Boston College Hockey off to Strong Start in 2011-12

As badly as last season ended for Boston College, with a stunning loss to Colorado College in the 2011 NCAA West Regional in St. Louis, things have started off the other way for the Eagles so far in the 2011-12 campaign.

The Eagles have again soared to the No. 1 ranking in the nation as of Oct. 24 in both the USCHO.com and USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine polls with a 5-1-0 overall mark, following wins last weekend over Hockey East rivals Massachusetts and Northeastern. It's the second time this season that BC has been ranked first in both polls.

Boston College began the new season by topping Michigan State, 5-2, and then host North Dakota, 6-2, to claim the 2011 IceBreaker Tournament on Oct. 7-8 in Grand Forks, North Dakota.

It's the third time ever that BC has claimed the traditional season-opening tourney, and it did so this time without the benefit of any sort of exhibition warm-up game as in past seasons. The game against MSU was BC's first of the year.

Freshman forward Johnny Gaudreau made an impressive collegiate debut with a goal and three assists against UND, while junior goaltender Parker Milner picked up both victories in net, stopping 39 shots in all.

“He’s got some special qualities; we recognized that in the preseason,” said BC head coach Jerry York to www.uscho.com about Gaudreau. “But to do that on this stage was pretty impressive.”

Junior forward Chris Kreider garnered IceBreaker MVP accolades after scoring the game-winner against the Spartans, and then the tying goal versus the then-No. 3 Fighting Sioux as BC overcame a 2-1 deficit with five unanswered tallies to win handily.

BC's lone setback to date came in its home opener on Oct. 14 at Kelley Rink, where the Eagles were on the short end of a 4-2 score against No. 3 Denver. The Maroon and Gold battled back from 1-0 and 3-1 deficits to get within a single score by the end of the second period, only to see the Pioneers hit an empty Eagle net in the final minutes of the third stanza, with Milner (18 saves) having been pulled for an extra attacker.

Perhaps fueled by that loss, the Eagles recovered to upend host No. 15 New Hampshire, 5-1, the next night, getting goals from five different players and 39 saves from Milner for a successful start to the conference slate. BC was actually outshot 40-25 on the night, while both teams went 1-for-3 on the power play.

BC kept rolling along the following Friday with a 4-2 win over visiting UMass on Oct. 21. Sophomore forward Bill Arnold scored two goals, including the game-winner, while Kreider added a goal and an assist.

The Eagles then flew back into the top spot in the nation after a come-from-behind 4-3 overtime win at local foe Northeastern the next night. It was again Arnold doing the honors, notching the game-winner with a minute remaining in the extra session.

“Kevin Hayes threw the puck out to Patch Alber and we talk a lot about going to the net and getting bodies to the net," said Arnold to www.Boston.com. "So I went to the net and Patch put the puck down there and when you do, good things happen and I was able to get a stick on it."

Trailing 3-1 entering the final period against NU, BC got goals from senior forward Barry Almeida and junior defenseman Brian Dumoulin to force OT, with Milner making 19 stops to make it all possible. The Eagles did lose junior defenseman Patrick Wey to a severed tendon, and he will be sidelined until January following foot surgery. 

Strong starts are nothing new for Boston College.

Last year's Eagle squad jumped out to an 8-4-0 mark in the early going, while the 2009-10 version began at 10-3-2 en route to BC's second NCAA title in three seasons. If there's been one hitch in BC's start this season, it's that the power play has only connected five times in 27 chances (18.5 percent). Conversely, the penalty-killing unit has snuffed out 29 of the opponent's 32 man-advantage attempts (90.6 percent).

BC, which boasts nine NHL draft choices on this year's roster, including Kreider, Dumoulin, Gaudreau and Arnold, will make its latest attempt at bolstering its top rating this weekend with a home-and-home series against Hockey East opponent Massachusetts-Lowell. The Eagles topped the River Hawks in all three meetings last year, scoring five goals in each game.

"There's a few things we need to do a little differently out there," said York to www.bcheights.com following the win over UMass earlier this month. "We've got a streak of nine straight Hockey East games right now, so we're right in the thick of it."

That, and trying to stay on top of the polls.