Previewing the University of Vermont Catamounts.

The conversations I've had with people about this BC Hockey team over the course of the past few weeks have gone like this. I tell them I'm worried and all that..they reply with, "They'll be fine, they always play well this time of year". Last year, it was this very weekend where the guys got hot and didn't lose another game for the rest of the season, winning the coveted Beanpot, Hockey East championship, and eventually, the NCAA title. Anyone can do anything when they have confidence in themselves. That is what this club needs to try and develop tomorrow night vs Vermont. They need to get their swagger back. The Eagles have lost two in a row and three of their past four games but all hope is certainly not lost, especially with a victory tomorrow night. Last weekend was just full of defensive breakdowns, no continued offensive pressure, and poor special teams (especially the PP). Star defenseman Mike Matheson has missed three and a half games over the course of the past couple weeks and with him getting healthier day by day, I look for BC's defense to improve. Actually, no, it has to improve. Without Colin Sullivan (upper body), I expect that the staff will play 5 defenseman and maybe dress 6 (not sure about McMullen...either way he won't play). Defensive zone play has to become a priority for this team tomorrow night. No bad turnovers in the neutral or defensive zones and keep the Catamount offensive zone rushes to a bare minimum.

On the offensive side of things, the Eagles will go with some new lines, of which I cannot report to you tonight but be sure to check in tomorrow afternoon for them. I can't tell you the combinations but I can say that they were put together so that BC can have 3 scoring lines, not just two lines that can score and two that do nothing offensively. The offensive production last weekend was close to horrendous and the blame shouldn't go to the bottom 6 guys because their job is not to put up 3 goals per game. No. Some of BC's big guns like Mullane, Johnny G, and Hayes really struggled vs Maine and if they aren't scoring any goals, then well, this is a very average hockey team. Billy Arnold and Steven Whitney continue to play at a high level but with out the help of the other three, goals will be very hard to come by for this squad. One guy that I really hope starts to improve for tomorrow and Monday is Johnny G. We have seen what he can do when he is on but Maine completely shut him down last weekend. He made some good plays here and there but he just hasn't been himself. When he is playing like he was before the break, this is one of the top teams in the country. When he isn't, this is not a great hockey team. Plain and simple.

Tomorrow night's opponent, Vermont, is also in a bit of a slump as they have lost 5 of their last 6 games with the one win coming last Saturday night vs UMass. On the road in Hockey East this season, the Catamounts are 1-3-4 and in the overall standings, they currently sit in 8th place. Up front, UVM is led by senior Chris McCarthy (6-12-18) and sophomore Jacob Fallon (7-9-16). UVM ranks 9th in goals scored per game (2.25) and goals allowed per game (3.12) as freshman goalie Brody Hoffman is last in the league in GAA, giving up an average of 2.96 goals per game. I hope that BC learned their lesson last weekend when Maine came down here and beat them. Any team in Hockey East can beat any other team. BC had two really off nights last weekend and the Black Bears took advantage. That being said, I really hope that the Eagles are able to put together a full 60 minute game tomorrow before the big one on Monday. I think the return of Matheson should help the defense and special teams, the power play especially. In the end it doesn't come down to what UVM does. It comes down to the effort that BC brings to the table and if it is 100 %, then the chances for victory are high. If it isn't, well, you saw what happened last weekend.

Keys for BC-

1. Need to score the first goal. BC plays well when they have a lead. They don't play well from behind. This team isn't built to come from behind. They have got to find a way to get on the scoreboard first tomorrow night.

2. Have to find a way to finish chances. There were so many grade A chances for the Eagles last weekend and they rarely capitalized. That needs to change this weekend.

3. Finish periods strong. I don't know the exact numbers but it appears to me that this team is giving up a lot of late period goals. They gave up two vs Maine last weekend, one vs UMass, and one vs UNH. I'd like to see them finish periods a bit stronger.

Scouting Vermont-

Pairwise Rank- Not Ranked

Hockey East rank- 8th

Leading Scorer- Chris McCarthy

Power Play rank-8th

Penalty kill rank-10th

Best Wins- vs Union, vs Providence

Worst Loss- Penn State

Go Eagles.

Coach York, We Need You, and We Need You Now

By now you probably know that the University of Maine came down here and completed the sweep of Boston College last night, winning the season series, the only team to do so this year in Hockey East this season. I'm not going to recap the game so much as I am going to talk about the state of this team right now. Here are my thoughts.

First of all, congrats to Tim Whitehead and his team. Maine fans have been calling for him to be fired for what seems like forever now and he might have saved his job with two wins in Chestnut Hill for the first time in 8 years. That Maine club may be struggling but I can assure you this, I do not want to see them again in the Hockey East playoffs or any time soon. I thought guys like Devin Shore and Joey Diamond were phenomenal this weekend and were clearly the two best players on the ice for either team.

I'm not going to try and smooth things over like other BC Hockey writers may. Things are not looking good around here. Everything needs to change starting today. Every practice, every team meeting, and every game must be approached with a new attitude. It can't be ok let's just show up to the rink and go through the motions. No. Guys need to show up everyday and ask themselves "what can I do to make my team better ? " I'm still trying to stay positive when it comes to this team but right now, it's hard not to be worried. I don't know if it's the leadership starting with the captains or the general attitude in that locker room but something is not right and it needs to change immediately. I'm not going to dive into specific players and all that because it's impossible to point out guys when everybody's game is down. I can't think of one guy that played well in both games this weekend. Whatever Maine's coaching staff drew up for this weekend worked. Their first, second, third, and fourth lines all outplayed BC's. Their defense was as good as I've seen all year, and Ouellette played outstanding. BC was bad but Maine's play made them look even worse. Congrats to them...they certainly deserved it.

What can I say ? Chris Kreider or Brian Dumoulin or Cam Atkinson or Brian Gibbons are not going to come walking through the door anytime soon. I honestly thought things were going to change after that win vs Northeastern but apparently not. Someone told me yesterday that we'll be fine once Mike Matheson and Colin Sullivan are back. Those two guys were here vs UMass last weekend. Did that change anything ? No. Yes, it is true that I drove home from Orono almost exactly a year ago today thinking the same things that I am now. "This team is done". "No NCAA's, no Hockey East, no Beanpot. "It's over". Thankfully, I was wrong. However, last years team was so different from this team that you can't even mention them in the same sentence. I'm not saying they were so much better than this team but they just had so many parts. Whenever BC needed a big play last year Chris Kreider came through. He ain't stepping on that ice Friday night vs Vermont.

There is however one advantage BC has over every other team in college hockey. Jerry York. He always seems to get his teams playing their best hockey around this time of year. If you asked me last season after the Maine series if I thought that team would do anything I would said no way. Unfortunately, I don't feel too differently sitting here writing tonight. Are my overreacting ? Maybe a little, but I'm trying not to sugarcoat this situation for you. I wish I could sit here and tell you that things will be ok and all but I can't. I can however tell you that we have the greatest coach in college sports and that he is known to change teams like no one has ever done.

I'm not questioning the teams effort or their work ethic. Guys don't come to play here if they don't want to give 100 % each and everyday. Who are my to question their effort ? I am however telling you that everybody on that team needs to sit down and ask themselves how they can help make this a better hockey team. If everybody can do that and start to change what they do in practice and in games, I know things will get better. After all, we still have the best coach in college sports.

Panic Time (Almost)

I have no idea what happened last night .None. No clue. It was the same thing we saw vs Minnesota and UMass. Guys just stood around and watched an inspired Maine team skate around them for the majority of the hockey game. Sure, I thought BC improved as the game went on but the first period was just atrocious. This team can no longer just show up to a game and play. They need to find a way to make their effort go way up and if it stays at the level it was at last night, there is zero chance this team does something this season. It's kind of like a golfer who goes out and fires a 68 on Saturday but comes back the next day and fires an 85. Just too inconsistent night in and night out. Yes, there is that chance that this club plays some inspired hockey such as they did vs Northeastern and the first UNH game but right now, they just don't look like they care. I've said it once and I'll say it again. You cannot win purely based on talent in this league. You've got to play your heart out night in and night out and even if you don't come away with a victory, at least you know you gave it your all. Not one player did that last night and if they think they did then well, that's concerning. That's a Maine team that has lost to Merychurst, Vermont, St. Lawrence, and not to mention they have haven't won here in 8 years.

