Holy War To Hit Fenway/Demko Shines vs Sweden

I first reported about a month ago that BC would play rival Notre Dame @ Fenway Park this season and today, Hockey East came out with an official announcement stating the Eagles and Irish will indeed play that game along with three others. BC vs Notre Dame will be the late game on January 4th while PC vs Merrimack is the early game. The following week, Maine will face BU after Northeastern battles Lowell.

To say I am not a fan of this is a huge understatement. I don't know about you but I think this move favors Notre Dame because it's costing the Eagles a huge home game in what is sure to be a booming atmosphere. While I think playing @ Fenway once every 4 or 5 years would be a nice little gig, playing every other year is just overdoing it. This also means the Eagles will not close the season with the Irish as they were originally supposed to.

On the recruiting trail, Thatcher Demko picked up a nice 27 save shutout of Sweden to lead the United States to the Under 18 World Championships semifinals vs Russia.

Go Eagles.

Taking a Look At Next Year's Non Conference Opponents

Before I start with any hockey, let me just say that I hope everyone is recovering well from the horrific events this past week. Obviously, it hurts that much more when it hits close to home. Thankfully, the Boston College community did not suffer any losses. Amazingly, suspect #2 was captured no more than half a mile away from Coach York's house in Watertown. In an interview with the Boston Herald this morning, Coach says he is doing well and that he is thankful for the cops that were able to capture these evil men.

Anyways, on a lighter note, I think it would be nice to take a peek at BC's non-conference opponents next season. BC will play every Hockey East TWICE (instead of the normal 3). Unlike some others clubs, the Eagles will not play any non conference games vs any Hockey East teams, although I would like to see them schedule BU a third time because you know, the more BC-BU, the better. Other than that, here is what we have right now. Just to note, all of this could change. The locations I put down are educated guesses (some are final).

RPI- Right now Boston College is slated to host the Engineers but there is a rumor that the two teams could faceoff at Madison Square Garden with Cornell and BU being the other game. Certainly, that would be a great event. As of now, BC's opening game is RPI but that could very well change.

Army- Not sure the location yet but I'd put the odds on BC hosting.

Minnesota- In the 10+ plus years I've been following BC Hockey, I don't believe they have hosted the Gophers which means a date (or dates) this season should be extra special. It's been a while since BC has hosted a western power like the Gophers, North Dakota, or Wisconsin so hosting both the Badgers and Minnesota should be awesome. Right now, I believe BC is supposed to play two games vs the Gophers but that could change.

Wisconsin- For the first time since 2009, Boston College will host the Badgers. Mike Eaves' club is slated to play Boston College on a Saturday night after facing Boston University on Friday night. My best guess is this game takes place in November.

Michigan- This has the potential to be one heck of a road trip. For the first time in what must be 20+ years, the Eagles will travel to Ann Arbor to faceoff vs the Wolverines per sources. This game has yet to be confirmed but there is a 95% chance that it will take place. I assume the Eagles will play two games out there. Dates not yet known.

Brown- Another opponent we haven't seen in quite some time. Boston College will travel to Meehan Auditorium on January 11th (a Saturday) to take on the Bears.

Holy Cross- The ancient rivals will meet again @ Conte Forum the day after Thanksgiving. It's been a while since the two have met up on the ice.

Harvard- After a two year break, the Crimson and the Eagles will once take the ice against each other. I'm not sure of the location but I am assuming the game is in Cambridge because right now, BC only has three non conference road games (@ Michigan x2, @ Brown).

That's all I have for now but I'd like to see if BC could schedule a couple of more regional opponents. I mentioned the idea of scheduling the Terriers as a non conference game but I highly doubt the staff will do that. Besides that, I hope BC continues their series with Yale. I mean, they're the National Champs and if you want to be the best, you've got to beat the best. I'll be uploading a 2014 schedule page within the next few hours so be sure to check that out.

As you can tell, I'm pretty excited for next season (even though it's April). I feel that this BC team has the potential to reach unprecedented heights if the freshman can gel together sooner rather than later. With the "big four" of Matheson, Johnny G, Arnold, and Hayes returning, along with as deep a freshman class as you'll ever see, I don't see why it is unreasonable to expect this team to be as good a BC team as we've had in the past 5 years.

