Decision Time

For the five or six year I've seriously followed Boston College Hockey, I can't ever remember their being a preseason where the staff had to make some cuts to the roster. That's pretty amazing if you think about the talent we have been fortunate enough to watch around here the past few years. Unfortunately, I don't think that streak will continue this season. The staff needs to make some changes to this team simply because there is too many guys that will never see the ice. I'm not going to sit here tonight and make predictions on who will be gone by next Thursday night and who won't be because that would be extremely disrespectful to the staff but even more so the players that walk into the rink each and every day and put their heart on the line for this team and this school. Playing a college sport, let alone at such a prestigious institution like BC, has to be one heck of a challenge both on the ice and off. I mean not only do you have the staff and team looking after your every move, but you've got insane bloggers writing about every time you screw up on the penalty kill or power play. It cannot be easy, whether your the best player on the team or a guy that rarely plays.


There is always a slim chance that the staff could keep everyone on the team for the start of the season and make some tough decisions as the season progresses but I just don't see twenty eight guys getting on a plane to Ann Arbor next Tuesday. As good as it must feel to be the best coach in college hockey history, this is the one week of the year where it must stink to be Coach York. These aren't players from an old regime. Nope, these are his recruits. Guys that he offered the chance of a lifetime to play at Boston College, whether it was on scholarship or not. It must be the worst feeling in the world having to say to one of those kids "sorry, we don't have room".

I said I wouldn't make any predictions and I won't but I will say this- Danny Linell is going to play a bigger role on this team than I originally thought. The staff really likes him back there on defense even though he struggled at the end of last season. I'd be shell shocked if he isn't in the starting lineup next Thursday. However, there is an exhibition game Sunday afternoon and it could be the biggest game of the year for some guys  (no joke). This could be their final shot at making a last impact on the staff (assuming they wait that long to make cuts). If and when they do make these decisions, I don't expect that there will be more than two or three. Maybe one defenseman and two forwards, nothing too major.

Once again, here is the projected lineup as of today. Minimal changes. Bold indicates major battle for spot.


Johnny G- Arnold- Cangelosi

Hayes- Fitzgerald- Calnan

Smith/Straight- Brown- Richardson

Straight/Smith- Sit/Gilmour- Silk


Matheson- McCoshen

Macleod- Santini

Doherty- Linell/ Savage (Linell in lead)


The interesting thing here is that Mike Sit continues to battle a lower body injury. He tried to skate in a red medical jersey today but only lasted about five minutes. If he can't stay healthy, then the door for Adam Gilmour to claim that final center spot is wide open. Also, Destry Straight is a little banged up but I wouldn't worry about that.

That's all for now. Tense couple of days upcoming in the land of Eagle Hockey.

Go Eagles !!

Latest Lineup Projections

Over the course of the last couple of months, I've been taking numerous stabs at trying to predict the lineup for this season. I've only been to a couple of practices but I think I've got a bit of a better sense of what the lineup will like fourteen days from now @ Michigan.

Here is my latest stab


Johnny G- Arnold- Calnan

Fitzgerald- Hayes- Cangelosi

Straight- Brown-Richardson

Smith- Gilmour- Silk


I don't know about you but I really like that lineup. I think the third and fourth lines are going to be leaps and bounds better than last years and also I don't think you will find a better 1-2 punch in Hockey East than BC's first two lines. Coach York said at Hockey East media day that he expects "at least eight" freshmen to be in the lineup and above I have five which leaves us with three. Now for the defense.

Santini- Matheson

McCoshen- Macleod

Doherty- Savage


A week ago, I had no clue who was going to get the final defensemen spot. Seven days later, I'm still not even close to 50% but I have seen and heard all good things about Scotty Savage. There is no doubt that he is a talented player that will be a solid four year guy but the big question was will he start right away. The staff still has time to figure it out but right now, I think Savage slightly leads Linell for the final spot.


Another notable thing I took away from media day was that Coach York didn't say who was going to be the starting goalie. Now, I wasn't thinking he was going to go in there and say flat out that Thatcher will start game one but it sounded to me like it was a relatively close contest between him and Brian Billett. We should know who is in the lead come late next week.


