game of the BC Invitational vs Harvard. Believe it or not, this may be Ted Donato's best shot at winning the coveted Beanpot trophy with all the talent they have this year. The holiday tournament out in Minnesota is also sure to be a good one. The Gophers are absolutely stacked this season (they will be preseason #1) and the rematch with the Eagles is sure to be a good one as it could feature the top teams in the nation. One thing that is very weird is that no matter how BC does versus Alabama Huntsville, we still face Minnesota the next night in what will most likely be the championship game. 

There are however some flaws in this years schedule. First of all, traveling to Maine on a Friday and having to drive right back for a Sunday game vs UMass is extremely out of the norm. Another extremely abnormal thing about this schedule is that the Eagles have a total of five Sunday games. Even though two of those games are days before a holiday or on a holiday break, it is still very out of the ordinary that BC is playing five Sunday games. I don't mind the 4 PM start vs Lowell or the late game vs UNH (the next is Presidents Day) but I don't like the 5pm game @ The Jack Parker Rink or the 7pm start vs UMass. The Sunday game @ The Mariucci Classic does not bother me because it is during holiday break.

Until next time,

GO EAGLES

Title Defense Schedule Complete

Earlier today, Hockey East announced their 2012-13 compositie schedule for the season. The only games that are new on the schedule are the 10/19, 11/4, and 1/18 games vs UMass and 10/6 home exhibition game versus New Brunswick. BC will open the season at NU on 10/13 and will have Banner Night, also vs NU, on 10/20.

Roy Update

The dominant story these days in college hockey is that former Brown recruit Kevin Roy and his brother Derick have decommited from the university and are looking at other schools for next year. Let me first say that I really don't know a lot about the western schools and if they have a chance of landing the Roys but I can say a couple things about the eastern schools. Let's start with our dear Eagles. As much as I would love to see Kevin Roy in the maroon and gold next year, I don't think it will happen because of Kevin's brother Derick (a goalie). While there may be an open scholarship for Kevin at BC, the Eagles already have two sophomore goalies and adding another freshman (Derick) next year would make no sense. Basically, there is no point in having four goalies on the roster when three won't even play (Milner, Billett, Barone, Roy). You may ask "Why can't we just get Kevin (who is the star forward) ? " Kevin is not going anywhere unless he gets assurance that his brother can join him as well. Derick Roy probably doesn't want to go to a school where he won't even see the ice. In the end, I don't like Roy's chances of ending up in Chestnut Hill.

Let's move on to our archrival from down the street. With Adam Clendening leaving BU a couple of weeks ago, the Terriers may also have an open scholarship for Kevin Roy but Parker already has two freshman goalies coming in the fall. It has been rumored that BU has been the most aggressive team in pursuing the Roy brothers but it doesn't make much sense for them to have three freshman goalies on their roster next year. Like BC, I wouldn't put BU's chances of landing Kevin Roy too high.

As for the Northeastern Huskies, they have the best chance to land Kevin Roy. I have to be honest, I feel bad for Jim Madigan and his team. They lost some guy named Gaudreau last summer and he only went on to be the most dominant player in college hockey over the final two months of last season. Also, just a couple of months ago standout goalie Jon Gilles decommited from NU and later announced his intentions to attend Providence this fall. This season, Chris Rawlings will enter his final season as the goaltender for the Huskies and like last year, he may struggle at times. If that is the case, Derick Roy would be a perfect fit for NU as a backup to Rawlings and could even get some playing time if and when Rawlings struggles. As for Kevin Roy, NU has the most scholarship money remaining out of the teams in the hunt to land the Roy brothers, just look at how many players they lost this offseason. Another key element in looking at NU is that their assistant coach Jerry Keefe is a former assistant at Brown and played a role in getting the Roys to commit there.

One more team to look out for is the Vermont Catamounts. UVM, like NU, lost a star recruit last week in Zemgus Girgensons who decided against going the college route and signed with the Sabers. With Girgensons gone, UVM probably has some scholarship money to offer the Roys so, they are one of the front runners to land them. I assume that we will learn more in the next couple of days and I will be sure to relay any news I get.