BC to Host Holy Cross in November

Boston College will host ancient rival Holy Cross on Friday, November 29th @ 3 pm according to the Crusader's schedule which was released last night. 

I hope that all of you were able to stay safe this week during all the madness. Thankfully, the amazing work of the Boston police, the FBI, and other agencies joined together to help get rid of these two evil men. 

Go Eagles. 

Leblanc Edges Gaudreau For Hobey; Coach Brown a Candidate For DU Job

It's been 13 years since a BC Hockey player has taken home the Hobey Baker Memorial Award and unfortunately  the Eagles will need to wait another year thanks to Drew Leblanc edging out Johnny G yesterday. First of all, congrats to Leblanc. I have not seen him play too often but I am sure he is an outstanding player, that obviously led his team to a great season. Do I think Johnny should have won ? Of course I do. I think is one of the best play makers I have ever seen around here along with Gerbe and Gionta. While it is unfortunate that he wasn't able to win it, I think it will just be more fuel in the tank for him next season.

Some other news that came out yesterday is that Coach Brown is one of 4 finalist for the Denver University head coaching job. I don't think there are many more candidates across the country that are as qualified as Coach Brown. He has coached at multiple levels, he has been metored by the greatest there has ever been, and he has obviously proven his value on the recruiting trail. A couple of reports surfaced today that DU has already offered to job to Jim Montgomery of the USHL but I think he will end up taking the Maine job. To be honest, I would be surprised to see Coach Brown get the DU job because I think he is one of, if not the favorite (along with Coach Cav) to land the BC job whenever Coach York retires. While I hope he stays around Chestnut Hill for a long time, I think it would be great to see him take this job if given the opportunity.

Here are BC's non conference opponents next season (locations not all known)- Minnesota (home), Wisconsin (home), Michigan (probably on road), Army, Harvard, Holy Cross, Brown (road), and RPI.

Go Eagles.

Watch Out

Well, all I can say is watch out. Mike Matheson, Johnny G, Billy Arnold, and Kevin Hayes all announced today that they're returning to Boston College next season. This, coupled with a star studded recruiting class, will make BC one of, if not the favorite, to be #1 in next season's top 25 poll. 

Go Eagles. 

Hayes To Return

Per The Heights, forward Kevin Hayes will return to BC for his senior season. Hayes is a first round pick of the Chicago Blackhawks. Due to his leg injury this February, Hayes will be rehabbing @ BC over the course of the next three months.

Go Eagles.

Taking a (Very) Early Look at Next Season's Roster

Now that we have had 4 or 5 days to heal after the tough loss to Union, I thought it would be a good idea to take a look at what next year's roster could potentially look like. Before I do that though, I'd like to congratulate Patrick Brown on being named captain for next years team. He will certainly be an outstanding leader on and off the ice. I think it's a great selection by the players. Also, congrats to Billy Arnold and Isaac Macleod on being named his associate captains.

So, before I reveal what I think the lineup could look like, I need to adress the early departures. As of today, no one has left the school and it is my expectation that everyone will stay. A source indicated today that he thinks that it is "very likely" that Mike Matheson returns to Chestnut Hill for one more year. As for Kevin Hayes, I would guess that there is a very slim chance that he leaves, mainly because of his leg. I think Chicago will want to see how he comes back from the injury. Of the three, I would label Johnny G as the biggest threat to leave but he did say after Saturday's game that he is really looking forward to playing with his brother Matt next season. In the end, I think they all return.

Let's look at who we have coming in.

Forwards- Cangelosi, Gilmour, Calnan, Gaudreau, McGlynn, Richardson and Fitzgerald.

Defense- Santini, McCoshen, and Savage

Goalie- Thatcher Demko

At first glance, I think our defense is going to among the best in the country next season. Santini and McCoshen are two of the biggest defensive recruits in the country so I expect them to come in right away and play lots of minutes. As for the 6th defensive spot, I think it will probably go to Savage but Jeke or Sullivan might have an outside shot at landing it. He is a good sized defenseman that has supposedly good feet and can move the puck well.

