A Big Thank You To Tim Clark

Today, I heard that assistant BC Sports information director Tim Clark was moving on from Chestnut Hill to pursue other opportunities in New York City. There are a lot of people that have helped me with this blog and how I conduct myself as a "member of the media" but no one has had a bigger impact on this website or me personally than Tim Clark. He allowed me to come sit in the press box for all road games, permitted me to interview coaches and players on numerous occasions, and provided invaluable insights into the world of BC Hockey and the world of college sports media. When I first started sitting in the press box for road games, I had a bit of a problem with the "no showing any bias" rule. You're not supposed to wear the color of the team you support. I never obeyed. You're never supposed to yell at the refs from up top. I never obeyed but over time, I began to notice how Tim, one of the most passionate BC Hockey fans I have ever met, conducted himself in the press rooms and I could only try to emulate that. I would like to think that over these last four years, I have matured into young man that can conduct himself somewhat within the boundaries of the rules (I still struggle with the cheering part).

Anyways, thank you Tim for all you did for me and this blog. Without you, this thing would be long gone. I appreciate all the kind words and support. Best of luck to you in whatever lies ahead.

Go Eagles.

Zach Walker Commits To BC

Zachary Walker, a 6'1 forward from Boise, Idaho (that's a first) committed to Boston College this evening. Walker will play for the National Team Development Program next season in Ann Arbor, Michigan, he played this past season for the Colorado Thunderbirds of the Midwest Elite Hockey League. Some notable former Thunderbirds are Seth Jones (Nashville Predators), Nick Shore (LA Kings, DU), and Quinn Shore (DU). Walker was the 7th ranked uncommitted prospect on Over the Boards, which describes him as.....

"Speed, speed, and more speed – draws explosive bursts from a powerful lower half, but just as impressive are some of the plays Walker can make at top speed. As he continues to come into his body and play to his gifted offensive traits, the Boise, Idaho native should emerge as a premier talent."

Big Get. Go Birds. 

Hopefully they can add Chad Krys in the near future. That would continue this recruiting roll. 

Lackey Commits To Harvard

USNTDP goaltender Michael Lackey has committed to Harvard this afternoon. He chose the Crimson over BC. Lackey, a former Princeton commit, visited Chestnut Hill last week but it appears that his visit to Cambridge went a little bit better and Ted Donato got himself a big time goaltender. Anyways, losing on the recruiting trail stinks but I would say we're doing just fine with some of the guys coming in over the next few years.

Chowder Cup Stuff

This weekend, hundreds of the continents best amateur players descended on Foxborough, Walpole, Wrentham, and Rockland to take place in the Chowder Cup Jr hockey tournament, one of the elite high school tournaments in the entire nation. I didn't get the chance to go down either Thursday or Friday but I got down to Foxborough tonight to watch two teams, first the Cape Cod Whalers, a team loaded with local talent and coached by former Eagle Andrew Orpik. Headlining the Whalers was 2015 recruit Colin White and also current Eagle Teddy Doherty (the fact that he is still allowed to play in high school tournaments shows you how young our team is). Also on the squad were Harvard recruit Ryan Donato and Yale recruit Billy Sweezy, among others. I thought the two best players on the ice were by far and away White and Providence recruit Erik Foley (Tabor Academy). Sure, it's only a summer league tournament but it seemed like White was just tremendous, a level above everybody else. Physically, he is the totally opposite of former stars such as G and Nathan Gerbe. He's one of those guys that you look out there and instantly notice his size and the amount of speed and skill he posses for a guy of that stature. I can't really think of a recent player to compare him to because we haven't had a lot of 6'1 "star" forwards. He doesn't have the explosive step that Kreider has and as I said earlier he is to different of a player than Gerbe or G but no matter what style he plays, he is going to make a big impact on this hockey program. We obviously know what Doherty brings as we've seen him hundreds of times already @ the Heights, he looked fine today but his shot from the point is something that still needs a lot of work. The Whalers won their game and will play in the semifinals tomorrow.

After watching those guys, I got my first glances of Jeremy Bracco, Sonny Milano, and Noah Hanifin (I haven't seen Noah since he left the ISL, but I've obviously watched him before). Yes, it was basically a shinny game out there as the score was 9-9 but I couldn't stop giggling about how much skill these three have. Milano and Bracco didn't seem to want to play on the defensive half of the red line but when they got the puck, they were like Crosby and Malkin out there. In fact, they're #1 (Milano, 15 points) and #2 (Bracco, 14) in scoring throughout the entire tournament. If we could ever get Milano to stay two years to team up with Bracco, White, and Wood, I would make the case that we could beat a Hockey East all star team. I mean that squad is going to be LOADED.

I haven't had the chance to watch Zach Sanford this weekend but he is 7th in scoring with 7 goals and 3 assist so far this weekend. He is coming this fall.