My hope is that some guys will actually take pride in wearing that jersey tonight and will play hard. Last night was an embarrassment to this program and that means no disrespect to Maine and their team. They played hard, they battled, and they certainly deserved to win. Congrats to them. There are not too many "must win" games in January but tonight is one of those, if you ask me. Honestly, I just want to see some guys show up and play hard tonight. There were maybe two or three guys that I thought played well last night. This team goes as the first line goes. When 13, 21, and 11 are off, like they were last night, then it becomes nearly impossible for this team to win hockey games. When they're on, such as they were vs NU and UNH, then this is one of the best teams in Hockey East.

I don't know what to say about BC's defense. I keep thinking that they will improve after good games but in all honesty, I think we just have to come around and realize that this is an average, at best, defensive hockey team. I'll go on about how I think they keep improving and all that but I can't dodge around the fact that last night was an utter disaster for the BC blue line.

I'll make this plain and simple for you. BC has to win tonight. No ties, no moral victories, no "hey we played well". No. None of that. If BC fans look up at the scoreboard tonight after the game and it reads that Maine has more goals than Boston College, well, then it's officially, panic mode.

Previewing the University of Maine Black Bears

After a shocking upset at the hands of UMass-Amherst but a nice beatdown of rival Northeastern, BC will look to sweep the season series away from Hockey East foe, Maine this weekend at Conte Forum. BC and Maine have met just once this season @ Alfond Arena in Orono, a game in which BC won but it wasn't without a valiant effort from a very young Black Bear squad. Unfortunately for Maine and their fans, there haven't been too many positives so far this season as they sit in dead last place in the Hockey East standings and currently place at 54th out of 59 teams in the college hockey RPI ratings. It's certainly an understatement to say that things are not going well up there in Orono. Surprisingly however, the Black Bears do have a couple of impressive victories over teams like Cornell, @ Lowell, and Minnesota Duluth. The first meeting of the year between BC and Maine was supposed to be a cakewalk for the Defending Champs but I thought Maine played a very hard hockey game. They've got some talented guys like freshman Devin Shore (someone that really stood out to me), Joey Diamond, and Conor Leen that can certainly play. It was around this time of year last season where the Black Bears swept BC and BU back to back and were ranked in the top 10 in the country. But, guys like Spencer Abbott, Brian Flynn, and Will O'Neil are long gone and it's been a struggle to replace them. Maine's defense isn't too bad as they rank in the middle of the pack in terms of Hockey East as they currently allow 2.74 goals per game, good for 6th in the league. The problem for Tim Whitehead and his team has been their absolutely atrocious offensive production as Maine ranks dead last in Hockey East, scoring just 1.52 goals per game. They're currently the only team in the league averaging below two goals a game. I would tell you who is playing goalie tomorrow for the blue and white but right now, it's anyone's guess as time has been split up between Jr's Martin Ouellette and Dan Sullivan while freshman Matt Morris has also seen some game time here and there. Ouellette has played the last four games and was in net when BC came to town earlier in November so if I had to take a wild guess, I would think he will be in there tomorrow night.

Remember when I told you last week that UMass hadn't won @ Conte since 2007 and then they went right out and dominated BC ? Well, the same thing goes for the Black Bears as they have not beaten Boston College in Chestnut Hill since October of 2005 (!). That's kind of amazing considering the fact that Maine has had some pretty darn good teams in that time span. In their only trip down here last season, Maine got shellacked 6-1 and the year before that they were ranked #3 in the country, only to be swept by the Eagles. If you look at Maine's schedule this season, you'd noticed they have yet to win a game in the previously hostile confines of Alfond Arena and have all three of their W's coming on the road. Is Maine a great hockey team ? No, but BC learned it's lesson last weekend. Winning in this league is tough because everybody has some talented players on their roster. Maine is not different and BC can be sure that Maine knows they need some points this weekend in order to stay in the playoff race. I expect the Black Bears to come out with everything they have tomorrow night and I hope BC doesn't treat this like a pushover game such as they did vs UMass. When you're caught sleeping in this league, it's going to come back to hurt you. BC cannot, under any circumstances, let that happen this weekend.

As for BC, they will be without defenseman Mike Matheson who continues to recover from the upper body injury he suffered vs Northeastern last Saturday. The staff expects that Matheson will be ready to go vs Vermont next Friday night. In Matheson's absence, I look at guys like Isaac Macleod and Travis Jeke who really stepped up and played great the last 40 minutes vs Northeastern. Losing Matheson will hurt an already thin defensive corps but I think guys like Jeke and Colin Sullivan are going to build off the games they had vs Northeastern because, really, that was the first time in a while in which I thought BC played some really solid defense. I don't know if BC can play any better than they did in the second and third periods of Saturday's game vs the Huskies but if they could continue to build some momentum and dominate the play this weekend, it would be a big positive heading into the Beanpot. Anything less than 4 points this weekend would be looked at as disappointing but if the Eagles can continue to do what they did last weekend, then they should be able to come away with a couple victories.

Taking a look at Maine

Record- 5-14-4, last place in Hockey East.

Pairwise Rank- Not ranked.

Leading Scorers- Conor Leen (6-5-11), Joey Diamond (5-4-9), Devin Shore (2-7-9)

Best Wins- @ Lowell, vs Cornell

Worst Losses- vs Merychurst, vs St. Lawerence (x2), vs Vermont

All Time Series- BC leads 61-42-9.

Keys for BC

1. Score early and score often. Some early goals would pretty much kill any inspiration Maine has coming in. BC has got to find a way to build off what they did vs Northeastern.

2. Score some power play goals. The Eagles power play has not looked good. Well, it looks fine but BC has too much talent on the PP not to be scoring. They haven't had a PP goal in 4 games now. Simple key for PP- Get the puck to #13.

3. Make life easier for Parker Milner. Keep shots to the outside and avoid giving up 3 on 2's and 2 on 1's.

Go Eagles.

Recruitng Update

Here is how future Eagles are currently performing in their respective leagues.

Class of 2013-

Austin Cangelosi-F- Currently leads the Youngstown Phantoms in scoring with 10 goals and 25 assist and a +10 rating.

Adam Gilmour-F- Like Cangelosi, Gilmour also leads his USHL team, the Muskegon Lumberjacks, in scoring with 12 goals, 17 assist, and a +14 rating.

Conor McGlynn- Another USHL product, McGlynn, more of a power forward type (unlike the previous two) has recorded 3 goals, one assist, and currently has a -8 rating so far this season.

Ian McCoshen-D- BC has a pretty stacked class next year but no name is bigger than McCoshen who has 22 points and an astonishing +23 rating so far for the Waterloo Blackhawks (USHL).

Ryan Fitzgerald-F- No player in the EJHL top 20 scoring list has played less games than Fitzgerald (24) yet he still ranks #20 with 14 goals and 15 assist on the season.

Chris Calnan-F- So far this season, Calnan ranks 8th in the EJHL total scoring list with 24 goals and 19 assist for the South Shore Kings. He's another one of those big forwards at 6'3 200 lbs.

Thatcher Demko-G- The young goalie for the US Under 18 team is having an awesome season as he is 15-4-3 with a .908 GAA and a 2.20 GAA. Team USA, led by Demko, shut out Michigan State tonight in East Lansing by a 3-0 count.

Steven Santini-D- Matheson, Macleod, McCoshen, Doherty, and Santini are going to make up one pretty talented D corps next year. Santini, one of those skilled, puck moving defenseman, has 10 goals and 10 assist so far this year for team USA.

Scott Savage-D- Another one of those highly skilled defenseman that will have a good shot at cracking the lineup next season. Savage has currently recorded 6 points so far this season.

