Tonight was senior night for Boston College and once again it was a small class. Small but big. All major performers: goaltender John Muse and forwards Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney.
Two national championships, two Hockey East titles, and three Beanpots for that class. And counting.
Those will be three huge holes to fill, but if everyone else comes back next year the Eagles could be a preseason number one again. Of course, that’s a big if.
Let’s stick with this year for now.
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New Hampshire coach Dick Umile broke up his big line after last Friday’s 2-2 tie with Northeastern. Phil DeSimone and Mike Sislo remained together but were paired with sophomore Dalton Speelman on left wing. Hobey Baker Award candidate Paul Thompson moved to a line with Austin Block and John Henrion.
The result worked well for one game, a 6-3 win in the rematch with the Huskies, but not so much in tonight’s game, prompting Umile to reunite his dynamic seniors on the top line and his sophomores on the other.
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In action around the league, Vermont’s tie with Massachusetts-Lowell guarantees the Catamounts a playoff berth. The wins by Maine and Merrimack lock the Black Bears into the number five seed. Northeastern was guaranteed to be the sixth seed even before this weekend.
All other positions are up for grabs.
