Men's Hockey - at UML & Boston College, 9 & 11 Oct

Apologies for the extreme lateness of the recap of last week's games - I've been traveling overseas and didn't return until Thursday morning. Jet lag to account for the rest of it, but here it is nonetheless - an opening weekend to the RPI season that typifies all of our expectations for the team this season. A punchless loss followed by a world-beating moment, and an underscoring that this team will live and die by its defense. The year kicked off with a barely-there game against UMass-Lowell in which the Engineers rarely looked competitive in a 3-0 loss, followed two days later in the home opener by a 2-1 victory over the #1 team in the nation that turned heads.

UMass-Lowell
Melanson-Liljegren-Ohrvall
Nanne-Bubela-Schroeder
Wood-Bourbonnais-Gillespie
Moore-Fulton-Clary

Bradley-Prapavessis
Bell-Reno
Wilson-Hampton

Kasdorf

One thing mentioned from the very outset of the season was that RPI needed to stay healthy this season in order to be competitive. With game one beginning, injuries were already a big part of the story. Senior Mark Miller is recovering from a wrist injury, and freshmen Evan Tironese and Alex Rodriguez are also in the infirmary, the latter suffering an injury in the exhibition game a week prior. With Jimmy DeVito also sidelined, offensive-minded defenseman Miers Moore made his RPI debut not on the blue line, but playing left-wing on the Engineers' fourth line.

For the fifth time in six seasons, the Engineers gave up their first goal of the season before scoring their first. 4:03 into the game, with a delayed hooking penalty coming to Jared Wilson, the River Hawks drew first blood with a goal by A.J. White to go ahead 1-0. UML would not score on the ensuing power play, but they did strike again on the power play before the opening 20 minutes were over. An unassisted goal by Evan Campbell with 32 seconds left made it 2-0 as Viktor Liljegren served an elbowing penalty.

Another power play goal early in the second period put the home team up 3-0 with Milos Bubela off for cross-checking. Adam Chapie's goal made the game look pretty much over with only 22:06 ticked off the clock.

From there, it was fairly academic for UML's Kevin Boyle to pitch a first-time out shutout. The Engineers came alive slightly in the third period, putting 13 shots on net, but none of them got through as Boyle made 27 saves to earn the victory. Jason Kasdorf picked up 35 saves on 38 shots - 28 in the first two periods - in defeat. Dominated at the faceoff circle and effectively bottled up, RPI simply never looked competitive against one of Hockey East's top teams.

Boston College
Liljegren-Bubela-Ohrvall
Melanson-Tironese-Nanne
Bourbonnais-Schroeder-Gillespie
Moore-Fulton-Wood

Bradley-Prapavessis
Wilson-Reno
Bell-Hampton

Kasdorf

Tironese was added to the lineup two days later, replacing Lonnie Clary, and a minor line shakeup was in order as well to take on the Eagles, the #1 team in the most recent national polls. Tironese was added to a line that included Drew Melanson and Lou Nanne, the sophomore duo that regularly teamed with Miller on a dynamic line last season (when they were healthy). Additionally, the Engineers' top line was retooled, adding Milos Bubela to a combination that already included RPI's two Swedish forwards, Liljegren and Jesper Ohrvall, creating the first-ever all-European line in team history.

Defense was the name of the game for much of the first 40 minutes, as the Engineers bared down against the Eagles' high-flying offense. Jason Kasdorf was sharp throughout the game, picking up 29 saves in the first two periods on as many shots, but the shot-blocking in front of him was equally important to the defensive effort against BC. All night long, players gave up the body, especially Mike Prapavessis and Chris Bradley, to keep the visitors off the scoreboard.

Riley Bourbonnais opened the scoring in the final minute of the second period, notching his first goal of the season with 46 seconds left to put RPI ahead 1-0 on a bouncing puck that BC's Thatcher Demko usually can get himself in front of. Just before the second intermission, it was a huge boost to an Engineers team that was still very much an underdog despite the heroic defensive stand.

Bourbonnais struck again on the power play early in the third period. With Ryan Fitzgerald serving an elbowing penalty for the Eagles, Bourbonnais took a pass from Tironese a 3-on-2 break and whipped it past Demko to give RPI an improbable 2-0 edge with 17 minutes left in the game.

But one doesn't just put away the #1 team in the nation that easily. With solid puck control throughout the game, it seemed inevitable that BC would eventually find a way to put one past Kasdorf and they managed to halve the RPI lead five-and-a-half minutes later on the man advantage. Zach Sanford's second goal of the season made it 2-1 and turned the pucker factor up to 11 for the crowd at Houston Field House.

Far from being rattled, however, the Engineers stayed in their lanes when it came to their defensive stand. Indeed, despite trailing and their talent and possession edges, BC was ultimately able to get only 8 shots on Kasdorf in the final 20 minutes. While holding the 2-1 lead, RPI continued blocking shots and otherwise frustrating the Eagle offense. With Demko pulled in the final 1:20, BC managed to hold the attacking zone for nearly the entire end of the game, but still were unable to find a quality scoring opportunity to get the game tied, and the Engineers escaped with their first victory over a #1 ranked team in five seasons.

The weekend was a true microcosm - RPI must get healthy to be successful, and Tironese's debut was crucial for the Engineers. The freshman dominated in the faceoff circle and assisted on both of Bourbonnais' goals. They need defense in order to be successful, and the shot-blocking and top-end play by the combined defense powered the victory more than anything. The way the Engineers can become truly dangerous is to start scoring goals with more regularity - despite the high-caliber opponents they played in the opening weekend, averaging a goal per game isn't going to lead to a lot of wins.

