Eagles Get Back to Business at Florida College Hockey Classic

Monday, December 28

Estero, Fla.

TBA

Boston College

Ohio State

Eagles Get Back to Business at Florida College Hockey Classic

December 26, 2015 | Men's Hockey

Boston College makes its second trip to southwest Florida and first since 2004 to participate in the Florida College Hockey Classic; the Eagles won this tournament against St. Cloud State in their last appearance

GAME DAY INFORMATION
WHEN	Monday, December 28 at 7:30 p.m. // Tuesday, December 29 (TBD)
WHERE	Germain Arena // Fort Myers, Fla.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY	http://floridaeverblades.com/fan-zone/college-classic/
HOW TO FOLLOW	Live Stats // Video (Coming soon) // Audio
GAME NOTES	PDF // WEB
MEDIA CENTER	Radio (WEEI 850 AM) - P x P: Jon Rish // Color: Andy Powers // Engineer: Kevin Collins

BOSTON COLLEGE AT THE FLORIDA COLLEGE HOCKEY CLASSIC
The Eagles make their second trip to the Florida College Hockey Classic on Monday, Dec. 28 and Tuesday, Dec. 29 at Germain Arena. The Eagles will take on Ohio State in the second contest at 7:30 p.m. and play either Cornell or Providence the following day. Boston College emerged victoriously in 2004 after a 4-2 victory over Cornell on Dec. 28, 2004 followed by a double overtime triumph against St. Cloud State (2-1) on Dec. 29, 2004 to take home the title. Chris Collins scored the walk-off winner 59 seconds into the second frame.

ET TU, BRUTUS?
Ohio State heads to southwest Florida looking to use the holidays as a springboard to shake a four-game losing skid, including a pair of back-to-back overtime losses at Minnesota to close out the Buckeyes first half. Ohio State started off the season against three strong opponents, but were not able to muster a win as OSU started the year with seven-straight losses. The Buckeyes won three-consecutive games midway through the first half (one against Mercyhurst and two against Canisius). Junior Nick Schilkey leads the squad with 15 points (8-7-15) and is tied for 35th in the country in points per game (1.07 ppg). The Buckeyes' offense is 26th in the country with 2.71 goals per game while the defense is struggling to keep opponents off the board, slotted in 48th after yielding 3.36 gpg. Ohio State has the second-lowest winning percentage (3-11-0 / .214) in the country. BC is 4-1 against Ohio State all-time.

FRIAR FOCUS
Providence still has not lost a game after hoisting the 2015 national championship and remains the only team in the first half to go undefeated. The Friars are 12-0-3 and winners of six straight. PC got into a tussle with Boston University, tying the Terriers on consecutive nights in mid November. Miami (Ohio) also tied Providence on Oct. 10. Sophomore defenseman Jake Walman leads the Friars in scoring (11-8-19) and is the nation's leading scoring defenseman at 1.36 points per game (Walman suffered an injury on Dec. 5). Six of Walman's goals have come via the power play (T-3rd nationally). PC boasts four scorers amongst the nation' top 35 (Mark Jankowski - 1.20 ppg - T-21st // Nick Saracino - 1.13 - T-25th // Trevor Mingoia - 1.08 - 34th). Goaltender Nick Ellis is eighth in both goals against average (1.70) and save percentage (.940). The Friars possess a well-balanaced attack, sixth in offense (3.87 gpg) and seventh in defense (1.80 gpg) and are fourth in scoring margin (+2.07). BC is 110-47-13 all-time against Providence.

CORNELL CALL
Cornell skates into the Florida College Classic on the nation's fifth-longest unbeaten streak, not having lost in its last seven outings. The Big Red's only loss came at the hands of Quinnipiac in overtime on Nov. 7. Third-year forward Jeff Kubiak leads Cornell with three goals and eight assists and is tied for 45th in the nation in scoring (1.00 ppg). Freshman blue liner Alec McCrea is 18th in the nation amongst defensemen in scoring (0.73 ppg). Third-year goalie Mitch Gilliam has the nation's seventh-best goals against average and 12th-best save percentage (.937). Gilliam's three shutouts have helped Cornell climb to the five spot, nationally, in scoring defense (1.73 gpg) while the Big Red offense is 17th with 3.09 goals per game. Cornell leads Boston College in the overall series, 22-15.

OFFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The Eagles possess the nation's top scoring margin of +2.69 -- more than a half a goal better than St. Cloud State and Quinnipiac, both at +2.17 heading into the break

• Southwest Florida native (Estero) Austin Cangelosi scored his third-career two-goal game against Notre Dame on Dec. 10 and added an assist for a three-point outing

• Colin White (1.44) & Miles Wood (1.27) are ranked second and third, respectively, amongst all rookies. White and Wood posted 10 and seven-game pointstreaks, respectively, this year

• Ryan Fitzgerald is one of eight skaters in college hockey with two of more short-handed goals and the only player in Hockey East with two - he's tied for seven nationally in goals (0.75 gpg)

DEFENSIVE NUGGETS
• The BC defense has recorded 30 scoreless periods out of 48 possible frames. The Eagles defense is thirdd best in the country, surrendering a scant 1.62 goals per game

• Boston College's penalty kill has elevated to the fourth-bet unit in all of college hockey - the Eagles have given up two PPGs only twice this year (Denver and Northeastern)

• Thatcher Demko stopped a season-best 35 shots against Notre Dame on Dec. 10 - the Eagles gave up 39 attempts to the Irish, also a season high

• The Eagle defense thrives off its counterpart -- when Boston College scores first, BC is 10-0-1. The defense has also anchored an 11-0-1 record when leading heading into the third period

STANDING TALL AMONGST THE BEST
Demko is currently fifth in the nation in goals against average (1.62) and seventh in save percentage (.941) on the year and tied with Quinnipiac's Michael Garteig shutout mark (6). For a career, the 6-foot-4 backstopper is 48-20-7 (.687) with a 2.09 goals against average and a .926 save percentage (1,973 saves on 2,130 shots). If Demko's 2.09 GAA held, it would tied with Cory Schneider (2004-07) for the second-best career mark all time. His six shutouts this season is two shy of matching the single-season mark set by Cory Schneider during the 2005-06 season. Demko possesses nine career shutouts, good for fourth-best all-time. He is three blankings shy of matching John Muse's third-place mark of 12 career shutouts (2007-11). Schneider holds the record with 15 (2004-07) while Scott Clemmensen is second with 13 (1997-2001).

YORK SAYS YES!
Boston College has won 13 of its first 16 games of the season, including an unbeaten string of 13. The Eagles' 11-1 start to the 2015-16 ledger marks the best start under a Jerry York club on The Heights. BC's first half mark of 13-2-1 (.841 winning percentage) is also the best first half to a season in both wins and winning percentage under York.

I AM A REAL AMERICAN ... FIGHT FOR THE RIGHTS OF EVERY MAN
Freshmen Casey Fitzgerald and Colin White have been selected to attend the U.S. National Junior Team camp to be held at BU's Agganis Arena from Dec. 15-18. The camp will be used to select the 2015 U.S. National Junior Team that will compete at the 2016 IIHF World Junior Championship set for Dec. 26 - Jan. 5 in Helsinki, Finland. Fitzgerald did not make the final squad and will rejoin BC in Florida while White was named assistant captain of Team USA.

WHITE HOT
First-year forward Colin White is on a tear through his first 16 games. The Hanover, Mass., native earned his second Hockey East Rookie of the Week award on Nov. 30 and is currently ninth in the NCAA in scoring, averaging 1.44 points per game. White had his 10-game point streak halted against Notre Dame on Dec. 10 and accounted for 20 points (6-14-20) over the course of that stretch. White is second, nationally, in scoring amongst all rookies (Kyle Connor - 1.47 ppg).

ANGRY WITH THE IRISH
Notre Dame's win on Dec. 10 at Kelley Rink ended Boston College's 13-game unbeaten streak. The Fighting Irish have won four of the last five contests in Chestnut Hill.

TOPPIN' OUT
Despite the loss against Notre Dame, Boston College has the nation's third-stingiest defensive corps (1.62 gpg) along with the fourth-ranked offensive production in college hockey (4.31 goals per game.) BC's scoring margin of 2.69 is about half a goal better than the next-closest team, St. Cloud and Quinnipiac (+2.17).

CHASING '49...
With the win at UConn on Nov. 24, Boston College was off to its best start in program history since the Eagles' first national title team in 1949. The 1948-49 national championship squad started the season 10-0 before a loss at Dartmouth on Jan. 27, 1949. BC did not lose again that year, posting a 21-1 mark, culminating in the first national trophy on The Heights under Snooks Kelley. Kelley's 1940-41 team lost its first game at Yale on Dec, 14, 1940 before the Eagles rattled off the next 13 victories to cap a 13-1 season.

IT'S THE MOST WONDERFUUUUL TIME, OF THE YEAR
Pairwise ranking are already out and as the Eagles play their holiday tournament in Florida, Boston College is eight with an RPI of .5686.

FITZ IN A FLASH
Ryan Fitzgerald recorded his third two-goal performance of the season against RIT on Nov. 28 and accounted for his third game-winning goal of the season and ninth of his career. He followed with his second short-handed goal of the season at Northeastern on Dec. 6. Fitzgerald is one of 18 skaters in all of college hockey with three game winners this season. He is the first Eagle to 10 goals this season and is tied for 12th in all of college hockey with 1.40 points per game.