2014

Matthew Gaudreau- Not really sure what the situation here with young Gaudreau is but so far this year he has recorded 3 goals and 8 assist for the Omaha Lancers of the USHL. Like I said, he could also be coming next year.

Chris Birdsall-G- Statistically, Birdsall has struggled a bit this season for the Cedar Rapids Rough Riders of the USHL as he currently post a .857 GAA and a 4.36 GAA. Don't look too much into those however. This kid is a star but is very young compared to guys at his level.

Alex Tuch- F- So far this year for Team USA U 17 team, Tuch has 2 goals and 4 assist in 21 games played.


Guys Who I couldn't find-

Colin White- Forward, class of 2016.

Joey Dudek- Forward, class of 2014

Noah Hanifin- Defenseman, class of 2015

Injury Updates

From behind the bench to on the ice, an injury bug seems to be spreading around the Boston College Hockey program. Let's take a look at a couple of updates.

Coach York- Coach WILL BE behind the bench this Friday and Saturday night vs the Maine Black Bears. He was recovering from two operations on one of his eyes.

Mike Matheson- Just a few minutes into Saturday's blowout win @ Northeastern, it appears that Matheson was badly hit from behind on the boards. I didn't see the hit but I was told that it was bad. Matheson, who is recovering from an upper body injury, is doubtful for both games this weekend vs the Black Bears.

With Matheson most likely out, BC will most likely dress just 5 defenseman, similar to what they did on Saturday once he went out.

Statement Made

I walked out of Conte Forum last night with as bad of a feeling about a BC Hockey team as I've had in a long, long time. Well, tonight, I walked out of Matthews Arena with another one of this feelings about a BC Hockey team. Only this time it was the polar opposite of last nights. Thanks to one of the best efforts I've seen out of a Boston College Hockey team in quite some time, the Eagles embarrassed rival Northeastern @ Matthews Arena by a final score of 9-3. This is the third time since 2010 that the Eagles have scored 9 goals in a game. The other two were @ BU in 2011 and in 2010 vs Yale. Well, I've got a lot to say tonight but I'll start with Coach Cav and Coach Brown. They obviously gave this team a great pep talk because everyone looked ready to play hockey tonight. You would have thought it was a Beanpot or NCAA type game based on the celebration, emotion, and toughness the Eagles played with tonight. Last night, guys looked lifeless from start to finish. On this night, everyone looked like they were on a mission from puck drop to the final  buzzer. That's BC Hockey. Over his three and a half years at Boston College, I've seen Steven Whitney play some pretty spectacular games such as the 5-2 home win over BU a few years back but not one of those performances match what he did tonight. Anytime a guy scores a hatrick and has four points overall, obviously you know he had a pretty solid game but it was the way he scored some of his goals that jumped out the most to me. He didn't just go by the Huskie defenders, he made them look like clowns out there. On one of his goals he literally just took the puck at the BC blue line, went around two Huskie forwards, and just went wide on their defenseman to the net in which he just finished it up in front of NU goaltender, Chris Rawlings. Certainly a special game for #21 in gold tonight.

There was not one guy that played bad tonight. In fact, I'd say close to 70% of the team played their best games tonight. I loved the way Pat Mullane, Johnny G, Kevin Hayes, and Billy Arnold played tonight. I thought BC was physical but at the same time smart for the majority of the game, something they have not had happen in almost a month. I thought BC did struggle defensively in the first period as all three of NU's goals were pretty much tap in's right in front of Parker Milner. However, after the first 20 minutes, BC played as good in their own end as they have all year. In fact, I'd say the last 40 minutes was the best hockey I've seen out of each and every defenseman this season. If I had to single out one guy in particular, it would definitely be Isaac Macleod. Not only did he have a huge goal in the second period but he played some shut-down defense throughout the night. For most of the game, Isaac was put against Northeastern's top line of Roy-Saponari-McMultry. Roy, the freshman sensation that some Husky fans like to compare to Johnny G (ridiculous, I know), was absolutely nowhere to be found. When your team scores nine goals and gives up just six, you're going to have some guys with some high +/-'s. Well, guess who led the Eagles in that category ? Travis Jeke. Like I said out in Minnesota, the kid may be one of the most talented defenseman on this roster but he just has a lot of learning to do. Obviously, he is learning sooner rather than later.

This, if you ask me, was undoubtedly BC's best effort of the season and if they continue to play like this from here on out, well, watch out. The bottom six forwards also were able to get in on the action as Quinn Smith, who I thought played his best game of the year, scored his first of the season in the third period. After struggling in the third period last night and the early parts of tonight's game, Parker Milner started playing some spectacular hockey in the second period. Right after BC went up 5-3, NU was gift wrapped a very long 5 on 3 in which they could have gotten right back in the game with a goal or two. While the Huskies did in fact generate some grade A chances on that particular man advantage, Milner stood on his head and propelled BC to a big kill (at the time). Obviously, it goes without saying that when BC's defense plays like that, Milner's job is much easier.

All in all, this was the perfect statement game for the Eagles. It's not very often that I walk into a rink before a BC game and tell myself that we are giant underdogs. I'm not going to lie to you....I doubted this team after last nights debacle. However, when you beat a rival like that in front  of that crowd with the type of circumstances surrounding the game, you can't help but be happy about the way your team played.

Why BC Won-

1. When BC's top 5 guys (Hayes-Johnny G-Mullane-Whitney-Arnold) are playing like that, there is not one team in this league that can beat them.

2. Best defensive effort of the year, without a doubt. First 20 minutes were bad but the last 40 were as good as it's going to get with this team.

3. They fought from start to finish. There was a mission going into tonight and clearly BC accomplished it. Kudos to the staff for getting everybody ready.

Problems-

Nothing to complain about but the power play didn't score...surprisingly.

Injury Report- Mike Matheson left the game in the first period with an upper body injury. I'll release more information as the week goes on.

Player of the Game- Steven Whitney

GO EAGLES !

Previewing the Northeastern Huskies

Tonight, BC will look to get the ship righted vs downtown rival, Northeastern. While the Huskies have been struggling for the majority of this season, they did indeed get a huge victory over Boston University last night @ Agganis Arena by a score of 6-5. I think this game is pretty hard to preview because while Northeastern is coming off a huge victory vs one rival, it may be tough to do the same thing on back to back nights. On the other hand, the Eagles SHOULD be ready from the get-go tonight after yesterdays utter disaster @ home. On the defensive end, Colin Sullivan will return to lineup after being benched by the staff last night. Brooks Dyroff will move back to forward which means Cam Spiro will most likely be the odd guy out. Other than that, I don't think BC will make many changes to their forward or defensive lines but I wouldn't be surprised if the first and second lines played a lot more tonight than they did vs UMass. If you watched closly, during the second period of yesterdays game, the staff benched the first line after a bad turnover by Johnny G in his own zone that resulted in a 2 on 1 chance for UMass. If BC is going to have any chance tonight, that line needs to be 5 times better than it was vs the Minutemen.

As for Northeastern, they're currently in eight place in Hockey East with a 4-8-2 league record and a 7-10-2 record overall. While their record is not too stellar, the Huskies do have some quality wins over teams like BC, BU, and a tie vs UNH. In terms of statistics, NU is led by star freshman Kevin Roy who recorded two points last night vs BU and had a +1 rating. While Roy, Saponari, and Ferriero make up a pretty good first power play unit, Northeastern will be without two guys they had the first time around vs the Eagles as forwards Cam Darcy and Joe Manno both decided to leave the school just before the holiday break. Not unlike BC, the Huskies main issue so far this year has been their play in their own end. They currently rank 8th in scoring defense, 6th in terms of penalty kill, and 6th in terms of power play. While they may have some difficulties on defense and in the net, Northeastern certainly has a couple of guys that can match up to BC's top 6 forwards. If you've followed BC Hockey over the course of the past couple of years, you know that pretty much every year the Eagles seem to have problems at Matthews Arena. Sure, the first meeting of the year was also BC's first time out there but in reality, NU outplayed the Eagles last time on their home ice. Will the departures have an effect on the game ? Probably not. Will BC need to play one of it's best games of the year in order to win ? Certainly. When it comes to teams like BC and BU, Northeastern always seems to take their game up one or two notches and BC needs to know that they will tonight.

