Boston College Athletics
Photo by: Meg Kelly
New Season, New Opportunity As Top-Ranked Eagles Take Center Stage
March 15, 2024 | Men's Hockey, #ForBoston Files
It's win-only from here on out for a BC team aiming for its first Hockey East postseason championship since 2012
This year's Boston College hockey team earned itself a special status within the program's record books because it reinvigorated one of college hockey's most storied brands. Even before the season started, lofty expectations placed an immense amount on a team that hadn't advanced to the Hockey East championship game since 2019 and hadn't competed for a national championship since the COVID-impacted year of 2020-2021, but delivering on those expectations with the first regular season championship of the post-Covid era allowed BC to ascend to a top-ranked status that it hadn't earned in years.
For too many years, a sport built around dynasties watched individual teams replace one of its original Northeast powers after Northeastern, UMass-Lowell, and UMass claimed their first banners at TD Garden. Boston University returned its name to the mantle last year with its third championship in the last decade, and beating Merrimack continued the string of one-off appearances in the last game by teams like Providence and Connecticut.
A 12-year drought emerged since BC's last Hockey East tournament championship, and the Eagles slowly failed to advance to the final game as they remained a team situated near the top of the late-2010s. Losses in 2017 and 2019 were the closest that BC ever got to winning the championship, and in 2020, one of the best teams in the country had its season canceled by COVID-19.
This team feels different than even the best years of that intercession, but head coach Greg Brown understands that the single-elimination format of the Hockey East postseason means his team can't skate a single game, period or shift without its focus. Too many teams are targeting the spot occupied by the No. 1 team in the country, and the difference between an elite, great team and its Hockey East immortality lies in the road that begins with Saturday's quarterfinal matchup against Connecticut.
"We're very excited," said Brown ahead of Saturday's matchup. "It's the best time of the year. You work hard to get in this position, and now we get a chance to see what [this team] can do. They know playoff hockey is a step-up in intensity. They've played in a lot of big games over their careers, so we don't have to remind them too much. I think they'll be ready."
The younger makeup of BC's team conceivably makes the one-game, winner-take-all format more difficult to stomach, but those same inexperienced postseason rookies have essentially been preparing for an elite level of playoff hockey since its first on-ice shifts. Having been installed as the preseason No. 6 team despite finishing the last two seasons in eighth place in the conference resulted in heightened expectations that immediately grew in stature after BC defeated defending national champion Quinnipiac in overtime in its first game. One month later, BC was No. 1 in the nation after moving first to fourth and then to third, but a two-week stay at the top ended with a loss and tie at Maine that still didn't objectively kill the Eagles in the Hockey East standings because of a second point awarded in the requisite overtime shootout period.
Each week seemed to produce a team's best performance, but BC managed to answer the bell on nearly every occasion. There was the shutout win at Connecticut after the Huskies forced the Eagles into overtime at Conte Forum and the 3-1 win at Matthews Arena after Northeastern left Chestnut Hill with a 5-3 win one night earlier, and in the last game before Christmas break, Providence scored three consecutive goals to take a 3-2 lead before the Eagles responded with three of their own during a six-goal third period and a 5-4 win that reinstalled BC in the No. 1 spot in the nation.
No team aside from Boston University has since threatened for the top spot in the country, and though BC temporarily ceded the spot for two weeks in late January, two wins over the Terriers cemented the Eagles as the top-ranked team for the rest of the year. By late-February, nearly every team in Hockey East experienced some type of swoon or hurdle, and as more teams faced splits nationally, BC became the first unanimous choice atop the rankings in nearly seven years.
"The guys have been very good," Brown said. "We've been ranked No. 1 for a long time, so they've pretty much ignored that and focused on the task right at hand. They've done an excellent job, mostly thanks to our leadership group, the captains, and the older guys telling them that [they] can't get ahead of [themselves]."
