Happy New Year!.... and Denver Cup Preview

I'm watching the NHL Winter Classic coverage on TV, and Fenway looks awesome in the snow with the rink down. I can't wait until January 8th when the Eagles take the Fenway ice against BU. 2009 is almost over, and it's been an up and down year for BC hockey. The early part of 2009 saw the end of BC's NCAA tourney streak, as BC struggled to put together a good enough run to make it to another Frozen Four. The end of the calendar year has been the exact opposite, as BC has been on fire of late. We'll have to see what 2010 brings, but so far it looks good for another return to the NCAAs for the Eagles.

The Eagles have been resting since before Christmas, but its time to get back on the ice this weekend as BC travels west to take on St. Lawrence and Denver in the Wells Fargo Denver Cup. This will be BC's first trip back to the Mile High City since they lifted the NCAA Championship plaque back in 2008. This is a round-robin tournament, meaning we know that BC will play both St. Lawrence and Denver. If things go the way they should (and you never know), the Denver-BC tilt Saturday will be for the title. Historically, UD has been the dominant force in this tournament, having won 14 tournament titles. BC last played and won this tournament in 2005.

Game 1: St. Lawrence
On Friday night, BC will ring in the new year against ECAC foe St. Lawrence. Last time BC saw the Saints they were walking off the Manchester ice in a 4-1 win in the NCAA Regionals in 2007. This year's version of SLU comes into Denver with a 8-7-2 record, good enough for sixth in the ECAC. They lost a lot of firepower from their successful run last year, and there are no real stars on this team. They spread the goals around their upperclassmen, with seniors Mike McKenzie (4-8-12) and Travis Vermeulen (5-5-10) the leading scorers.

In net, SLU is backstopped by seniors Alex Petizian and Kain Tisi. Tisi has a 2.22 GAA over 7 games, while Petizian has been a little less efficient at 3.74 (up from his 2.2 last year). The Saints are also fairly young on the back line, allowing a ton of shots on their senior netminders.

With their young defense, shaky goaltending, and lack of scoring, the Saints don't seem to stand up with the Eagles in this one. However, this has been a strange holiday tournament season so far, with lots of upsets. (Bentley over UMASS being the biggest) I still expect BC to win this one going away, but it won't be too big. Expect Milner to play this game, with Muse going Saturday against Denver.
Prediction: BC5 St. Lawrence 2

Game 2: Denver
In the second game of this tournament, BC takes on college hockey royalty. Denver is second on the the list of all-time NCAA titles and they stand at #2 in both polls this week. The Pioneers have owned their hometown tournament, winning 14 Cup championships. This will be the biggest test of the season for the Eagles, no doubt.

The Pioneers are lead on offense by senior Rhett Rakhshani, who has a line of 11-10-21 on the year. This kid is AVERAGING over 1 goal a game. Not too far behind him is fellow senior Tyler Ruegsegger, who has 20 points. As a team, DU has scored 54 goals in 18 games. These guys can put the puck in the net, as Hockey East neighbor UVM saw 9 pucks in their net over their 2 game series earlier this season. BC is going to need to slow down these two senior forwards as well as a host of other talented Pioneers to keep them from getting to the net. Penalties will also play a big factor here, as 21 of the goals DU has scored this year have been on the man advantage.

Denver also has a strong defensive unit. Goalie Marc Cheverie is one of the top netminders in the country, posting a 2.12 GAA over 13 games, good for tenth nationally. DU also returned a good deal of their defensemen from a strong squad last year, so they will be a force to be reckoned with Saturday night.

BC can get to Cheverie if they try. He has given up multiple goals in most of his games, so the shots on net will be a good stat to keep track of. If Muse (or Milner) plays strong and keeps the Denver offense at bay, there is a shot to pull this one out. They just need to stay out of the box and limit the amount of quality shots DU gets. BC has been hot of late, rising quickly in the polls and in the Hockey East standings. They will be excited to get back on the ice after a long exam/holiday break and, call me a homer, I think they can beat these guys in their own building.
Prediction: BC 3 Denver 2 (OT)

Holiday Break Link Fest

Just in time for Christmas..... some BC hockey links!

• The Eagles have moved up to the top five in both the USCHO.com and INCH polls. Its about time!
  