All in all, I'd be lying to you if I told you I wasn't a bit nervous about tonight's game. Is it a MUST win ? Pretty much. Getting swept by UMass and Northeastern would be an absolute killer for this team in terms of the Hockey East and pairwise standings. I do think however, that after last night's debacle, the Eagles will be ready to play tonight from start to finish.

Scouting Northeastern

Hockey East rank- 8th

Pairwise ran- Not ranked

Leading Scorers- Kevin Roy (10-13-23), Cody Ferriero (8-6-14), Vinny Saponari (4-10-14)

Best Wins- vs BC, @ BU

Worst Losses- vs Bentley, @ Vermont

All Time Series- Boston College is 156-47-14 all time vs Northeastern

Keys for BC-

What I said earlier.

1. Less penalties

2. First line needs to start scoring

3. Get on the board first. BC scoring the first goal would be huge

Go Eagles.

Concerning

For the first time in quite some time, you can officially color me concerned about a BC Hockey team. Last night the Eagles got flat out embarrassed on their home ice, something that never, ever happens, by the UMass Minutemen. I'm going to keep this one short and sweet. First off, give credit to UMass. They played faster, hungrier, and looked better throughout  the contest last night. As for BC, what can I say ? I thought Teddy Doherty, Billy Arnold, and Steven Whitney were the only three guys that played somewhat well last night while everyone else looked liked they just didn't want to be there. Johnny Gaudreau was nowhere to be seen thanks to some outstanding defense on UMass' part. We all have off nights but last night may have been the worst I've seen #13 play in his BC career. The stupid penalties continued and in fact, one of them, an interference call on Pat Mullane in the first period, gave UMass a 2 goal lead. It just wasn't good hockey...at all. Let's take a look at what needs to be fixed in order to salvage two points tonight at Northeastern.

1. The first line has got to get going. Make that two straight games where the opponent has completely shut down Johnny G and company. Hopefully, he finds his stride tonight.

2. The power play just could not score. 0 for 6 is never going to cut it and not scoring on a 1 minute 5 on 3 in the first played a huge role in BC not being able to win this game. Maybe it's personnel but right now neither unit looks very good.

3. The defense has to shape up. The staff decided to give Colin Sullivan a rest last night and instead, they moved Brooks Dyroff back to defense. I would think Sullivan will get back on the ice tonight.

4. BC just can't get any sustained pressure in the offensive zone. Time after time they got maybe one or two good shots on net but nothing is sustained for a long period of time.

Hopefully everything improves for tonight's game @ Northeastern.

Previewing the UMass Minutemen

     Coming off the first weekend in quite some time in which they played some solid hockey, the Boston College Eagles will now enter the "soft" part of their schedule as they face the #'s 8, 9, and 10 teams in the league over the course of the next week. Their first opponent will be cross state rival and a team that has given them their fare share of fits over the past two seasons, the UMass Minutemen. So far this season, Boston College is 2-0 vs UMass with both wins coming in nail-biting fashion. In fact, the Eagles are riding high on a 4 game winning streak vs the Minutemen that dates back to last March. With just a slim two point lead in Hockey East, a win tonight is extremely crucial for the Eagles, as every game is. Last week, I loved the way the team played vs a high powered UNH team and if they continue to play at that level while staying out of the box, they should be able to come away with a victory. One good sign for BC ? Well, they haven't lost @ Kelly Rink since last December and have not lost to UMass, a team they have played at home more than other opponent, since November of 2007. The Eagles also haven't lost a conference home game to a team not named Boston University since January of 2010 when they fell to UNH. There is a reason as for why UMass has played well against BC so far this year. That is because like the Eagles, the Minutemen have speedy forwards such as Gracel and Sheary that can certainly score goals and make plays. On defense, UMass is led by Jr's Conor Alen and Joel Hanley, both of whom rank among some of the top offensive defenseman in Hockey East. In the net, the Minutemen will probably be starting sophomore Kevin Boyle who is 0-1 vs the Eagles this year and also ranks dead last in terms of save percentage and is 8th in terms of GAA.

For BC, there are certainly a couple of things that the team must do better if they're to get a win tonight. First and foremost, they've got to find a way to stay out the penalty box as UMass actually ranks 2nd in power play percentage in Hockey East. UMass has also had some success vs BC's PK in particular as they have gone 2 for 5 in the two contest combined. Over the course of the last two games, it appears to me that BC's penalty kill has drastically improved as they killed off some big power plays for UNH last weekend. However, your penalty kill can only do so well when you're in the box so much...such as the case was with BC last week. The majority of the penalties aren't just bad penalties, they're flat out dumb and unnecessary. If BC can spend less time on the man down and more time playing 5 on 5 and on the man up, their play would greatly improve. I look for the defenseman to continue to improve as their play last week was about 100x better than it was vs the Golden Gophers and Yale. Hopefully, guys like Jeke and Sullivan can continue to develop into defenseman that can be trusted each and every shift. I thought all four lines played at a high level at some point last weekend but UNH certainly did a phenomenal job of shutting down Mullane, Johnny G, and Steve Whitney on Saturday. Those guys have got to get back to the way they were playing on Friday night. Other than that, I don't think the Eagles should try and change too much of what they did last weekend.

All in all, I'm going to be interested to see if BC can continue to play like they have been @ Kelly Rink. The UMass seniors have had each of their respective seasons ended by BC on the road and the Eagles can be sure that they will be coming out with everything they have tonight. It is very, very rare that a team like UMass doesn't come out with everything they have versus the Eagles and I wouldn't be surprised to see them do well tonight.

Taking a look at Massachusetts

Leading Scorers- Brandan Gracel (8-10-18) and Conor Sheary (4-10-14)

Best Defenseman- Conor Allen and Joel Hanley

Goalie- Kevin Boyle. Ranks 11th in save percentage, 8th in GAA, and 6th in win percentage.

Hockey East Rank- 8th

Pairwise Rank- Not Ranked

Best Wins- vs UNH, vs Dartmouth

Worst Losses- Vs Lowell 8-2, vs Northeastern

All Time Series- Boston College is 54-12-3 all time vs UMass.

Keys for the Eagles-

1. Stay out of the penalty box. Hopefully this is the night where they start to go on the PK less and the PP more.

2. Keep getting quality play from all four lines. The third and fourth lines were both good last weekend. That needs to continue.

3. Smart defensive zone play. No turnovers, no stupid penalties, and keep blocking shots.

Go Eagles

Midwek Column

As they do every year, the Eagles have played as brutal of a schedule as their can be up to this point. So far, BC has played the #1, #3(x2), #5, #8 (x2), #12, and # 18 (x2) teams in the country. BC's record in those games ? A solid 6-3-1 record and not one of those losses have come @ Conte Forum. The best news out of all this ? The Eagles will play their next 5 games versus opponents that rank 7-10 in Hockey East, with all but one of those games coming at Kelly Rink. The point ? If the Eagles want to get a leg up in the pairwise and Hockey East standings and gain some momentum heading into the Beanpot, now is the time. They have got to find a way to play like they did in Friday's contest and in the third period of Saturday's loss. Over the course of the next three weeks, 10 Hockey East points are at stake. Anything less than 10 points and 5 straight victories vs these lowly teams would be deemed as a disappointment. Last weekend I thought BC did a good job, especially in Friday's game, of playing solid in their own end which led to smooth breakouts and multiple odd man rushes, many of which resulted in goals. You'd have to go back a little while to find a weekend where this team played as solid in their own zone as they did on Friday and Saturday. The one thing that I thought prevented BC from winning on Saturday night was it's inability to stay out of the box which eventually led to the game winner for the Wildcats. BC did a phenomenal job of killing a lengthy 5 on 3 and 5 minute major in the second but because of it, they were gassed by the end of the period and gave up the first goal of the evening. I'm not going to point the finger right at Mike Matheson and say he is the main perpetrator on this team but in all honesty, BC is a lot better of a hockey team when he is on the ice. Matching him with the Johnny G or Hayes line usually results in some very good chances for the Eagles. Of course, that can't happen when he is in the box.