I was at dinner a couple weeks ago and the person sitting next to me asked if I thought Hanifin would be our #1 defenseman by the Beanpot. I thought about it for a few seconds and replied with "No, second behind Matheson".  Now I see why the staff wants these guys to develop with the USNTDP, he is so much stronger, so much faster, so much more skilled, than he was during his sophomore year @ St Sebs. People can talk about Golden Boy Eichel all they want, I mean the guy gets more publicity than Sidney Crosby but if the staff puts Noah in a position to succeed right away (meaning playing same minutes as Matheson/Santini/McCoshen, first power play unit, second PK unit, etc) then he will be the #2 overall pick in next years draft behind Conor McDavid. I've seen a couple of phenomenal defensemen come through this school and I think this kid has a chance to be the best there ever way, and yes, I know, we had a guy named Leetch come here.

I've always been a guy that likes to think in the "now" and not in the future but I am going to leave you with this thought.....

2015-16 Eagles 1st rounders (Hanifin*, White, Bracco, Milano*, Tuch) Matheson is gone.

2015-16 Eagles 2nd rounders- (Sanford, Santini*, McCoshen*, Demko,)

That's not even counting Calnan, Gilmour, Cangelsoi, Fitzgerald, and Miles Wood.

* means they could leave.

Have a good night. Go Eagles.

Luke McInnis Commits to BC

The son of Eagle great and current assistant coach Marty McInnis committed to BC this morning. Luke McInnis,  a 5'11 defenseman out of Hingham, will join the Eagles in the fall of 2016 (for now). McInnis will be heading to the Dexter school next year to play for head coach Dan Donato, brother of Harvard coach Teddy Donato.

McInnis, a left handed shot, is a little bit undersized but is an exceptional puck moving defenseman that will certainly help fill a void on defense with the assumed departures of Ian McCoshen, Mike Matheson, Noah Hanifin, Steve Santini, and eventual senior Teddy Doherty in the next two years.

McInnis was the 11th ranked uncommitted prospect on Over The Boards, the go to recruiting site.

Congrats to Luke and Go Eagles !!

Devils Camp Highlights

Last night, I came across two highlights featuring one current Eagle and one future  as the New Jersey Devils released a few clips from their development camp scrimmage yesterday. We've all seen Santini hit people so hard that we were worried about the opponent's health but what you may not have seen yet is Miles Wood's sweet cut back move to center ice when the defenseman pinches up. I saw him do it to a St Sebastian's defender this winter and for a second I thought the defenseman turned into the Statue of Liberty.

Santini- link 

Wood- link

Go Eagles

Eagles Finalist For Top Goalie Prospect

One of the biggest recruiting needs for BC in the near future has always been the question of who will replace Thatcher Demko in net? As of now, the Eagles have one goaltender in the pipeline, Chris Birdsall who struggeled over the course of his first USHL season with the Cedar Rapid Rough Riders. He has since been traded to the Youngstown Phantoms.

Yesterday, top 1997 goalie Michael Lackey, a USNTDP product and former Princeton commit, visited BC. It appeared Lackey enjoyed his visit as he posted a picture of him with former Eagles Parker Milner and Cory Schneider. Lackey is a 6'2 netminder from Washington DC, he recorded a 13-13 recorded with a 3.51 GAA for the U17 team this winter.

According to sources, the two finalist for Lackey's services are Boston College and Harvard.

Go Eagles.

Disaster Waiting To Strike?

As you probably know, the Eagles lost their top three players from a year ago, arguably the best line ever to don the maroon and gold but the staff had big plans to replace them with star forwards Sonny Milano, Alex Tuch, and Zach Sanford, all of which are projected to make the opening night lineup in some form. Well, it looks like the headliner of that group could be on the way out. 

According to multiple reports in Columbus, Sonny Milano is seriously considering leaving BC and heading to the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League. Yesterday, Milano answered a question on whether or not he would be attending BC with "Yhea, for now", the reporter followed that up with what do you mean "for now"? said Milano, "I mean, yhea, yhea, I am going". 

If Milano does bolt for the Whalers, the staff is going to have to do a lot of revamping of the roster. They might even have to bring in another 17 year old to go along with Hanifin, possibly Colin White or Jeremy Bracco, two guys that are supposed to come in 2015. Anyways, we will see what happens. 

Go Eagles. 

Eagles in NHL Camps

It's NHL development camp season and there are current/past Eagles hitting the ice throughout the continent.

Calgary-

Bill Arnold and G

New York Islanders- 

Austin Cangelosi

Columbus- 

Sonny Milano

Minnesota- 

Alex Tuch and Adam Gilmour

San Jose- 

Scotty Savage

Florida- 

Mike Matheson and Ian McCoshen

Vancouver- 

Thatcher Demko

Washington- 

Zach Sanford

Anaheim- 

Scotty Savage (he was undrafted so he can go to any camp he gets invited to)

Boston-

Ryan Fitzgerald


Some teams like the Penguins, Flyers, Avalanche, Sabers, and Blackhawks have not released their rosters. I assume Chris Calnan (CHI), Miles Wood (NJD), JD Dudek (NJD), Chris Brown (BUF) and Steve Santini (NJD) will all participate in their teams' respective camps. Defenseman Teddy Doherty may get a shot at a tryout as well.