Boston College Athletics
No. 3 Men's Hockey Preview: No. 15 Boston University
January 20, 2011 | Men's Hockey
Jan. 20, 2011
Game #22
No. 3 Boston College (15-6-0, 11-5-0 Hockey East) at No. 15 Boston University (10-6-6, 7-4-4 HE)
Friday, Jan. 21, 2011 - 7:30 p.m. EST
Agganis Arena (6,221) - Boston, Mass.
TV: NESN
BC, BU CLOSE LEAGUE SERIES: No. 3 Boston College and No. 15 Boston University will face off on Friday, Jan. 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the third and final league meeting between the teams. The Eagles defeated the Terriers on consecutive nights in December by scores of 9-5 and 5-2. Friday's game will be televised on NESN.
TELEVISION: The New England Sports Network (NESN) will broadcast Friday's game between Boston College and Boston University from Agganis Arena with Tom Caron (play-by-play) and Craig Janney (color analyst) calling the action and John Chandler (host) and Brendan Walsh (analyst) providing studio coverage. All games that are part of the league's television package face off at 7:30 p.m. and are preceded by "Hockey East Face-Off Live" NESN pre-game show (which begins at 7 p.m.).
INTERNET AUDIO: Audio broadcasts of all Boston College hockey games - home and away - will be available free of charge through www.bceagles.com with Jon Rish (play-by-play) and Ken Hodge (color) calling the action.
THE POLLS: Boston College maintained its position - at No. 3 - in both the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine and USCHO.com polls after dropping a 4-1 decision at No. 13 Maine on Sunday, Jan. 16. BC has climbed five spots in the since the Nov. 29 USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls. BC had received the nation's top preseason billing and were the nation's top-ranked team through the opening two weeks of the 2010-11 season before falling to No. 2 in the Oct. 25 polls.
POPULAR EAGLES:
• Through eight home games this season, Boston College leads Hockey East in attendance and is averaging the second-highest home attendance figure (6,260 fans per game) in Kelley Rink's 23-year history. During the 2000-01 season, the team played 16 home contests and finished with an average of 6,415 fans per game.
• BC has played before 6,415 fans or more in five (of eight) home games this season, including capacity crowds of 7,884 twice - against Boston University (Dec. 4) and Providence (Jan. 7).
THE ROSTER
By Position: GOALTENDERS (3): Parker Milner (Pittsburgh, Pa.), John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.), Chris Venti (Needham, Mass.) DEFENSEMEN (7): Patch Alber (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Tommy Cross (Simsbury, Conn.), Brian Dumoulin (Biddeford, Maine), Isaac MacLeod (Nelson, British Columbia), Philip Samuelsson (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Edwin Shea (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Patrick Wey (Pittsburgh, Pa.) FORWARDS (14): Barry Almeida (Springfield, Mass.), Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.), Patrick Brown (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.), Tommy Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.), Paul Carey (Weymouth, Mass.), Brooks Dyroff (Boulder, Colo.), Brian Gibbons (Braintree, Mass.), Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Pat Mullane (Wallingford, Conn.), Joe Whitney (Reading, Mass.), Steven Whitney (Reading, Mass.)
By Class: SENIORS (3): Brian Gibbons (Braintree, Mass.), John Muse (East Falmouth, Mass.), Joe Whitney (Reading, Mass.) JUNIORS (8): Barry Almeida (Springfield, Mass.), Cam Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.), Tommy Atkinson (Greenwich, Conn.), Paul Carey (Weymouth, Mass.), Tommy Cross (Simsbury, Conn.), Jimmy Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), Edwin Shea (Shrewsbury, Mass.), Chris Venti (Needham, Mass.) SOPHOMORES (9): Patch Alber (Clifton Park, N.Y.), Brian Dumoulin (Biddeford, Maine), Brooks Dyroff (Boulder, Colo.), Chris Kreider (Boxford, Mass.), Parker Milner (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Pat Mullane (Wallingford, Conn.), Philip Samuelsson (Scottsdale, Ariz.), Patrick Wey (Pittsburgh, Pa.), Steven Whitney (Reading, Mass.) FRESHMEN (4): Bill Arnold (Needham, Mass.), Patrick Brown (Bloomfield Hills, Mich.), Kevin Hayes (Dorchester, Mass.), Isaac MacLeod (Nelson, British Columbia)
Miscellaneous: Average Age (as of 1/1/11): 20 Years, 10 Months Youngest Player (as of 1/1/11): Patrick Brown, 18 years, 7 months Oldest Player (as of 1/1/11): Tommy Atkinson, 23 years, 1 month Most Games Played: 143, Joe Whitney Fewest Games Played: 13, Kevin Hayes
Home State/Territory Breakdown Arizona (1), Colorado (1), Connecticut (4), Maine (1), Massachusetts (12), Michigan (1), New York (1), Pennsylvania (2), British Columbia, Canada (1)
SERIES INFO VS. BOSTON UNIVERSITY:
• Friday's game between Boston College and Boston University will mark the 253rd meeting between the teams. Boston College is 110-125-17 in the all-time series, including a 31-34-8 record in 73 games under head coach Jerry York.