They get the opportunity to try scoring goals against slightly lower-caliber opponents this weekend, as they face Alaska-Anchorage and the University of Alaska, WCHA teams who were a combined 1-3-0 to start the year, in the Brice Alaska Goal Rush. With American International as the fourth team, if the RPI team that played against Boston College shows up both nights in Fairbanks, the Engineers would be the likely favorites in the tournament.

RPI players swept the ECAC weekly awards this week on the strength of their win over BC. Riley Bourbonnais' two goals made him Player of the Week, Tironese's two assists and faceoff excellence won him Rookie of the Week, and Kasdorf's superior play in the pips earned him Goalie of the Week honors.

RPI at #14 UMass-Lowell
Non-conference Game - Tsongas Center (Lowell, MA)
10/9/15 - 7:15pm

RESULT: UMass-Lowell 3, RPI 0

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
Lowell Sun

RECORD: 0-1-0

#1 Boston College at RPI
Non-conference Game - Houston Field House (Troy, NY)
10/11/15 - 2:00pm

RESULT: RPI 2, Boston College 1

BOX SCORES
College Hockey Stats
USCHO

RECAPS
RPI
Troy Record
Albany Times Union
BC Interruption

RECORD: 1-1-0

Upcoming games
16 Oct - vs. Alaska-Anchorage (Fairbanks, AK)
17 Oct - at Alaska
24 Oct - #11 Michigan
30 Oct - at Union
31 Oct - Union (Black Saturday)

Beast of the East

Another season, another difficult October, another slew of injuries to start the season.

Yup.

The men get their season underway tonight in Lowell as they take on the two-time Hockey East finalists from UML - and they'll be missing plenty of names. Miller. Wood. Rodriguez. Tironese. All out nursing injuries. Freshman defenseman Meirs Moore makes his RPI debut tonight... as a forward.

And it doesn't get any easier after they come home - just #1 Boston College on Sunday afternoon. Woof.

For the women, they also hit the road for the first time this season, taking on RIT in a pair of games in Rochester - can they build on a halfway decent showing against North Dakota last weekend? We'll find out.

In the meantime, here's something bouncy to get you going for a weekend full of hockey.

Know Your Enemy: Boston College

October is going to be an exciting time in Troy. Not only is a new season getting underway, but the Engineers will be welcoming a pair of the biggest heavy hitters that college hockey has in its ranks to the Field House for the first time in decades. The first of those teams will be kicking off RPI's NCAA home schedule, a team that only perhaps a bitter BU partisan would deny was the team of the decade in the first 10 years of the 2000s, and has easily been the most successful program of the 21st Century thus far with four national championships since the dawn of the millennium. Break out the fine china - hopefully they won't smash it to pieces.

Boston College
Nickname: Eagles
Location: Chestnut Hill, MA
Founded: 1863
Conference: Hockey East
National Championships: 5 (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2015
Last Frozen Four: 2014
Coach: Jerry York (22nd year)
2014-15 Record: 21-14-3 (12-7-3 Hockey East, 2nd place)
Series: BC leads, 20-14-1
First Game: December 18, 1954 (Boston, MA)
Last RPI win: January 2, 1995 (Troy, NY)
Last BC win: October 13, 2013 (Chestnut Hill, MA)

2015-16 game: October 11, 2015 (Troy, NY)

Key players: D Teddy Doherty, sr.; F Austin Cangelosi, jr.; F Chris Calnan, jr.; G Thatcher Demko, jr.; F Ryan Fitzgerald, jr.; F Adam Gilmour, jr.; D Ian McCoshen, jr.; D Steve Santini, jr.; D Scott Savage, jr.; D Noah Hanifin, so.; F Zach Sanford, so.; F Alex Tuch, so.; F Jeremy Bracco, fr.; F Joey Dudek, fr.; F Colin White, fr.; F Miles Wood, fr.

Previous KYE installment:

• 2013-14

Boston College was probably peeking from behind covered eyes when the NCAA tournament field was laid out in March, checking to see if Union was on the other side. The Dutchmen ended the Eagles' seasons in 2013 and 2014, but even though Union wasn't in the national tournament, the Eagles still couldn't manage to get past Denver in the Providence regional. That ended a year in which BC failed to win either the Hockey East regular season or the league tournament for only the third time in nine seasons.

BC was a strikingly young team last year. None of its top 10 scorers were seniors, and the starting goaltender was a sophomore. Such is the level of talent that BC attracts that the Eagles were still able to muster a second place finish in Hockey East and an NCAA tournament berth. It was a much more balanced attack than BC got from it's 2013-14 team, which featured Hobey Baker winner (and this year Calder Trophy finalist) Johnny Gaudreau scoring 80 points and his linemates, Kevin Hayes and Bill Arnold, amassing 65 and 53 points respectively. Last season, freshman Tuch and sophomore Gilmour paced the program with just 28 and 27 points each.

As usual, Boston College will boast a variety of outstanding pro-bound talents throughout its ranks. Nine NHL draftees return from last year's team. Wood (a former Brown commit) and Dudek arrive having already been drafted in the 2014 Entry Draft. White and Bracco should both be taken in the first two rounds of this year's draft. Then there's Hanifin, who most observers call the best player in the draft outside of the highly touted top duo of Connor McDavid and BU's Jack Eichel. It'll be somewhat shocking if he isn't taken by Arizona with the 3rd pick in the draft, and he's a question mark to return for his sophomore year. If he does return, he simply makes an already dangerous BC team even more deadly.

Demko, who earned his first collegiate win in a 7-2 home rout over RPI two seasons ago, anchors the defense. His numbers didn't exactly make him a candidate to be one of the best goaltenders in the nation, but they certainly placed him among the very best in Hockey East, and sometimes that's really all that matters - being better than the contemporaries in your conference.