Golf note- How about Ernie Els ?!?

GO EAGLES

Report: Roy decommits from Brown

Earlier today, a report came out that highly touted Brown University recruit Kevin Roy has decommited from the Bears and will now consider other options. Just last week, Roy told The Pipeline Show that he would indeed honor his commitment to the Bears. One of those options could very well be Hockey East but it probably won't be BC . The two Hockey East schools that have the best chance of landing Roy and his brother Derick (a goalie) are Northeastern and Vermont according to sources. Both of those schools have lost a bunch of big name recruits the past two seasons (NU lost Johnny G, UVM lost Girgensons). More news will appear in the next couple days.

UMass hires John Micheletto...Are You Serious ?

Today, a report came out that UMass has hired Vermont assistant coach John Micheletto for their head coaching postion, replacing former coach Toot Cahoon. Unlike last time with Rand Pecknold, multiple people have confirmed the move. First of all, I want to make clear that I have never met Micheletto and I hear he is a great guy so none of what I am going to say is personal but the more I think about this, the more I realized that if true, this hire makes absolutely no sense for UMass but more importantly, for Hockey East. Sure, people will say  "O yea, great recruiter or " he runs a great power play". The bottom line is however, UVM came in dead last place this past season in Hockey East. They had the worst scoring offense in the league and had the 8th ranked power play in the league. DEAD LAST place in Hockey East. Sure, the guy has had minimal success but compared to Coach Cav, this guy has done absolutely nothing. Let's compare Micheletto's resume to Coach Cav's. Micheletto has helped UVM get to one Frozen Four, they have zero National Titles, and they also have zero league titles (regular or post season). Ever since their Frozen Four in 09, UVM has finished 8th, 7th, and they missed the playoffs last year. At BC, Coach Cav has helped lead the Eagles to four National Championships, 6 Beanpots, and 9 Hockey East tournament titles. Wow.

Looking for head coaching experience ? Micheletto was the head coach at the Hill School and was an assistant at Notre Dame and Union before coming to UVM. So, unlike previous reports, McCutcheon decided to hire a guy that really has no head coaching experience. I am still trying to figure out if reports are true that McCutcheon didn't leave BC on the best of terms, because it appears very obvious that he wanted nothing to do with the two Boston College assistant coaches. O by the way, in the three games UVM played the Eagles last year, BC outscored UVM by a total of 15-1. If the guy is a great recruiter why have they finished in the bottom half in the league every year since their Frozen Four ? What was UVM's record last year ? 6-27-1. Why do I care so much about who UMass hires as their coach ? To be honest, if it wasn't going to be Coach Cav or Coach Brown, I really wouldn't have cared. But let's be honest, if we are at a point in our league where teams are hiring guys who's teams have been just awful the past couple years, then I don't know what to say. Just a little side note that Notre Dame is entering the league next year. Let's see how a team that has talent but also has a coach who's old team went 6-27-1 last season fares against Maine, BU, Notre Dame, and the defending National Champs.

Catching Up

As we head into the weekend, there was some major news circling around Hockey East this morning (even though it has nothing to do with BC). Zemgus Girgensons, a highly touted Vermont recruit, has decided to forgo his commitment to UVM and sign with the Buffalo Sabers. Girgensons will report to the Sabers' AHL affiliate for next season according to reports. Seems that Kevin Sneddon and his staff can't catch a break these days. Another big story, while not concerning Hockey East, is that the Kitchener Rangers (CHL) are suing the University of Michigan's student paper, the Michigan Daily. About a week ago, Matt Slovin, a reporter for the Daily, reported that UM recruit Jason Trouba was getting offered $200,000 by the Rangers to jump out of his commitment to UM and sign with their team. I follow Slovin on twitter and I think he does a great job reporting about the Wolverines so hopefully it all gets settled sooner rather than later. Another big story that came out is that Mark Carlson has turned down UMass' offer to become their next head coach. Carlson is currently the coach/gm of the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders (USHL). Earlier it was reported that UNH assistant Scott Borek interviewed well with UMass AD John McCutcheon and could be a potential candidate to land the job. A UNH assistant over a BC assistant. Wow.

