In 2009, as the reigning national champions, BC suffered a 6-1 loss to Northeastern in the first round. The Eagles beat Harvard 4-3 in the consolation game, but watching bitter rival BU take the title was not exactly the way they pictured "showroom season" would begin.
BC head coach Jerry York is hoping for a different result in 2010. But given the way Northeastern, Harvard, BU and BC have played this season, he knows that for the first time in a long time, there is no clear-cut favorite to walk away with the championship on Feb. 8 at the TD Garden. Getting past Harvard on Feb. 1 and into the finals will be a challenge, but it is also an opportunity for BC to gain some momentum as it makes a push through the second half of the season.
"There hasn’t been one team that’s been the clear-cut [team] running away with the ‘elite’ title," York said on Wednesday, "but there have been none of us that have fallen out of the picture. If you look at how strong some of the teams have been in certain games, you see that."
For BC, this season has been a bit of an anomaly. At 12-8-2 (9-6-2 Hockey East), the Eagles are currently tied with UMass for second place in the league standings — but when they have been losing, they haven’t been losing by much, suggesting that it’s the little things that are the difference between success and mediocrity for this squad.
"Our team in recent weeks has been kind of up-and-down," said captain Matt Price. "We’ve gone through some tough times, and we’re looking forward to this weekend to kind of try to right the ship and get things moving again in the right direction. Some of our games have been really close, and we’ve been doing a lot of things well, but like I said, close isn’t always good enough. We have to kind of sharpen up some of those mental mistakes we’ve been making and play a full 60 minutes."
Three of BC’s last four losses have been decided by one goal, a problem that York is well aware needs fixing if the Eagles plan on returning to the postseason in 2010.
"[We] could have four more points [in the standings] with a little more attention to detail," York said. "I thought our team was very, very close to the Terriers and the Riverhawks [in two losses Jan. 22 and 23], but that’s sports."
Still, despite a 5-4 overtime loss to BU last Friday night and a 3-1 loss at UMass Lowell on Saturday, the Eagles find themselves in prime position in the Hockey East, much of which is due to the stellar play of senior Ben Smith, who boasts 11 goals and seven assists for 18 points in 22 games. Smith, along with fellow seniors Price, Matt Lombardi and Carl Sneep, have a 4-2 record in the Beanpot.
"Smith is probably playing the best hockey of his career," York said. "He’s been the one person who’s really been extremely productive and positive."
Sophomore Cam Atkinson has taken some of the offensive pressure off Smith, netting a team-leading 14 goals and nine assists for 23 points in 22 games. Junior Brian Gibbons leads the Eagles in points with 26.
While offense hasn’t necessarily been a problem for the Eagles, defense has — and for good reason. The Eagles are essentially running a four-man blue-line rotation because of injuries to Patrick Wey (wrist) and Tommy Cross (MCL sprain).
York plans on being without both defensemen until after the Beanpot finals, leaving him with a thin blue line featuring senior Sneep, freshman Philip Samuelsson (son of former Pittsburgh Penguin and New York Ranger Ulf), sophomore Edwin Shea and sophomore Brian Dumoulin. They will get the majority of the playing time in what York described as a "four-man rotation with walk-ons [Malcolm Lyles and Patch Alber] used sparingly." The top four defenseman will log about 20 minutes each, and the walk-ons will get 6-10 minutes of ice time.
Despite the defensive shortcomings, the Eagles are notching an average of 3.5 goals per game and allowing 2.8, which has been good enough thus far. Still, defeating Harvard will be no easy task, and the Eagles are certainly not assuming so.
"Early on in the year, we had a good game against Harvard, and it was a close matchup [which BC won, 3-2]," Price said. "We’re looking forward to another tough matchup there. We’re going to have to play a full 60 minutes and give nothing but our best if we want to be successful, so we’re looking forward to it."
And the Eagles plan on enjoying the unique experience while it lasts.
"It’s remarkable that the years go by, and when you remember your college hockey experience, the Beanpot really stands out," York said. "You cherish the time you have here."
Photo courtesy of Alex Trautwig.
