Why Inconsistency has Plagued Boston College Men's Hockey in 2026

If there was only one word that could describe the latter half of Boston College men’s hockey’s 2025-26 regular season, it would be inconsistent.

This past weekend, the Eagles had a chance to increase their winning streak to five with a home-and-home series against Boston University, their crosstown rival. But they dropped both contests by a combined score of 8-2, which brought their record to 19-12-1 and 13-9-0 in Hockey-East play.

BC has shown glimpses of championship-level potential, but more often than not, it has failed to string those types of performances together for longer than a four-game stretch.

Time is beginning to run out. Even if the Eagles can defeat their final two regular-season opponents — UMass and Northeastern — they are not necessarily guaranteed an instant bid into the NCAA Tournament.

The Eagles are now ranked No. 13 in NPI, which determines the 16-team field for the NCAA Tournament after conference tournaments are over, and teams must typically rack the top 10 to have that automatic shot — no matter what unfolds in the conference tournament.

NPI Watch: Boston College dropped to No. 13 in NPI after its loss to Boston University tonight. pic.twitter.com/ySoe9KTfHd
— Kim Rankin (@kmrankin1) March 1, 2026

Lopsided scores, in both wins and losses, have been a common theme of this inconsistent stretch.

Before suffering a 5-1 and 3-1 loss this weekend against the Terriers, the Eagles defeated UConn, which was ranked higher than them at the time, 2-1 in overtime and 5-2 before that to pick up the series sweep.

Prior to that pair of triumphs, BC split a weekend series against Merrimack with a 4-2 win and a 4-2 loss. Earlier, the Eagles won the Beanpot with a 6-2 win over BU, but that victory came right after getting trounced by unranked Vermont, 6-1.

Another theme which also speaks to the general aroma of inconsistency in 2026 is the Eagles’ lineup changes from matchup to matchup.

Partly due to injuries, BC head coach Greg Brown has been forced to experiment with the offensive lines at a rate of approximately every other game. This indecision when it comes to establishing a concrete first, second, and third line is quite possibly hindering the Eagles’ ability to develop chemistry, and it could be resulting in the types of outcomes that have defined the past two months for the program.

The only line that has truly stuck together since late January has been the trio of Oscar Hemming, Andre Gasseau, and James Hagens, but the following two lines have deviated.

At one point, Dean Letourneau, Will Vote, and Jake Sondreal were paired together for a long stretch, and Letourneau’s production took off during that period. But Brown decided to break it up as of late. In the BU series, he put Letourneau with Teddy Stiga and Ryan Conmy.

Furthermore, Saturday’s loss consisted of relinquishing two shorthanded goals to BU, which is never really expected to happen — especially because BC ranks No. 6 in the nation in power-play conversion with a success rate of 27.9 percent.

Even if it was a stroke of bad luck, there were mistakes in the game that cannot be made, and Brown did not beat around the bush when he was asked about them.

“Can’t give up two shorthanded goals and be successful in Hockey East, or any level, really,” Brown said after the game. “So that was a big thing. Our power play had been strong for a while now, but can’t go two against and one for [on the power play] and win a game.”

Another underlooked aspect that might contribute to the program's inconsistency is having to play a freshman goaltender all season long, which has been the case for BC with Louka Cloutier.

There have been moments when Cloutier shows up in ways that are reminiscent of former Eagles netminder Jacob Fowler, but there are also times when Cloutier's insufficient experience at the collegiate level catches up to him.

The pressure of the postseason will only make it harder on Cloutier's mental state, but at least he has proven to be able to bounce back from lackluster performances. Cloutier's goals against average is currently at 2.32, and his save percentage is .912.