Weekend in review.

Captain Tommy Cross had three assist on the weekend. 

Another weekend with four points at stake, another weekend with four points out of it. The Eagles remain #1 in the country for the second consecutive week following a two game sweep of UMass Lowell. BC had strong play from the line of the Chris Kreider-Bill Arnold- Kevin Hayes line and the Whitney-Mullane-Gaudreau line. These two lines have had pretty consistant play all year long and look for that to continue. The same can not be said for the Straight-Almedia-Carey line. This line was very strong last weekend especially vs NU, but this weekend the magic was not their. This line is usually very strong at cycling the puck down in the opponents zone but for some reason could not do it to the extent they did it last week. Destry Straight did record his first goal of the season, but really needs to step his game. His speed is not up to that of his linemates Carey and Almeida, and it is beginning  having an effect on him. Throughout the weekend, the problem was not the offense, as BC combined for ten goals in two games but at times the effort was not there. I was extremely disappointed by the team's effort in the last two periods vs a very hard working Lowell team on Saturday night. Lowell was able to outshoot BC in Conte 40-24. That is embarrassing and it never happens to BC especially at home. Thank god for Parker Milner's strong play as of late and if it wasn't for him, BC would be in a different place right now. 

Another problem is the lost of Pat Wey. His shoes are bigger then I thought. The Eagles have yet to find a replacement for him, as the defenseman who were put in to fill his spot were not on their games. Ok, I am being to harsh but the Eagles need to find a replacement for him.

Finally, this Friday BC welcomes in the Black Bears of Maine. This is a huge and if BC gives the effort they gave in the last two periods on Saturday, they could lose by a lot. Maine is a very talented team, and will be a tough matchup for BC. I will have my preview on Thursday. 

Happy Halloween, 

GO EAGLES.

Gaudreau wins Rookie of the week..... again.

For the SECOND time in this young season, Eagles freshman forward Johnny Gaudreau has won Hockey East Rookie of the Week. Congrats to Johnny and watch out BU and the rest of Hockey East because this kid is just a freshman.

Saturday Highlights.

Fridays Highlights.

Eagles complete weekend sweep of Lowell with 6-3 win.

 

Steve Whitney had a goal and an assist in the win.

Going into this weekend, BC was #1 in Hockey East, and coming out of the weekend BC is still in first. Mission accomplished, but there were some real problems in tonight's 6-3 win over a tough Lowell team that never gave up all weekend. BC had goals from Destry Striaght, Johnny Gaudreau, Chris Kreider (2), Steve Whitney and Bill Arnold. You look at the scoreboard an go "wow, BC must have been all over Lowell ". You could not be more wrong. Lowell skated harder and looked like they wanted it more out there but the problem for the Riverhawks was they gave up two crucial PP goals to BC. For much of the first, BC controlled the pace and outshot the Riverhawks 14-13 and held a 4-1 advantage after one. Now for some reason, after the first twenty minutes of play, BC just seemed to turn the dial for the worse. Lowell dominated the last two frames, outshooting BC 27-10 over the final forty minutes. Parker Milner was able to stop 37 Riverhawk shots but looked very shaky at times after giving up a terrible first goal in which he sort of fumbled the puck when he had it and the Hawks were all over it to score. The defense struggled tonight after a great game last night. Edwin Shea and Brooks Dyroff were just giving the puck away to many times and Dyroff was beat to many times on one on one battles. Thanks to the usual stars like Krieder, Gaudreau, and Arnold, BC was able to get two points. But if this continues vs a very good Maine team next week, the result may be different.

Why the Eagles won 

1. The skill and speed were to much for Lowell. I think BC wore down Lowell at times and if your standing still vs BC like Lowell was at times (but not many) the Eagles will take advantage.

2. Lowell got to many bad penalties. If Lowell stayed out of the box and it was 5-5 hockey the whole time, this game would have a different outcome.

3. The Power Play was very good. 2/4 on the PP is a recipe for a win. Great pass by Pat Mullane on the first PP goal.

Problems 

1. The effort was not there at times during the third period. Lot if credit to Lowell here for shutting down BC in the third period. I think after BC walked into the dressing room after the first with a 4-1 lead, they decided to shut it off.

2. Losing Pat Wey is going to haunt this team. Pat Wey is one of the best defenseman on this team and it shows because the team is clearly missing him. If BC is going to try to fix this problem, they need to find someone who can fill in because Mark Begert (Friday night) and Brooks Dyroff (Tonight) were off.

Player of the game- Chris Kreider. Two goals for Kreider helped lead BC.

Eagles sneak by Lowell to maintain first place in Hockey East.

