Jim Connelly

Will the real Boston College men’s hockey team please step forward? Seriously. We’re almost at the holiday break, and the defending national champions, a team most people thought (including myself) that they might threaten Maine’s 42-1-2 record from 1993, seems to be caught in the middle of a Jekyll & Hyde performance. Good games are … Read more

After No. 7 Boston College put forth what coach Jerry York deemed a disappointing effort on Friday in a 5-3 loss at No. 18 Merrimack, you knew the veteran bench boss wanted to make a change. That change, namely shifting around his line combinations, paid off in spades on Sunday as the Eagles routed Vermont … Read more

Just when the Massachusetts-Lowell River Hawks thought things couldn’t get much worse, now Lady Luck seems to be rooting against them. Following an ugly 8-3 loss to Minnesota State on Friday, the River Hawks responded with a solid effort on Saturday, only to have an attempt by rookie Joe Caveney to clear the puck from … Read more

On Monday, Merrimack College earned their first-ever national ranking, debuting at No. 18 in the USCHO.com poll. Four days later, the Warriors proved they’ve earned that ranking. Led by a six-point effort from the top line of Stephane Da Costa (goals, two assists), Chris Barton (goal) and Jesse Todd (goal, assist) combined with a 24-save … Read more

Very interesting weekend around Hockey East as a handful of teams made definitive statements with their play on the ice. Boston College probably made the biggest one, sweeping Maine in a two-game series at home, 4-0 and 4-1. The Eagles dominated in Friday’s opener but then found a way to win in Sunday’s rematch, a … Read more

No. 10 Boston College proved on Sunday that it doesn’t always take a picture-perfect effort to come out on top. Two days after routing No. 3 Maine, 4-0, the Eagles posted a 4-1 victory in Sunday’s rematch. Unlike Friday, though, where BC dominated throughout, it was the Black Bears that carried the play in the … Read more

A season ago as Boston College cruised to its fourth national championship, it was a sure-fire offense that paced the club. For the first six weeks of the 2010-11 campaign, though, that offense was, for the most part, missing. That is until Friday. In a rematch of last year’s Hockey East championship against Maine, a … Read more

Dave made a great comeback last week while my mind obviously was still drowning in Jameson and Guinness. Dave last week: 6-1-3 Jim last week: 4-3-3 Dave’s record-to-date: 22-13-13 (.594) Jim’s record-to-date: 18-11-11 (.582) Here are this week’s picks: Friday, November 19 Maine at Boston College Dave’s pick: I suspected at the beginning of the year … Read more

When Merrimack’s Mike Collins scored at 1:15 of the first period in Saturday night’s game against Boston University, the Warriors did something that no team had done in nearly three weeks – score a power play goal against BU. BU had killed 32 consecutive penalties entering Saturday’s game, including 10 against the Warriors on Friday … Read more

It certainly was an interesting weekend to look back on in Hockey East. A busy league slate was highlighted by a clash of what most believe will be two of the league’s powerhouses come March – Maine and Boston University. The single game on Saturday night was a barnburner for 60 minutes and beyond and … Read more

It was an interesting weekend in Hockey East with national number one Boston College falling to rival Notre Dame, Northeastern and Lowell earning their first wins and Boston University picking up two more ‘W’s in league playing with victories over Massachusetts and Providence. But among that, what grabbed my attention and likely that of many … Read more