The success claimed BC's 18th Hockey East regular season championship with the program's first 20-win season in 13 years and the 20-win Hockey East campaign since the league's earliest years provided more games ahead of a reduction for the 1986-1987 season, and no statistical road forward remains second-seeded BU, third-seeded Denver, or fourth-seeded North Dakota to unseat the Eagles from the No. 1 overall seed for this year's national tournament. When the selection is announced on March 24, Boston College will play close to home as the top entry in the 16-team bracket.
Questions remain, though, about the team's viability in a postseason game against a Conneciticut team that's older and likely to bring more wood to a playoff game. Based on sheer numbers, the Huskies can't have this game devolve into a track meet when their 53rd-ranked offense is facing the No. 2 scoring team in the nation, but a more likely plan would box the Eagles' No. 4 defense into a matchup against a team more square to college hockey's middle tier with its 2.83 goals against average.
"[This week] was about practicing and looking forward to UConn this weekend," said sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier. "We can't get too ahead of ourselves [because] if we don't play the way we've been playing all season long, we won't get [to the championship]. Obviously we have to stick to our details and keep on building because there's still a lot of hockey left.
"They're a good team," Gauthier expanded. "They gave us some struggles earlier in the season. We only beat them by a couple of goals. They're a strong team, they're old, and they're very physical. So it'll be a fun week ahead of us."
Fun is one way of putting it, but Gauthier's words echoed Brown's sentiment and caution for BC's matchup with the Huskies. Few situations in sports manufacture the drama of a postseason hockey game, and it's the one area where players' emotional and mental stature is tested beyond its limitations. Games are played until there's a winner, and UConn isn't a team arriving in Chestnut Hill intent on ending its season with a lonely bus ride down I-87. In Hockey East, especially, the single-game format contributes to thrills, and there's nothing anyone in a packed barn can do except to hold on tight for the ride.
"It's a special feeling," said Gauthier. "You wait all year to get to crunch time like this when the games matter the most, and that's why you play hockey, for one-game eliminations like this. It doesn't matter about your past, you just kind of get to look at the clean slate and focus on what you can control to go out there and do the best you can, and hopefully it all goes well."
No. 1, top-seeded Boston College hosts Connecticut on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The game can be seen on television via regional coverage on NESN-Plus with online coverage available via the ESPN+ streaming service. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston on WEEI 850 AM, with streaming on the Varsity Network app.
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For too many years, a sport built around dynasties watched individual teams replace one of its original Northeast powers after Northeastern, UMass-Lowell, and UMass claimed their first banners at TD Garden. Boston University returned its name to the mantle last year with its third championship in the last decade, and beating Merrimack continued the string of one-off appearances in the last game by teams like Providence and Connecticut.
A 12-year drought emerged since BC's last Hockey East tournament championship, and the Eagles slowly failed to advance to the final game as they remained a team situated near the top of the late-2010s. Losses in 2017 and 2019 were the closest that BC ever got to winning the championship, and in 2020, one of the best teams in the country had its season canceled by COVID-19.
This team feels different than even the best years of that intercession, but head coach Greg Brown understands that the single-elimination format of the Hockey East postseason means his team can't skate a single game, period or shift without its focus. Too many teams are targeting the spot occupied by the No. 1 team in the country, and the difference between an elite, great team and its Hockey East immortality lies in the road that begins with Saturday's quarterfinal matchup against Connecticut.
"We're very excited," said Brown ahead of Saturday's matchup. "It's the best time of the year. You work hard to get in this position, and now we get a chance to see what [this team] can do. They know playoff hockey is a step-up in intensity. They've played in a lot of big games over their careers, so we don't have to remind them too much. I think they'll be ready."
The younger makeup of BC's team conceivably makes the one-game, winner-take-all format more difficult to stomach, but those same inexperienced postseason rookies have essentially been preparing for an elite level of playoff hockey since its first on-ice shifts. Having been installed as the preseason No. 6 team despite finishing the last two seasons in eighth place in the conference resulted in heightened expectations that immediately grew in stature after BC defeated defending national champion Quinnipiac in overtime in its first game. One month later, BC was No. 1 in the nation after moving first to fourth and then to third, but a two-week stay at the top ended with a loss and tie at Maine that still didn't objectively kill the Eagles in the Hockey East standings because of a second point awarded in the requisite overtime shootout period.
