Kelley Rink Open for Business against Colorado College

Friday, October 21

Chestnut Hill, MA

7:00 PM

Boston College

Colorado College

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Kelley Rink Open for Business against Colorado College

October 19, 2016 | Men's Hockey

No. 10 Boston College welcomes in Colorado College for its home opener on Friday night, Oct. 21 at 7 p.m. The Eagles don't stay home for too long as they ship off to Worcester the following night to exact revenge upon a Holy Cross upset in 2013

WHEN: Friday, Oct. 21, 2016 (7 p.m.) / Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016 (7 p.m.)
WHERE: Kelley Rink - Chestnut Hill, Mass. (Friday) / DCU Center - Worcester, Mass. (Saturday)
HOW TO FOLLOW (Friday): Video (BCEagles.com) / Audio (BCEagles.com) / Live Stats / BUY TICKETS
HOW TO FOLLOW (Saturday): Video / Audio / Live Stats
GAME NOTES: PDF / WEB

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. COLORADO COLLEGE
Boston College and Colorado College are doing it up old school and making things a tradition once again as they did in years back. Boston College's home opener welcomes in the Tigers and it marks the third-consecutive season BC and CC have met on the ice. Last year, the Eagles swept Colorad College, 3-0 and 5-0, on Oct. 23-24, 2015, in Colorado Springs. In 2014, the Eagles welcome Colorado College to The Heights once again and won, 6-2, on Oct. 24, 2014. From 1984 to 1988, Boston College and CC were always on one another's scheduled, playing eight games over that span. The Eagles skated away with a 7-0-1 mark from those contests. Before the 2014 tilt, Colorado College upended the Eagles' hopes at the national title with a juggernaut team in 2011. After capturing the 2011 Hockey East Tournament title, BC earned the top seed in the West Regional and was flying high into its first-round matchup against CC. Boston College goalie John Muse, who had been 8-0 with a 1.95 goals-against average in NCAA tournament play and starred on a pair of title teams in 2010 and 2008, was pulled after two periods with the Eagles (30-8-1) trailing 7-2. The Eagles eventually fell, 8-4, and exacted their revenge ever since, outscoring the Tigers, 14-2. Boston College is in control of the overall series, 14-5-1, having gone unbeaten in 30 years (9-0-1) against Colorado College from Dec. 30, 1968 to Dec. 27, 1998.

TIGER TALES
Boston College marks CC's fifth-straight Hockey East opponent (and will travel to UNH on Saturday) as the Tigers have been in some lopsided battles. CC was shutout in its opener, 3-0, at UMass and then won, 7-4. CC was swept at home against Lowell (8-5, 4-0). The offense is operating at a rate of 3.00 goals per game (T-25th in NCAA) while the defense has struggled, allowing 4.75 goals in per game (T-47th in NCAA).

BOSTON COLLEGE vs. HOLY CROSS
Boston College and Holy Cross meet up for the first time since the Crusaders curbed an Eagles' 11-game winning streak over HC on Nov. 29, 2014. It was the the Eagles' first-ever loss to a team from the Atlantic Hockey conference and first setback to a non-conference opponent at home since losing to Denver on Oct. 14, 2011. In all, the Commonwealth-based series between Boston College and Holy Cross has been one-sided. The Eagles have flown away with 15-of-17 encounters, all-time, including the last 11 of the last 12 meetings. Prior to Holy Cross's upset of BC on The Heights in 2014, the Crusaders lone victory in the series took place in Worcester on Jan. 19, 1946, when HC shutout the Eagles, 4-0. The first four encounters between these two clubs occurred at Boston Arena (what is now known as Matthews Arena) from Jan. 27, 1928 to March 1, 1929. This marks the third-ever time Boston College has taken on Holy Cross in Worcester, but the first time at the DCU Center. All-time, Boston College has outscored the Crusaders, 101-43.

CRUISIN' CRUSADERS
Holy Cross is riding high heading into Saturday's showdown against the Eagles. Holy Cross is just one of 12 programs remaining in college hockey without a loss as the Crusaders toppled Niagara in its opener, 8-2, and followed it with a 4-4 tie. On Oct. 15 at the DCU Center, Holy Cross' Johnny Coughlin scored the game-winning goal in overtime against No. 11 Providence for its sixth-ever win over a ranked opponent. Even though the Eagles have had great success at the DCU Center, Holy Cross is now 3-0-0 in the same building. The Crusaders' 2-0-1 start is their best in four years when they were 3-0-0 in 2012-2013. Holy Cross' offense is tied for sixth in the nation, averaging a meaty 4.67 goals per game while the defense has only surrendered 2.33 goals per game which is tied for 14th in college hockey.

HATS OFF
Sophomore Chris Brown had a career breakout performance on Oct. 16, 2016 at Wisconsin, not only notching his first-career four-point performance, but did so by attaining Boston College's 339th hat trick in program history. The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., native's performance, alone, boost BC into the upper half of college hockey's scoring (3.25 goals per game - tied for 22nd). Brown never scored more than once in 44 career games before that explosive performance. He leads the Eagles in scoring through four games (3-3-6).

