Ups and Downs from the First Half of the BC Hockey Season
There's a lot to like about Boston College's hockey team this year, especially after the disappointment of falling short over the past couple of seasons. With veterans hungry to finally get a crack at the NCAA Tournament and talented freshmen, BC was expected to do big things on the ice this year, and, at the unofficial midway point, they've lived up to those expectations. After some growing pains at the start of the season, the Eagles have rattled off nine-straight wins and enter the Holiday season on a high note. As BC waits to get back on the ice on January 4th, let's look at five ups and five downs from the start of the team's season.
Up: The Third Line
BC’s current nine-game winning streak coincided with line changes that resulted in the formation of a third line comprised of Alex Newhook, Aaapeli Rasanen and Mike Hardman. Previously, Newhook had been a second line winger and Hardman had bounced between the third and fourth lines. During the November 2nd game against Providence, Newhook slotted down to the third line center position, and BC hasn’t lost since. Rasanen has a career-high 17 points and has recorded five multi-point games since the line formed. Newhook, back in his natural center position, has points in seven of his last nine games. And Hardman has registered eight of his 10 points playing with Newhook and Rasanen.
Down: The Second Line
I don’t think the second line has been that bad, more like snake-bitten. They’ve consistently generated quality scoring chances but just haven’t been able to convert. Center Matt Boldy only has one goal and three points, not what one would expect from a No. 12 draft pick. While he hasn’t shown up on the score sheet often, he’s shown the ability to be a crafty faceoff-man and a silky smooth skater. His linemates, Graham McPhee and Jack McBain, have played well but haven’t scored with the consistency that the third line has since the switch-up.
Up: Spencer Knight
He’s the Eagles MVP at the break. Outside of a five-minute stretch in Denver and a couple well-placed shots against Providence, Knight has been virtually unstoppable. His 1.73 goals against average is good for seventh in the nation and his .940 save percentage ranks sixth. What's better, during BC’s winning streak, he has a 1.00 GAA and .960 save percentage. He made some highlight-reel saves against Notre Dame and kept BC in the back half of the series with Vermont, when the Catamounts spent the majority of the first period in the Eagles zone. One slight knock: he seems a little too eager to play the puck, which has occasionally resulted in some quality scoring chances for the opposition.
Down: The Edquist Injury
Knight and Ryan Edquist were expected to start the season as a goalie tandem before Edquist got injured. In his absence, Knight has since secured the starting position. The workload hasn’t been a problem for Knight, but it’s still nice to be able to give your starter a rest. Now that Edquist is back, expect to see him in one half of back-to-backs against teams like Maine and Merrimack. In the past, he’s shown the ability to be a quality backup for Joe Woll. Now, backing up Knight, he can give the freshman an occasional rest and keep him fresh for postseason hockey.
Up: McLaughlin and Giles
Part of the line changes that took place in early November included returning Marc McLaughlin to the fourth line center position, a role he played so well in last season. A couple weeks later, Patrick Giles returned to action from a hand injury that kept him out during the first month of the season; he slotted on McLaughlin’s right. In his second game back, Giles combined with McLaughlin for a beautiful short-handed goal. McLaughlin poked the puck loose as Vermont was mounting a breakout, setting him and Giles up for a 2-on-0. Giles went to McLaughlin who went back to Giles for the goal. Giles returned the favor a few weeks later, assisting on McLaughlin’s shorty against Harvard. The goal-scoring has been an added benefit, as the two are some of BC’s most trusted defensive forwards.
Down: The 12th Forward
Giles and McLaughlin have been great, but the third member of the line has been a revolving door with little success. Ron Greco, Casey Carreau, Mike Merulla and Zach Walker have all spent time in that position and have combined for one point. Of the four, Greco and Walker have seen the most time. Greco plays physical, but can be reckless at times. Walker, meanwhile, has struggled with positioning in the defensive zone. Carreau and Merulla just haven’t had a big enough sample size to be judged. Don’t be surprised if Carreau gets a few extra looks in January. While it was a vastly different team during the 2017-18 season, he did suit up for 33 games.
Up: The First Line
They were great last year. They all decided to come back. And they’re all great again this year. David Cotton and Julius Mattila are the top two point-getters on the team this year with 22 and 20, respectively. Both are on pace to set career highs. Logan Hutsko, despite missing a few early season games with an injury, is tied for the team lead with eight goals. As one of BC’s best snipers, it’s good to see Hutsko display a shoot-first mentality. His assist numbers are down, but he’s going to blow by his freshman high of 12. Oh, and bonus points to Hustko for apparently being friends with Juston Bieber.
Down: Penalty Minutes
I’ve written about this before, and it’s been better lately, but BC still has to work on staying out of the box. Penalties may not burn them against Vermont and UConn, but UMass and Northeastern won’t let BC off the hook so easily. They currently average almost 14 penalty minutes per game, the second worst mark in the conference. They’ve also taken five majors, which, although there isn’t a ranking for this, feels like a lot. Cotton, particularly, has racked up a lot of time in the box, including two major penalties. He’s too valuable to BC’s on-ice success to be off the ice serving a penalty.
Up: The Defensemen on Defense
Sure Knight’s dominance has played a major role in BC’s fifth-best scoring defense, but that shouldn’t obscure the solid play of the defense. Contrasted with the lack of depth on offense with respect to the 12th forward position, Coach York is willing to roll out seven defensemen without hesitation. Jesper Mattila is a plus-15, good for third in the nation, and Drew Helleson has shown all the makings of an NHL-caliber shutdown defenseman. Connor Moore, Luke McInnis and Michael Karow have all had unheralded success as well.
Down: The Defensemen on Offense
The is getting very nit-picky. It’s hard to come up with five negatives for the No. 4 team in the nation. The defensemen haven’t been that bad on offense, I was just expecting a bit more. I think Ben Finkelstein is one of the best offensive defensemen in the nation. I’d assume he’d be up there with David Farrance and Scott Perunovich at this point with around 20 points; instead he has six. Marshall Warren has shown flashes of offensive brilliance and hasn’t displayed any hesitation shooting but only has five points to show for it. Again, this isn’t a big deal with the way the group is playing on defense, but a couple of contributions in the offensive zone here-and-there can only help this team.