BC last season wasn't a team that did anything excessively well, but they didn't do anything badly, either. In the big four categories (offense, defense, power play, and penalty kill), the Eagles ranged from 14th (penalty kill) to 35th (power play) in the nation. Typically, the nation's very best teams will be in the Top 10 in one or more of those categories. But when the worst part about your team is somewhat close to the national median, you're still doing pretty well - especially when you're as young as BC was last season.

York is entering his 44th consecutive season as a Division I head coach, 26 wins away from becoming the first coach in college hockey history to earn 1,000 wins. Putting that in perspective, RPI, since the modern era of the program began in 1950, has 999 wins, or just 25 more than York has behind the benches at Clarkson, Bowling Green, and Boston College.

Only twice in the last 18 seasons has Boston College failed to win 20 games, those were also the only seasons the Eagles have missed the NCAA tournament in that stretch (2002, 2009). BC and York together has simply been a winning combination and that will not end until York retires - and who knows when that could be. This will be BC's first trip to Houston Field House in 20 years, since just after York took over the program. That game coincidentally ended 7-2 as well, but in favor of the soon-to-be ECAC champions against a BC team still regularly finishing in the doldrums of Hockey East. The dynamics will be far different this time.

With or without Hanifin, the Engineers will be facing a difficult order. Home ice may well be the only advantage they'll have in this game, the second in a row against a tough Hockey East opponent.

Three Days of Hockey!

It's the first full weekend of hockey that counts for the Engineers, with the women kicking off the home portion of the schedule on Friday and Saturday and the men getting the games that count underway on the road on Saturday and Sunday.

The women open their home games with contests against #7 Boston University tonight at 7pm (it's "pack the house night," so hit the Field House if you can get there) and then host Northeastern tomorrow afternoon. Tonight is obviously going to be a big challenge for the Engineers, but it's in those tough non-conference games that you earn the grit to gut out important league wins.

The men, meanwhile, open with a game in Bridgeport, CT against the Sacred Heart Pioneers, a game that they absolutely must win if they're going to inspire the confidence most pundits have in them this season. That game is at 1pm on Saturday and it's totally free admission-wise if you can get down to southern CT. (We may be unable to live-tweet this game, unfortunately, but we'll try to provide updates when and where possible.)

The weekend concludes with a rare trip to #4 Boston College, which is also their home opener. The Eagles lost 3-1 to Michigan last night, so you know they're going to be slightly amped not wanting to open their season 0-2.

You'd have to be clinically dead not to be pumped up for the first full weekend, especially three days worth, but in case you need a helping hand, here's a classic pumpup track that's pushing a quarter-century old... but definitely works.

 

A BC Interruption

Sunday's game in Chestnut Hill against Boston College is the first time the Engineers and Eagles have met since the 2007-08 season and the first time they were scheduled against each other since the 1996-97 campaign. It's been a while.

So we sat down with Joe Gravellese of BC Interruption to learn more about the Eagles in their natural habitat - we answered some of their questions as well, which they'll feature on their blog.

WaP: So, Union, huh? What's up with that? (We hate those guys.)

JG: That stunk. We just got completely overrun by a better team. It happens. Last year's BC team was just not very deep. If they didn't have "Boston College" on their sweaters, nobody would have been surprised by that first round bow-out. The Eagles had two of the best forwards in the nation, but not much after that. They were also so young and easily rattled defensively that opponents' goals tended to come in bunches. It did not make me feel much better to see Union get rolled by Quinnipiac the next night.

WaP: So, Lowell, huh? What's up with that? (We are ambivalent about these guys.)

JG: Lowell has been building into one of the top programs in the conference over the past few years. They actually had one of the best teams in 2009 and should have won the league title, but some referee shenanigans killed them in that game. They've gotten much, much better in the past few years under the leadership of Norm Bazin, who for my money is the second best coach in the conference (after Jerry York, natch). They return most of their top scorers from last year, and Connor Hellebucyk, so they should be right in the mix, nationally.

WaP: What can you tell us about Thatcher Demko? He seems to be the talk of the nation when it comes to incoming goaltenders. Is the job his or does he have to earn it still?

JG: Well, he's not starting on Thursday night against Michigan; that honor will go to junior Brian Billett, who had mixed results occasionally filling in for Parker Milner the last few years. So obviously he's going to have to earn the job. I suspect we will see him on Sunday against RPI. He played in the exhibition game and looked as-advertised: poised, confident, and very big. He's a big kid to begin with, and he makes himself big in the net. BC fans are very excited about what he brings to the table. He's the highest pedigree goaltender we've had since Cory Schneider. (Though the two goalies we've had since, John Muse and Parker Milner, won national championships. I know, we are spoiled.)

WaP: Were you surprised to see Johnny Gaudreau return for his junior year?

JG: Not really. One of Jerry York's strengths (vis a vis, say, BU, to pick a program at random) has been recruiting players who buy into the idea that the team, the school, and the education are important - they're not just a stopping point to work on your game before launching into your pro career. As a result of this recruiting philosophy, you see a lot of top-tier players who stay at least three seasons. The third year is the key, because usually those players will take some extra classes the summer before they leave, then come back the summer after they leave and finish their degree. Nathan Gerbe and Chris Kreider are two recent examples of players who went this route. At this point, I expect the top BC players to stay at least three years. I think part of York's recruiting process is screening for players who he knows will buy in to that idea.

WaP: What's your take on the addition of Notre Dame to Hockey East, and on UConn's accession next season?