Earlier today it was announced that former Eagle standout Benn Ferriero signed a deal with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins now have six former Eagles in their system. Congratulations to Benn and hopefully he can make the most of this opportunity. With regards to the schedule, I have not added anything new but I am pretty sure BC will play @ UMass on 10/19 (the night before banner night) and on 1/18. The third game is not yet known but it could be in the beginning of November. 

Until next time, 

GO EAGLES 

What is really going on at UMass ?

It has been about three weeks now since former UMass-Amherst hockey coach Toot Cahoon called it quits after coaching the Minutemen for twelve seasons. When you look at the quality jobs in Hockey East, obviously BC, UNH, Maine, and BU are the biggest ones but after that could be UMass. You would think that this job could be filled very quickly with all the strong candidates available. Fast forward three weeks and the Minutemen still have no head coach and there is just a couple weeks before the players start coming in for preseason workouts. So, you have to wonder, what in the world is going on out in Amherst ? First of all, McCutcheon (the AD) says that he has not offered the postion to anyone yet but  reliable sources have said that he absolutely has offered the job to at least one candidate. I hear yesterday that they offered the job out for a third time to current USHL coach Mark Carlson but here we are twenty four hours later and we still  don't know if he has even accepted it.

I know I have said this before but I find it really hard to believe that a candidate as strong as Coach Cav ,with his resume, would pull himself out of contention when he was clearly one of, if not the strongest candidate in college hockey. I almost get the sense that there is an anti-BC bias @ UMass and I am really not sure why that is. I don't know much about McCutcheon's time at BC but I have to wonder if he left on good terms with the school. When I think about it, how in the world could UMass offer their head coaching job to two coaches that haven''t really won anything. Last time I looked, college sports is about winning and in the case of Coach Cav, you are talking about a seventeen year track record of success that is second to none. I know everybody thinks that a blind duck could recruit at Boston College but why don't you take a look at BC's record before Coach York (and Cav) came to The Heights. It's pretty incredible what they have done.

Coach Cav Says No to UMass and Eagles in Camp

As reported earlier today, Coach Mike Cavanaugh has decided to take his name out of consideration for the head coaching vacancy at UMass-Amherst. I spoke with Coach Cav earlier today and he said "Not much to say about it (the job)...just was not interested in the job". If you are any candidate right now, not just Coach Cav, you have to be very disappointed about the way the UMass AD is handling this search. It is one thing to be denied by multiple guys behind closed doors and it is another to be denied in public. I am not going to go into my huge lecture on why Coach Cav should have been hired for this job because obviously, he did not want it. As we move closer and closer to the fall, UMass is going to need to hire a guy and they need to do it real quick. Whoever UMass hires, the guy will have some talent to work with as the Minutemen return some key guys but all of these guys were either coached by Toot Cahoon for an extended period of time or they were recruited by him. Not a good situation if you are a Minuteman fan. While Coach Cav is out of consideration for the job, Coach Brown is still a candidate and may have a shot at landing the job depending on what the committee decided on in their meeting earlier tonight. Hopefully, we find out what happens this week.

As for the defending National Champions, a whole bunch of future/current/former Eagles are currently attending NHL development camps across North America this week. A grand total of fourteen (Parker Milner was at two camps) future/current/former Eagles attended camps either this week or last including former captain Tommy Cross and goalie Parker Milner who were both at Bruins (Milner also at Red Wings) camp last week. Future Eagles Chris Calnan (Chicago), Adam Gilmour (Minnesota), and Frank Vatrano (Calgary) were also invited to their respective teams' camps. Here is a list of all Eagles currently in camp-

Calgary- Johnny G and Frank Vatrano (incoming freshman)