• INCH also put together a Hockey East Midseason Report. A few mentions about the Eagles, but nothing big.
• Freshman Chris Kreider has made the latest cut for the US Junior National Team. If he makes the final cut, he will be playing for the US in Saskatoon with former BC classmate (for like 2 games) Kenny Ryan.
• The Globe also has a Hockey East Midseason Report, where they mention a bit more about the Eagles surge.

In other news, the ice is down at Fenway. Next time we see Jerry's kids on the ice in person will be January 8th against BU in the shadow of the Green Monster. Should be a cold night, but a memorable one as well.

BC fans looking for some Eagle action on the ice will have plenty to see on their TVs in the coming weeks, as the Eagles' game against Denver will be televised on FSNRM. In addition, all Team USA games from the World Junior Tournament will be on NHL Network. Anyone with the Comcast Sports Package should be able to catch all of these games.

Well, off to the Emerald Bowl.... We'll be back in time to preview BC's next opponents: St. Lawrence and Denver in the Denver Cup.

Rollin'

Another night, another dominating performance for the BC Eagles on the ice. Last night BC continued their streak with a 3-1 win over Providence. With the win, the Eagles move to 10-3-2 on the year, their best start since 2003-2004.

The Eagles opened the scoring in the first period with (surprise surprise) a goal by Cam Atkinson. This time it came on the power play late in a hotly contested period. BC extended their lead midway through the second on a full strength goal by Pat Mullane, then took a 3 goal lead early in the third when Tommy Cross found the back of the net. Providence finally got a shot past John Muse late in the game to make the final score 3-1 and not totally embarrass themselves. Alex Beaudry saved 24 of 27 shots in the loss, while the Eagles allowed 29 shots on John Muse.

Speaking of goalies, Muse seems to be hitting his stride while he recovers from off season hip surgery. The move Coach York has made to alternate Muse and Parker Milner has proven to be a great one, as it allows Muse to recover and gives a young goaltender a chance to get some valuable experience. This will help not only this season but also in the future when Muse graduates and Milner (hopefully) takes the reigns as the #1 goalie. This has been an issue for York in the past as he has relied on one goalie for a majority of the past 5-6 seasons, setting the team and program up for trouble when guys leave for graduation or for the NHL. Having said that, I don't think Muse will be leaving early after this season (not NHL ready at the this point), but it still makes me feel relieved that we have insurance for that if it does indeed occur at the end of the season.

The Eagles now go into the Exam/Holiday break for the next couple of weeks before the schedule gets a lot tougher. Next up for BC is the Denver Cup in Colorado where they are scheduled to take on St. Lawrence and most likely #2 Denver. Following that road trip, the Eagles will take on arch rival BU again, this time at Fenway Park in an outdoor game that will be sure to get the emotions going. January has a lot in store for BC and we will definitely see what this team is made of this coming month. We will look at the upcoming schedule this week, since there are no games for a while.

BC 3 PC 1 Box

Providence Preview

The season rolls on tonight as BC takes on Providence down I-95. The Eagles come into this game red-hot, having won seven of their last eight, while the Friars have lost their last four. Providence appears to be struggling, but they have been able to pull off some big upsets so far this season, knocking off both UMass schools and Notre Dame. Providence always seems to save their best for BC, so it will not be a cakewalk down at Schneider Arena this evening.

Providence is lead by returning top scorer Matt Bergland and goalie Alex Beaudry. Bergland is again the top goal scorer for PC, with a line of 7-6-13 this year, and he is joined by a pair of juniors (Kyle MacKinnon and Matt Germain) to make up the majority of the Friars' front end scoring. In their wins, Providence is averaging about 3.5 goals a game, so even when they are winning PC is not scoring a ton of goals. BC will most likely be going with veteran John Muse tonight, so odds are Providence will be having more scoring troubles tonight, but nothing surprises me when these two teams meet.

Beaudry has been hot and cold since he arrived in Providence midway through last year's campaign. He has been either very good or very bad. He stands at 6-6 on the year with no shutouts and a GAA of 2.86. Not too bad, but not great either. Does some of this come from a lack of defense in front of him? Possibly. PC has a lot of young defensemen which have allowed over 400 shots to hit their goalie, and its tough to stop everything.

Not a lot has been expected from PC this year, but the same could have been said last year when they ended up taking BC to OT twice. Granted, BC went 2-0-1 against them in an otherwise unsuccessful season, but I have seen Providence pull some crazy performances out of nowhere when the maroon and gold unis are across the ice. This is the last game for BC before Holiday Break, and they may just be looking forward to the little vacation and a trip to Denver in the new year. I still expect an easy win here, but it could be tight for a while....

