Men's Hockey Game Preview: Northeastern
October 08, 2010 | Men's Hockey
No. 1 Boston College at Northeastern
Saturday, Oct. 9, 2010 - 7 p.m. EST
Matthews Arena - Boston, Mass.
THE 2010 SEASON OPENER: No. 1 Boston College begins its 2010-11 season on Saturday, Oct. 9 at Northeastern. The Eagles and Huskies face off at 7 p.m. inside Matthews Arena. Boston College begins its 17th campaign under the direction of head coach Jerry York. BC is 11-5 in season-opening games under York.
PRESEASON FAVORITE: Following a 2009-10 national championship, Boston College begins the 2010-11 campaign as the top-ranked team according to both major national polls. The Eagles received 45 first-place votes from the panel of 50 coaches and media members to lead the way in the Oct. 4 USCHO.com preseason poll. The Eagles collected 504 points, including 28-of-34 first-place votes, to claim the top spot in the Sept. 27 USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine preseason poll.
INTERNET AUDIO: ISP manages and produces all Boston College hockey radio broadcasts. Jon Rish (play-by-play) and Ken Hodge (color) will have the call, which is streamed live over the internet and available free of charge through Boston College's official athletics web site: www.bceagles.com.
LAST TIME OUT: Sophomore Steven Whitney registered a game-high four points - one goal and three assists - and eight different players scored to lead Boston College to an 8-0 exhibition victory over the University of Toronto in Kelley Rink on Sunday, Oct. 4. Freshman Kevin Hayes tallied three points (one goal and two assists) while sophomore Patch Alber (two assists), junior Cam Atkinson (two assists) and captain Joe Whitney (one goal, one assist) each enjoyed multiple-point efforts for the victors. Goaltenders John Muse, Parker Milner and Chris Venti combined to make 13 saves. Each saw one period of action.
THE NORTHEASTERN SERIES: Saturday's meeting will be the 207th all-time meeting between the two schools. Boston College, which went 2-1-0 against the Huskies last winter, is 148-45-13 in the all-time series. The senior class is 6-7-0 in 13 meetings; it is 0-4 against the Huskies in overtime and 1-4-0 at Matthews Arena, having lost each of the last three. BC last defeated Northeastern at Matthews Arena on March 8, 2008, 4-1. BC is 38-15-4 (.697 win percentage) against Northeastern under head coach Jerry York.
THE LAST MEETING (Feb. 21, 2010 at Kelley Rink): Brian Gibbons registered a hat trick, including his 100th career point, to lead Boston College to a 7-1 win over the Huskies. Gibbons, who scored one goal in each period, attained the milestone on the only goal of the first period - at 19:32. Also recording an assist, Gibbons finished the contest with 103 points. Boston College added four second-period goals - by Pat Mullane, Chris Kreider, Cam Atkinson and Gibbons - and two goals - by Gibbons and Jimmy Hayes - in the third period. Freshman goaltender Parker Milner stopped 22 of 23 shots to earn the victory.
QUICK HITS
• Senior goaltender John Muse is 3-6-0 with a 2.55 goals against average and a .906 save percentage in nine career games against Northeastern.
• Sophomore goaltender Parker Milner is 1-0-0 against the Huskies. The Pittsburgh, Pa., native registered 22 saves in a 7-1 home win over the Huskies in the last meeting between the teams on Feb. 21, 2010.
• Last winter, Boston College scored 171 goals - its highest total since the 2000-01 season and the third-most under York - and ranked second in the nation with a 4.07 goals per game average. Led by junior Cam Atkinson (30 goals) and Brian Gibbons (50 points) and Joe Whitney (45 points), Boston College returns 79 percent (360 of 456 points) of its total offensive production from one season ago.
• Junior Tommy Cross is the first junior to serve as assistant captain since Mike Brennan in 2006-07.
• For the 10th time in the last 13 seasons, Boston College has been picked as the Hockey East preseason favorite, or co-favorite, by the league's coaches.
• Cam and Tommy Atkinson, Joe and Steven Whitney, and Jimmy and Kevin Hayes are the 13th, 14th and 15th pairs of brothers to play hockey on the same team at Boston College.
• Sophomore forward Chris Kreider, who captured a gold medal with the U.S. National Junior Team at the 2010 IIHF World Junior Championship in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, made his first appearance with the U.S. Men's National Team in May, traveling to the 2010 IIHF World Championship in Cologne, Gelsenkirchen and Mannheim, Germany.