JG: Well, we hate both of those teams. So I guess it will be fun, for rivalry purposes. Obviously, Notre Dame brings a lot to the table in terms of name recognition and TV exposure. (UConn brings nothing to the table.) What I didn't like about the Notre Dame move, though, is that it shattered the awesome smallness of our league. It was entirely contained within New England, every game was driveable for fans to go on the road to watch their team, and all of the programs had some level of historical tie with one another... In Boston, we tend to get a little parochial about, well, everything, but especially college hockey, so I didn't like how dramatically the footprint of the league changed. With that said, it's time to get over it. Notre Dame is one of the best programs in the country and the games against them will be must-see affairs. They will also solidify Hockey East as the best conference in the land. (Bring it, B1G trolls.) I wanted RPI over UConn, but I also would have wanted American International over UConn. So...

WaP: Any thoughts on the potential creation of an eastern-based superconference based on the NCHC? Rumor had it that BU and BC turned down entreaties by North Dakota to join that league, but could the top Hockey East programs dump the smaller ones in the future?

JG: I find it unlikely. Hockey East seems to have the philosophy that they want to grow the game in some of the less-traditional hockey power schools around here (see: Vermont, UMass, UConn). If BC, BU, UNH et. al were upset about that, they probably wouldn't have added UConn; the addition of Vermont and UMass were pretty recent, too. The historic rivalries within Hockey East are pretty well entrenched, so I can't see BC or BU going anywhere without Maine, New Hampshire, Northeastern and Providence at bare minimum, and at this point the UMasses probably go into that category as well. So at that point it would probably be easier to just kick out Merrimack and UConn than make a new conference. I endorse that course of action.

WaP: Now that you guys have so many more non-conference games to play with, what are you hoping to see the Eagles do with them?

JG: Win them. But seriously, from a selfish, fan perspective, I want to see BC go to some great venues that they haven't been to often in recent years. They're at Yost on Thursday night to play Michigan, so that's great. They're playing at Brown in January; I'm an unabashed lover of the old ECAC barns, so I'm excited about that. I'd like to see a return trip to RPI, and a game at Lynah. It's a given with this new Hockey East-Big Ten Challenge that we're going to see a lot of Minnesota, Michigan, and Wisconsin. Obviously, I'm happy about that.

WaP: Jerry York has pretty much done it all at this point - most wins in history, championships with multiple teams, a veritable dynasty at BC - how much longer do you think he'll stay at Chestnut Hill before calling it a career?

JG: I would have said 5-6 years before last season, but he had a health scare (detached retina) that kept him out during the season's crucial stretch and made us all begin to ponder life after York. My answer to this question will depend on if he gets through this year without any health absences. He definitely seems to still be loving life as BC coach, and is arguably doing better on the recruiting trail than he ever has (this year's incoming class is incredible).

WaP: What's the vibe on campus for the RPI game? Interested, or not?

JG: Honestly, not really. This might be a lackluster home opener. It's a Sunday afternoon on Columbus Day weekend, when a lot of students go home for the holiday. Also, a lot of people seem to like that Throwyball sport, which happens at the same time, and might hurt general public attendance. We'll see. I know I'm excited about it --- REALLY excited about it --- for whatever that's worth.

---

And we're pretty excited, too. Should be a lot of fun.

Know Your Enemy: Boston College

You can't get much more distant from last week's team than this week's team. Last week, we profiled a team at the very bottom of college hockey's pecking order at the moment. This week, it's a program that could be described as in the middle of one of college hockey's dynasties - three national championships in the last six years, and five title game appearances in the last eight? Yeah, that's not too shabby. It's all part of an historic turnaround for a program that got a serious monkey off its back in Albany 12 years ago - but has almost always been outstanding.

Boston College
Nickname: Eagles
Location: Chestnut Hill, MA
Founded: 1863
Conference: Hockey East
National Championships: 5 (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010, 2012)
Last NCAA Appearance: 2013
Last Frozen Four: 2012
Coach: Jerry York (20th year)
2012-13 Record: 22-12-4 (15-9-3 Hockey East, 2nd place)
Series: BC leads, 19-14-1
First Game: December 18, 1954 (Boston, MA)
Last RPI win: January 2, 1995 (Troy, NY)
Last BC win: October 13, 2007 (St. Paul, MN)

2013-14 game: October 13, 2013 (Chestnut Hill, MA)

Key players: F Bill Arnold, sr.; F Patrick Brown, sr.; D Isaac MacLeod, sr.; F Kevin Hayes, sr.; F Johnny Gaudreau, jr.; F Danny Linell, jr.; F Quinn Smith, jr.; D Teddy Doherty, so.; D Michael Matheson, so.; F Brendan Silk, so.; D Colin Sullivan, so.; F Austin Cangelosi, fr.; F Chris Calnan, fr.; G Thatcher Demko, fr.; F Ryan Fitzgerald, fr.; D Ian McCoshen, fr.; D Steve Santini, fr.

For decades, Boston College hockey was something of a punchline despite practically never being a truly bad team. The Eagles had one number that would just never seem to go away: 1949. No matter how good BC was, no matter what accolades they racked up, it was a number with which fans across Hockey East would taunt the Eagles, much in the same way that "1918" was lobbed at their city's baseball team for decades.

That ended on the ice at the then-Pepsi Arena in Albany in 2001. After 52 years and 14 Frozen Four appearances, the Boston College Eagles finally won their second national championship, beating North Dakota 3-2 in overtime. Since then, BC has continued to be a mainstay in not only the NCAA tournament (which they've missed only twice since that title), but in the Frozen Four as well, landing  six more Frozen Four appearances and the aforementioned three more national championships in the last six seasons.

But the outstanding history of BC hockey dates much farther back than its current streak of success. First dropping the puck in the final year of World War I (1918), Boston College won twice and lost once in its first season - the program's first winning season, which would become a definite running theme in the coming years. In all the time since that opening year, the Eagles have had only 17 seasons where they lost more games than they won.