Up front, it all depends on who stays and who goes. There is a very good chance that both Gaudreau and Hayes both stay and if that is the case, I think BC is going to have a much deeper forward lineup than they did this season. I expect that Gilmour, Calnan, Richardson, Fitzgerald, and Cangelosi will all start right away but I'm not quite sure about M.Gaudreau and Connor McGlynn.

Here are my (way to early) line projections for next October

Johnny Gaudreau- Billy Arnold- Danny Linell

Kevin Hayes- Chris Calnan- Austin Cangelosi

Ryan Fitzgerald-Adam Gilmour- Quinn Smith

Destry Straight- Pat Brown-Brendan Silk/Matt Gaudreau

Defense

Mike Matheson-Steve Santini

Ian McCoshen- Isaac Macleod

Teddy Doherty-Scott Savage

Goalie 

Thatcher Demko

Johnny G Named Hobey Hatrick Finalist

Boston College sophomore forward Johnny Gaudreau has been named one of three finalist for the Hobey Baker award for the nation's top colligate hockey player. Boston College has two previous Hobey Winners, Mike Mottau (2000) and David Emma (1991). The Eagles have had numerous runner-ups such as Brian Gionta (a couple of times) and Nathan Gerbe.

Congrats to Johnny and best of luck in Pittsburgh !

I'll have an (extremely) early preview of what I think next year's lineup will look like tonight.

George Gwozdecky Out @ Denver

Denver Pioneers Head Coach George Gwozdecky has retired from his post after 19 years on the job. For many around the college hockey world, this is a complete shock as Gwozdecky, the only individual in NCAA hockey history to win a championship as a head coach, assistant coach, and player, will call it quits.

And So It Ends

You know, sometimes you just don't have things going your way. Whether it's in the rink, the golf course, or life in general, sometimes things just don't go your way. That is unfortunately what happend tonight in what will be the final game for BC's 6 seniors, including captain Pat Mullane. There really is not a whole lot to say about the game itself. I've been watching BC Hockey for a long time now and I've seen a lot of good teams play against the Eagles and there is no doubt in my mind that the team BC faced tonight could beat anyone in the country. That Union team is  phenomenal. They capitalized when they needed to early on and they played stout defense (especially on the PK) for the final two periods. They gave the Eagles some chances on the power play and I thought that if BC could pot one or two before the end of the second they would have a chance. Turned out it just wasn't meant to be as Union's ferocious penalty kill came thorough.

I said it last night and I'll say it again. BC had zero chance of winning that game if they took penalties. Well, the Eagles didn't just take penalties, they took some completely boneheaded ones that had no business being taken. You cannot beat good hockey teams when you give them chances on the PP and when your penalty kill is struggling as bad as BC's was, you have no shot. I think the biggest difference between this time last year and now is that it got to a point a season ago where the Eagles just would not let up a goal on the penalty kill. The last couple of weeks, they just couldn't get any stops when they needed to.

To be honest, this was not about how bad BC played because they ran into one heck of a hockey team tonight. I'd bet a lot of money that Union will go on to win the National Championship. They're that good.

To the seniors, Pat Mullane, Pat Wey, Steve Whitney, Brooks Dyroff, Patch Alber, and Parker Milner. Thank you for all that you have done for this program and for this school. 30/40/50 years from now, people will remember you guys as the greatest senior class in the history of this program not just for what you have done on the ice, but for what you have done off of it. You are truly special young men and it was an honor for me to cover you guys over the course of your careers here. Good luck in whatever life throws at you. '

Finally, thank you to you, my readers for following along with me this season. The blog has reached unprecedented heights thanks to your following and support. As you may (or may not) know, the majority of my blogging comes during the offseason whether it's recruiting, early departures (hopefully none), schedule stuff, or just anything else that has to do with Boston College Hockey. It has been a pleasure brining you up to date information on the Eagles this year.

I'll have season recap, early departure news, schedule stuff, and a look ahead to next year coming up.


Thanks and GO EAGLES !