• Six players - five sophomores and one freshman - participated in the 2010 USA Hockey National Junior Evaluation Camp from July 30 - Aug. 7 in Lake Placid, N.Y. - defenseman Brian Dumoulin, forward Chris Kreider, defenseman Philip Samuelsson, defenseman Patrick Wey, forward Steven Whitney and freshman forward Kevin Hayes. Kreider was one of nine returnees from the gold medal-winning 2010 U.S. National Junior Team to participate in the camp.
• Boston College enters the 2010-11 campaign with 11 players on its roster that have been selected in the NHL Draft. Those players are: Bill Arnold (Calgary/4th/2010), Cam Atkinson (Columbus/6th/2008), Paul Carey (Colorado/5th/2007), Tommy Cross (Boston/2nd/2007), Brian Dumoulin (Carolina/2nd/2009), Jimmy Hayes (Toronto*/2nd/2008), Kevin Hayes (Chicago/1st/2010), Chris Kreider (NY Rangers/1st/2009), Isaac MacLeod (San Jose/5th/2010), Philip Samuelsson (Pittsburgh/2nd/2009) and Patrick Wey (Washington/4th/2009). * Jimmy Hayes was traded to Chicago in July 2010.
THE YORK FILE
Record: 850-539-92 (.605 win percentage)
Years: 38
Record at BC: 383-204-58 (.639 win percentage)
Years at BC: 16
YORK TO RECEIVE LESTER PATRICK TROPHY: Head coach Jerry York has been named one of four recipients of the 2010 Lester Patrick Trophy. The trophy is an annual award presented for outstanding service to hockey in the United States. Joining York as 2010 recipients are Hockey Hall of Famer Cam Neely, Boston University coach Jack Parker and AHL President David Andrews. The Lester Patrick Trophy ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 27 in TD Garden.
RETIRED JERSEY: On April 12, 2010, Boston College recognized former player and current coach Jerry York by retiring his jersey at the 2010 national championship celebration on O'Neill Plaza.
MORE MILESTONES FOR YORK: Head coach Jerry York enters his 39th season as a head coach and his 17th season behind the Boston College bench. He is the second winningest coach in NCAA history and the first among active Division I coaches.
EIGHTY-EIGHTH SEASON OF HOCKEY: Boston College is entering its 88th season of hockey in 2010-11. The Eagles have compiled 70 winning seasons and a 1335-734-110 all-time record.
THE CAPTAINS: Boston College elected senior forward Joe Whitney as captain of the 2010-11 Eagle entry. Senior forward Brian Gibbons and junior defenseman Tommy Cross were elected as assistant captains.
EAGLES RETURN 17 OF 21 LETTERWINNERS: With the loss of four lettermen - defenseman Carl Sneep and forwards Matt Price, Matt Lombardi and Ben Smith - Boston College returns the bulk of its squad in 2010-11. The 24-man roster features 17 returning letterwinners - two goaltenders, six defensemen and nine forwards. The group helped Boston College to a 29-10-3 overall record, including a 16-8-3 mark in Hockey East play, during a season in which the Eagles earned the Beanpot title, the Hockey East Tournament title and the NCAA Championship.
100-POINT SCORERS: Senior forwards Brian Gibbons and Joe Whitney each recorded their 100th career point last season. Gibbons ranks 55th at Boston College with 113 career points, while Whitney ranks 57th with 111 career points. Boston College has 72 players who have scored 100 points or more in a career.
SUSTAINED SUCCESS: Boston College has won 25 or more games 10 times in the last 13 seasons. In 2000-01. The Eagles set the school record with 33 victories - in 43 games - en route the school's second national championship.
HOCKEY EAST HISTORY: The Eagles have won four of the last six Hockey East Tournament titles. Overall, BC has posted a 51-23-2 record (.684) in the Hockey East Tournament. Boston College has won nine conference championships, the highest total in Hockey East. BC's league tournament titles came in 1987, 1990, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008 and 2010. Under head coach Jerry York, Boston College is 42-11-1 (.787) in the Hockey East Tournament. The Eagles have won seven titles - 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 207, 2008, and 2010 - in 10 championship games under York.
TWITTER UPDATES: Live in-game news updates, in short form, on Boston College hockey are available through Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCSportsNews
