Boston College Athletics
"Can't Miss Kids" Elevate BC Past Western Michigan In Dramatic Fashion
October 28, 2024 | Men's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
This was just a phenomenal college hockey game.
Don't miss.
The thought ran through Ryan Leonard's head as he skated through Western Michigan's defensive zone in the final minute of the third period of Saturday night's game against the No. 14-ranked Broncos. For two-plus periods, his second-ranked Boston College hockey team battled uphill against an experienced and well-fit team from arguably the nation's best conference, but after stealing the puck at the blue line on a breakout, he'd put the puck on teammate Gabe Perreault's stick as goalie Hampton Slukynsky readied himself for the oncoming rush.
The six-foot, four-inch goalie never stood a chance against the duo's oncoming rush. The breakout defense backchecked as well as expected, but Perreault and Leonard spread themselves wide enough to find a pocket between the faceoff dots and the crease. The house, as it's colloquially known, left space for the perfect saucer, and Leonard immediately found himself staring at the widest possible goal mouth as the vulcanized rubber made its way across the front of the net.
Don't miss. The directive was both easy and impossible to comprehend.
"I had talked with [head coach Greg Brown] and all the other coaches about staying true to my game," Leonard explained after the game's end. "When you see someone open, you make that play, and I play with smart enough guys to know I can get [the puck] back. Gabe gave me the whole net, so there is no reason for me to miss that."
The smile breaking across the Massachusetts native's face wrote the story of what happened. If nobody saw the play's outcome, if nobody witnessed the exploding Conte Forum crowd celebrating the return from a two-goal deficit, if nobody identified how No. 2 BC defeated a hungry opponent and staked more claim to the No. 1 spot in the land, that smile would have easily defined the outcome of the 4-2 victory over the Broncos.
"I'm just glad it went in."
For BC, beating Western Michigan was significantly more difficult than anyone expected…and that's saying something because everyone within the program knew how the Broncos offered toughness to even their own league. Even before Saturday's matchup, Western was a team capable of beating anyone in the nation, and they entered Conte Forum unaffected by the normal intimidation factor of playing in front of nearly 8,000 people.Â
Over the past three years, NCAA Tournament qualifiers from Kalamazoo won games in front of 11,000 screaming North Dakota fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Weekends in Colorado's notorious altitude ended in six-point sweeps over Colorado College, and the wins over Miami clinched the 2022-2023 team's national berth. The Broncos won in Duluth and pulled a non-conference victory home from a season-opening, non-conference trip to Anchorage over the past two years, and wins at St. Cloud's Herb Brooks Center pushed them into a pantheon reserved solely for national championship teams from Denver.
They were not a team easily rocked by a sold-out crowd, and Western neutralized the heart and soul of BC's home ice advantage by scoring a game-opening goal in the first two minutes of Saturday's first period. A second goal after the 10-minute mark staked a 2-0 lead, and Slukynsky found himself buoying a well-anchored defense with 15 saves across the first 20 minutes.Â
"We were really impressed with their detail and their togetherness," said Brown. "They played a smart game. They supported each other well. They're able to play very fast because they know exactly what each other are doing out there…They clearly had the jump on us in the first, and they were around pucks more than we were. We were spread out. They were cohesive together, and if they had to get it deep, they got it deep and got bodies in [the dirty areas]. We had to be smarter and just read each other better."
BC found itself chasing the game for the first 20 minutes, and the line trio of Owen Michaels, Tim Washe and Robby Drazner exposed gaps in the Eagles' overall strategy. Choppy play dominated Brown's overall analysis as the game leaked into the second period, where the Eagles were held at bay until Andre Gasseau finally broke through Western's back line with his first goal of the 2024-2025 campaign.
His delivery was impressive, but BC foreshadowed the oncoming maelstrom by feeding Gasseau's stick with a victory in a puck battle along the way. The shot had started on a play coming from the corner, which is where freshman Teddy Stiga won a battle before feeding the pass to an open skater in the middle of the offensive zone. The defense hadn't necessarily been bad, but the move was cagey enough to fully expose Slukynsky to a wide open look.
Stiga later tied the game in the early stages of the third period by maturing into a full-fledged college superstar. He'd arrived in Chestnut Hill with an entrenched reputation centered on his vision and agility, but he remained goalless through the breakouts against Michigan State and American International. In the first minute of the third, with his team trailing by a goal, he made multiple moves - including one around Slukynsky - to steal his first career puck and convert the game's perception to a whole different edge.
"We started to play faster," Brown said. "We had better puck support. The third was our best period. We played at a high tempo, and we were fortunate to cash in since their goalie had a great game and played outstanding. Teddy shows us a lot in practice, and I think he's played well in games, [but] this was probably his best game. He's an outstanding hockey player, and he shows us every day that he's got a great motor. He plays at a high tempo all the time, and the skill set and vision and brain to play at that high tempo is outstanding."
The showdown led directly to Leonard's last period heroics and a play etched into the definition of full-tilt team play. His goal wasn't just about Perreault's sterling pass or the finish past a strong defense and goalie, and it noted little towards a multi-goal game after he scored an empty-net goal before the period ended. It wasn't about the move at the blue line or the agile turnaround by two skaters experienced in their cohesive shifts. It wasn't even about the celebration and delirium felt by the 7,884 fans as Leonard and Perreault hugged with linemates and teammates against the sidewall.
Like the comeback, the collectivity transformed individual moments into a more intense victory. The cohesion meant more, and the victory reestablished BC as a brutal road trip. An experienced and undaunted opponent punched the Eagles directly in the mouth, and they responded by winning a tough hockey game that, to steal a phrase from the final goal, didn't miss.