Three different Boston College coaches - all alums, and essentially the only three coaches the program has ever had, save for a two-year period in the 1990s and the pre-Depression program - have held the record for most career wins in Division I hockey along the way, which illustrates very well how the program has been as successful as it has been.

The first was John "Snooks" Kelley, who became BC's first full-time coach when the program restarted in 1933 after a three-year lull following the dawn of the Depression. Kelley served as head coach from 1933 to 1972, with the exception of the 1943 and 1946 seasons, during which Kelley served in the Navy (the 1944 and 1945 seasons were not played). During that nearly 40 year stretch, Kelley established BC as a college hockey powerhouse, guiding the program to the first three NCAA tournaments from 1948 to 1950, winning the east's first national crown in 1949 as part of an impressive 21-1 season. By the time he retired, BC had been to six more Frozen Fours, played in the 1965 national championship game (falling to Michigan Tech), and with 486 victories, held the mark for most wins by any college coach.

Kelley's successor would eventually break that record and claim the title of winningest college coach himself. An alumnus who had starred for Kelley and the Eagles just after World War II, Len Ceglarski had already established himself as an outstanding college coach with 14 seasons behind the bench at Clarkson, guiding the Golden Knights to three national championship appearances in 1962, 1966, and 1970 and suffering just one losing season in Potsdam.

Ceglarski's success largely continued at BC, as the Eagles returned to the Frozen Four in his first season at his alma mater, played in the 1978 national championship game (falling to arch-rivals BU), and upon the expansion of the NCAA tournament, took BC to seven NCAA appearances in eight years between 1984 and 1991. Ceglarski oversaw BC's departure from the ECAC and established the Eagles as a dominant force in the new Hockey East, presiding over six regular season titles in the conference's first seven years and two league championships. With 672 total career victories, Ceglarski held the record that his own coach had previously held by the time he retired.

If there has truly been a difficult stretch for BC, it would be between 1992 and 1997, a stretch during which the program endured six consecutive losing seasons. It was a painful period for a program that had never before endured more than two in a row. The period coincided with Ceglarski's final season in 1992, and the elevation of his top assistant, Steve Cedorchuk, to the head coaching position.

The program hit rock bottom in 1994, as Cedorchuk was dismissed following a pair of dreadful seasons in charge. Colgate alum and Bruins hero Mike Milbury was hired to replace him, but Milbury left without coaching a single game after just over two months on the job, leaving BC in the lurch with the season set to begin.

But when that low point ended, the Eagles returned with a bang. In Jerry York's fourth season behind the bench, BC went 28-9-5 and reached its first national championship game in 20 years, only to fall to Michigan, 3-2.

York had gradually rebuilt the program from the ground up after returning to his alma mater. Like Ceglarski, York returned to Chestnut Hill after a long stretch of success elsewhere, including 7 seasons at Clarkson (where he had directly succeeded Ceglarski) and 15 at Bowling Green, where he'd won a national championship in 1984. BC managed to snag York away from BGSU in time for the start of the 1994-95 season after the Milbury debacle.

At the time, it wasn't necessarily a slam dunk - the Falcons had been languishing in the mid-1990s after their national championship run. But it was Jerry York who ultimately brought the program back to not only prominence, but the place they'd missed for so long - the pinnacle of college hockey. The 1998 Frozen Four was just the first of four straight for the Eagles, and after three straight seasons coming up just short of the crowd, it was the ice in Albany that finally got the team over the hump and back to the top of the college hockey world.

Since York's arrival, BC has won nine Hockey East championships, six regular season crowns, appeared in the NCAA tournament 14 times, and the Frozen Four 10 times, with four national championships. They've been pretty good. On top of all that, York reclaimed the top position in career wins for a BC coach during the 2012-13 campaign, as he now sits on 935 career wins heading into this coming season.

Along the way, naturally, BC has produced countless NHL players. Every NHL draft since 1996 has featured at least one draft pick associated with the school, and last year's team had seven players on their roster last season that were NHL draft picks.

The final interesting historical fact about BC - they're the only team that was in the Frozen Four for both of RPI's national championships in 1954 and 1985. In both seasons, they lost in the semifinal round and did not play the Engineers.

Last year, coming off their fifth national championship, the Eagles put together another strong campaign, but failed to claim Hockey East honors - either a regular season or tournament title, or both - for just the fifth time since 1998 in part due to UMass-Lowell's big surge. Yet it was not a terrible season for BC in the least - they were among the top-ranked teams in the nation all year, never had a winless-streak that went beyond two, played in the NCAA tournament once more, and had a Hobey Baker finalist in Gaudreau. Their loss to Union in the first round of the NCAAs wasn't considered an upset on its own, but losing 5-1 certainly was a bit surprising.

The Engineers and Eagles are meeting in a scheduled contest for the first time since 1997, and for only the fifth time since the Hockey East split in 1984. The teams also met in the consolation game of the 2007 Icebreaker in Minnesota, which was produced by first-round losses by both teams.

It goes without saying that BC is a team that reloads far more often than it rebuilds (and rebuilding never takes more than a year) with York at the helm, and that is certainly true this year. In addition to one of the most dynamic players in the nation in Gaudreau, 35-point scorer Arnold returns for his senior year, and as usual, the incoming class includes a slew of blue-chip recruits. McCoshen is the top-ranked college-affiliated skater for the upcoming NHL draft, Santini and Fitzgerald will be drafted as well, and Calnan comes in as a draft pick himself.

