Boston College Athletics
Hockey Heads West
October 27, 1999 | Men's Hockey
Oct. 27, 1999
Tonight's game: The Eagles begin a two-game series with Minnesota tonight ... Both games will begin at 7 p.m. The Eagles enter the contest riding a three-game winning streak.
Go West Young Men: This weekend's series marks the only time Boston College will play outside the Eastern time zone during the regular season ... Last season, the Eagles played seven times outside of the East (5-0-2 record) with two games coming at the IceBreaker Classic in Minnesota. ... The Eagles captured the season-opening tournament by defeating Ohio State 4-3 in overtime and downing St. Lawrence 3-2... Senior defenseman Mike Mottau and junior forward Brian Gionta garnered All-Tournament honors ... In addition, the series will be the only time Boston College faces a WCHA team in the regular season ... BC has an all-time 55-52-3 (.514) record against WCHA squads.
The Series: The Eagles and Golden Gophers have met 23 times with Boston College sporting a 9-12-2 record. Last season Minnesota paid a visit to Kelley Rink for a two-game series (1/2-3/99). The Eagles prevailed the first night 8-4 and the teams tied 3-3 in the second game ... Jeff Farkas registered a career-high four goals in the Jan. 2 game and finished with five goals and one assist during the two-game stretch ... Junior Mike Lephart posted two goals and three assists in the series.
Last time out: Top-ranked Boston College raised its record to 3-0-0 overall and 2-0-0 in HOCKEY EAST action with a 4-1 victory over UMass-Amherst in Amherst on Oct. 23 ... It was Boston College's 13th consecutive victory over the Minutemen ... Senior forward Jeff Farkas notched the third hat trick of his career while junior forward Brian Gionta scored his first goal of the season ... Junior netminder Scott Clemmensen had 32 saves.
Way to go, Coach York: With the Eagles' win at UMass-Amherst, sixth-year coach Jerry York won his 100th game as Boston College's head coach ... York's BC mark is now 100-79-18 (.553). Now in his 28th year as a collegiate head coach, York has compiled an impressive 567-424-52 (.569) record, ranking him sixth on the NCAA's all-time winningest coaches list.
Earning respect: The Eagles are the top-ranked team in both the most recent (Oct. 25) U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll and in the first USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll where they recieved all 15 possible first-place votes... The Sporting News' Hockey pre-season poll also gave Boston College top billing ... In Hockey News' Oct. 22, 1999 issue, the Eagles are given the nod as America's No. 1 team ... Additionally, the Eagles received all eight possible first-place votes in the HOCKEY EAST coaches' pre-season poll, making them the league's pre-season No. 1 squad.
Not so terrible Two's: The second period has been extremely kind to Boston College in its first three games. Of the 16 Boston College goals this season, nine have come in the second 20 minutes. BC has scored three goals in the second against each of its first three foes -- Bowling Green, Merrimack and UMass-Amherst.
Welcome home, Walker: Boston College freshman forward A.J. Walker is the lone Minnesota resident on the Boston College roster ... Walker played his high school hockey at nationally-renowned Shattuck-St. Mary's ... During his senior season the 5-10, 185-pound forward scored 127 points -- 44 goals and 83 assists ... Walker was coached by current L.A. Kings head coach Andy Murray.
Scoring quickly: Sophomore forward Jeff Giuliano scored his second goal of the season 35 seconds into the Oct. 19 game against Merrimack (10/19). As quick as Giuliano's goal was scored, it still took more than twice as long as former Eagle David Hymovitz (1992-96) who scored 17 seconds into Boston College's March 12, 1994 HOCKEY EAST quarterfinal game (No. 2) at New Hampshire (Snively Arena).
For the 79th time: Boston College is in the midst of its 79th season of varsity hockey competition. In 78-plus seasons, the Eagles have a 1115-651-80 record.
Farkas 'en fuego': Senior forward Jeff Farkas, the nation's leading returning goal scorer (32 goals in 1998-99), is off to a fast start. He has registered 11 points -- six goals, five assists -- in Boston College's first three games.
Steady climb: With his three points (one goal, two assists) against Bowling Green in the season opener, Jeff Farkas moved ahead of his head coach, Jerry York, on the Eagles' career scoring list .... Farkas has since passed current Anaheim Mighty Duck Marty McInnis (1988-91). McInnis finished his BC career with 142 points, one fewer than Farkas' current 143-point total ... Farkas is now all alone in 21st place on the all-time list.
Captain Mike: Senior defenseman Mike Mottau will serve as Boston College's captain for the 1999-2000 campaign. Mottau, who finished the 1998-99 season with three goals and 39 assists, has earned All-America honors in each of the last two seasons. He was also the co-recipient of the 1999 Walter Brown Award, given annually to the best American-born player in New England.
Approaching the century mark: Senior defenseman Mike Mottau needs just three assists to become the 10th player in BC history to register 100 career assists. Mottau is currently all alone in 13th place on the school's career assist list.
Helping out: Senior forward Blake Bellefeuille and junior forward Brian Gionta will serve as assistant captains. Last season Bellefeuille posted the best offensive numbers of his career as he tallied 24 goals and 25 assists for 49 points. Gionta, who captured 1998-99 All-America honors, had 27 goals and 33 assists for 60 points.