As for this weekend, both games come against teams that always seem to bring out their best vs BC. I'll get to Northeastern on Saturday but two days from now, the Eagles are going to be going against a UMass team that has only won one Hockey East game since Thanksgiving and they have yet to beat one of the top three teams in the league. The Minutemen's struggles at Conte Forum have been well documented by many but Friday night is going to be pretty much as close to a "must win" as possible for them. They're currently in a tie for eight place with BC's other opponent this weekend, Northeastern. My point is that BC needs to expect UMass to come at them with everything they have and anything less than an effort like last weekend's would be a step in the wrong direction. Both games vs UMass this year have been ones in which the Eagles didn't get out to the best of starts and were this close to being upset because of it. Scoring early and often in the first period would  be nice to see from a BC perspective.

So, what are the things the team needs to sharpen up this weekend ? The main goal is to stay out of the penalty box. If you ask me, there are not many teams in the country that are as good as BC is when it comes to 5 on 5 hockey. You saw what the guys did vs UNH on Friday when there were just three penalties the whole entire game. However, you see games like Minnesota, Yale, and Saturday's where the Eagles put themselves in a hole because they're either giving up power play goals or their spending literally half a period in the box. I would like to see the secondary scoring continue as I'm sure the staff has to be pleased with the way the bottom two lines played last weekend. When they're playing at a high level, it makes this team that much deeper and thus, that much better overall. On the goaltending end, I thought Parker Milner played some his best hockey of the year on both nights and whenever there are some defensive lapses, he seems to always be there to cover it up. I look for a hard fought game on Friday night between one team that looks to extend their league lead and pairwise rank and another that looks to get it's season back on track with what would be a giant win. Hopefully, the good guys come to play and prevent that from happening.

Notes-

Recruits Steven Santini (47th), Ian McCoshen (21st), and Ryan Fitzgerald (48th) were all ranked on the ISS's top North American draft prospects list that came out yesterday. All three will be coming to the Heights in September.

As I said on Monday, Coach Cav and Coach Brown will continue to lead the team during both contest this weekend. My best wishes go out to Coach York as I hope he is back on the bench as soon as possible.

Go Eagles

Weekend Review

As I was walking out of the Whittemore Center on Saturday night, I thought to myself, "hey you know what, this was once heck of a weekend". Sure, BC came out on the wrong side of things on Saturday vs the Wildcats but when it came to 5 on 5 hockey this weekend, BC was the better hockey team, in fact, they played their best 5 on 5 hockey in a long, long time in both games this weekend. The loss on Saturday was a real tough one to swallow especially with the despicable calls made late in that hockey game. I try as hard as I can on the blog not to try and act like a BU person and rant about the officiating for 15 minutes but in all honesty, I think BC could have came out on the right side of the stick if not for some suspect calls. Anyways, I'll stop ranting. First off, I really liked the way all four lines played this weekend, whether it was on the regular sheet at Conte or the big ice @ The Whit. I thought each and every line had moments in which they created some odd man rushes and could have scored some goals. You could clearly see that with Johnny and Destry back in the lineup, everyone was a little bit more comfortable in their old roles, ones they have not been in since early November. Seeing all twelve forwards play like that vs a tough team like UNH is as big a positive as BC can take out of this weekend.

On the defensive side of things, everyone is certainly improving day by day. I thought freshman Travis Jeke took some big steps out there this weekend, especially in Friday's win. I liked the way Teddy Doherty and Pat Wey play when paired together. They're quickly becoming BC's go to D pairing and in order to get two wins this weekend, their solid play must continue. One problem that I'm sure the staff has already addressed is Mike Matheson's tendency to take so many penalties. If you ask me, he is without a doubt BC's best defenseman and when he is on the ice, anything can happen because of his terrific speed and playmaking ability. Not to mention he is also one of the main guys Coach Cav turns to when BC goes on the penalty kill. He cannot be in the box. When he is taking penalties, it kills this team and in order for BC to succeed in all phases of the game, he needs to be on the ice, not in the penalty box. Otherwise, I loved the way BC's defense competed this weekend. Yes, there were some problems and a turnover here and there but I thought for the most part, each and every guy stepped up his game this weekend.

As for the special teams, I thought the penalty kill was solid for the most part on both nights even though they gave up the eventual game winner on Saturday. Killing off two 5 minute majors in less than a week is no easy task and it is clear that the unit is getting better at every aspect in that part of the game. As for the power play, I'm not really sure what to say. It is quite evident that the addition of Johnny G has clearly helped the first unit but the bottom line is that they didn't score at critical junctures in Saturday's game. I look for both PP units to have a big weekend vs the Minutemen and Huskies.

Overall, it is pretty safe to say that this club is moving in the right direction. When it comes to 5 on 5 hockey, this team looks a whole worlds better than they did vs Yale and the Golden Gophers. If you ask me, BC was the better team when it came to 5 on 5 hockey this weekend and if they can stay out of the box, they will have a chance to win each and every game. On the injury front, many have asked about Patrick Wey after he suffered a wrist injury on Saturday. He is fine and did indeed practice full today.

Notes-

The school announced today that Coach Cav and Coach Brown will continue to lead the team as Coach York will remain out for this weekend. The school also said that the night to commemorate Coach York,, which was supposed to be Friday, will now be on a later date.

BC remained #2 in the USCHO poll.

The Eagles will host UMass on Friday before heading to Matthews Arena on Saturday to face the Huskies.

Eagles Fall @ UNH

That was a tough one to swallow. Thanks to a power play goal from John Henrion with about 5 minutes to play, the UNH Wildcats upended the Eagles by a 2-1 score. Look, I thought BC played well last night and even though they were outshot badly, they still had a chance to win the hockey game. It was however a bit unfortunate that the refs decided to become a 7th man on the ice for the Wildcats, evident by UNH's 6 penalty minutes to BC's 27. The first questionable call was late in the first period when Mike Matheson, who literally had taken one stride out of the box, elbowed Kevin Goumas in the head. I didn't get a good enough look at the play but I don't know if it looked as bad as the one Matheson had a week ago vs Yale. Whether it was a penalty or not can be debated but what cannot go unnoticed is Matheson's tendency to take penalties. BC is already short on the defensive side of things and him going out and taking all these penalties, it just kills the team. Although BC did a phenomenal job in killing off the 5 minute major, which was actually a 5 on 3 for 2 whole minutes, they gave up a costly goal with just 30 seconds left in the period.

I loved the way BC battled and competed in the third period. They controlled the play when it came to 5 on 5 hockey but unfortunately they got screwed over once again after a Kevin Hayes trip, which also led to a UNH power play goal. Although they had a lot of help out there, give UNH and their coaching staff a lot of credit because they completely shut down Johnny G last night. BC's big line was not as much of a factor as they were on Friday and because of it, goals were hard to come by. With under a minute to go in the contest, the officials ruled a penalty shot in favor of BC because they thought a UNH player covered the puck with his hand in the crease. I was right behind the net and I'll try to be as unbiased as possible here but the bottom line is....he covered the puck. After discussing the play for a minute or two, they refs decided against giving the Eagles the opportunity and thus, ending their chance for a big road victory.

If you asked me whether I thought this weekend was a success or a failure, I would say a success in a second. Why would I say that ? Because I thought BC played well in 5 of the 6 periods they played this weekend. Unfortunately, the Wildcats and the refs did a great job of teaming up in the second period of last nights game and were able to come out with a victory. Unlike the games vs Yale and Minnesota, I thought BC competed and played hard when it came to 5 on 5 hockey. Overall, it's tough to come out on the wrong end of the stick but there were a lot of things the staff has to be happy about.

