Here We Go Again

The postseason of modern college hockey is defined by its parity. In each league, the concept of an advantage can seem antiquated as lower seeds produce upset victories. The regular season stands singular as important, but it only sets the stage as an opening act for the main attraction - the drama of the playoffs.

But if parity defines the modern postseason, Hockey East magnificently is bucking the trend. For the third consecutive season, and for the fourth time in five years, Boston College will host Vermont in the quarterfinals round, a heavyweight rivalry in its rubber match.

"It's highly unusual for us to play each other in the playoffs this often with 12 teams in the conference," Eagles head coach Jerry York said. "But it's more significant that we just played Vermont three weeks ago and couldn't settle anything. We had six periods and two overtimes so the margin of error is very slim. So we're preparing for an opponent that is certainly capable of beating us, and we're capable of beating them."

The series marks the start of Boston College's postseason after receiving a first round bye as the league's #3 seed. It's the 28th time the Eagles will play in the Hockey East quarterfinals, which is in its third year in the 12-team format, and it's a place where they've won nearly 70% of their games with almost 40 victories. While the format is still in its infancy since the addition of Connecticut in 2013-2014, Boston College has never missed a shot for a weekend off.

"Sometimes we want to keep playing if we have a hot streak," York said, "but we've cooled off as of late. Having the weekend off gave us a good chance to sit back and analyze our club and reinvigorate our team as we approach the quarterfinals. We've had a good chance to catch our breath and heal our injuries. We've had typical team stuff where we've had the flu bug go through our team, and we're still down one defenseman - Jesper Mattila - who has mono."

That cool stretch means this postseason marks a different turn for BC. Though they finished tied for the Hockey East regular season championship with UMass-Lowell and Boston University, the River Hawks placed first and Terriers second. The Eagles also enter the postseason on an eight-game winless streak, over a month removed from their last victory.

Because of that, BC enters this weekend tied for 18th in the PairWise Rankings. Used to predict teams slotted into the NCAA Tournament, placing outside of the top 16 means the Eagles are a bubble team on the outside looking in. But it also means that victories this weekend - over a Catamount team currently ranked 15th - could push the Eagles back into focus for the national tournament.

"Over the last couple of years, we've always had it in our back pocket that we're in the national tournament," York said. "The seeding was really the only thing affected. But this year, we're a bubble team so for us to advance to the Garden will also push us hopefully closer to getting into the national tournament. But right now, if you lose, your sticks are gone, and none of us want to give up our sticks."

Adding to the mix is the opponent. A 12-team format is meant to diversify matchups, with seeds shaking down based upon finishing slot as opposed to team. Yet somehow BC and Vermont have managed to find each other every year under the new format.

The teams met in 2013 when only eight of then-10 teams made the Hockey East postseason. That year, the second-seeded Eagles swept the seventh-seeded Catamounts in two games. Two years later in 2015, with all 12 teams now making the the postseason, the third-seeded Eagles won the first game only to watch Vermont force and then win a decisive third game, eliminating BC.

Last year, they met for a second consecutive year, with top-seeded BC defeating ninth-seeded Vermont, 4-3 in overtime, after splitting the first two games. Now they'll play their ninth, tenth, and possibly 11th games in the past four years against each other in the playoffs in a rubber match with so much more in the national spotlight riding on it.

For the Catamounts, freshman Stefanos Lekkas won 17 games in goal, losing only one of his last six starts. Against Maine last weekend, he earned Defensive Player of the Week status by making 67 saves over two nights in a sweep of the Black Bears. But they also tout an offense ranked 11th overall in Division I with 3.28 goals per game.

"We have to watch out for a lot of things with them," York said. "(Lekkas) has been very, very hot. He's very agile and moves post to post extremely quickly. He gave us troubles when we played them (at Conte Forum earlier this year). Their top line was also dominant in those games against us, so we have to watch that and be careful. I like the way they played, and they impressed me. We can't take our foot off the gas pedal at all against them. We have a tremendous amount of respect for (Vermont head coach) Kevin Sneddon and what he's been able to do."

No matter the circumstances or the opponent, however, it's still the playoffs, and that's the greatest time of year to be a hockey fan, player, or coach. Even though their most recent championship came in 2012, York's seven Hockey East championships are a conference record. He holds a .750 win percentage in league tournaments, with 16 championship game appearances. Yet for a coach who's done it all and won more games than any other, the postseason remains just as fun as ever.

"It's something we all look forward to in any collegiate sport," York said, "but particularly hockey has a great history. We play a best-of-three series against the same opponent, and you're playing with the chance to advance or go home. That's clearly with all of us. I think it's exciting, and it gives us a chance to answer just how good we are to see if we can advance."

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