If there's one thing that BC might be needing to flesh out early in the season, it's goaltending. Parker Milner has graduated, he was the mainstay for the last two seasons. Demko is likely to get the lions share of the playing time over the two juniors that will be on the roster, and if he gets the nod against the Engineers, that might be a minor weakness if he's still adjusting to Division I hockey. He's expected to be the top guy in Chestnut Hill sooner rather than later and has plenty of talent, but the task will fall to RPI's experienced attack to make him uncomfortable as quickly as possible.

There's one difference behind the BC bench that could have an impact on the Eagles going forward - Mike Cavanaugh, York's top lieutenant for 18 seasons and a finalist for the RPI job when it was open in 2006, has left to become UConn's new head coach. This is likely to have more long-term effects than anything, since the Eagles are, as usual, loaded to the brim with talent, much of which was guided into the program by Cavanaugh.

It's worth noting that, as of this publication, the actual date and location of the game against the Eagles isn't 100% known. It's listed on the schedule for October 13, a Sunday, at Conte Forum in Chestnut Hill. It would be the back end of a Saturday-Sunday road trip including the opening game of the season at Sacred Heart if that stays accurate, which gives the Engineers a short turnaround time (since Sunday games during the regular season are usually in the afternoon).

Rumors for months have had this game preceding the BU/Cornell game at Madison Square Garden in New York City on the Saturday following Thanksgiving instead - a day RPI currently has open on its schedule and it appears is also open on the BC schedule (they're scheduled to host Holy Cross the previous night). We'll wait and see, but regardless of where this game is played, it's going to be a tough test for the Engineers against a team that's always in the national discussion.

Tentative 2013-14 Men's Hockey Schedule

Here it is, the tentative schedule for next year. The exhibition game in October should be against a Canadian school as usual, the game against Boston College is rumored to be part of a doubleheader with BU/Cornell at Madison Square Garden (if it doesn't pan out, the game will likely take place in Chestnut Hill), and the second opponent in the Minnesota tournament in January is not known for sure, though it is believed the first opponent will be the Golden Gophers. Freakout! is presumed to be Brown, given the usual time of year for the event, though Harvard and Clarkson are outside possibilities.

Game times are at 7pm unless otherwise indicated, but are subject to change due to television scheduling.

October
Saturday, 05 October - EXHIBITION
Saturday, 12 October - at Sacred Heart (Bridgeport, CT)
Sunday, 13 October - at Boston College (time TBD)
Friday, 18 October - at Boston University
Saturday, 19 October - SACRED HEART (Parents Weekend)
Saturday, 26 October - NEW HAMPSHIRE

November
Friday, 01 November - at Harvard*
Saturday, 02 November - at Dartmouth*
Friday, 08 November - CORNELL* (Black Friday)
Saturday, 09 November - COLGATE*
Friday, 15 November - at Union*
Saturday, 16 November - UNION*
Friday, 22 November - at Mercyhurst
Saturday, 23 November - at Mercyhurst

December
Friday, 06 December - QUINNIPIAC*
Saturday, 07 December - PRINCETON* (4pm)
Friday, 13 December - DENVER
Saturday, 14 December - DENVER
Sunday, 15 December - US UNDER-18 TEAM (exhibition)
Friday, 20 December - vs. Union (Albany, NY)

January
Friday, 03 January - at Minnesota (8pm)
Saturday, 04 January - at Minnesota Tournament (Minneapolis, MN) (5pm)
Friday, 10 January - at Princeton*
Saturday, 11 January - at Quinnipiac*
Friday, 24 January - DARTMOUTH*
Saturday, 25 January - HARVARD*
Friday, 31 January - at Clarkson*

February
Saturday, 01 February - at St. Lawrence*
Friday, 07 February - YALE*
Saturday, 08 February - BROWN* (Big Red Freakout!)
Friday, 14 February - at Colgate*
Saturday, 15 February - at Cornell*
Friday, 21 February - ST. LAWRENCE*
Saturday, 22 February - CLARKSON* (Senior Night)
Friday, 28 February - at Brown*

March
Saturday, 01 March - at Yale*
Fri-Sun, 07-09 March - ECAC First Round (at campus sites)
Fri-Sun, 14-16 March - ECAC Quarterfinals (at campus sites)
Friday, 21 March - ECAC Semifinals (Lake Placid, NY)
Saturday, 22 March - ECAC Championship (Lake Placid, NY)
Fri-Sun 28-30 March - NCAA Regionals (Bridgeport, CT; Worcester, MA; Cincinnati, OH; St. Paul, MN)

April
Thursday, 10 April - NCAA Frozen Four (Philadelphia, PA)
Saturday, 12 April - NCAA Championship (Philadelphia, PA)

Low-Seeded and Rusty

So, the Engineers are a #4 seed. They also didn't play last week (or the week before that, but that's beside the point). Some would say... well, they're going to be rusty and they're a low seed, so they're going to get bounced with no problem. And maybe they're right.

But... maybe neither of those are particularly relevant, either.

How have #4 seeds and teams that have had extra rest fared in the tournament lately? Well... pretty good actually. #4 seeds are in bold, teams playing with extra rest are in italics.