Sorry for the short post, I'll have more tomorrow.

Go Eagles.

He's Back.

Thanks to multiple point nights from Johnny G, Pat Mullane, Steve Whitney, Kevin Hayes, Billy Arnold, and Destry Straight, the Boston College Eagles pulled off perhaps their biggest win of the year as they defeated the UNH Wildcats by a score of 5-2 Friday night @ Conte. What can I say ? There is nothing anyone can do to stop Johnny G when he decides to bring his game up to the level that he did tonight. I just can't explain it, he just sees everything about 4 or 5 seconds before anyone else does and because of that, BC is able to get fantastic chances to score goals. However, the game actually didn't start the way the Eagles wanted it to as UNH scored almost halfway through the first period off a bad turnover by Patrick Wey behind Parker Milner. It looked like Wey was trying to make a play off the boards but just got out-muscled by a UNH forward who eventually centered a pass out front for an easy tap in. After that goal though, it was all BC, all the time. The Eagles dominated the remainder of the first and were rewarded with beautiful goals from Kevin Hayes (thanks to a great pass from Billy Arnold) and one from Pat Mullane who put home an out of this world pass from Johnny G to make it 2-1 after one. In the second, BC continued to outplay a talented Wildcat team that had a very hard time to adjusting to the speed at which BC played at tonight. Throughout  the second stanza, BC played solid in their own end and because of it, they were able to create a ton of odd man rushes, which eventually led to goals from Johnny G, Arnold, and Mullane.

Let's start off by giving credit to the first line. They played maybe their best game of the year tonight even though they were on the ice for a long, long time. Pat Mullane said it best in his post game presser when he basically said that Johnny G just makes everyone around him a much better hockey player. Sure, BC has had a lot of real good hockey players come through and make their mark but none of them, not even Gionta or Gerbe had the ability to do some of the things Johnny G can do. I mean look, is it just a little bit out of whack that BC gets smoked by the Gophers 8-1 and got badly outplayed by Yale without him and they come back and dominate the nations #4 team ? No, it's not a coincidence....he is that good. Overall, I'm sure the staff is happy about the way all four lines played tonight as it was the first time in quite a long time where each and every forward played at a high level. BC didn't get any secondary scoring tonight but the bottom six forwards certainly played very well in both ends and probably should've had a goal or two. It's difficult to win games when you have one player or one line playing at a high level, especially against teams like UNH.  It takes a full team effort to utterly dominate teams like those. That's what BC had in them tonight.

The thing the staff has to be really happy about tonight is the play of the defenseman (besides that little blemish by Wey). BC actually did get outshot overall but thanks to some really fine play by the D core, most of UNH's shots were from the perimeter, ones that were easy saves for Parker Milner. One guy that I thought played his game of the year tonight was Travis Jeke. He is one of those guys that is filled with talent and ability but needs to be thrown into the fire a little bit before he can take the next step. Tonight, thanks to his solid puck moving and smart play in his own zone, he looked like one of those guys that can start to be relied on more and more. I will be interested to see if he is able to carry that momentum of good play into tomorrows game on the Olympic sheet.

All in all, I'm really happy about the way the Eagles played tonight. They played fast, the played aggressive, they manifested their speed and skill, and most importantly, they played @ 100 % for a full 60 minutes. That's what it takes to beat teams like UNH. You've got to be at your best from puck drop to the final horn. BC did that tonight as because of it, they've got a chance to pick up a weekend sweep tomorrow night @ the Whit.

Also, congrats to Coach Cav and Coach Brown on getting the win tonight. They certainly did a phenomenal job in Coach York's absence.

Why BC won-

1. Johnny G was Johnny G. Plain and simple.

2. They played really hard for a full 60 minutes. Whether it was offense, defense, or special teams, I thought BC gave it 100% all night.

3. They created odd man ruses that really seemed to throw UNH's D off. That needs to continue tomorrow night.

Player of the game- Johnny G.

Next Up- @ UNH  tomorrow. 7 PM puck drop.

Previewing the #4 New Hampshire Wildcats

In what might be the biggest weekend of the regular season, the Boston College Eagles, who will be without Coach York, will take on long time Hockey East rival New Hampshire Friday night @ Conte and Saturday in Durham. It's pretty difficult to put into words how big this weekend is in terms of the pairwise, Hockey East standings, and the overall outlook of the remainder of the season. Look, everyone knows that the team has been struggling after getting demolished by the Golden Gophers and suffering through a tough tie at home vs Yale but help is indeed on the way as Johnny G is set to make his first start in an Eagle uniform since the early December home win vs BU. Yea, the Eagles struggled in all three of their games without him but if you've watched the team at all this year, you know that it's a whole new ballgame when #13 hits the ice. Johnny being back will not fix anything however if some guys don't snap out of their own little funks as too many guys slept through the Yale game looking like they didn't even care to be there. That needs to change and if you can't get motivated to play in games like the two this weekend, then you shouldn't be a part of this hockey team. Big games like these are the type you want to play in and are a big reason why guys commit here.

As for the Wildcats, they don't have many flaws. They lead the league in special teams net, have one of the best netminders in the country, have the best D core in Hockey East, and have a couple of high powered forwards that are among the countries brightest. UNH has only lost two league games this year and just one of those came on the road when they fell to UMass in early November by a 3-2 (OT) count. Their other loss came at home vs the the Terriers. Leading the Cats up front will be Jr Kevin Goumas, who has a team high 26 points to go along with a +17 rating and sophomore Grayson Downing who is second on the team with 8 goals and 7 assist along with a +12 rating. It's going to be fun seeing the two best lines in Hockey East go against each other for the first time as I hope the addition of Johnny G will help rejuvenate the play of Pat Mullane and Steven Whitney. On the defensive side of things, the Wildcats are 1st in scoring defense as they have only given up an average of 1.94 goals per game (the second most is Lowell who is averaging 2.35). In order to put more pucks in the net, BC is going to have to try and get a consistent attack on the UNH defense, something they were not able to do at all vs Minnesota and Yale. It's certainly a lot harder for BC to win when guys like Whitney, Mullane, and Straight are not scoring at the rate they should be. Hopefully, the return of Johnny Hockey helps those guys get the puck into the back of the net.

All in all, it's hard not to get excited for this weekend after the tough games the team has had over the past two weeks. When it comes to the defenseman, we can only pray that another week of preparation and practice does them good and hope they will be able to do their jobs. For guys like Sullivan and Jeke, their role is simple. Play your position in your own end, remember to always be covering your man, do your best job of avoiding turnovers, and help start fluent breakouts that will lead to odd man rushes for the Eagles. If they can keep it simple and not try to do too much with (and without) the puck, then I believe we will start seeing better results out of them. As for the team as a whole, they've got to find a way to stop taking so many penalties. It's not an excuse for the bad performances as of late but it certainly doesn't help when you're taking a penalty every 5 minutes. I look for a weekend full of fast paced and exciting hockey which means that whatever team brings their absolute best effort on both nights will almost certainly walk out with a victory.

Keys for the Eagles-

1. Stay out of the box and capitalize when given man advantages. UNH doesn't take a lot of penalties but BC has been flying high on the PP as they currently rank #1 in the country.

2. Make life easier for the defenseman by keeping the puck in the offensive zone. Cycling and forechecking are going to be key tomorrow. BC needs to do a good job in both those categories because the more time they spend in UNH's zone, the better off they'll be.

3. Need the first line to get going. It would be nice to see them return to the form we saw earlier in the year when they were by far the best line in the country. With 13 back, they should be able to pick up the pace.

Taking a look at UNH-

Best wins- vs BU (x2), @ Denver

Worst loss- vs UMass

Top line- Goumas-Burke-Henrion

Pairwise Rank- 3

Power play rank- 5th

Penalty kill rank- 1st

All Time Series-Boston College is 64-62-12 vs UNH and enters the series on a 5 game win streak vs the Wilcats. BC also won the last meeting in January of last year up in Durham.