My player of the game, Issac MacLeod

I am starting to notice a trend around Hockey East. It's not easy to win in another team's barn. BC once again walked out of Tsongas arena with a close 4-2 win over Norm Bazin's Riverhawks. The Riverhawks sustained some pressure in the BC zone but thanks to strong games from Edwin Shea, Parker Milner and Issac MacLeod, BC was able to clear away any Riverhawk opportunities. With the win, BC improved to 6-1 on the year and undefeated on the road. If you look at it, BC has beaten North Dakota, UNH, Northeastern, and Lowell in their own barns, thats impressive to say the least. Lowell really came after the Eagles by throwing their bodies around and trying to sustain a high pressured forcheck on a BC defense that was steady (for the most part) all night. The penalties and the officiating were better tonight but one thing thats needs to stop is getting penalties on the man advantage. It's happend a few to many times this year to BC and it needs to stop because it's taking a huge advantage right away. 

Why the Eagles won 

1. Much better D zone play tonight as opposed to last weekend. I said MacLeod and Shea needed to step up in the absence of Wey, and they did just that. 

2. Parker Milner is proving everyone wrong. A lot of people, including myself at times questioned if Parker Milner could be the goaltender BC needed him to be. He has done just that through seven games.

3. Limiting Lowell's chances. Yes, Lowell outshot BC, but the Eagles did a better job of limiting grade A chances for Lowell. 

4. Johnny Gaudreau. Buy a ticket, watch this kid play. I promise it will be worth the money. The kid is spectacular, he is now tied for second in goals behind Billy Arnold. 

Problems 

1. Not many tonight. Not as many chances created as the NU game, but a solid defensive game makes up for that. 

Player of the game- Issac MacLeod. After a tough week last week, came back in top form. Great job by Issac. 

Next Game- Tomorrow night vs Lowell @ Conte. 

Fun Note- BC is now 5 points ahead of BU in Hockey East ! BU is horrible !

My week four picks.

BC Prediction- BC will sweep Lowell by scores of 5-2 and 3-0.

Previewing the UMass Lowell Riverhawks

This weekend, the Eagles take on the Riverhawks from Lowell in a crucial Hockey East home and home series. Lowell got off to a hot start to their season, beating Minnesota State twice on the road. After the sweep, the Riverhawks returned to New England but only to loose to UConn 3-2 in OT. This will be Lowell's first game in Tsongas Arena as their first home game vs UConn was played in Nassua, New Hampshire. This will be coach Norm Bazin's first game vs a Hockey East opponent and lucky him, it comes against the best coach and team in the country. The Eagles are 57-33-7 all time vs the Hawks and 40-16-2 under head coach Jerry York. 

Last time out- Eagles defeated Lowell 5-1 @ the Tsongas center on 1/29/11. 

Players to watch out for- Riley Wetmore is one of the more dangerous players in the league. Wetmore leads the team in points this year and was second on the team a season ago. Senior forward Mike Budd is also a dangerous forward for the Hawks because of his size and ability to create problems for the opposing defense. 

Goaltending- Lowell has gone back and forth between goalies Doug Carr and Brian Robbins so far this year. Robbins played the whole UConn game so I would expect that he will go Friday in his first ever start vs BC so look for BC to try to get to him early. BC has done a great job of doing that all year. 

Keys for BC

1. Get shots on this goalie. This will be an inexperienced goalie no matter who it is. If BC can just get pucks to the net on him early, good things will happen. 

2. Avoid turnovers. To many times vs UMass an NU, BC turned it over on their own Blue line. If BC avoids the turnovers, everything should go according to plan. 

3. Get the crowd out of it early. If BC can score a couple quick ones on the young Lowell squad, the Hawks and their fans will loose their momentum. 

4. With Pat Wey out, BC needs guys like Issac MacLeod, Edwin Shea and Patch Alber to really turn up their games on defense. 

Notes- Former Eagles Malcom Lyels is now a defenseman on Lowell. Lyels transfered out of BC two season ago. BC currently holds a four game winning streak vs Lowell. The last lost for BC was on 1/23/10 @ Lowell. 

Recruiting News

Cam Darcy of the US under 18 team has said he will now attend Northeastern next fall. Rumor had it that Darcy was getting recruited by BC and BU but it is most likely that these two teams were not recruiting him as heavily as Jim Madigan was at NU. Darcy previously decommitted from NU just weeks after Greg Cronin left the program.

 USHR # 2 prospect Adam Kerfoot has narrowed his choices to Boston College, Yale, and Harvard. Kerfoot is a 5-9 forward in the BCHL and is being called a "future All American by many.

What are BU people thinking ?

I read an article on a BU website today and the writer was trying to prove his point on why Jack Parker should step down as BU's hockey coach. I personally cannot believe that someone especially a BU fan is calling for Jack Parker, one of the greatest coaches in college sports history to step down. I know your probably saying what ? why are my defending Jack Parker ? I ll tell you why. College hockey and Boston sports in general need this man behind this bench. I have always and will always root against Jack Parker and his club but I can tell you one thing, I will always respect how he coaches and how his team plays. Jack Parker is top three best college hockey coaches ever, and he also has the most wins at one school by any coach. Jack Parker has bought that school four National Championships and twenty one Beanpots. Thats amazing. Everytime I attend a BU BC game (it has been a while since I have missed one) I get so nervous watching that scarlet shirted army skate onto that ice and the general that has been leading them for 39 years step onto the bench because I know they are going to give it all they have. Everyone knows about BC vs BU and Coach York vs Coach Parker and the history behind it...think about it...would it be the same rivalry if Coach York and his Eagles faced off against say Mike Bavis and the Terriers ? No.

Weekend in review

The hardest games to win are the ones you have to. That's how I would sum up the weekend for the squad this weekend. UMass at home was not much of a game as BC dominated from start to finish scoring just 1:18 into the contest to once again send the Minutemen back to Amherst with another loss. I must admit I was looking for more out of UMass, but giving the best team in the country six power plays and almost all of them coming from your best players, thats a formula for a loss. Overall good game by BC at home and the ice looked a little bit better than last week. 

Now onto the really good game on the weekend. BC traveled to Huntington Ave to take on rival Northeastern. Yes, NU is struggling and they lost everyone but at home vs BC or BU (cause thats when they sell out) they can always win because of their insane crowd. It started off with a bang for the Eagles with a Kevin Hayes goal early on (Eagles are doing a great job of starting games on a fast note, goals in the first few minutes vs UNH, UMass, and NU) and it looked like NU was all but done. NU came back hard after their first PP goal and the Refs made sure to please the home crowd by calling some of the most pathetic calls I have ever witnessed in hockey and the Huskies took advantage of the momentum and scored two goals off bad BC turnovers to take a 3-1 led into the third. The last 24 minutes of that hockey game were the best BC has played all year. They took it to NU and scored two quick goals to tie it going into OT. Thanks to Bill Arnold, MVP of the team so far, the Eagles were able to escape with a must needed win vs NU in OT. Poor Huskie fans. 

Weekend Grade- A -. Great heart and fight in the third and OT. 

Overall great weekend of hockey for BC, showed a lot of heart in the NU game and got the four points to take over #1 in Hockey East and the country. Heres the bad news, Pat Wey is out for 6-8 weeks after surgery in his foot needed after an injury during the NU game. Hope Pat has a speedy recovery because he is a key part to this defense. Because of the injury, Mike Sit may move to defense for a sixth defenseman. 

BU lost to Holy Cross- Always great seeing them loose, but Holy Cross ? way to go Terriers !

OFFICIAL-HANIFIN TO BOSTON COLLEGE

 As first reported here on the BC Hockey Blog, St Sebastian's freshman Noah Hanifin officially announced today that he will attend Boston College in the fall of 2016. This is a huge pick up for BC because Hanifin who is one of the best and most highly recruited freshman in recent history fits the perfect mold for a BC defenseman. He is big, tough, and most importantly "hockey smart", I saw Hanifin score his first goal for St Sebs last year in Mutch Cup vs Catholic Memorial and boy does he have a rocket of a shot for his age. This also marks a huge recruiting win for Coach York and his staff over archrival BU. It came down to the two Green Line rivals, but in the end Hanifin seems to have made the right decision. Can't wait to see him on Chestnut Hill in the fall of '16.

GO EAGLES

ARNOLD LIFTS BOSTON COLLEGE PAST NORTHEASTERN IN OVERTIME, 4-3

Eagles complete comeback to beat NU...but loose Wey.

Kevin Hayes had a goal and an assist for BC. 

A valiant effort. Thats how tonight's game could be described for both teams. BC scored just 1:55 into the game when Kevin Hayes scored on a wrist shot from the top of the circle but NU goalie Chris Rawlings should have had it. After that, NU responded with three unanswered goals. Steve Qualier scored on the PP just three minutes after the Hayes goal and Joe Manno scored a goal on a Patrick Brown turnover with just two minutes left in the first. BC was carrying the play the whole game but had nothing to show for it early on as Rawlings was standing on his head. Just as BC was clearly carrying the play midway through the second, Destry Straight turned the puck over in front of his own goal and it resulted in a another NU goal, once again from Joe Manno. Heading into the third, it was 3-1 NU and the crowd was going nuts (just ask Johnny Gaudreau, as Huskie fans were all over him). But O were they in for a treat in the third. BC exploded for two goals in a two minute span, first from Barry Almedia and the second from Brian Dumoulin. The Eagles DOMINATED the Huskies all throughout the final frame, but because of the officiating, had to play shorthanded for a while. In OT NU had a short PP to start but really didn't have any grade A chances. With a minute left, Bill Arnold redirected Patch Alber's wrist shot to win it for BC.

