Boston College Athletics
Hockey Prepares for Home Opener against #1 Wisconsin
October 25, 2000 | Men's Hockey
Oct. 25, 2000
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Tonight's Game Boston College opens the home portion of its schedule, hosting the Wisconsin Badgers in a matchup of the two top-ranked teams in the country. BC is looking to win its fifth straight home opener. The Eagles are 4-2 in home openers under Jerry York. Game time is 7 p.m.
The Series Boston College has a 6-6 all-time record against Wisconsin. The last time Wisconsin played at BC was a 5-4 overtime win by the Eagles on January 17, 1988. BC is 3-1 at home vs. the Badgers, 2-1 on the road, and 1-4 at neutral sites. The two teams have met twice in postseason play. On March 30, 1990, Wisconsin beat the Eagles by a 2-1 count in the national semifinals on their way to the NCAA championship. Ten years later the Eagles would exact some measure of revenge as they ousted the Badgers 4-1 in the 2000 West Regional Quarterfinal in Minneapolis, Minn.
Last Weekend The Eagles swept a two-game series against Denver last weekend (Oct. 20-21). In the first game junior forward Ales Dolinar scored the game-winner with just under five minutes to play and Marty Hughes notched one power-play goal and one assist to lead the Eagles to the 3-2 come-from-behind win. Sophomore goaltender Tim Kelleher, seeing his first action of the season, stopped 24 Pioneer shots for the win. The second game saw BC fall behind early once again, but senior defenseman Bobby Allen netted the game-winner with just under six minutes remaining in the game and the Eagles held on the sweep the series with another 3-2 victory.
Last BC - Wisconsin Meeting The Eagles and Badgers last played each other on March 25, 2000 when BC defeated top-ranked Wisconsin 4-1 to advance to the Frozen Four. Brian Gionta's goal with 23 seconds remaining in the first period gave BC a 2-1 advantage and proved to be the game-winner. Jeff Giuliano added an insurance goal 16 seconds into the final period as BC advanced to the Frozen Four in Providence.
Coach York Jerry York is in his seventh season as the Eagles' head coach. He heads into this weekend's games as the sixth-winningest coach in NCAA history and is just three victories short of the 600-win plateau. His career record stands at 597-436-53 (.578). His record at Boston College is 130-91-19 (.588). He has led his team to the NCAA Tournament eight times. His 1983-84 Bowling Green squad finished 34-8-2 and won the national championship.
National Rankings For the second straight week the Eagles moved up one spot in the national polls. BC moved into second place in the USA Today/American Hockey Magazine poll, behind only tonight's opponent Wisconsin. BC also holds down the second position in this week's USCHO.com Division I poll, also behind the Badgers.
Injuries OUT - Freshman defenseman Joe Schuman will miss the game against Wisconsin after undergoing successful arthroscopic surgery on his right knee.
A Recap of Last Season Led by head coach Jerry York, Boston College returns 18 players from last year's team that finished with a 29-12-1 record and advanced to the NCAA Tournament's championship game. It was the Eagles' third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four. BC lost to North Dakota 4-2 in the championship game. The Eagles' 29 wins marked the third season in a row that the program had won 27 or more games.
BC Hockey in the HOCKEY EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll Boston College was selected as the pre-season favorite in the 2000-01 HOCKEY EAST Preseason Coaches' Poll. The Eagles gained three of a possible nine first-place votes to finish with 72 points. Boston University, which received two first-place votes, finished second in the poll with 69 points. Maine was picked third (68 points/three first-place votes), while New Hampshire was selected fourth (60 points/one first-place vote).
2000-01 Eagle Captain Senior forward Brian Gionta will serve as team captain for the 2000-01 season. Gionta, the nation's top returning goal scorer, wrapped up last season as the team's second-leading scorer, finishing with 33 goals and 23 assists. A three-time All-America selection and two-time Hobey Baker Award finalist, Gionta is within reach of BC's career scoring record.
Assistant Captains Seniors Bobby Allen and Mike Lephart will serve as assistant captains this season. Allen earned All-HOCKEY EAST second team honors in his junior season and is the highest-scoring defenseman returning from last year's squad. Lephart, who is the second-leading returning scorer behind Gionta, had 14 goals and 19 assists last season.
Eagles' Scoring Defense Off to Stingy Start Through the first four games of the season the Eagles defense has only allowed six goals. The last time a Boston College team has allowed so few goals this late into the season was the 1985-86 Eagles, which allowed just six goals to its first four opponents. Before that season one would have to look back to the 1962-63 Eagles, which also gave up six goals. This season the Eagles have allowed one goal apiece to Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha, and then two goals in both of the wins at Denver.
BC Penalty-Killing Unit Doing the Job BC has successfully killed 32 of its' opponent's 34 power-play opportunities (.941) this season (8-8 vs. Notre Dame, 11-12 at Nebraska-Omaha, 6-6 at Denver, 7-8 at Denver). Last season the Eagles killed off penalties at an .885 rate.
Family Affair for BC Freshman Eaves Boston College freshman forward Ben Eaves has quite a legacy to live up to when the Eagles face off against Wisconsin - a Badger legacy at that. Eaves' father Mike is the all-time leading scorer for the Badgers, having registered 94 goals and 173 assists (267 total points) in 160 career games in Madison. The elder Eaves was a two-time all-American at Wisconsin and went on the enjoy an eight-year NHL career with Minnesota and Calgary. This season BC's Eaves has tallied four assists in the Eagles' four games.
