This year's predestined run to the Frozen Four ended before it even got started. It's been an hour and I am still not sure what happened in
BC's 8-4 loss to Colorado College. I am far from an astute or well schooled college hockey expert, but it was easy to see that CC out BCed BC. They were faster. They were putting more shots on goal. They were better penalty killers. Their goalie was locked in. It was like the team's switched uniforms before the start of the game. The finality of it all still hasn't sunk in. This is supposed to be the weekend when all of us bandwagon hockey fans start paying attention.
While there is a lot of disappointment, this year's team still won the Beanpot and the Hockey East. Not much solace, but I am trying to look on the bright side. Also thanks to John Muse. I tweeted that he should be pulled (and he didn't have a great night) but the guy still helped BC win two National Championships. That shouldn't be overlooked.
Now it is the offseason for most BC sports. I will have my thoughts on the Skinner article this weekend and promise to get to some of my overdue football and hoops stuff.
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Looking at some of our NCAA tournament results in recent years, I guess it was only a matter of time before we were on the losing end of one of these lopsided games:
2010:
BC 5, Wisconsin 0
BC 7, Miami 1
2008:
BC 4, Notre Dame 1
BC 6, North Dakota 1
2007:
BC 4, Miami 0
2006:
BC 5, BU 0
BC 5, Miami 0
and of course...
1998:
BC 6, Colorado Coll. 1
I think I'd feel so much better if we played hard and lost 3-2 in an exciting game. This scenario just makes me feel empty.
Congrats to the hockey team on a good season.
Say your prayers that Kevin Rogers can be our savior and get us to win a bowl game.
For a guy professes to not know much about hockey, you nailed it. CC played BC's game. I don't know who BC was pretending to be, UMass, maybe.
It's a damned shame for Muse's wonderful college career to end like that, but as he said in the post-game presser, "it's a learning experience", and he will learn from it. I wonder how York feels about putting five forwards on his power play now after CC scored two shorties that might've been stopped by even one defender being out there. Hindsight is what it is. Still the best damned college coach in any sport, which is why we know "there's always next year".
Football can't start soon enough.
After last year's football season, I'm not really that eager for football to start. (Okay I am).
But still, this was a rare letdown by the hockey team. I guess they are due their occasional shortcoming. At least they make it to the big games, which is more than the football team or basketball team has been able to say in the recent past.
Tough game to watch: odd mix of defensive ineptitude, A+ effort from CC, and bad offensive bounces (3-4 pipes, various unconverted open net opportunities, etc).
Still proud of this team for the 30+ wins, conference/BP titles.
Loss hurts, but this departing Senior class has nothing to be ashamed about looking at the past four years collectively.
I read the Skinner piece in the Globe. Al seems to be implicitly knocking Donahue. C'mon Al. Stay classy
"As he watched this season unfold, Skinner said, he felt that had he still been at BC, the Eagles would have been more of a factor in the national picture.
'I know the potential we had,' he said. “We would have had a dog in this fight, and that we don’t bothers me.’'"
This is what happens to the brain after the age of 50 -- if you give it too much time off, it turns to mush, and delusion begins to take over.
I hope Al finds work soon.
I agree that Al's comments were not good, but let's not bash the guy, Mod. He brought our program back from disaster, and even though he had a bit of "Tom O'Brien" syndrome (an illness where a coach cannot win the big games), he helped us compete in the ACC where everyone said we would be a doormat.
As for hockey, we have become the "Duke" of College Hockey (for lack of a better metaphor), we expect to be in the Frozen Four every year, well, because we usually are there.
Mod10, by your comment I gather you are now well over 60. Would you like a laxitive with your mush?
I would not compare BC hockey to Duke basketball just yet. Duke has had a 25 year run at the top of college basketball. BC has only been dominant in hockey the past 10 years. Further, there are a lot more teams in college basketball, so Duke's 4 national titles are much more impressive than BC's 3 titles in hockey (I'm talking the past 25 years....I realize BC also won a title a few decades back).
What's really depressing me is that VCU and Butler have reached the Final Four before BC. Heck, Butler has done it twice.
Blue Jackets sign Boston College forward Atkinson - USATODAY.com
http://usat.ly/f69Sr7 via @USATODAY
eagleb, actually, it is the perfect comparison as Duke's run did not really start until the 90s, and what Duke was famous for was consistently being in the national picture, not for necessarily winning it all. BC's run since 98 is equally impressive and has lifted "fan expectation", the real crux of the comparison. For Duke fans, anything short of a Final 4 appearance is disappointing. I think that might sum up how BC Hockey fans feel right now. I would argue that Hockey is tougher than Hoops, talent is more diluted in basketball, and despite playing roughly the same number of games, in Hockey you cannot go out and pad the schedule with 8-10 cupcakes, unless you're in the ECAC.
From 1986 through 1990, Duke made four final fours in five years. Their run started well before the 1990s.
On another note, I believe that when Al Skinner was talking wistuflly about this season, he was referring to what could have been if Rakim Sanders hadn't transferred and his recruiting class hadn't left. Maybe it is a shot at Donahue but it seems to be more of a disappointment that he didn't get his own chance.
Skinner did great things for BC basketball, but who here thought the program was headed in the right direction over the course of his last three years?
CEW, you are correct, but the Four Final 4 team did start in 1990. I think that is a bit 6 of 12, half dozen of another. As BC hockey is revered as the team of the decade for the 00's, even though the run started before then. We can expect great things from BC hockey in the year to come, as long as we have Jerry York. I really hope he sticks it out another 10 years or so and becomes the winngest coach all time of college hockey. He could have jumped to the pros years ago, but talk about knowing a good thing when you have it. Few coaches are so intelligent, Frank Beamer is one (not that I'm a fan of his). Coach K is another.
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