Each week seemed to produce a team's best performance, but BC managed to answer the bell on nearly every occasion. There was the shutout win at Connecticut after the Huskies forced the Eagles into overtime at Conte Forum and the 3-1 win at Matthews Arena after Northeastern left Chestnut Hill with a 5-3 win one night earlier, and in the last game before Christmas break, Providence scored three consecutive goals to take a 3-2 lead before the Eagles responded with three of their own during a six-goal third period and a 5-4 win that reinstalled BC in the No. 1 spot in the nation.
No team aside from Boston University has since threatened for the top spot in the country, and though BC temporarily ceded the spot for two weeks in late January, two wins over the Terriers cemented the Eagles as the top-ranked team for the rest of the year. By late-February, nearly every team in Hockey East experienced some type of swoon or hurdle, and as more teams faced splits nationally, BC became the first unanimous choice atop the rankings in nearly seven years.
"The guys have been very good," Brown said. "We've been ranked No. 1 for a long time, so they've pretty much ignored that and focused on the task right at hand. They've done an excellent job, mostly thanks to our leadership group, the captains, and the older guys telling them that [they] can't get ahead of [themselves]."
The success claimed BC's 18th Hockey East regular season championship with the program's first 20-win season in 13 years and the 20-win Hockey East campaign since the league's earliest years provided more games ahead of a reduction for the 1986-1987 season, and no statistical road forward remains second-seeded BU, third-seeded Denver, or fourth-seeded North Dakota to unseat the Eagles from the No. 1 overall seed for this year's national tournament. When the selection is announced on March 24, Boston College will play close to home as the top entry in the 16-team bracket.
Questions remain, though, about the team's viability in a postseason game against a Conneciticut team that's older and likely to bring more wood to a playoff game. Based on sheer numbers, the Huskies can't have this game devolve into a track meet when their 53rd-ranked offense is facing the No. 2 scoring team in the nation, but a more likely plan would box the Eagles' No. 4 defense into a matchup against a team more square to college hockey's middle tier with its 2.83 goals against average.
"[This week] was about practicing and looking forward to UConn this weekend," said sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier. "We can't get too ahead of ourselves [because] if we don't play the way we've been playing all season long, we won't get [to the championship]. Obviously we have to stick to our details and keep on building because there's still a lot of hockey left.
"They're a good team," Gauthier expanded. "They gave us some struggles earlier in the season. We only beat them by a couple of goals. They're a strong team, they're old, and they're very physical. So it'll be a fun week ahead of us."
Fun is one way of putting it, but Gauthier's words echoed Brown's sentiment and caution for BC's matchup with the Huskies. Few situations in sports manufacture the drama of a postseason hockey game, and it's the one area where players' emotional and mental stature is tested beyond its limitations. Games are played until there's a winner, and UConn isn't a team arriving in Chestnut Hill intent on ending its season with a lonely bus ride down I-87. In Hockey East, especially, the single-game format contributes to thrills, and there's nothing anyone in a packed barn can do except to hold on tight for the ride.
"It's a special feeling," said Gauthier. "You wait all year to get to crunch time like this when the games matter the most, and that's why you play hockey, for one-game eliminations like this. It doesn't matter about your past, you just kind of get to look at the clean slate and focus on what you can control to go out there and do the best you can, and hopefully it all goes well."
No. 1, top-seeded Boston College hosts Connecticut on Saturday night at 7:30 p.m. from Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts. The game can be seen on television via regional coverage on NESN-Plus with online coverage available via the ESPN+ streaming service. Radio broadcast is also available through the Boston College Sports Network from Learfield, locally in Boston on WEEI 850 AM, with streaming on the Varsity Network app.
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