Prediction- I'll go 3-2 BC tomorrow

Go Eagles

Coach York Out for UNH Series

Coach York will not be behind the bench this weekend when Boston College takes on New Hampshire on Friday and Saturday night. He had outpatient eye surgery today. Coach Cav and Coach Brown will split the head coaching duties in his absence. 

Midweek Column- Gearing Up for the Wildcats

With  the HUGE weekend looming, I thought it would be good to go over the top 5 things BC needs to do in order to get back on track. There are a ton of reasons as for why the Eagles haven't played too hot this past month but I think if they can focus on these 5 things, it would go a long way in having a successful weekend.

1. Getting the offense going now that everyone is back. This will be the first time since November 11th that BC has it's full stack of forwards as Johnny G and Destry Straight were both out for a period of time. With those two back, the Eagles will once again have their always dangerous first two lines of Johnny G-Mullane-Whitney and Hayes-Arnold-Silk/Straight. I also think the return of Johnny G will help the bottom two lines because guys like Smith and Sit play better in those type of roles than they do when one (or two) of the top six forwards is out. I look for BC's offense to get back on track this weekend.

2. Take as much pressure off the freshman defenseman by spending as much time as possible in the opponents end. The longer the Eagles, led by their first two lines, control the puck in the Wildcat end, the shorter amount of time the freshman defenseman will be running around in their own zone chasing the puck. BC has got to find a way to get pucks deep, get guys on the puck, and create turnovers or else UNH will spend more time in BC's end which will probably leave to more goals for them.

3. Stay out of the penalty box. This has been a huge issue for this team in the past few weeks. Whether it was giving the Golden Gophers 7 power plays or the Bulldogs 6 of their own, BC is spending too much time shorthanded when they're already with their best playmaker. Penalties don't always lead to goals but they almost always give the opponent golden opportunities to score some goals. BC cannot be the team that takes more penalties this weekend or else they will certainly pay the price.

4. Get the puck on the wall, break it out, and create odd man rushes. No team is better than BC when they're breaking the puck out and creating odd man rushes through the neutral zone. BC Hockey has always been about speed and an uptempo style of play and in order to beat a UNH team that likes to play at a bit slower of a pace, the Eagles need to make sure that they are the team that dictates the pace of the game.

5. Just give the puck to Johnny G. It may sound stupid and all that but seriously, when this guy has the puck, something good will come out of it. His linemates, Mullane and Whitney, need to be the ones that are not only giving him the puck but are the ones that are creating space for him and for themselves so that they can be ready to receive a pass. Hopefully, when the game gets close in the third period, the staff puts him on the ice more and more because as we saw in Russia, he' not too bad of a hockey player.

Preview up tomorrow,

Go Eagles

The Johnny G Effect

Ever watch those movies where the superhero has something going on in his life and has to leave for a while and when he is gone, the whole city erupts and violence is everywhere ? Well, the same can be said (not the violence part) for BC Hockey. The past couple of games have not been up to the standards that this club holds for themselves and with the #4 New Hampshire Wildcats waiting in the wings, the Eagles need to have as good a week of preparation as they've had all year. Now, I'm sure you all are aware that BC is going to get back a guy that's not too bad at hockey and he kind of proved it vs the best 20 year olds in the world. Ya, that guy would be Johnny G. I'm not saying you can throw out the past few games as it clearly showed some flaws in each and every guy but in reality, getting #13 back helps in so many ways that go beyond his playmaking abilities. First of all, this will be the first time since November 11th that the Eagles will have their full forward lineup. With Destry Straight out for about a month and Johnny G is Russia, many guys were put into roles that may not have been best for them. Now with Johnny Hockey back and ready to roll, BC will be able to recreate it's two outstanding scoring lines of Johnny-Mullane-Whitney and Hayes-Arnold-Silk/Straight. It's kind of ironic because you really couldn't pick a better weekend for these guys to be back.

I'll save my previews and stuff for later in the week but for now, all you need to know about UNH is that they're very good, especially in their own zone. It's going to the toughest test of the year for a BC team that will hopefully get back to hitting it's stride like it was just before winter break. Some people may tell you differently but not having Johnny G on this team is like the Broncos being without Peyton Manning. It's a whole new ballgame when 13 is on the ice because he makes every guy that is out there with him a better hockey player. Look, BC only lost one game this season when they had their full slate of forwards. Straight being out for so long also left a hole on both the second and third lines and it will be interesting to see whether the staff puts Destry back with Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold or if they decided to keep Brendan Silk on the second line. I would try to guess but right now, I don't think they could go wrong either way although Silk has certainly started to put the puck in the net since he was moved up.

From goaltending, to offensive production, to the power play, and especially to the defenseman, everything is going to need to be in tip top shape for Friday night. UNH is probably the deepest team in the league meaning the Eagles' third and fourth lines are going to need to step up and play some good hockey. One of the biggest areas that Johnny G will help in is special teams. Whether it's penalty killing or on the power play, it gives the Eagles a little more depth and options (especially on the power play where 13 is a magician). Yes, some will freak out because of the losses to Minnesota and the tie vs Yale and some will tell you that BC is overrated because of it but if you ask me, I wouldn't say a thing until #13 hits the ice on Friday night.

Go Eagles.

Eagles Tie Yale

"It's a work in progress". Those were the word of Coach York following the teams 3-3 tie to the #17 Yale Bulldogs Friday night @ Conte Forum. Don't be fooled be the score however as BC was outshot by a 48-22 margin, a stat that clearly shows which team should have won the hockey game. First off, hats off to Yale. That's a good hockey team and they came in here and dominated the game from start to finish. Despite being down 2-0, Yale battled back and eventually scored three straight goals to go up 3-2. Certainly, that team deserved better last night. As for the home team, I don't know what else to say. I'm officially worried about this Eagles team. Sure, missing the best player in college hockey is never an easy thing to overcome but it looked like some guys were totally disinterested in being at Conte Forum last night. That's not acceptable and being outshot by more than a 2-1 margin (at home might I add) is totally out of this world and if the defense doesn't shape up, this team won't be going places anytime soon. I thought BC was lucky to get out to a 2-0 advantage like they did when Brendan Silk pounced on a rebound early in the second stanza because really, Yale was controlling and it was only a matter of time before they got on the board. Thanks to some more boneheaded penalties and poor decision making, BC made it rather easy for Yale to storm back and go up 3-2 before the Bulldogs took some bad penalties of their own late in the second. I was pleased to see that the power play came up big and scored that must needed goal to tie it up after being handed a lengthy 5 on 3 but in reality, when it came to 5 on 5 hockey yesterday BC got totally outplayed in every aspect.

There were some good things to take out of this game starting with the 5 minute penalty kill early in the third period. Thanks to a stupid contact to the head penalty in the final seconds of the second period by Mike Matheson, BC was on it's heels for much of the start of the third but were fortunately able to get out alive. In my opinion, that moment right there was the difference between a BC loss and a BC win/tie as the Eagles didn't really allow the Bulldogs to get anything set up until the last minute of the man advantage. For about five minutes after the penalty, BC seemed to be humming again and creating some scoring chances but were denied thanks to some nice saves by Yale goalie Jeff Malcolm. While the power play did score the tying goal late in the second, they had another golden opportunity late in the contest but were unable to get anything going. As for the OT, I thought Yale controlled the play for the majority of the 5 minutes and had some great chances to win it but it may have been the only period of the game where the defense actually stood up and made some plays. That was good to see.

Unfortunately, there were a lot more things that went wrong yesterday than there were things that went right. It seemed that only a handful of forwards looked like they were out there to try and win the hockey game while some others were looking forward to getting the heck out of there and enjoying their weekend off. As for the defense, I would say that things can only get better but the best offensive team in the league, UNH, is coming to town next Friday. Uh oh. I thought Parker Milner was fine tonight except for the second Yale goal which looked like it was shot from beyond the blue line. Besides that little mishap, he pretty much saved the game for the Eagles.