COTTON SOFT
First-year forward David Cotton is second on the squad with a pair of goals and turned in his first-career multi-point performance on Oct. 16 at Wisconsin with a goal and an assist. The Parker, Texas native is tied for 15th amongst all rookies in scoring in the early goings.

WE'RE NOT FINNISHED, WE'RE JUST GETTING STARTED
Julius and Jesper Mattila both made their way onto the scoring sheet for the first time as Eagles on Sunday at Wisconsin. Jul. Mattila scored his first-career goal and had a hand in Colin White's empty netter while defenseman Jes. Mattila assisted on Christopher Brown's third goal in his hat trick. Both Jesper Mattila and Cotton lead the club with a +6 rating.

SCORING PRODUCTION RETURNS TO THE HEIGHTS
There is no denying that Boston College's roster looks much different than last year's with the addition of 13 new faces. Fourteen Eagles from last year's Frozen Four squad either graduated or joined the professional ranks. Despite almost half of last year's scoring (77 out of 156 goals - 49.4 percent) being absent in 2016-17, Boston College returns three of its top four point getters from last season, including second-team All- AmericanRyan Fitzgerald (24-23-47), Hockey East Rookie of the Year Colin White (19-24-43) and assistant captain Austin Cangelosi (20-17-37).

THE GREAT WOLL
Freshman goaltender Joe Woll had some big skates to fill in his Eagle debut out in Denver but the Missouri product rose to the occassion, particularly in the third period of BC's win over No. 3 Denver. Woll denied all 23 of DU's offerings in the final frame, anchoring the team to victory. Over the course of Woll's first four games, Woll has denied 117-of-128 shots and possesses a .914 save percentage (30th nationally) and a 2.77 goals against average (37th nationally).

KILLER COMBO
Sophomore defenseman Michael Kim, who joined last year's squad in the middle of the season down in Florida, and first-year blue liner Connor Moore, both have a pair of assists through four games. Moore doled out a pair of assists at Wisconin while Kim recorded two assists in the win at Denver.

DEFENSE AGAINST THE REST
In four games, Boston College's defense is surrending only 2.75 goals per game, tied for 25th lowest in the country and tied for eighth on the conference level. Despite being the 12th most penalized team in college hockey thus far (21.0 PIMs / game), the Eagles' penalty-killing unit has done a good job, snuffing out 24-of-29 opportunities at a rate of 82.8 percent.

SWIFT SCORING
Freshman David Cotton scored his second goal of the season on Sunday, Oct. 16 at Wisconsin 10 seconds into the contest. Cotton's tally marks the Eagles' quickest goal since at 2008 when Matt Price scored 11 seconds in against Northeastern on March 7, 2008.

ANY WAY COUNTS
Boston College is the only team in college hockey to date that has scored a goal on a penalty shot (Austin Cangelosi - Oct. 7). The Eagles also lead the nation with a pair of empty net goals as both Colin White and Ryan Fitzgerald took advantage of the unguarded net at Wisconsin on Oct. 16.

DCU CENTER RECORD
Boston College's eyes light up when it sees the DCU Center on the docket. The Eagles are 14-1, all-time, when playing games at the DCU Center. The only time the Eagles lost in Worcester was against North Dakota in the East regional in 2005.

HOME OPENING - ACTION
Since Jerry York has been head coach at Boston College, the Eagles possess a 14-7-1 record in home opening games on The Heights. Dating back to the 2007-08 season, the Eagles are 7-1-1 in their first game of the season at Kelley Rink.

EAGLETS
For the second time in three seasons, Boston College sports the youngest roster in NCAA hockey. As of Oct. 1, the average age of the Eagles roster is 20 years and 49 days. Boston University is second with a mean of 20 years and 108 days while Notre Dame is third at 20 years and 272 days. Boston College has five seniors and zero juniors, meaning the rest of the team is composed of a combined 20 freshmen and sophomores. Head coach Jerry York ushered in 13 new Eagles for 2016-17, easily his largest recruiting class in 23 seasons. It marks the second-largest incoming class behind Miami (14) this season.

ROAD WARRIORS
Boston College may forget what the inside of Conte Forum looks like by November as the Eagles take to the road for nine of their first 11 games of the season. Since Jerry York took over on The Heights in 1994-95, the Eagles have never been away from home this often in their first 11 games. The last time Boston College played four games away from Kelley Rink was the start of the 2010-11 season, when it went 3-1.

SHOW BIRDS
Boston College will have 17 alums on opening night rosters in the NHL this season, including: Brian Boyle (TBL), Brian Dumoulin (PIT), Brian Gionta (BUF), Brooks Orpik (WSH), Cam Atkinson (CBJ), Chris Kreider (NYR), Kevin Hayes (NYR), Jimmy Hayes (BOS), Johnny Gaudreau (CGY), Ben Smith (COL), Cory Schneider (NJD), Michael Matheson (FLA), Noah Hanifin (CAR), and Patrick Eaves (DAL). Zach Sanford (WSH), Steve Santini (NJD) and Miles Wood (NJD) will all be rookies this season, cracking the regular season lineups for the first time. Last season, Boston College sports the most alums to play in the show as 23 Eagles graced the rosters of a variety of NHL clubs. Michigan finished second with 21.