• BC's senior class is 7-5-2 in 14 meetings since their freshman season in 2007-08.
• Senior goaltender John Muse has 13 prior starts against the Terriers. The East Falmouth, Mass., resident is 7-4-2 with a 2.67 goals against average and a .917 save percentage. Sophomore Parker Milner is 0-1-0 against Boston University. The Pittsburgh, Pa., resident recorded 26 saves in a 5-4 overtime home loss on Jan. 22, 2009.
• Senior Brian Gibbons leads all Eagle scorers against the Terriers. The Braintree, Mass., native has tallied 15 points - two goals and 13 assists - in 13 career games vs. Boston University.
THE DECEMBER BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEETINGS:
• Ten Eagles - Cam Atkinson (3), Chris Kreider (2), Steven Whitney (2), Barry Almeida, Bill Arnold, Paul Carey, Brian Gibbons, Jimmy Hayes, Philip Samuelsson, Joe Whitney - combined to score the team's 14 goals as BC outscored Boston University 14-7 and swept a two-game series weekend (Dec. 3-4) against Terriers for the first time since January 2007.
• Brian Gibbons was both awarded and converted a penalty shot in the Dec. 3 win at Boston University, marking the first BC penalty shot since Nathan Gerbe scored against Providence on March 15, 2008.
• The Eagles went 18-for-21 on the penalty kill in the two-game series against the Terriers and finished 3-for-11 in man-advantage opportunities.
LAST TIME OUT:
• Four Maine players each tallied one goal and one assist within 9 minutes, 20 seconds between the first and second periods and the host Black Bears defeated third-ranked Boston College 4-1 at Alfond Arena on Sunday, Jan. 16.
• The loss snapped BC's seven-game win streak dating back to a 6-0 home win over Vermont on Nov. 28, 2010 and snapped an eight-game unbeaten streak against the Black Bears (7-0-1) dating back to Nov. 9, 2008.
• Cam Atkinson scored the team's lone goal - his 100th career point - at 5:36 of the final stanza.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Penalty-Kill Rate (National Rank): 89.8 (1)
• Boston College went 11-for-11 on the penalty kill over the last two games, is 49-for-55 over the last nine games and owns a 89.8 percent kill rate this season (115-for-128), which is best kill rate in college hockey.
Power-Play Percentage (National Rank): 20.4 (17)
• The team ranks second in its conference and ranks 17th nationally with a 20.4 percent success rate (21-for-103).
• Boston College went 0-for-4 in power-play chances on Sunday, Jan. 16 at Maine and went 0-for-13 in the two-game series against Providence. The team entered the Providence series (Jan. 7-8) having scored at least one power-play goal in nine-of-the-last 10 games during which it had combined for a 32.5 percent conversion rate (14-for-43).
OFFENSE
Goals Per Game (National Rank): 3.71 (3)
• The team averaged 5.3 goals per game during a seven-game win streak from Nov. 28 to Jan. 8.
• Cam Atkinson has 17 goals in 21 games and ranks third in the country in goals per game.
• Brian Gibbons has tallied multiple-point performances in six of the last 11 games and has at least one point in 18-of-21 games this season.
Scoring Streak Intact ...
• One player enters Friday's game against Boston University with a scoring streak of four games (or more) intact - Chris Kreider - 6 games; 4 goals, 4 assists
DEFENSE
Goals Per Game (National Rank): 2.19 (9th)
• Goaltender John Muse has started 17 of 21 games and ranks sixth nationally in save percentage (.930) and 18th nationally in GAA (2.16). He has 30 or more saves in eight games.
• Sophomore Brian Dumoulin leads all BC defensemen with a +13 rating while classmates Patch Alber (+12) and Patrick Wey (+10) rank second and third among BC blueliners.
• Brian Dumoulin was held pointless against Maine, snapping a five-game multiple-point streak during which he registered 10 points - 1 goal, 9 assists - and a team-high +11 rating.
QUICK HITS
• Boston College, which lost a 4-1 decision at Maine (Jan. 16), has been held to two goals or fewer just four times in 21 games. It is 15-2-0 when scoring more than twice.
• Brian Gibbons is averaging one goal for every four shots he takes (10 goals on 40 shots). Gibbons is one of three players with shot percentages greater than 21 percent. Paul Carey has scored nine goals on 42 shots (21.4%) and Bill Arnold has scored five times on 23 shots (21.7%).