Previewing the Union Dutchmen

Whether it was Yale's stunning upset over Minnesota or unheralded Niagara giving North Dakota all it could handle, the NCAA tournament is off to a great start and it will certainly continue with a huge primetime matchup between BC and Union tomorrow night. For BC to advance and keep their title defense alive, they're going to need to play their best game of the season tomorrow. Union is not a good hockey team, they're as good as any team in the nation. They have solid goaltending, skilled puck-moving defenseman, and a deep group of forwards that can score in bunches  The Dutchmen, the 4th seed in the ECAC playoffs, have rolled through their past 6 games , culminating with an ECAC championship last Saturday night vs Brown. Before defeating the Bears in the championship game, Union got a huge victory over a Yale team that just defeated Minnesota today. Clearly, the Dutchmen are playing their best hockey of the year at the right time.

In terms of common opponents, Union and Boston College share 3. Union has wins over Harvard (x2) and Merrimack while they also lost to the Warriors to open the season and also fell to Vermont in late December up in Burlington. Astonishingly, this will be the first ever meeting between Union and BC, two teams that made the Frozen Four last season (Union lost to Ferris State). When I look at this Union team, I see a team that has great special teams as they rank in the top 10 ten in both PK and PP while they also have as deep a defensive core as you will find in all of college hockey. Whether it's guys like Coburn, Gosthisbere, or Bodie, the Dutchmen have some guys that can really play at a high level. In terms of offensive production, Union is 16th in the country, currently averaging 3.04 goals per game (BC is second with 3.48). While their offense is solid, the defensive side of the puck is where Union thrives as they rank 6th in the country in goals given up per game (2.08).

Look, I think the whole key to this game is what team stays more disciplined. Last week, I saw a BC team that completely dominated BU for a long time but suddenly started taking penalties and handing the game right over to the Terriers. If BC gives Union multiple power plays at key junctures, it's going to be hard for them to come out with a W. If they can play aggressive  yet smart hockey, I think they have a fantastic chance of winning this hockey game. I like the move the staff made by putting Linell back to forward with Johnny G and Arnold because I think he possess some intangibles that Destry Straight doesn't offer. His speed and solid defensive zone play should go along nicely with Johnny and Billy.

I look for tomorrow night to be an absolutely fabulous hockey game between two of the best teams in the whole country. I think BC has a great shot if they can do a couple things. Like I said earlier, they have to stay out of the box as power plays can do a lot of damage in games like these. Two, they have got to find a way to play better in their own end. I think the Terriers had 4 or 5 breakaways in the game last weekend thanks to some blown coverages on BC's part. The Eagles have got to avoid those. Finally, they have to come out with an us vs the world attitude. This isn't a year where BC is expected to steamroll everyone like years past and to be honest, I think that bodes well for this club. They have the talent and the experience to go out there and win this game and if they go out there and play BC Hockey, they can win this game.

Scouting Union 

Record- 21-12-5 (ECAC tournament champs)

Best Wins- vs Yale, vs Merrimack

Worst Loss- @ Vermont

Leading Scorers- Wayne Simpson (16-17-33), Kyle Bodie (9-24-33), and Dan Carr (16-14-30)

Goalie- Troy Grosenick- .928 save percentage and 2.06 GAA


GO EAGLES !!

Three Future Eagles Make National Program Team

Three future Eagles, Colin White (16), Noah Hanifin (15), and Casey Fitzgerald (15) all made the u17 National Development Team this weekend. The three will most likely leave their respective prep schools and go to Ann Arbor to play for the team.

Coach York To Be Behind the Bench This Weekend

Coach York got the OK from his doctors yesterday and will be behind the bench for BC's NCAA tournament game vs Union on Saturday night @ 9PM in Providence.

David Quinn to Be Hired As BU Coach

Reports are indicating that former BU assistant David Quinn will be hired tomorrow afternoon to replace former head coach, Jack Parker. I've had the pleasure of meeting Coach Quinn multiple times and I think he is one class act who will do an unbelievable job over there. Congrats to him on the new job and I wish him all the best (except when they plays the Eagles).

Staff Moving Linell Back to Forward

Last night, Coach York told Heights Sports Editor Greg Joyce that the staff would move Danny Linell back to forward where he will be a right wing on a line with Billy Arnold and Johnny G. Destry Straight will move down to the fourth line where he will center Brendan Silk and Cam Spiro. The staff will also stick with 5 defenseman (Macleod, Matheson, Alber, Doherty, and Wey).