Prediction: BC 4 PC 2

Recap: Harvard

BC stayed on the winning track Wednesday night as they hung on to defeat Harvard 3-2 at the Bright Center in Allston. Coach York continued his recent trend of playing Freshman Parker Milner in one game a week, and Milner did not disappoint.

The Eagles opened the scoring in the first with two straight goals by Cam Atkinson and Paul Carey before Harvard woke up and got on the board with a power play goal by Daniel Moriarty. The one goal differential lasted for the rest of the first period, but BC extended their lead again in the second with a Jimmy Hayes tally off a rebound to send Richter to the bench for the rest of the game. Richter's substitute Ryan Carroll fared much better, stopping all of BC's remaining 17 shots for the game. Harvard made a furious attempt at a comeback, however. By grabbing a goal by Michael Biega midway through the final period and adding an extra attacker for the final minute, the Crimson put tons of pressure on the Eagles' freshman goalie, but Milner stood tall and held off Harvard to grab his fourth win of the season and help BC to a 9-3-2 overall record. Next up for the Eagles is a trip to Schneider Arena and a date with Providence Saturday night. A preview will be in the next post.

BC 3 Harvard 2 box

A look at the polls.... and Harvard

First things first, the polls. This week the Eagles check in at #10 in all three of the big polls (INCH, USCHO, and USA Today). This is a significant climb since last week most polls had BC at 14 or 15, completely (in this guy's opinion) misjudging the Eagles. Some of the early season's surprises like Quinnipiac have fallen back to Earth after dropping games they should have won. The top five pretty much stays the same, with last year's Cinderella Bemidgi State holding strong at #4 (deeservedly so, they have knocked off some big boys this year). Denver and Miami are still the top dogs in all polls, with the Redhawks rebounding from a tough post-Thanksgiving hangover to notch two wins over the weekend. December is usually a quiet month with exams and the holidays, so this is really the last chance alot of teams will have to rest up for the meatgrinder that is the stretch run of January/February, where we will see the most movement in the polls. Overall, BC seems to be coming together and they are right where we all thought (or hoped) they would be at the start of the season.

On to tonight's game. Harvard is struggling right now, and that is being nice. The Crimson have one win on the season, a 5-3 win over Dartmouth the only time they have been on the good side of the scoreboard this season. Despite their record, these smart kids have some talent as well. Harvard is lead by a pair of freshman snipers in Louis LeBlanc (a top NHL prospect) and Conor Morrison, along with leading scorer Michael Biega (3-7-10 in 10 games). Harvard's issues come in net, as junior Kyle Richter has returned after a year off and has not come back very strong, sporting a 1-7 record with a 3.67 GAA, and his backup Ryan Carroll isn't any better (4.34 GAA).

The last time Richter saw BC was in the championship year of 2007-2008, where BC lit him up like a Christmas tree for 13 goals in two games. This game makes me a bit nervous, as BC can often play to their competition (see Clarkson a few weeks ago). If BC stays out of the box and can manage a few quality offensive opportunities, I see no reason why they should not roll in this one. Harvard should be able to score a goal or two, however, as it will be tough to stop their speedy forwards.
Prediction: BC 5 Harvard 2

Weekend Wrap-up

The past weekend proved to be a good one for the Eagles, as they had their first weekend sweep of the season. The pucks are starting to find the back of the net and the goaltending seems to be coming together. Oh yeah, and a win over BU is always pretty good, but kicking their ass is even better!

Friday: The weekend started with a trip down the Pike to UMASS, where the Minuteman faithful tried to break the Mullins Center attendance record. They may or may not have done that, but over 8,000 fans went home disappointed as BC knocked off the #9 Minutemen 3-1 behind goals by Brian Gibbons and Cam Atkinson (2). Parker Milner was solid in net, stopping 23 of 24 UMass shots, which earned him Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors. This was BC's first win over a top 10 team, but its hopefully not their last. This win was huge because it allowed the Eagles to keep pace with UNH in the Hockey East race, and it provided big momentum for the following night's trip to Agganis Arena.
BC 3 UMASS 1 Box