Look, the bottom line is that thing are looking a little bit shaky right now. The defense is (very) suspect, the forwards aren't producing, and the team is getting dominated when it comes to 5 on 5 hockey. Of course, the best news last night is that the team will get Johnny G back on Monday which should certainly help out everyone. Next weekend may be the biggest of the year and it will be very tough to win with the way this team is playing right now but with Johnny Hockey back and the defense getting another week of practice under their belts, a couple of wins is not out of this world.

Positives-

1. The penalty kill was solid last night. They gave up one goal but the 5 minute major that they killed off was a huge momentum swinger.

2. Some guys like Billy Arnold and Kevin Hayes played pretty well and looked like they wanted to be there and win the hockey game. Others meanwhile looked slow and disinterested throughout the contest.

Problems-

1. Giving up 48 shots is never something you want to see and it's a pretty good stat in terms of showing just how bad BC played in their own end.

2. The effort and consistent play was never there last night. BC was never able to constantly get pressure on Malcolm and the Yale defense.

Next up- UNH weekend.

Congrats to Johnny G and Team USA on the gold medal ! Certainly an awesome accomplishment.

Previewing the #17 Yale University Bulldogs

Boston College will look to get back to it's winning ways this weekend when they face off vs ECAC foe Yale Friday night at Conte Forum. As we all know, the Eagles got smashed last weekend in Minnesota as they fell to the host Gophers by a score of 8-1 in what was a pretty horrendous display of hockey. The best news is that the Eagles will be facing off against what is a solid Bulldog squad but is certainly nowhere near the same caliber of the Golden Gophers. Unfortunately, BC will once again be without Johnny G who continues to shine out in Russia during the World Jr Championships. I don't expect that the staff will make many lineup changes if any for this game but I wouldn't be surprised if you see some lines get a lot more playing time than they normally do. On the defensive end, the Eagles will have defenseman Isaac Macleod back from a shoulder injury so that should help smooth out the play in the defensive end. Look, I know lots of people are freaking out about the five freshman defenseman and all that but in reality, I do think it's going to take a lot of time for them to fully adjust but they will.  Parker Milner played his worst game of the year last weekend but I don't think the staff is too concerned with his play because he has certainly proved his worth over the course of his career at BC. If you ask me, the biggest problem right now is BC's penalty kill. Known for usually having the top PK in the country, BC's PK has been struggling since the start of December when they gave up a few vs the Terriers. The key to having a good penalty kill is having a goalie that can make some tough saves and usually Parker Milner does that but it certainly wasn't evident vs the Golden Gophers. Hopefully, everyone killing penalties tomorrow night snaps out of this funk and plays well.

While BC was having a rough time out in Minnesota last weekend, the Bulldogs didn't have much luck of their own back here in New England as they got stunned by Holy Cross on Saturday night. Besides that bad loss, Yale actually has some pretty quality wins over teams like Denver, Colorado College, and UMass so they certainly can't be taken for granted (especially in Johnny G's absence). So far this year, Yale ranks 5th in the ECAC with a 3-3-1 record in league and a 7-4-2 record overall. Leading the way for the Bulldogs so far this year is junior Kenny Agostiono who has currently racked up 7 goals and 10 assist. Also carrying the load up front, are seniors Andrew Miller (5-8-13) and Antoine Laganiere (9-7-16). In terms of team stats, Yale ranks 15th in the country in offense as they have averaged 3.15 goals per game and have allowed an average of 3 goals per game which ranks 45th in the nation. On special teams, the Yale power play ranks in the middle of the pack at 18th in the country scoring at about a 17% for the season. Their special teams and scoring are a bit above average but their team defense and goaltending, which has killed this team in the past, have not been great . They don't have a goalie that ranks in  the top 30, in either save percentage or in shutouts.

It certainly goes without saying that tomorrow night is going to show a ton about this Eagle team. Sunday was a disaster for everyone involved but hopefully the guys learned from it and can play well in front of a home crowd where they have not had a lose in over a year. I look for a game that is going to come down to the final 20 minutes and is going to be won with solid goaltending and special teams. I expect that Parker Milner will be back on his game and playing at a high level which should certainly help out the struggling penalty kill. One thing that I think would be a real positive for BC tomorrow would be scoring early. In games that they've won and played well in, the Eagles haven't just scored first but they've scored early and often. I think a tally in the first couple of minutes tomorrow night would go a long way in working towards a W.

Keys for the Eagles-

1. Not letting up a power play goal. I have been pretty disappointed in the play of the PK unit but I think tomorrow is an opportunity for some guys to redeem themselves. Need to win the battle of the special teams.

2. Getting off to a fast start. It didn't happen vs the Golden Gophers but it certainly needs to vs the Bulldogs. Getting a lead after the first period would be huge.

3. Everyone needs to give a better effort. If BC plays like they did on Sunday, a loss is probably imminent. I look for everyone from the bottom up to play at a higher level than they did last weekend.

Scouting Yale-

Key players- Kenny Agostiono, Antoine Laganiere, and Andrew Miller.

Best Wins- @ Denver, @ Colorado College, vs UMass.

Worst Losses- vs Holy Cross, vs RPI.

Pairwise Rank- 10

Injury Report- Macleod in, Alber out.

Go Eagles !

Why It's Not Time To Panic

Sunday night Boston College suffered one of the most embarrassing and lopsided losses in a long time as they suffered an 8-1 beat down at the hands of the University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. Let me start off by saying this. That Gopher squad is one of the best college hockey teams I have seen in a long time and I would absolutely shell shocked if they're not in Pittsburgh when it's all said and done. However, I am not going to sit here and say that BC could not beat that team if they were playing at full strength and were at a neutral site. If you look at the past few years, BC has actually had some pretty bad performances over Christmas break. Last year they fell to Michigan, the year before they won the Ledyard Bank Tournament but almost fell to Colgate, and the year before that they got killed by St .Lawrence and the University of Denver. No, I did not think BC was going to beat the Gophers on Sunday night but I definitely thought they would make some sort of a game out of it. They obviously did not and because of it, they head back to Chestnut Hill with lots of question marks but even in defeat, it's not time to panic and make lots of changes. Here's why.

First of all, the Eagles were without the best player in all of college hockey this weekend and it clearly hurt them. Johnny G adds something to this team that cannot go unnoticed and without him, it seemed to effect the play of all four lines, not just the first line. Even with Johnny G, I'm not sure the Eagles could beat that team in Minnesota but I do think they would have a chance at home or at a neutral site. I wouldn't count out seeing that team later on in the year. Secondly, having 5 freshman play against the most potent offense in the country was a complete disaster. As time goes on, I think you will see guys like Jeke and Sullivan improve and become more reliable but right now, they are still adjusting to the college game and if they don't adjust quickly, this team could be in big trouble. The best news is that BC will not have to face another team like that for the rest of the season (unless of course they meet in Pittsburgh). There is no team in Hockey East that can match the offensive talent and skill that the Gophers have but with a complete roster, I'm fairly certain that BC could give them a run for their money. This weekend, BC will take on ECAC foe Yale and will be at home for the first time in a month. To date, Boston College has not lost a home game since early December of last year when they fell to archrival Boston University. BC will not be able to get a victory this weekend if they don't do something about their totally inept penalty kill. Over the past couple of seasons, that unit has been one of, if not the best PK units in the country but over the past few games, it has got increasingly worse. The main reason the Eagles got blown out of the building on Sunday was because they took 8 penalties and were punished big time as the Gophers scored on 4 of those 8 man advantages. Sure, the penalties need to come way down but I must say I'm a bit surprised by how much the PK unit is struggling.

Look, Sunday was not what anyone was hoping for but maybe it will be a good wake up call for a lot of guys on this team. Every game is a big one but Friday is going to show us a lot about this Eagles squad. Baring an upset by  the Czech Republic tomorrow morning, the Eagles will most likely by without Johnny G once again. Yale is a good hockey team but they're no Minnesota and with BC being at home, they should be able to beat them even without their star forward. Hopefully a strong week of practice will lead to what would be a big time victory on Friday night.

Go Eagles.