Who says 13 is unlucky?: Senior forward Blake Bellefeuille wears uniform number 13. In the Eagles' Oct. 19 game against Merrimack (10/19), Bellefeuille scored his first goal of the season 13:13 into the second period.
Line of terror: The Eagles' line of Jeff Giuliano, Jeff Farkas and Mike Lephart has been especially potent in the season's first three games. The line has accounted for 18 points -- 11 goals, seven assists. The man between the pipes: Junior goaltender Scott Clemmensen returns for his third season as the Eagles' starter. Last season, the Urbandale, Iowa product sported a 2.87 goals against average and .888 save percentage, playing in all but one of Boston College's games. In his first two seasons as the Eagles' main man in net, Clemmensen won 50 games and recorded five shutouts ... Clemmensen has been the Eagles' starting goaltender in 67 of the last 69 games. The junior did not start the final regular-season game last year (vs. Merrimack, March 6) or the team's most recent game (vs. Merrimack, Oct. 19).
vs. Minnesota: Clemmensen has a 1-0-1 all-time mark against the Golden Gophers with a 3.50 GAA.
Spreading the wealth: In the Eagles' 5-2 season-opening win over Bowling Green Oct. 15, five different BC players lit the lamp with a player in each class scoring a goal. Jeff Farkas and Kevin Caulfield did the honors for the senior class, Mike Lephart scored one for the juniors, Jeff Giuliano put one home for the sophomores, and Krys Kolanos was the freshman goal scorer.
One last look: Last season's 27-12-4 year included a second consecutive HOCKEY EAST Tournament crown, a second straight trip to the NCAA Frozen Four and the second season in a row that the program won 25 or more games.
The power returns: Boston College returns 84.1 percent of its goal scoring from last season and 82.2 percent of its total points. The Eagles return four of their top six goal scorers ? Jeff Farkas (32 goals), Brian Gionta (27 goals), Blake Bellefeuille (24 goals) and Mike Lephart (11 goals).
Going hat trick happy: Junior forward Brian Gionta has five hat tricks in his two years at Boston College. Gionta is just three short of the BC career record (eight) held jointly by Ray Chaisson (1939-41), Warren Lewis (1947-50) and Scott Harlow (1982-86).
All in the family: Senior forward Tony Hutchins isn't the only one in his family who can score goals. Hutchins' sister Angela is a sophomore on the BC field hockey team and currently has four goals.
Meet the new guys: The Eagle roster consists of eight newcomers. Two goaltenders (Tim Kelleher and Tom Egan), two defensemen (Bill Cass and Anthony D'Arpino) and four forwards (Paul Kelly, Krys Kolanos, A.J. Walker and Jeremy Wilson) begin their Eagle careers.
Standing tall: Freshman netminder Tim Kelleher saw his first collegiate action in Boston College's 7-2 win over Merrimack. Kelleher recorded 16 saves en route to his maiden college victory ... In addition, Kelleher saw 20 minutes of action in the Eagles' exhibition win over Queen's (Kingston, Ontario), recording seven goals and not allowing a goal.
First Impression: Freshman forward Krys Kolanos made quite a first impression on Oct. 15, scoring one goal and adding one assist in the Eagles' 5-2 season-opening win over Bowling Green. Kolanos also looked impressive in the squad's exhibition game against Queen's (Kingston, Ontario), tallying three goals and two assists.
On the air: Boston College hockey games can be heard on WESX (1230 AM), WJDA (1310 AM) and on the Eagles' Official Athletic Site, www.bceagles.com. Jon Rish and former BC star and NHL stalwart Tim Sweeney call the action.
I know what you did this off-season: Several Eagles took part in hockey-related activities during the off-season. Senior Mike Mottau played for Team USA in the IIHF World Championships in Norway in May. Mottau registered two goals and one assist during the six-game event ... Junior Brian Gionta was presented with the 1999 Bob Johnson Award in a June ceremony held in Colorado Springs, Colo. Gionta's strong play in the 1999 IIHF Junior Championships earned him the honor. Joining Gionta on the 1999 US National Junior Team was current Minnesota sophomore defenseman Jordan Leopold ... Sophomore defenseman Brooks Orpik took part in USA Hockey's National Junior Camp in Lake Placid, N.Y. in early August.
The NHL awaits: Eight current Eagles have been taken in the NHL's annual entry draft. Tony Hutchins (St. Louis, 8th round) was taken in 1996, senior Kevin Caulfield (Washington, 5th round), junior Scott Clemmensen (New Jersey, 8th round), senior Jeff Farkas (Toronto, 3rd round), senior Mike Mottau (New York Rangers, 7th round) were all taken in 1997, while junior Bobby Allen (Boston, 2nd round), junior Brian Gionta (New Jersey, 3rd round) and junior Rob Scuderi (Pittsburgh, 5th round) were all selected in 1998.
Consistency breeds success: Associate head coaches Jim Logue and Scott Paluch along with assistant coach Mike Cavanaugh will once again join Jerry York to form the Eagle coaching staff. It marks the fifth year in a row that the staff has remained intact. In addition to being on the same staff, Cavanaugh played for Logue at North Andover High School, while Paluch played his college hockey under York at Bowling Green.
On the horizon: The Eagles will return to action on Sunday, Nov. 7 against HOCKEY EAST rival UMass-Lowell ... Game time at Kelley Rink is set for 7 p.m.