• Junior forward Cam Atkinson (54 goals - 46 assists - 100 points) became the 73rd Boston College player to join the 100-point scoring club with his third-period goal at Maine (Jan. 16), joining senior linemates Brian Gibbons (48-91--139) and Joe Whitney (37-90--127) as BC's active 100-point scores.
• Forward Brian Gibbons leads or ranks second among all Boston College players in 12 statistical categories. He leads the team in: assists (17), plus-minus (+14), short-handed goals (2), power-play points (10), shot percentage (25.0), penalties (22) and penalty minutes (47). Gibbons ranks second in: points (27), goals (10), power-play goals (four) and faceoff win percentage among regular centers (52.1 win percentage).
• Senior John Muse is just the second goaltender in school history to reach 70 career victories. Muse, who is 75-37-15, joins BC record-holder Scott Clemmensen who tallied 99 career wins.
• Jerry York is the fifth Boston College Eagle - and third coach - to earn the Lester Patrick Trophy, which is awarded annually for outstanding service to hockey in the United States, joining Snooks Kelley, who was honored in 1972, Len Ceglarski (1990), Joe Mullen (1995) and Brian Leetch (2007).
• Boston College's 2-1 loss at No. 17 Notre Dame marked the team's first defeat of the season, snapping a 15-game unbeaten streak (14-0-1) dating to a 3-2 loss at Northeastern on Feb. 19, 2010.
• 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.
• Three players - defenseman Brian Dumoulin, forward Chris Kreider and defenseman Patrick Wey - were among the 22 skaters that were named to the 2011 U.S. National Junior Team and competed at the IIHF World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2010 - Jan. 5, 2011, in Buffalo and Niagara, N.Y. It marks the first time since 2006 when Dan Bertram competed for Canada and Nathan Gerbe and Cory Schneider played for Team USA that three Eagles are participating in World Junior Championship play. It also marks the first time since the 1998 tournament that three Eagles represented the U.S. BC had four players - Jeff Farkas, Brian Gionta, Mike Mottau and Bobby Allen - on the 1998 U.S. Junior National Team.
• Six players 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.
• Boston College has 11 players on its roster who 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.
• Ben Smith, assistant captain of the 2009-10 Boston College hockey team, made his NHL debut with the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 29, 2010, while Stephen Gionta, assistant captain of the 2005-06 Eagle squad, made his NHL debut with the New Jersey Devils on Nov. 5, 2010. Smith and Gionta join Benn Ferriero, who was recalled to the San Jose Sharks on Nov. 6, to represent the 15th, 16th and 17th former Eagles to have played in the NHL this season, joining regulars Andrew Alberts (Vancouver), Brian Boyle (NY Rangers), Scott Clemmensen (Florida), Patrick Eaves (Detroit), Nathan Gerbe (Buffalo), Brian Gionta (Montreal), Peter Harrold (Los Angeles), Chuck Kobasew (Minnesota), Mike Mottau (NY Islanders), Brooks Orpik (Pittsburgh), Marty Reasoner (Florida), Cory Schneider (Vancouver), Rob Scuderi (Los Angeles) and Ryan Shannon (Ottawa).
THE YORK FILE
Record: 865-544-92 (.605 win percentage)
Years: 39
Record at BC: 398-208-58 (.639 win percentage)
Years at BC: 17
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.
TWITTER UPDATES: Live in-game news updates, in short form, on Boston College hockey are available through Twitter at: http://twitter.com/BCSportsNews
REAL-TIME STATS: Live in-game updates will be available through Gametracker and available through both schools' official athletics web sites. Real-time stats of all college hockey games are available through the Hockey East Association's official web site: www.hockeyeastonline.com
DID YOU KNOW ...
... that Jerry York's connections to the 2011 NHL Winter Classic and the HBO 24/7 series highlighting the Washington Capitals and Pittsburgh Penguins include serving as the college coach for Dan Bylsma, head coach of the Penguins, Brooks Orpik, a defenseman on the Penguins, and George McPhee, general manager of the Washington Capitals?
Bylsma played college hockey at Bowling Green State University from 1988-92 where he was twice selected to the CCHA All-Academic Team. McPhee was also a prominent college hockey player at Bowling Green. He was the recipient of the 1982 Hobey Baker Award, was chosen as a First-Team All-Central Collegiate Hockey Association selection in 1982, Second-Team All-CCHA honors in 1979 and 1981 and was the CCHA's Rookie of the Year in 1979. Orpik played three seasons for York at Boston College, winning the Hockey East tournament championship in 1999 and 2001, and the NCAA title in 2001.
