Demko Goes In Second Round, Brown and Dudek in Sixth Round

Three current/future Eagles were picked in day two of the NHL Draft in Philly. Goalie Thatcher Demko was the second netminder off the board, going #36 to the same team Corey Schneider was drafted to, the Vancouver Canucks. Two future Eagles were selected back to back in the sixth round as Chris Brown went 151st to Buffalo (same team that drafted his father) and Joey Dudek went 152nd to the New Jersey Devils.

Congrats to Thatcher, Chris, and Joey !

Tuch and Milano Selected In First Round

Two incoming freshmen, Alex Tuch and Sonny Milano, were selected in the first round of the NHL draft tonight in Philadelphia. Milano was selected 16th overall by the Columbus Blue Jackets while Tuch was selected two picks later at 18 by the Minnesota Wild, also the owners of Eagle forward Adam Gilmour.

The last time Boston College had two guys selected in the first round was 2003 when Brian Boyle (LA Kings) and Patrick Eaves (Ottawa Senators) were chosen.

Congrats to Alex and Sonny and good luck to current/future Eagles Thatcher Demko, JD Dudek, and Scott Savage in the coming days !

Draft Preview

Tomorrow night, the 2014 NHL draft will commence in Philadelphia, ironically in the same building the Eagles' season ended in the Frozen Four vs the eventual National Champs, Union. I am not one of those guys that can go out and project the draft because honestly, I don't know much about the non NCAA bound kids. From a BC prospective, everyone is very hopeful that three Eagles get selected in the first round. There are multiple websites that project the picks of each team so what I will do is compile them for you to see for yourself.

Alex Tuch-

Future Considerations (20, San Jose) 

My NHL Draft.com (18, Minnesota) 

Hockey Writers.com (17, Philly)

Hockey Prospectus (13, Washington)

Jr Hockey Buzz (17, Philly)

Larry Fisher (15, Detroit)

Draft Site.com (19, Tampa Bay)

Puck Rant (10, Tampa Bay)


Sonny Milano-

Future Considerations (16, Columbus)

My NHL Draft.com (17, Philly)

Hockey Writers.com (16, Columbus)

Hockey Prospectus (11, Nashville)

Jr Hockey Buzz (21, St. Louis)

Larry Fisher (17, Philly)

Draft Site. com (25, Boston)

Puck Rant (22, Pittsburgh)


Thatcher Demko

Future Considerations (27, Chicago)

Draft Site (44, Washington)

Hockey Prospectus (28, Tampa Bay)

I don't know much about the draft but here are my guesses.....

Alex Tuch- 16 Columbus

Sonny Millano- 22 Pittsburgh (wishful thinking....go pens)

Thatcher Demko- 27 Chicago

Also a solid chance Scotty Savage gets drafted in the 6th or 7th round. If all four of these guys get drafted, Boston College would have 13 NHL draft picks on their team (that includes Miles Wood so it could be 12)

The Forward Issue

What did the 2010, 2011, and 2012 all have that neither the 2013 or 2014 teams had? Depth at the forward position. The depth on the 2013 squad was as bad as we've ever had and last years fourth line combined for just 22 points all season. For comparisons sake, the fourth line in 2011 (for the majority of the season) had 41 points. That line included two NHL draft picks (K.Hayes and Carey). In 2010, the fourth line combined for 43 points and one of it's tenants, senior Matt Price, scored the game winning goal in overtime vs Maine in the Hockey East finals. So, as you can see, when we've had success because in the past, we've had third and fourth lines that could score from time to time and could always play hard vs another team's second or third line. Over the course of the past two seasons, especially this season, that has not been the case and unfortunately, it may continue this season.

I expect Milano, Gilmour, Fitzgerald, and Cangelosi to be our top scorers next season with Calnan and Tuch just behind them. Now, we're not going to have three guys score over 65 points like Arnold, G, and Hayes did but I do think there is a chance we have 6 or 7 guys that eclipse 30 points. Outside of the Big Three, just one player (Pat Brown) had 30 points. That's a problem. Everyone I have talked to seems to be thrilled about our club this upcoming but the way it is structured, as of now, it's going to be difficult to win a National Championship. I think we have by far and away the best goaltending/defense combo in the country, something I don't think we've ever had. But there are two really pressing issues for me. #1, this is going to be by far and away the youngest team of the Coach York era. Our entire top two lines will be made up of freshmen and sophomores, without a doubt. Although the staff has been adamant they're only adding three forwards and one defenseman, I'm totally convinced they have something else in the works. Evan Richardson would have played every game next year unless he got injured or something. He would have been, at worst, fourth line center. There is no way they just let him go without a backup plan. The question is, what is that backup plan? Well, I'm convinced they're set on accelerating Miles Wood but the problem is Miles' dad, Randy (played for a long time in NHL), supposedly wants him to return to Noble and Greenough for one more season. They're not going to accelerate JD Dudek because he needs to develop, Colin White and Jeremy Bracco are way to young, and Chris Brown/Chris Shero simply aren't ready yet. That leaves us with two options. 1- accelerate Miles Wood. 2- Pick up a late recruit over the summer....not sure if that is going to work.

Look, without Wood, we're injury away from being completely devastated up front, much like what happened when Kevin Hayes was injured in 2013. The good news is that outside of maybe Providence and perhaps BU, there won't be many "deep" teams in Hockey East. Also, BC's insanely loaded defense should be able to provide a nice scoring boost but the bottom line is that guys like Silk (who took a solid step forward last year), Smith, Linell, and Sit MUST become Matt Lombardi/Matt Price/Barry Almeida type players. Six points isn't going to cut it for them this season. They've got to find a way to score in the double digits, kill penalties, and help lead one of the youngest teams in BC Hockey history.

Here is how I would rank the forward depth chart. Let's just ASSUME they add Wood (which they probably won't).

1. Milano
2. Fitzgerald
3. Gilmour
4. Wood
5. Cangelosi
6. Tuch
7. Calnan
8. Silk
9. Sanford
10. Sit
11. Matty G
12. Linell
13. Smith
14. Straight
15. Spiro
16. McMullen


Anyways, that's all for now.

Go Eagles.

Evan Richardson Leaves Program **** Update

Sophomore forward Evan Richardson has left the Boston College hockey program to pursue other endeavors in the sport. Richardson recorded two goals in four games played this season. He scored the lone Eagle goal in a 6-1 loss @ the University of Minnesota and had one of 11 Eagle tallies in a 11-0 win vs Army.

Obviously, we wish Evan the best of luck in the next chapter of hockey career. I think he can certainly play at the Hockey East level, whether he does that or not is yet to be determined. As for the team, I am pretty convinced that Evan would have been an everyday player this year. As of now the staff still has just three forwards coming in next year but I would expect that to change over the summer.

Update- Evan will go down to Storrs and play with Coach Cav. Congrats !

Go Eagles.