That's all for now.

Go Eagles.

14 days.

John Muse Signs With Bruins

Former Boston College goaltender, John Muse, has signed a contract with the Boston Bruins, returning to the TD Garden where he amassed a 13-2 career record in the Beanpot and Hockey East championships. The two losses were to Northeastern in the 09 Beanpot and to Boston University in the 09 Hockey East semifinals (ugh). Congrats to John, hopefully he will have a chance to show some of  his TD Garden magic this season.

Go Eagles.

Preseason Predictions/ All Hockey East First and Second Teams

With Hockey East media day rolling around this week, multiple writers have submitted their season predictions and all selections for first and second teams, most valuable player, and rookie of the year. While I won't be there on Tuesday, here is what I would have for my first and second teams.

First team-

Johnny Gaudreau, Kevin Hayes, Kevin Roy (NU), Mike Matheson, Matt Grezlyck (BU), and Jon Gilles (PC)


Second team-

Scott Wilson (UML), Bill Arnold, TJ Tynan (Notre Dame), Trevor van Riemsdyk (UNH), Christian Folin (UML), and Connor Hellbuyck (UML)


Player of the Year- Johnny G

Rookie of the Year- Austin Cangelosi

Hockey East Teams in NCAA's- BC, Lowell, UNH, and Notre Dame


Order of finish-

1. Lowell

2. Boston College

3. Notre Dame

4. UNH

5. Providence

6. Maine

7. Boston University

8. Merrimack

9. Vermont

10. Northeastern

11. UMass- Amherst


Tournament champion- Boston College

A Couple Of Early Observations/ Injury Report

Although the team has only had two "official" practices to this point, I've made a couple of observations. The first thing that jumped out at me was the excitement surrounding this club. Yea, it sounds cliché but there seems to be an energy surrounding this team that I haven't seen in a long time. Maybe it has to do with all the new freshmen or maybe it's the two new coaches. Either way, the energy these first couple of days has been off the charts. Here is what else I noticed.

1. Demko looks good. There is a heck of a difference between stopping pucks in front of your teammates at practice and doing it on opening night @ Yost Arena but so far, I have been super impressed by Thatcher Demko. His size really jumps out at me but also his ability to move laterally is something that has stuck out.

2. Multiple freshmen are going to be thrown into the fire right away. By my count, it looks like six freshmen are locked in to play on opening night. Others, such as Scotty Savage (who I think has looked solid) and Adam Gilmour will be competing for the final spots in the lineup.

3. Brendan Silk looks a lot quicker. Let's face it, last year was not a great one for Silk. He struggled in all three ends and didn't seem to have the speed to play at this level. I was blown away by how fast he looked yesterday.

4. The 6th defensive slot is anyone's guess. As I said earlier, I liked what I saw out of Savage but I just don't see the staff starting three freshmen defenseman on opening night @ Michigan. He has looked much better than Linell has but I think it's too much of an uphill battle for him to start on opening night simply because I don't think the staff would ever start three freshmen defenseman. I'm usually wrong so, I probably will be this time.


5. Johnny G and Kevin Hayes look sensational. While I think Johnny G will go on to win the Hobey this season, I think people are seriously overlooking Kevin Hayes in Hockey East. He is every bit as skilled as Johnny is and if he can stay injury free, I look for him to have a huge year.

6. My top three freshmen- 1. Fitzgerald  2. Demko  3. McCoshen/Richardson


On the injury front (yea, already) Mike Sit could be out for a couple weeks with a knee issue. Nothing serious....he should be ready to go opening night (if he is in the lineup). Colin Sullivan is out this week with an illness.

Go Eagles.

Chris Brown Commits to Boston College

No family has a richer hockey history @ Boston College than the Browns do with Coach Brown being arguably the best defenseman ever to play here and his brother Doug who went on to have an outstanding NHL career with the Detroit Red Wings. It appears that tradition will continue as Doug's son and Patrick's brother, Chris, has committed to BC for the fall of 2015. Christopher played for Bloomfield Hills/Cranbrook last season, the Michigan division one high school state champions. Brown was drafted by the Green Bay Gamblers in the fourth round of the USHL draft.