Pittsburgh- Brian Dumoulin and Philip Samuelsson

Washington- Barry Almeida and Pat Wey

Detroit- Parker Milner

Boston- Parker Milner and Tommy Cross

Minnesota- Adam Gilmour (a 2013 recruit)

Chicago- Chris Calnan (a 2013 recruit), Pat Mullane, and Kevin Hayes

Florida- Mike Matheson (incoming freshman)

Colorado- Paul Carey

Video- Johnny G at Flames camp

Until next time,

GO EAGLES

Pearl Turns Down UMass

Today, the University of Massachusetts was yet again humiliated when another coach turned down their head coaching job. Minuteman fans are clearly very upset about the way the administration has handled  the search to this point. What we do know is that Paul Pearl (the head coach @ Holy Cross) was offered the job (he was the #1 choice) but turned it down for what he called "family reasons". Once again, the Minutemen will go back to the drawing board to find another candidate. Hopefully they get it right this time by picking one of the two best assistant coaches in college hockey.

Sources: Pearl is leading candidate in Amherst

Yesterday, sources told us that Holy Cross head coach Paul Pearl is the front-runner to replace Toot Cahoon. While it is not official and Pearl could go back to Holy Cross if the Crusaders offer more money, the move seems imminent.

False Reports

Earlier reports about Rand Pecknold leaving Quinnipiac to go to UMass are wrong. It is not known what the situation is. This means Coach Cav or Coach Brown could get it. More to come. 

Sorry for the confusion, 

GO EAGLES !

Who would be on BC Hockey's Mount Rushmore ?

Earlier today, I was going through the US College Hockey Online fan forum and saw what I thought was an interesting question, who would be on your programs Mt.Rushmore ? Basically, you have to pick the top four legends in the history of your program. Now, when you talk about BC Hockey, you are talking about arguably the best program in the history of college hockey, so obviously it's tough to pick four guys. Anyways, I came up with my top four guys but feel free to comment or email who would be on your BC Hockey Mt. Rushmore.

John "Snooks" Kelley. He is the father of Boston College Hockey and without the base that he provided for the coaches after him, I am not sure this program would be where it is today. All three (well if you count Cedorchuk) coaches since him were former players of his and all have said that without his mentoring, they wouldn't be the coaches they were/are. Besides being the father of the program, Snooks recorded 501 wins, a National Title, and eight Beanpot titles (a BC record) in his thirty six years as the head coach of his alma mater.

Coach York- If you don't have Coach on your list, then you should strongly consider just leaving the website now. I don't need to go into a long explanation on this one. Just think about it, 5 National Titles, he will have more wins than any other coach in the history of the sports by mid season,  6 Beanpots, and is also the main reason BC is the better program on Comm Ave these days (which is a huge component). Yea, BC was good before he came here but they never really won a whole lot (they had some really good teams however). Ever since Coach York has come back to Chestnut Hill, well we all know what has happend.

Brian Gionta- Once again, no real debate here in my opinion. Brian Gionta is going to have a banner dedicated to him one of these days and rightfully so. We could be sitting here all day talking about some of the records Gionta holds at BC and in Hockey East. Some that stand out are he has the most goals ever in Hockey East history (83) and is second in goals per game all time behind BC's own, Scott Harlow. Don't agree with me ? I have seen a media person ask Coach York "Who is the best player you have ever coached " ? and he replied," Brian Gionta".

Nathan Gerbe- Ok, I know a lot of you are going to disagree with this one and I see why. My reasoning behind putting Gerbe on this list is because that 2008 season was the single greatest season I have seen in my time watching BC Hockey (I didn't really see Gionta). Think about it, game winning goal vs BU in the Beanpot semifinals, two goals in the NCAA title versus Notre Dame, and countless highlight reel goals. He had that ability to take over a hockey game like no one else did/will. To be honest, that 2008 team was good but they were not great. #9 made them great.

Guys that need to be considered- 

Joe Mullen
Lenny Ceglarski
Brian Leetch
John Muse
Dave Emma
Mike Mottau
Corey Schneider
Coach Greg Brown

Until next time,

GO EAGLES !