2006
Bemidji State - Lost to Wisconsin
Colorado College - Lost to Cornell
Holy Cross - Defeated Minnesota, lost to North Dakota
Nebraska-Omaha - Lost to Boston University
New Hampshire - Lost to Michigan

2007
Air Force - Lost to Minnesota
Alabama-Huntsville - Lost to Notre Dame (2 OT)
Maine - Defeated St. Cloud State, defeated UMass, lost to Michigan State
Miami - Defeated New Hampshire, lost to Boston College
UMass - Defeated Clarkson, lost to Maine

2008
Air Force - Lost to Miami
Clarkson - Defeated St. Cloud State, lost to Michigan
Michigan State - Defeated Colorado College, lost to Notre Dame
Niagara - Lost to Michigan
Notre Dame - Defeated New Hampshire, defeated Michigan State, defeated Michigan, lost to Boston College
Princeton - Lost to North Dakota
Wisconsin - Defeated Denver, lost to North Dakota

2009
Air Force - Defeated Michigan, lost to Vermont
Bemidji State - Defeated Notre Dame, defeated Cornell, lost to Miami
Miami - Defeated Denver, defeated Minnesota-Duluth, defeated Bemidji State, lost to Boston University
New Hampshire - Defeated North Dakota, lost to Boston University
Ohio State - Lost to Boston University
Vermont - Defeated Yale, defeated Air Force, lost to Boston University

2010
Alabama-Huntsville - Lost to Miami
Alaska - Lost to Boston College
Bemidji State - Lost to Michigan
New Hampshire - Defeated Cornell, lost to RIT
RIT - Defeated Denver, defeated New Hampshire, lost to Wisconsin
Yale - Defeated North Dakota, lost to Boston College
Vermont - Lost to Wisconsin

2011
Air Force
Colorado College
Nebraska-Omaha
New Hampshire
RPI
Union

#4 seeds are 8-12 in the first round since 2006, while teams that were off the previous week are 10-9 in the same stretch. Meanwhile, at least one #4 seed has won in the opening round in every tournament since 2006, and at least two supposedly "rusty" teams have won in the opening round against a team fresh from the fight in each of the last four years - not to mention that North Dakota has suffered losses to such teams in each of the last two tournaments (though neither were as a #1 seed).

Oh, and we've had at least one team in the Frozen Four for the last four years running that were either a #4 seed or were rested heading into the tournament (or both).

Hockey isn't basketball - a low seed isn't necessarily a killer. We'll see what happens tomorrow, we're just over 24 hours to go until we tangle with the Sioux.

-----

Today, games get underway in the East and West regionals in Bridgeport and St. Louis. There's the potential for an all-ECAC final in Bridgeport if Yale and Union, the higher seeds, win their games. Yale and Air Force have met once before this season, and it ended in Yale's first loss out in Colorado in a game they were winning 3-0 with 15 minutes left to play. Now in their backyard, I don't see this ending the same way. Meanwhile, Union and Minnesota-Duluth provides one of the truest toss-up games of the first round, as 8/9 matchups frequently do. This one's probably anyone's game, the Dutchmen have the stronger team while Duluth has the stronger individual players.

Out in St. Louis, it's Boston College and Colorado College in an interesting high/low matchup. The Eagles are certainly favored, but the Tigers seem like they could at least provide an interesting game if nothing more. Finally, there's Michigan and Nebraska-Omaha. Michigan shows up every year, but they rarely have been bringing home the national championship, with their only two championships during their long stretch of NCAA tournament appearances coming in 1996 and 1998. Omaha, meanwhile, had a pretty decent season overall but simply could not beat Bemidji State to save their lives this year (fully 1/3 of their losses this year are to the Beavers, including two in the WCHA playoffs). Dean Blais vs. Red Berenson has all the makings of a barnburner in this matchup between teams that were CCHA rivals just last year.

Media Pitstop #1: Adam Wodon

As the season gets closer, we're going to sit down with some media personalities from around the college hockey universe to get their takes on the offseason that has been and the season that will be. Our first sucker volunteer is Adam Wodon. Wodon is the Managing Editor of College Hockey News (CHN), and he's been covering college hockey since 1988. He's a former play-by-play man in the ECAC, having served in that role for Cornell and Princeton over the years, and in the mid-2000s was an occasional college hockey analyst for ESPN and was a regular color man for college broadcasts on CSTV. Before starting CHN - considered one of the "Big Three" news sites for college hockey on the Internet - in 2006, he was a senior writer at USCHO.com for nine years. Basically, he knows what he's talking about.

Believe it or not, we did not photoshop his picture. He should probably be thankful, although we should probably point out that the picture is almost five years old and he's no longer in his mid-30s. (Happy birthday, Adam.)

Without a Peer: It seems like with this so-called "World Hockey Summit" coming up in Toronto that the CHL/NCAA war is ready to heat up even more. What's your take?

Adam Wodon: Well, originally we'd been told that (College Hockey Inc. President) Paul Kelly hadn't been invited, which is true, except that Tom Anastos of the CCHA was invited.

WaP: Is that really a good substitute?

AW: There may be more to the issue than meets the eye. I don't know if it's personal between the people involved, but to me, Tom is as good of a power broker as anyone. Theoretically, Paul Kelly is supposed to be that guy, but I'm sure Tom will get the job done as well as anybody could. Whether that will actually accomplish anything... I don't know if anyone could accomplish anything.

WaP: Bruce Ciskie had a commentary yesterday talking about how the CHL is whining about Paul Kelly doing essentially the same thing they've been doing for 15 years.

AW: Well, it's true. Obviously, we're all biased from our point of view, and they have the right to sell their product, so to speak. I just think it's unfortunate that so much of it is propaganda, and I think that's what really upset people. I don't really know what you can do about it, but a lot of it is misleading and really, it's a disservice to the kids that are involved. From that standpoint, what Paul Kelly is trying to do as far as education is great. That's only going to go so far unless the NHL steps in to do something, and they haven't shown any inclination to do that. I don't think you're going to get anywhere getting the NCAA to change its rules and regulations, so the only option is to hope the CHL plays nice. Otherwise, the only thing that might fix it is if the NHL were to lay out some sort of restrictions on things the way its done in other sports.

WaP: Supposedly there was some hope that the two sides could come to an agreement whereby neither side would poach the others' commitments, even though it's fairly one-sided in that CHL teams are poaching NCAA commits well more frequently.

