A New Era

On Friday afternoon, Boston College announced that Greg Brown would be the next head coach of the men's hockey team, just the fifth person to hold the title in the modern history of the program. Brown will succeed his mentor and boss of 14 years, Jerry York, who announced his retirement last month. In addition to his 14 years on York's staff, Brown was an assistant coach for the New York Rangers under David Quinn from 2018-2021 and his most recent stop was as head coach for the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the USHL. Brown is one of the best defensemen in BC history- registering 120 points in 119 career games- he also played four NHL seasons with the Pittsburgh Penguins, Winnipeg Jets, and Buffalo Sabres.  

Now that all of the mandatory biographical information is out of the way, I can't begin to tell you just how excited I am for the future of BC hockey with Coach Brown at the helm. From the beginning, I believed he was the best person for this job because of his experience across all levels of the game, his knowledge, particularly when it comes to skill development, his familiarity with BC, and because of how genuine of a person he is. Coach Brown is someone who will lead this program by doing things the right way and BC fans should be ecstatic about this hire. 

Here is what I know about how things went down. BC interviewed a range of candidates, but at the end of the day, it came down to Brown and Providence head coach Nate Leaman. Both candidates interviewed numerous times- with the committee and then with university president Father William P. Leahy, once the process was down to the final two candidates. Leaman ended up with an extension from Providence and I have not heard from any sources that he was actually offered the BC job- I believe he saw the writing on the wall saying that Brown was going to be the next coach given the overwhelming support he had. I believe there were a few factors that propelled Brown to the forefront of the race to succeed Jerry York, with the support among the BC hockey alumni base being a huge driving force behind Brown's candidacy. As others have pointed out, Brown's relationship with the BC hockey program goes back to the late 1980s and spans nearly 20 years. Throughout that time, he made such a lasting impression on so many at BC, that it seemed like it was an easy call for Father Leahy and the BC administration. You don't even have to take my word for it- Twitter is full of endorsements from former players, spanning from Craig Janney to Edwin Shea, all of whom believed Brown was the best man to lead the program going into the future. 

At the end of the day, Brown got this job because he was the best person for it, but I just think it was so cool just how many alums came out of the woodworks to throw their support behind the former BC defenseman. It is hard to get people to agree on what color the sky is these days- the fact that so many in the BC hockey family wanted Greg Brown to take the reins is evidence that there is a renewed sense of optimism around the direction of the program. 

So, now what? BC will hold a press conference introducing Coach Brown next Monday, but there are some questions before we even get there. The first is what Coach Brown will do with the current assistant coaches- Mike Ayers, Brendan Buckley, and volunteer assistant Brooks Orpik. I would be surprised if these coaches are not retained- BC has two unbelievable recruiting classes coming in both this fall and next year and it is absolutely vital that they keep all of those players on board. Coaches Ayers and Buckley did the leg work on getting these top prospects to commit to Boston College and they have a familiarity with the current roster that Coach Brown won't have. Ayers is regarded by many as one of the top recruiters and developers at the goaltender position in college hockey- he also interviewed for the head coaching job and made a lasting impression on many in the administration, I am told. I would be very, very surprised if he isn't on the bench leading BC's recruiting efforts next season. Obviously, this depends on A- whether Coach Brown wants to clear the deck and bring in his own staff (again, my guess is that he will retain everyone) and B- whether those coaches want to continue to be at BC, which I am guessing they do. 

Secondly, there is the question of if BC is bringing in any additional players, via the transfer portal or the (limited) unsigned prospect pool. In my mind, BC has to try to add another top six forward, which isn't the easiest thing to do in May. As of now, I expect Kuntar, Nesterenko, Ambrosio, Gauthier, Jellvik, and perhaps Gasseau, to make up the bulk of BC's top lines. That is a relatively solid group, but one more addition and you have three legitimate lines that can be a threat on the ice at any point in the game. Some have suggested that they try to accelerate one of their top 2023 commits such as Will Smith- that won't happen. BC already brought in Cam Burke from Notre Dame as a grad transfer, but he will be the third line center, not a top six guy. So, I think Coach Brown's first roster-building priority will be going out and bringing in at least one more forward. There are a couple of uncommitted prospects left- the most notable being Cruz Lucius, who just decomitted from Minnesota, but I would be pretty surprised if BC were able to pull something like that off given that Lucius is from the Midwest.

On the blue line, I think BC is a little bit more set, despite losing both Jack St. Ivany (my sources say he will sign later this summer) and Drew Helleson. In my chart, I have Seamus Powell coming in 2023, but I think it would make the most sense for them to just push him up a year, unless they can find someone in the portal. With Powell, they would have 8 defensemen on the roster, but that includes Cade Alami, who only played ten games last season. 

In an ideal world, BC would be able to add both another forward and another defenseman through the transfer portal, something they have done in the past, but I am not sure how a coaching change alters their ability to pursue that path. 

So, that is all I have for now- I will continue to post on either a weekly or biweekly basis leading up to the season, especially when there is major recruiting news. I just want to reiterate how happy I am for Coach Brown and his family- he is so deserving of this job, and I have no doubt that he will lead the program to great heights over the coming years. I can't wait to see what the future has in store for Boston College hockey!