The "new" lineup

Johnny G- Arnold-Linell

Smith-Mullane-Whitney

Sit-Brown-Dyroff

Spiro-Straight-Silk

Eagles Set To Defend Title

And so the title defense starts. Boston College will face Union in the first round of their 2013 NCAA tournament title defense at the Dunkin Donuts Center in Providence, Rhode Island with Quinnipiac and Canisius being the other two teams in the regional. This will be the first ever meeting between the Dutchmen (ECAC tournament champions) and the Eagles. I'm not going to get into a lot right now but I think it should be known that you have to be a great hockey team to make it to the NCAA's and although the Eagles may be thrilled with their draw, it doesn't mean that their opponent on Saturday night is any type of slouch. Union is a great hockey team that made the Frozen Four last season only to fall to Ferris State, the team BC beat to win it's 5th National Championship. BC did a lot of good things this weekend vs the Terriers and if it wasn't for a few bad bounces and a couple amazing saves from Maguire, I think BC would have won that game. Hopefully, the guys are able to figure out what they did wrong and can fix it up for Saturday's game.

As for Coach York, he is officially questionable for this weekend's game but I think there is a pretty good chance that we will see him behind the bench. He will have a doctors appointment tomorrow and it could be there where he will learn his status for Saturday's contest.

Go Eagles !!!

Projected NCAA Tournament Field

I am by no means an expert at this bracketology stuff but I have done some surfing around and this seems to be what most people have as the NCAA Tournament field.

Northeast Regional (Manchester, NH)

1. UMass Lowell vs 4. Wisconsin

2. New Hampshire vs 3. Denver


East Regional (Providence, RI)

1. Quinnipiac vs 4. Canisius

2. BOSTON COLLEGE vs 3. Union


Midwest Regional (Toledo, OH)

1. Notre Dame vs 4. St Cloud State

2. Miami vs 3. Minnesota State


West Region (Grand Rapids, MI)

1. Minnesota vs 4. Yale

2. North Dakota vs 3. Niagara


The selection show is tonight at 9 PM on ESPNU.

Coach Brown Named an Assistant for 2014 World Jr Championships

Boston College assistant coach Greg Brown has been named as assistant to Don Lucia (Minnesota) for the 2014 World Jr Championships in Malmo, Sweden.

Eagles' Valiant Effort Falls Short

Well, that was as frustrating a game as you possibly have. Thanks to 5 unanswered goals (three of them on the power play), the BU Terriers were able to keep their season going with a win over the Eagles in the Hockey East semifinals. Normally after a loss to BU, I would sit here and pout about how bad everything was but the bottom line is that I took more positives out of last night’s game than I did negatives. Obviously, I hate losing to that team and I'll be Lowell's biggest supporter tonight (even though a BU win helps BC) but I think BC has to be rather proud of the way they battled. I thought the first 30 minutes was undoubted the best hockey BC has played since their 9-3 win @ Northeastern in late January. Unfortunately, the Eagles just lost it. I don’t know what happened. I can’t remember a time where I have seen a Boston College Hockey team just collapse like that. Over the course of the last 10 minutes of the second period, the Terriers must have had 5 breakaways, only one of which they converted on thanks to nice saves by Parker Milner. The good news is that we know this team can be really good when it comes to 5 on 5 hockey. However, when you give a team like BU, with the talent that they have, as many power plays as they did (including a 5 minute major which I’ll get to in a second) they’re going to capitalize. I’m not going to say that the only reason BC lost was because of the penalties because it wasn’t. First of all, Sean Maguire played one of the best games I have seen an opposing goalie play in a long time. If it wasn’t for him, BU would have been down 3 or 4 goals after the first period.

 

Like I said, in the second period, BC just collapsed defensively. Whether it was the bad bounce on the second BU goal at the blue line or the bad penalty killing in the latter parts of the second and third, BC just couldn’t stop BU from scoring. It seemed like every shot BU had went in the net. You never want to blame games on a goalie and I’m not going to because if it wasn’t for Parker Milner, this team would not be in the NCAA’s. But, the bottom line is he has got be better in order for this team to succeed in the NCAA tournament. Did his defense help him ? No, but I have seen him elevate his game to a whole other level at times. That has got to be the case next weekend. Just two minutes into the third period, Johnny G (who played absolutely outstanding for much of the game) took a really bad 5 minute major penalty for cross checking Sean Escobedo from behind. Was it a major ? Probably, but the reason it was so bad was because it was completely unnecessary. You can’t put the refs in a position to make that call at that point in the game. Just bad judgment on Johnny’s part.