AW: From what I understand, they've changed a lot of the rules, where you can't play junior A unless you're 16, and there's only a few 16-year-olds allowed on a junior A team. They've eliminated the holding areas for those guys, so they're pumping them into major juniors faster in order to get them wiped off the NCAA radar before NCAA teams even get the chance to recruit them. That's one of the "dirty tricks" out there. It's not illegal, but it's a disservice to the kid, forcing them into those ranks that way, before they have a chance to get educated or really decide what they want to do. We can debate this all day long, but I steadfastly remain behind the idea that (major junior) is not a faster route to the NHL for 99% of hockey players.

WaP: Especially specific types of players that might be better suited for the college route.

AW: Unless you're among the elite of the elite, and even then, I don't believe the NCAA hurts your progress whatsoever. Just look at (Jarred) Tinordi right now, he's a great example. They tell him, "oh, it'll be a faster route to the NHL." Please. It'll still be two or three years. The same thing could have happened going to college for two or three years and then jumping to the NHL. The fact of the matter is, the guys who play four years of college often are then ready for the NHL, whereas guys that leave early spend two or three years in the minors quite frequently. There's so much evidence out there that supports that, but the myth continues. They've certainly won the propaganda war, that's for sure. Ultimately, what are you going to do? They're not going to stop doing that.

WaP: With almost 40 underclassmen that have left to sign pro contracts, what kind of effect is that going to have on the level of play this season?

AW: I'd already thought in the last couple of years that it had leveled the playing field quite a bit. Look at all the teams in the last few years that have made the NCAAs and advanced. It's not just RIT and Bemidji State, but Northeastern a few years ago, and Yale recently. There have been teams in the NCAAs that hadn't even been there recently, like Northern Michigan and Alaska for the first time last season. St. Cloud State won a game! So the playing field had already started to become more level in the years leading up to this even though we haven't seen a team come from nowhere to win the national championship that's never won it before. The funny thing is, it's like, how many more guys could it possibly be? We've set a record this year. The trend has always been growing, but it just keeps happening. Either (the NHL) is digging even deeper to get guys, or the recruiting has improved and they're just taking them faster. It's a shame when RPI and Harvard lose guys, because they don't have much margin for error. RPI in particular, that was a bad one, but unfortunately, Harvard's going to have a huge drop off.

WaP: Well, hopefully you don't have to feel too bad for us.

AW: They should still be OK, but obviously, D'Amigo's a big loss. He wasn't really lights out for (the Engineers), but he was certainly on his way to becoming that for them. He was going to probably be one of the elite players in the nation this year. But overall, the trend is definitely leveling the playing feels. To some extent, you might say that's good looking at it from that standpoint. We did have the feeling in the late 1990s and early 2000s that the rich were getting richer. It does help in that regard, but it helps in a way you wish it wasn't helping for the overall picture.

WaP: Turning to the ECAC... who's going to beat Yale?

AW: Well, I thought it was going to be RPI!

WaP: Do we still have a shot?

AW: I was talking to Ken Schott, and I probably still would have picked Yale regardless. He was saying "oh, who's the favorite now," and I hadn't been aware that RPI was to begin with, but they'll be contenders. If (Yale) gets any semblance of goaltending this year, they'll be fine. If they'd had any to speak of last year they would have been in the Frozen Four.

WaP: How about Boston College? Can anyone beat them nationally?

AW: It's so easy to say that the national champion is going to be the team to beat, but we were talking about it on the way back from Detroit last season, thinking about the top 10 for this year and (BC) was so clearly number one. They have so many players coming back that they're heads and shoulders. But we've seen before that things don't necessarily play out like that. There have been years where teams that have seemed to be so clear-cut number one all year long have something happen and they dive bomb at the end. There are no foregone conclusions, but you'd be crazy not to pick them number one if you're doing a ranking.

WaP: They're so far ahead just in Hockey East, and then you look at some of the other elite teams around the country and they're far ahead there too.

AW: Michigan State loses three underclassmen, Michigan has been losing guys to the NHL and major junior, Notre Dame's had a rough offseason and then Tinordi bails out. Wisconsin got hammered. North Dakota's probably in the mix, though. At this point you just have to thumb through the top programs and find out who's lost the least. Going back to the ECAC, though, I would not overlook Cornell. They will take a step back and I'm not sure they're going to make the NCAA's but they're not going to plummet or anything.

WaP: They're Cornell. They're never that far from the top even when they're having a down season.

AW: The key is their new goalie (Andy Iles). He put up better numbers on the Under-18 team than Jack Campbell did last year. We'll see what happens. He's 5'8" which is practically unheard of at Cornell, but he's a local guy (from Ithaca). If he does anything, they'll be fine. They're not going to compete as well nationally. But do you know who my dark horse is nationally this year? Merrimack.

WaP: Merrimack?

AW: (chuckles) Yeah. My dark horse to make the NCAAs.

WaP: Bombshell. How do you think the WCHA realignment is going to play out?

AW: Obviously, Bemidji State will instantly have rivalries and whatnot. Nebraska-Omaha's a little bit outside that scope, but with (UNO coach) Dean Blais coming back into the league they'll find their way into the mix pretty quick. It only makes the WCHA stronger, as if they really needed to be stronger, so it's a little crazy, but now they've got even more teams to beat each other up with. It remains to be seen what kind of effect that has for them on the national level, whether it helps or hurt them. I'm more interested to see how the three new coaches in the CCHA (at Bowling Green, Ohio State, and Western Michigan) work out. We won't be able to tell this year, but Western and Bowling Green, if they can get their act together and start competing for the same types of players Miami is getting, we might see the CCHA have some more compelling races. They've been a pretty top-heavy league for a number of years.