More Than 1,200 Combined Wins Behind Both Benches One would be hard pressed to match up two coaches who have as many combined wins as the two coaches in Friday night's game. The Eagles' Jerry York and Wisconsin's Jeff Sauer have combined for 1,220 wins over 57 + seasons. York ranks sixth all-time with 597 wins in 28 + seasons. Sauer ranks fourth all-time with 623 wins in 29 + seasons.
BC wins Maverick Stampede Championship Senior goaltender Scott Clemmensen stopped 36 Nebraska-Omaha shots and senior forward Mike Lephart added two goals as the Eagles beat the Mavericks 5-1 to take the championship of the inaugural Maverick Stampede in Omaha, Neb. on Oct. 14. Krys Kolanos scored a goal and assisted on two others, and senior captain Brian Gionta notched one goal and one assist. Both senior forward Marty Hughes and senior defenseman Bobby Allen had two assists. Clemmensen (MVP), Kolanos, Lephart and Allen earned All-Tournament honors.
BC wins its Third Regular-Season Tournament in Three Years Boston College's victory over Nebraska-Omaha in the championship game of the Maverick Stampede on Oct. 14 gave the Eagles their third regular-season tournament title in the last three seasons. BC also won the IceBreaker Cup in Minneapolis, Minn. in October 1998 (defeating Ohio State and St. Lawrence), and the Sheraton/Howard Bank Hockey Classic in Burlington, Vt. in December 1999 (defeating Dartmouth and Vermont).
Eagles Return Majority of Point Production The Eagles return 59 percent of its overall scoring from last year's team (257 points return from last year's squad that recorded 435 total points). Overall, BC returns 61 percent of its goal-scorers and 57 percent of its total assists. Last season the forwards scored 332 points (152 goals and 180 assists), 197 of those points (59 percent) will be on the ice for the Eagles this season. Defensively, BC returns four of the five blueliners who saw regular ice time last season.
BC and the NHL Boston College currently has nine players on its roster that have been selected in the NHL draft: No. Player Team Round Year 2 Bobby Allen Boston 2nd 1998 30 Scott Clemmensen New Jersey 8th 1997 12 Brian Gionta New Jersey 3rd 1998 7 Rob Scuderi Pittsburgh 5th 1998 5 Bill Cass Anaheim 5th 2000 25 Justin Dziama New Jersey 8th 1999 23 J. D. Forrest Carolina 6th 2000 11 Krys Kolanos Phoenix 1st 2000 4 Brooks Orpik Pittsburgh 1st 2000
Boston College vs. the WCHA Boston College is 59-54-3 all-time against the WCHA. Last weekend's sweep of the two-game series at Denver was the first time BC had faced a WCHA opponent since last season's NCAA championship game, in which the Eagles fell to North Dakota 4-2. Michigan Tech is a possible opponent of the Eagles in the Great Lakes Invitational on Dec. 30th.
Clemmensen Named HOCKEY EAST Defensive Player of the Week for Week Ending Oct. 15 Senior goaltender Scott Clemmensen was named the HOCKEY EAST Defensive Player of the Week for his MVP performance in the Maverick Stampede. Clemmensen stopped 61 shots in two games as the Eagles captured the tournament championship. The Urbandale, Iowa native allowed only two goals in wins over Notre Dame and Nebraska-Omaha.
Clemmensen/Kelleher a Tough Combo in Net in HOCKEY EAST Play Last season Clemmensen and sophomore Tim Kelleher finished 1-2 in goals against average in HOCKEY EAST play. Clemmensen allowed just 1.98 goals per game while notching a 9-4 record. He captured HOCKEY EAST's 1999-2000 Heaton Goaltending Award for the lowest goals against average in league play. Kelleher was close behind with a 2.13 average and a 6-4-1 record.
BC Class of 2001 This season's senior class has experienced more success in its first three seasons than any other Boston College class entering their final year with the exception of the BC class of 1988, which won 85 games (.702 win percentage) through its first three seasons. The class of 2001 won 84 games in its first three seasons (.705 win percentage) and appeared in the Frozen Four each year, playing for the title twice. The only other BC class to appear in three consecutive Frozen Fours was the 1948-50 Eagles, a team that won BC's sole national championship in 1949.
Eagle Newcomers The Eagles roster features eight newcomers: five forwards (Justin Dziama, Ben Eaves, Ty Hennes, Chuck Kobasew and Tony Voce) and three defensemen (J. D. Forrest, Brett Peterson and Joe Schuman). So far this season the freshman class has accounted for two goals and five assists in the first four games of the season.
On the Radio Boston College hockey games can be heard on 96.9 FM Talk (WTKK Radio). Jon Rish will call the action on the 50,000-watt station. Games can also be heard on the Boston College Athletic Department's official web site at www.bceagles.com.
Next Game The Eagles open their HOCKEY EAST schedule with a game against UMass-Amherst on Sunday, October 29. Game time is 7 p.m. Last season BC topped the Minutemen in two of the teams' three meetings. The Eagles hold a 19-4 series advantage.