 

Let me be perfectly honest. Losing to that team in that environment stinks and it’s going to sting for a couple of days. However, there is one really big plus heading into next week: we’re in the dance. Is BC going to win it all and dominate like they did last year ? Who knows ? All you can ask for in sports is a chance and that is what this team has in front of them. Everyone is worrying about us having to go out West and play Minnesota or North Dakota or whoever. It doesn’t matter who this team plays !  I know it sounds stupid and all but it really doesn’t. This BC team has proven to me that they can beat any team in the country when they stay out of the box and play at the pace they want to. Last night, they took dumb penalties and the Terriers made them pay for it. I don’t care what anyone else says because this team can throw all those previous performances and games out the window. They will be one of sixteen teams that will have the unique opportunity to win a National Championship in three weeks. Whether they do or don’t will be dictated by the way they play but all I know is that when you give a Jerry York team a chance, they usually come through.

 

 

Go Eagles.  
 

Previewing the Boston University Terriers

You know, it's very seldom that you have a chance to do something that no one will ever forget. Sure, winning Beanpots and NCAA titles will always go down as some of the great moments in BC Hockey history but what this team has in front of them tomorrow is just an unbelievable chance to make history. They have a chance to put coach Jack Parker and his Terriers away for good. When I look at this matchup, I see that both have a couple of "power" lines as you will see BU's big line of Nieto-Rodrigues-O'Regan. In the three pervious meetings this season, the Eagles beat the Terriers twice with BU getting a W during the second game of the series @ Agganis Arena. Here is the twist for tomorrow nights game. Combined, the Eagles and the Terriers will have lost a total of 5 starters from their final regular season meeting @ Conte Forum (a 5-2 victory for the good guys). The Eagles will obviously be without Kevin Hayes but it will the Terriers who may suffer the biggest hits as Yasin Cisse (early departure), Wes Myron (early departure), Matt O'Connor (injury), and Alexx Privitera (suspension) will all be absent from tomorrows contest. To go along with those injuries, defenseman Garrett Noonan is going to try and play with a separated shoulder (one he has had for just a week now).

Here is one thing I think BC has got to be able to take advantage of. BU is starting a freshman goalie (Sean Maguire) at the Garden in his first ever game versus Boston College, with his coaches' (and teams) future on the line. If that doesn't get you nervous, I don't know what will. If you're the Eagles, you just got to find a way to get everything to the net. Whether it's a grade A chance or a simple dump in outside the blue line, get every puck towards this guy. Force him to come up big in his first real big game. Another thing I'd like to see BC do is attack. During the second half of last Saturday's game, it was apparent that BC started to go on the offensive rather than play a conservative style of play that almost cost them a couple of goals. This BU defense is thin and beat up. One hallmark of Boston University hockey over the past couple of years is that they love to take penalties. In fact, they are the only Hockey East team that currently ranks in the top 10 nationally in penalty minutes. Of course, that won't mean anything if BC doesn't improve on their dreadful power play performance last weekend but if they can continue to force their opponents to take penalties and get on the man advantage, I think they have a great chance at winning this game.

In big games like this, getting out to an early lead is huge. In BC's two victories over the Terriers this season, they got out to sustainable leads through a period or two and really put the pedal to the medal in the third period.  The key is to just play some calm and collected hockey. No bad penalties, no bad defensive errors, and most importantly giving 100% on each and every play.

Listen, we all know that tomorrow night's game is not and ordinary Hockey East semifinal with a chance to get to the championship game of the toughest league in college hockey. No. A win tomorrow night would go down as one of the great victories in the history of BC Hockey.

Scouting the Terriers-

Pairwise Rank- 18th (they need to win to get in)

Leading scorers- Danny O'Regan (14-22-38), Matt Nieto (18-17-35), Cason Hohmann (10-23-33)

Best Wins- @ North Dakota, vs BC

Worst Loss- vs Northeastern (x2)

Notes-

Johnny G captured player of the year today and was also named a Top 10 finalist for the Hobey. Steven Whitney was not named a finalist however. What a joke.