Boston College Athletics
Hockey Ready For Minutemen
February 25, 2000 | Men's Hockey
Feb. 25, 2000
Chestnut Hill, Mass. - Tonight's Game: The Eagles travel to Amherst for the first game in a weekend home-and-home series with the Minutemen ... BC has won the last 13 meetings between the two clubs ... The Eagles are 6-7-0 on the road this season.
Last time out: Junior Brian Gionta tallied his seventh career hat trick as the Eagles defeated New Hampshire, 4-1, at Kelley Rink on Feb. 20. Senior Mike Mottau had three assists for the Eagles, while senior Blake Bellefeuille added two assists. Freshman goaltender Tim Kelleher made 27 saves for Boston College.
Natural Born Killers: Boston College's penalty-killing unit, tops among HOCKEY EAST clubs, has been particularly tough of late. BC has successfully killed its last 44 penalties ... The Eagles have not allowed a power-play goal since the first period of a Jan. 28 win at Maine ... In the last nine games, the Eagles have successfully stopped 49 of their opponents' 50 man-advantage situations.
Hat Tricks: With his three-goal effort against New Hampshire, junior forward Brian Gionta recorded his seventh collegiate hat trick. Gionta is now just one short of the school's career record (eight) held by Ray Chaisson (1939-41), Warren Lewis (1947-50) and Scott Harlow (1982-86).
National Ranking: The Eagles are ranked sixth in the most recent (Feb. 21) U.S. College Hockey Online (USCHO) poll and are tied for fifth in the most recent (Feb. 21) USA TODAY/American Hockey Magazine poll.
Finishing The Job: Boston College has outscored its opposition by a 48-17 margin in the third period this season, including five-goal outbursts in the final stanza against Brown on Jan. 2 and against Providence on Jan. 23 ... The Eagles are 16-2 this season when leading after two periods.
Movin' On Up: Senior forward Jeff Farkas is currently eighth on the Eagles' all-time scoring list. Farkas has 176 career points - 78 goals and 98 assists ... Junior forward Brian Gionta is 12th on the school's all-time list with 163 points (82 goals, 81 assists), while senior forward Blake Bellefeuille is tied for 16th with 159 points (72 goals, 87 assists) ... Senior defenseman Mike Mottau is first among all BC defensemen with 147 points, and his 123 career assists are just four shy of the school's all-time record. The mark is currently held by David Emma, who tallied 127 assists between 1987 and 1991.
On The Defensive: Boston College has surrendered two or fewer goals in 22 of its 30 games this season. The Eagles are currently third in the nation in scoring defense with a 2.07 goals against average.
HOCKEY EAST Statistics: Boston College ranks at or near the top of many of the league's statistical categories. Through 30 games, the Eagles rank first in goals per game (3.97) ... On the defensive end, the Eagles are first in goals allowed per game (2.07) ... The Eagles also have the league's top penalty-killing unit, having stopped 92.3 percent of their opponents' man-advantage situations in league play (89.8 percent overall).
The `Score': With its win over UNH on Feb. 20, Boston College reached the 20-win plateau for the third year in a row and the 19th time in the school's history ... BC's first 20-win season came in 1948-49, when the Eagles went 21-1-0 and won the national championship ... The school record for wins was set by the 1986-87 club, which won 31 games.
Net Profits: Boston College currently has two of the nation's top goaltenders - freshman Tim Kelleher is third in the nation with a 1.85 GAA overall, while junior Scott Clemmensen has a goals against average of 2.21 ... Kelleher earned HOCKEY EAST Goalie of the Month honors for January after going 4-1-1 with a 1.42 GAA and .940 save percentage in six games, including a 6-0 shutout against Providence ... Clemmensen holds the school record for career shutouts with nine, including four this season ... Before allowing a goal during the second period of a Feb. 19 loss to UNH, Clemmensen had gone a stretch of 216:06 without allowing a goal, less than two periods shy of his own NCAA regular-season record (254:23, set in 1997-98) ... The two have combined for six shutouts this season - four by Clemmensen, two by Kelleher.
Secretary of Defense: Senior defenseman Mike Mottau, a two-time All-American, is making his case as the nation's top player ... Mottau anchors the league's top-ranked defensive unit and penalty-killing unit ... Mottau also has three goals and a league-leading 30 assists through 30 games. Earlier this season, Mottau broke the records for most career points and assists by a Boston College defenseman. He has 147 points in his Eagle career - 24 goals and 123 assists ... With five more assists, Mottau will surpass David Emma (1987-1991) and become BC's all-time leader in that category.
Injury Report: The Eagles will have everyone available except for senior forward Tony Hutchins, who has missed the last 17 games with a groin injury.