The thought ran through Ryan Leonard's head as he skated through Western Michigan's defensive zone in the final minute of the third period of Saturday night's game against the No. 14-ranked Broncos. For two-plus periods, his second-ranked Boston College hockey team battled uphill against an experienced and well-fit team from arguably the nation's best conference, but after stealing the puck at the blue line on a breakout, he'd put the puck on teammate Gabe Perreault's stick as goalie Hampton Slukynsky readied himself for the oncoming rush.
The six-foot, four-inch goalie never stood a chance against the duo's oncoming rush. The breakout defense backchecked as well as expected, but Perreault and Leonard spread themselves wide enough to find a pocket between the faceoff dots and the crease. The house, as it's colloquially known, left space for the perfect saucer, and Leonard immediately found himself staring at the widest possible goal mouth as the vulcanized rubber made its way across the front of the net.
Don't miss. The directive was both easy and impossible to comprehend.
"I had talked with [head coach Greg Brown] and all the other coaches about staying true to my game," Leonard explained after the game's end. "When you see someone open, you make that play, and I play with smart enough guys to know I can get [the puck] back. Gabe gave me the whole net, so there is no reason for me to miss that."
The smile breaking across the Massachusetts native's face wrote the story of what happened. If nobody saw the play's outcome, if nobody witnessed the exploding Conte Forum crowd celebrating the return from a two-goal deficit, if nobody identified how No. 2 BC defeated a hungry opponent and staked more claim to the No. 1 spot in the land, that smile would have easily defined the outcome of the 4-2 victory over the Broncos.
"I'm just glad it went in."
For BC, beating Western Michigan was significantly more difficult than anyone expected…and that's saying something because everyone within the program knew how the Broncos offered toughness to even their own league. Even before Saturday's matchup, Western was a team capable of beating anyone in the nation, and they entered Conte Forum unaffected by the normal intimidation factor of playing in front of nearly 8,000 people.Â
Over the past three years, NCAA Tournament qualifiers from Kalamazoo won games in front of 11,000 screaming North Dakota fans at Ralph Engelstad Arena. Weekends in Colorado's notorious altitude ended in six-point sweeps over Colorado College, and the wins over Miami clinched the 2022-2023 team's national berth. The Broncos won in Duluth and pulled a non-conference victory home from a season-opening, non-conference trip to Anchorage over the past two years, and wins at St. Cloud's Herb Brooks Center pushed them into a pantheon reserved solely for national championship teams from Denver.
They were not a team easily rocked by a sold-out crowd, and Western neutralized the heart and soul of BC's home ice advantage by scoring a game-opening goal in the first two minutes of Saturday's first period. A second goal after the 10-minute mark staked a 2-0 lead, and Slukynsky found himself buoying a well-anchored defense with 15 saves across the first 20 minutes.Â
"We were really impressed with their detail and their togetherness," said Brown. "They played a smart game. They supported each other well. They're able to play very fast because they know exactly what each other are doing out there…They clearly had the jump on us in the first, and they were around pucks more than we were. We were spread out. They were cohesive together, and if they had to get it deep, they got it deep and got bodies in [the dirty areas]. We had to be smarter and just read each other better."
BC found itself chasing the game for the first 20 minutes, and the line trio of Owen Michaels, Tim Washe and Robby Drazner exposed gaps in the Eagles' overall strategy. Choppy play dominated Brown's overall analysis as the game leaked into the second period, where the Eagles were held at bay until Andre Gasseau finally broke through Western's back line with his first goal of the 2024-2025 campaign.
His delivery was impressive, but BC foreshadowed the oncoming maelstrom by feeding Gasseau's stick with a victory in a puck battle along the way. The shot had started on a play coming from the corner, which is where freshman Teddy Stiga won a battle before feeding the pass to an open skater in the middle of the offensive zone. The defense hadn't necessarily been bad, but the move was cagey enough to fully expose Slukynsky to a wide open look.
Stiga later tied the game in the early stages of the third period by maturing into a full-fledged college superstar. He'd arrived in Chestnut Hill with an entrenched reputation centered on his vision and agility, but he remained goalless through the breakouts against Michigan State and American International. In the first minute of the third, with his team trailing by a goal, he made multiple moves - including one around Slukynsky - to steal his first career puck and convert the game's perception to a whole different edge.
"We started to play faster," Brown said. "We had better puck support. The third was our best period. We played at a high tempo, and we were fortunate to cash in since their goalie had a great game and played outstanding. Teddy shows us a lot in practice, and I think he's played well in games, [but] this was probably his best game. He's an outstanding hockey player, and he shows us every day that he's got a great motor. He plays at a high tempo all the time, and the skill set and vision and brain to play at that high tempo is outstanding."
The showdown led directly to Leonard's last period heroics and a play etched into the definition of full-tilt team play. His goal wasn't just about Perreault's sterling pass or the finish past a strong defense and goalie, and it noted little towards a multi-goal game after he scored an empty-net goal before the period ended. It wasn't about the move at the blue line or the agile turnaround by two skaters experienced in their cohesive shifts. It wasn't even about the celebration and delirium felt by the 7,884 fans as Leonard and Perreault hugged with linemates and teammates against the sidewall.
Like the comeback, the collectivity transformed individual moments into a more intense victory. The cohesion meant more, and the victory reestablished BC as a brutal road trip. An experienced and undaunted opponent punched the Eagles directly in the mouth, and they responded by winning a tough hockey game that, to steal a phrase from the final goal, didn't miss.
Players Mentioned
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