Jim ConnellyBalanced scoring is a dream for any college hockey coach. The knowledge that balance can help you win hockey games, then, becomes a coach’s bliss. On an afternoon where Boston College’s top two scoring lines were, for the most part, held quiet, the third and fourth lines for the Eagles responded with four goals and … Read more
Whistles Galore If anyone has attended a college hockey game this season, you may notice a few things are different. That’s particularly true when it comes to officiating. A quick look on the ice identifies the biggest difference. Instead of the regular single referee with two assistant referees, Hockey East, as well as all of … Read more
Prior to the start of the season, the NCAA rules committee highlighted a point of emphasis on penalties that slow the puck handler down in hopes of increasing scoring in the game. Really, all they needed to do was give every team the game plans of Boston College and New Hampshire. The No. 5 Eagles … Read more
So I began my season of blogging with a doozy – showing video of the Harvard-Union game in which a goaltender interference call nullified a late-game goal for Harvard and resulted in head coach Ted Donato’s ejection. Ken Schott, long-time Union beat writer for the Schenectady Gazette, who pointed the play out to me originally, … Read more
So I began my season of blogging with a doozy – showing video of the Harvard-Union game in which a goaltender interference call nullified a late-game goal for Harvard and resulted in head coach Ted Donato’s ejection. Ken Schott, long-time Union beat writer for the Schenectady Gazette, who pointed the play out to me originally, … Read more
It’s been a while, fellow college hockey fans. And as I return with my first blog post of the college hockey season, I bring to you some controversy from last weekend’s Union-Harvard game. With the score 3-1 in favor of Union in the final minute of play, Harvard scored what looked to be a goal … Read more
It’s been a while, fellow college hockey fans. And as I return with my first blog post of the college hockey season, I bring to you some controversy from last weekend’s Union-Harvard game. With the score 3-1 in favor of Union in the final minute of play, Harvard scored what looked to be a goal … Read more
It may seem like its six months too late, but a hard-fought road victory for No. 12 Notre Dame tasted like sweet revenge over second ranked Boston College Friday night. The game was a rematch of last year’s national title game, won by the Eagles, 4-1. But on Friday the tables were turned and the … Read more
Marching Minutemen We’ve already established that many of the perennially “lower-tier” teams from Hockey East seem poised this early season to make a run towards the top. Northeastern and Vermont both have received the positive ink they deserve from this column. Mass.-Lowell opened some eyes out at Michigan State. But last weekend another team threw … Read more
There are plenty of words you can use to describe Boston College senior forward Andrew Orpik. The most appropriate one after Friday’s victory for the No. 3 Eagles over 11th-ranked Vermont is honest. When asked about his goal with 4:35 remaining that gave BC a two-goal cushion at 3-1, a picturesque shot that sniped the … Read more
Friday night at Boston College’s Kelley Rink, it was a classic teacher versus student clash as Boston College bench boss Jerry York faced former Eagles assistant coach and current Bowling Green head coach Scott Paluch. In the end it was the wisdom of York that prevailed over the youth and enthusiasm of Paluch as the … Read more
The Beast of the East? Late afternoon this past Saturday, yours truly penned a short sidebar that appeared alongside the Massachusetts-North Dakota game story on USCHO.com. I asked the question, mostly tongue-in-cheek, whether we could judge a semi-domination for Hockey East over the WCHA. At that point, Boston College had beaten Wisconsin, and both Boston … Read more
On a night when the top ranked Boston College Eagles were celebrating the past, it was the future of the program that provided the heroics. Rookie Cam Atkinson broke a 4-4 tie with 6:30 remaining as the Eagles came from behind to defeat No. 14 Wisconsin, 5-4, to cap off a night of celebration at … Read more
Last year, the Vermont Catamounts took a major step forward in reaching the goal of becoming a perennial powerhouse. A late-season charge saw Vermont catapult to third place in the Hockey East standings, win a hard-fought quarterfinal series over Northeastern and then upset Boston University at the TD Banknorth Garden to earn the school’s first … Read more
When the Hockey East preseason coaches’ poll was released, it looked similar to most years, with Boston College, Boston University and New Hampshire all sitting at the top. But missing from that group of usual suspects were the Maine Black Bears, whom the coaches picked ninth out of ten teams, most likely the lowest preseason … Read more
If the college hockey regular season ended in the first week of February rather than March, last year’s campaign for the Providence Friars would likely have been considered a glowing success. It was those final 30 days, though, that took things from a banner year for the Friars to one of mediocrity. The turning point … Read more
If anyone told you on the final night of the regular season last year that the Boston College Eagles could win the national championship, you’d likely have had them committed to a mental institution. An inconsistent team all season, the Eagles stumbled into the playoffs, barely earning home ice, before unbelievably putting the pieces together … Read more
In each of his first three seasons at Merrimack, head coach Mark Dennehy’s team took steps forward. After winning just six games in his first campaign in 2005-06 and three games the year following, last year’s club posted 12 wins total and surpassed the win total of a year prior by November 1. Seems like … Read more
So final thoughts from the 2008 NHL Entry Draft: College hockey still made out well As bad as the opening round of the Draft might have been for collegians, the final six rounds certainly proved to be fruitful. In all, 62 players who are either currently enrolled in college or will be making their way … Read more
To say that Colin Wilson was excited when he was selected seventh overall in Friday’s opening round of the NHL Entry Draft is probably an understatement. But it was possible that it was later in the first round when Wilson really got excited. Nashville selected Wilson with the seventh pick but also had a second … Read more