Saturday: Saturday night the Comm Ave rivalry continued as BC and BU met for the first time since BU ended the Eagles' season in the Hockey East semifinals. The two teams started off feeling each other out, skating to a scoreless tie after one period. BU got on the board first with a Nick Bonino score (just like I said they would in the previous post), but that would be the last time the Terrier fans would be able to chant their favorite line of "BC Sucks." Carl Sneep would even the score later in the period before BC blew the doors off BU in the third. Edwin Shea picked up his first goal of the season just 32 seconds into the final frame, followed shortly thereafter by Joe Whitney who took beleaguered BU goalie Kieran Millan top shelf to make it 3-1 BC. Brian Gibbons added his second goal of the weekend for good measure to send the fans off to Kenmore Square for some glow-sticks and wine spritzers. The next time these two rivals meet will be early January at Fenway Park..... can't wait!
BC 4 BU 1 Box

BIG, BIG weekend for the Eagles. I can't say that enough. Tomorrow, we'll look at the polls to see what the voters think.

NOTE: There is a game Wednesday, so we will preview Harvard tomorrow as well.

The Rivalry Continues

Tonight, the BC Eagles travel down Comm Ave. to take on their arch-rival, the BU Terriers. Last time we saw BU they were skating around DC with a trophy after Miami choked away a national championship. To their credit, however, BU had that knack for giving you hope for a big loss and then coming back and stomping on your nutsack and laughing at you. (See Hockey East semis, 2009)

Oh, what a difference a year makes. BU is sitting nicely at the bottom of the Hockey East standings this year, having won a grand total of 4 games this year. The Terriers seem to be having trouble scoring so far this year, but their bigger problem has been keeping the other team off the scoreboard (evidenced by goalie Kieran Millan's league-low .865 save percentage). This is a sophomore slump indeed, much like what Eagles fans saw last year with an injured John Muse, and this will need to be fixed if the Terriers want to repeat. The defense has also lost Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy and fellow blueliner Brian Strait, causing some big-ass holes on the back line and another reason BU has been struggling of late.
Also gone are the offensive forces of Colin Wilson, Brandon Yip and Jason Lawrence, as the Terriers are lead offensively this year by freshman forward Alex Chiasson. The good news for BU fans is that Nick Bonino looks to be returning to form afer an early injury. In addition to Bonino, some familiar faces return such as Kevin Shattenkirk, and douche-of-all-douches Eric Gryba also returns to lay down the cheap shots on unsuspecting Eagle forwards.

BC, on the other hand, is near the top of Hockey East, only 2 points behind UNH. As much as we want to pile on BU's goaltending, Mr. Muse has been almost as shaky coming off extensive hip surgery over the summer. After some early offensive issues, the Eagles have finally started to gel, with senior leaders Ben Smith and Carl Sneep netting 9 and 5 goals on the year, respectively. Defensively, BC has started to keep the pucks away from their rehabbing goalie, which can only bode well for his recovery as one of the top netminders in the Hockey East. There have been some defensive brain farts, but overall the D is getting stronger.

On to the game. This installment of BC-BU takes place at Agganis Arena, where BC has played OK, earning a 4-2-1 record in the new BU arena. BU likes to play at home in front of their hostile crowd, but this year they have only won 2 regular season games on home ice. The building is sure to be rocking yet again, as no one gets the BU crowd going like BC. This will be a big test for a young Eagles team, but they have been used to playing on the road this year, (BC has played 7 of their first 12 games away from Kelley Rink) and in front of nasty crowds (Gutterson Fieldhouse and Alfond Arena come to mind). The Eagles need to score early and keep their foot on the gas as BU has a penchant for coming from behind (as we saw last April). Muse did not play last night in a 3-1 win over #9 UMass, so expect him to be in between the pipes tonight. (No way Jerry puts frosh Parker Milner in net in this type of game) Look for BU to take the crowd momentum and score first, but their energy will cost them a few big penalties and BC will score a few powerplay goals to take this one, 3-1.

Prediction: BC3 BU 1

Welcome!

Welcome to our blog! Based on the lack of coverage of BC Hockey on the interwebs, we decided that it would be great idea to throw together a little something to keep people informed about one of the top teams in the country, your BC Eagles. Here's a look at what the weekly content will look like:

Mondays: Weekend wrap-up, scores and analysis from the weekend's games.
Tuesdays: A look at the polls.
Wednesdays: This week in Hockey East, standings, upcoming games, etc.
Thursdays/ Fridays: Weekend preview and predictions.

It looks to be an exciting year for BC, as they stand at 7-3-2 overall and are ranked #15 as of this post. Check back often for the latest news and notes about BC Hockey!