Jim ConnellyAs a hockey coach, you hope to rely on what is expected: that your top scorers will create offense, and that your goaltender can play steady, if not pace your club’s defense. Thursday night, North Dakota got those things in beating Minnesota, 4-2, to advance to the national championship game. The Sioux got solid goaltending … Read more
It was surprising to most that Denver and Colorado College combined for eight goals in Thursday’s first semifinal, as Denver came out on top, 6-2. More surprising, stunning even, was the fact that all eight goals came on the power play. Denver finished the game 6-for-12 with the man advantage, while CC was 2-for-8. For … Read more
It’s a coach’s worst nightmare. You execute your game plan perfectly. You dominate your opponent at the game’s opening. And what do you have to show for it? Nada. Zilch. Zip. After a sluggish start Saturday for defending national champion Denver that resulted in the Pioneers needing overtime to get past underdog Bemidji State, the … Read more
It was like déjà vu all over again. For the third time in two days, the top-seeded team in an NCAA regional was pushed to the brink. This time it was defending national champion Denver, with CHA champion Bemidji State fighting hard. But similar to Friday’s near-upsets between Boston College and Mercyhurst in the East … Read more
North Dakota knew it faced a difficult test in this weekend’s NCAA East Regional. Sioux fans will be happy to report that the team passed with flying colors. After blowing out Boston University on Friday night, the red-hot Sioux plastered Boston College, 6-3, in Saturday’s East Regional final to earn a bid in this year’s … Read more
Cinderella had more life than most expected, but, in the end, top-seeded Boston College ended the fantasy. Mercyhurst, which only qualified for the NCAA tournament by winning its conference tournament, gave the Eagles the scare of their collective ice, staying with the Eagles in aspect of the game but finally succumbing, 5-4, in the opening … Read more
He began the year on the bench for Mercyhurst. He ended as the league tournament’s Most Valuable Player having netted possibly the biggest goal in school history when his overtime game winner against Quinnipiac gave Mercyhurst the Atlantic Hockey Championship. Scott Champagne is simply a quiet, unassuming player. But taking anything for granted if you’re … Read more
Some may say that Boston College’s cup has runneth over. It might be better said after Saturday night’s 3-1 win in the Hockey East championship game that it has “Boyled” over. Sophomore Brian Boyle scored two goals, including the game winner on the power play late in the second period that broke a 1-1 tie … Read more
Boston College junior Patrick Eaves, who led the Eagles to a dramatic finish culminating in a regular-season championship in Hockey East, was presented the 2004-05 CCM Hockey East Player of the Year award on Thursday night at the league’s annual awards banquet. Eaves, who finished tied for second in league scoring with linemate Ryan Shannon, … Read more
Quinnipiac is hosting this weekend’s Atlantic Hockey tournament, raising questions about the Northford, Conn., venue; and Jim Connelly previews the AHA final four, all the way to the NCAA-bound champion.
Undermanned, outshot and at times outplayed — none of it mattered Friday night to the Boston College Eagles. The top seed in the Hockey East tournament survived an early onslaught from fourth-seeded Maine, got clutch goaltending from rookie Cory Schneider and, in the end, celebrated when senior defenseman Andrew Alberts’ wrist shot found the back … Read more
After its fourth conference championship, the Providence women’s hockey team is finally going to the NCAA tournament.
For Providence women’s coach Bob Deraney, a former BU goaltender, this weekend’s Hockey East Women’s tournament at Walter Brown Arena was full of nostalgia.
If you’re returning from a long trip or a month away on a deserted island, you might not want to let the Boston College hockey team serve as the welcoming committee. As goaltender Cory Schneider returned from nearly four weeks on the shelf with a knee injury, his BC defense allowed Massachusetts forward Matt Burto … Read more
The opening game of the 2005 Hockey East Women’s Championship matched a tournament-tested, top-seeded Providence squad against a young Boston College squad playing its first Hockey East playoff game. In the end, Providence made no doubt about it: experience won out. The Friars, undefeated through the first two championships of the fledgling women’s league, played … Read more
For nearly two full periods Friday night, it appeared that the playoff coma that knocked Boston College out of the Hockey East playoffs last year — falling two games to one to eighth-seeded Boston University — had simply carried over nearly a year later. Then senior Dave Spina made his presence felt. Trailing 2-0 to … Read more
The tightest season in Atlantic Hockey history makes for some tough tournament prognosticating, but Jim Connelly takes his best crack at it with previews of all four single-game quarterfinals.
Many in sports will tell you a tie is like kissing your sister, but for Boston College on Saturday night, its dramatic tie against Maine was good enough for the conference championship. Bringing to a close the most exciting regular-season finish in the 21-year history of Hockey East, BC’s Peter Harrold blasted a slapshot past … Read more
For nearly two full seasons, Boston College head coach Jerry York has waited for forward Brian Boyle to live up to the challenges that the BC coaching staff has set for him. Friday night, Boyle picked the perfect time do just that. In the first of a two-game series against Maine that will help decide … Read more
With the Atlantic Hockey season winding down, Jim Connelly hands out his league awards. Also: Mercyhurst rips control of its home-ice destiny from Holy Cross, and Canisius sends out signs that hockey is not on the endangered list.