Brown recorded 50 points in 31 games last season

Congrats to Chris on his commitment...if he is anything like the tough, defensive minded player his brother is, then BC could have a nice third or fourth line addition for next season.

Go Eagles.

Examining the Key Battles Heading Into the "Preseason"

In college hockey, there really is no "preseason" or "training camp". In reality, teams only have 30 days to prepare for their opening game, meaning a team like BC, with lots of new faces, is going to have to really skate hard these next three and a half weeks before they fly out to Ann Arbor. I don't know if I can remember a year where there will be so many individual battles for lineup spots October 10th @ Yost Ice Arena. I mean in reality, I think only 7 guys- Johnny G, Arnold, Hayes, Matheson, Smith, Macleod, and Brown are set in stone to start next month. So, let's take a look at the battles taking place.


1. Who will play with Johnny G ? I'm fairly confident the staff will keep Arnold and Hayes together because when Hayes was healthy, they worked real well last season. I think each guy compliments the other in multiple ways and I also believe putting a skilled forward like Fitzgerald could really make for a big first line. That leaves us with the question, who will the staff put with Johnny G ? I'm a firm believer that Johnny makes the guys around him 5x better than they are because of how skilled he is but if you put a bigger, more physical forward like Chris Calnan with him, he could really "protect" Johnny from the goons that will surely go after him this season. Putting Calnan at center with the most skilled forward coming in, Austin Cangelosi, at right wing, would make for a really dangerous second line. Prediction- staff puts Calnan, Cangelosi, and Johnny G together.


2.  Which two guys will win the last two defenseman spots. Whether you like it or not, the staff is going to put Linell on defense. Personally, I don't love the move because Danny thrived in a fourth line role two seasons ago. He isn't a first or second line winger like he had to be last season. With all the skill in front of him this time around, I would like to see him on fourth line right wing but the staff is going to try him at defense. Two other guys, Teddy Doherty and Scotty Savage, will compete along with Linell for the 5th and 6th spots on the blue line. Let me put it this way, I'd be absolutely shocked if Teddy Doherty is not playing opening night @ Michigan. He is a solid offensive defenseman that could be a huge asset on the second power play unit. Expect him to win spot #5.  As for the 6th slot, it's going to be a pretty tough choice for the staff. I think by midseason Savage will eventually be an everyday guy but for October and November, I believe they will give the 6th spot to Linell.  Defense on opening night- Matheson/Santini, Macleod/McCoshen, Linell/Doherty.


3. How will the staff sort out all the skill coming in ? The best thing about this season compared to last is that the coaches will have a lot of options. At the end of last season, they had zero options up front. It was four forwards and one defenseman every power play, every late game situation, and they eventually ran out of gas. Well, now they have about 7 or 8 really skilled forwards that will be able to play power play, kill penalties, and help out in late game situations. Yes, Johnny, Billy Arnold, and Kevin Hayes will get more minutes than anyone but guys like Cangelosi,Gilmour, Calnan, Fitzgerald, and Richardson are expected to come in and play some serious minutes both 5 on 5 and on the power play.

4. Who will be the goalie ? Everyone I run into ask me the same question...." Ya, they lost Milner, who the heck is going to replace him....a freshman ? " This kid Demko is good.....really, really good. He is one thing that Parker Milner just simply wasn't: he's big and he takes up a ton of net. You don't get accelerated a year to sit on the bench and watch. He is going to play opening night, without question.


Line Projections-


Hayes- Arnold- Fitzgerald

Johnny G- Calnan- Cangelosi

Smith- Gilmour- Richardson

Straight- Brown- Silk (Big battle for right wing)


Defense

Matheson-Santini

Macleod- McCoshen

Doherty-Linell 

Power Plays-

First Unit- Johnny G, Arnold, Hayes, Matheson, McCoshen

Second Unit- Fitzgerald, Cangelosi, Calnan, Doherty, and Santini/Gilmour.