Why the Eagles won

1. The penalty kill was great for BC tonight. Besides the one miscue on the first NU PP, BC's PK went 7/7 in killing off the Huskies.

2. Bill Arnold and Barry Almedia are playing outstanding. I have mentioned these names a lot lately, and rightfully so. Arnold should get player of the week with three goals on the weekend (including the OT winner) and Almedia who is just to speedy got things going in the third for BC with the second goal.

3. NU went of the defense. NU was going at the Eagles hard, and they were doing a great job doing it but after two periods they started to lay back and watch the Eagles fly all over them.

Problems

1. The penalties are becoming a huge problem. With eight NU Power Play's on the night, Bc almost handed the Huskies the game but thankfully BC's PP held serve and held back the Huskies.

2. The Officiating. I know I shouldn't say this, but the officiating against BC has been horrible this year. The refs are are calling everything they see. The Chris Kreider hooking call in the last minute of play was horrible and they called Destry Straight for ruffing when he was ten feet from the nearest NU player. It needs to change.

NEWS- Pet Wey could be out 6-8 with a torn tendon in his right foot.

Next Game- Next Friday @ Lowell.

Notes- BU found a great way to embarras Hockey East by losing to Holy Cross.

Previewing the Northeastern Huskies

Tonight, the Eagles look to keep their momentum going with a win @ NU. Over the last couple years BC has struggled a little bit @ Matthews with two losses as the # 1 team in the country over the last three years. I don't think BC should have to much trouble tonight as NU lost it's whole first line from a year ago and is not very deep this year.

Players to watch- Mike McLaughlin, Branden Pimm, Vinny Sapronari, and goalie Chris Rawlings is one of the better goalies in Hockey East.

Last time out-  The Eagles ended the Huskies season in the Garden defeating NU 5-4 in the Hockey East semifinals.

Prediction- Eagles 4-1

Sources- Hanifin to BC

According to sources, St Sebastian's freshman Noah Hanifin will commit to Boston College over Boston University. They decision will be announced on Monday. More to follow.

Line changes

Last night, BC switched up one thing in the lines, putting Bill Arnold with Chris Kreider and Kevin Hayes, and then put Destry Straight with Paul Carey and Barry Almeida. With Arnold having two goals last night do you think it worked ?

Eagles upend UMass 4-2

Another good but not great game for BC resulted in another win for Coach York's club. Bill Arnold led BC with two goals and Kevin Hayes added two assist. BC extended  it's winning streak to nine vs UMass.

Why BC Won 

1. Bill Arnold was great. Arnold had two goals but what is not on the stat sheet is his defensive zone coverage. I love him on the PK because he does a great job of clearing the puck out of the BC zone on the kill and his +/- is now + 5 on the season.

2. Power Play was very good. Both units were working the puck much better. The first unit of Gaudreau, Whitney, Cross, Mullane, and Almedia was very good for BC.

3. UMass had a lot of bad penalties. TJ Syner and Danny Hobbs combined for four penalties for the Minutemen.

4. Johnny Gaudreau is just to skilled. Watch the highlights.

Things that need work 

1. A couple of defenseman have been off to say the least lately. To many turnovers at our own blue line. vs better teams like BU, Maine, and Merrimack, these mistakes will haunt BC.

Next Game- Saturday 7 O'Clock @ Northeastern

GO EAGLES

Previewing the UMass Minutemen

After what could be described as a so-so weekend for the Eagles, they have two league games this weekend vs UMass on Friday and @ Northeastern on Saturday. The Eagles are just two points behind Providence in Hockey East, and are ranked #1/2 in the country (USA News has BC #1, USCHO had BC at #2). First up this weekend are the Minutemen from the University of Massachusetts.

UMass is 1-1-1 on the season with a heart-breaking tie @ NU, an easy home vs Bentley, and a road loss @ Providence. UMass has a strong first line that consist of the always dangerous TJ Syner, Mike Perriera, and Danny Hobbs. Usually UMass is a pretty easy win for the Eagles but I think if BC gets to many stupid penalties and plays on the defense to much against UMass, the Minutemen who are talented but struggle on goaltending,  could give the Eagles a run for their money. I hate to break it but thats not going to happen. UMass has not beat BC @ Conte since February of 2007, odds are definitely not with the Minutemen. Parker Milner, who has been very strong to start the season, will be in net for the Eagles.

Players to watch- TJ Syner, Mike Marcou, Danny Hobbs.

Last time out- BC ended UMass' season with a 5-2 win in the Hockey East quarterfinals.

Keys for BC

1. Stay out of the Box. Penalties always lead to bad things.

2. Be on the attack. UMass will come out ready, BC needs to keep the pressure on UMass and get them skating because as you know, no one outskates BC.

3. Get shots. A new goalie for UMass, if BC peppers him with shots, goals are guaranteed.

Prediction- Eagles 5-2

My picks- Week Three