Hockey East won't punish BC for racial issue

Like many of you, I am just hearing about this racial issue during the BC-Providence game this weekend. Hockey East announced they won't discipline anyone because they don't know who from BC made the remark to Providence's Vimal Sukumaran. There are no official reports on what was said and no one from BC has owned up to the remarks. The game officials did say they heard the remarks but weren't sure who said them.

I don't know what was said, so it is hard for me to react. Anything racial is unacceptable and should result in punishment. I understand why BC would want this to go away. I wish they would help determine who said what so this could be resolved in a productive way. Right now it will just serve as another distraction with recruiting and the media and an unfortunate note on an unfortunate season.

Good weekend for Men's Hockey

Friday night the Men's Team clinched the Hockey East Regular season title and Saturday they followed it up with another win over Maine. The first place finish gives them a bye for the the Hockey East Tournament. BC will host its first Tourney action March 9.

This has not been a typical dominant BC hockey season. But who cares? The parity in the Hockey East allowed BC to finish strong and win the title. Perhaps that sort of success can be the springboard to a great spring with a Hockey East Tournament win and then something even bigger in the NCAAs.

Hockey dominates Vermont again, headed to Garden

This is the BC Hockey we've been waiting on for a month. BC followed up Friday's decisive win over Vermont with another seven goal night Saturday. With the win, BC advances to the next round of the Hockey East Tournament at the Garden.

Now the question becomes, can they keep up this pace in the final few games of Hockey East tourney play? A lot can happen and these two wins help, but BC probably still needs to win out to make the NCAAs. But if they keep playing like this, next week will be a breeze.

The final shotchart infograph from Kelley Rink this season. #BCEagles pic.twitter.com/ayB8gC55vC

— BC Hockey (@BCHockey) March 12, 2017

BC needs to get Holy Cross in Hockey East

As BCI points out, it appears Holy Cross wants to join Hockey East. There are lots of hurdles to clear, but if the Crusaders put together a solid proposal, BC needs to be their biggest advocate.

Even though the Holy Cross-BC rivalry doesn't mean much to any BC fan born after 1970, baby steps towards rebuilding it are good for BC. We are headed towards a time of uncertainty for college sports. Paying players, breaking off from the NCAA, and challenges to Title IX are all in play. Given that BC is proudly anti-athletic payment, I could see a situation where our leadership decides to de-emphasizes sports (especially if the Power 5 really starts up player salaries). However, if our historic rival is moving towards big-time sports (like Football and Hockey), it will put pressure on BC. Why would BC give up the marketing and community advantage that sports brings just when Holy Cross is embracing it? Holy Cross learned their lesson when they decided against the Big East basketball and gave up athletic scholarships.

I know that Holy Cross joining Hockey East is not the same as the Crusaders joining the Big Ten (or even something like the Conference USA), but it is a good first step. And even if it doesn't generate huge athletic momentum for them or start an athletic renaissance for BC and Holy Cross, it would still be good to play them more often. Their return to big-time sports is also a good reminder of what we did right over the years.

Hockey is a 3 seed and other links

After things shook out over the weekend -- including BC's split with Notre Dame -- Men's Hockey fell to the 3 seed in the Hockey East Tournament. That is still enough to give them a bye into the Quarterfinals.

The Women's Hockey team crushed Providence in the opener of their Hockey East Tournament.

Baseball improved to 4-6 with their win over Kansas.

Women's Lacrosse upset Syracuse, ending a 0-13 streak against the Orange.

Women's Basketball beat Virginia Tech on some last second free throws.

Johnny Gaudreau is excited about the chance to play in front of his hometown crowd.

Hockey East Champs and ready for another Frozen Four

We are just spoiled at this point. BC went out and controlled the game, beat Maine 4-1 and wrapped up their third straight Hockey East Championship. We will now be a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Congrats to Jerry York and the boys for another great run. BC now has the record for consecutive wins in the Hockey East Tournament. Let's go Eagles and win another National Championship!

Money, money, money and other links

This story on college salaries in Boston made the rounds this morning. The BC angle was pretty clear, Gene and Jags both made over $1.1 million in 2009. Of course Jags was not even coaching BC in 2009, so it was a nice severance deal. I am not one to harangue about people being overpaid. Go get yours and all of that greed is good stuff. My concern though is that once again BC is selective in who gets paid what. Based on this article, Gene is among the most highly compensated ADs in the ACC. Yet we rarely pay top dollar for a coach. Why does BC feel they can overpay for one role and pay less than market (BCS salaries) for an arguably more important role -- that of the coach. The other thing this article validates is that there is no financial reason to keep Spaz any longer than needed. If BC could afford to pay two head coaches in 2009 (Spaz and Jags), then BC can afford to pay two head coaches in 2012.

This article isn't BC related, but I found it interesting. In a play on Moneyball, the writer identifies college football coaches and programs who exploited inefficiencies in the market place. In a way, BC did this under TOB for many years, by focusing on excellent line play as a way to mask shortcomings at skills positions. I hope whomever takes over the program after Spaz has an OLine background or at least respects that it needs to be BC's focus.

The Hockey East coaches voted BC No. 1 in their preseason poll.

More BC hockey games will be televised nationally this season.

Future Eagle Dan Crimmins was featured in this article.

Thank you, BC Hockey

Well two out of three ain't bad. I'll have a lot more about basketball's pathetic conclusion to their season and the women's NIT win later. For now, we celebrate yet another Hockey East Tournament title. BC locked up their 10th title with a 5-3 win over Merrimack.

The game was a back and forth affair for the first two periods. BC pulled away late. The conference named Cam Atkinson's the Hockey East Championship's Bill Flynn Most Valuable Player award for his two goals.

BC has probably locked up a top seed in the NCAA Tournament. The official seed and where they will play will be announced Sunday morning on the Selection Show.

Hockey East regular season champions

BC scored late in the third to beat UNH 4-3 Saturday night. The win did two things. First it gave BC yet another regular season title (the school's 11th). Secondly, it also gave BC the No. 1 seed in the Hockey East Tournament. BC will take on UMass next weekend in the opening round of the HE Tourney.

What's interesting is that even with all the success he has had, Jerry York still knows how to push buttons. He invited Bill Belichick to practice on Tuesday to speak to the team about being champions. The Patriots coach admitted to not knowing much about hockey but clearly made an impact on the team.

I don't think BC will need any pep talk preparing for UMass. The Eagles don't need to win the Hockey East Tournament for an NCAA bid, but it could be a great springboard to another Frozen Four run.

More awards for Lombardi and other links

As you would expect, Matt Lombardi won the 2010 Hockey East Tournament Most Valuable Player award. Muse won the goalie of the week award.

Future Eagle Kevin Noreern keeps racking up the player of the year honors in Minnesota.

BC is one of many schools recruiting 2011 QB Christian Suntrup.

Lenny Walls is still hanging on and playing very well in the CFL. Good for him.

Hockey East Champions!

There are many components that go into Jerry York's success. No. 1 in my book would be his ability to have his team peaking at the end of the season. Tonight was just a culmination of BC's recent hot streak as BC beat Maine and won the Hockey East Tournament.

Since this is BC, the game had plenty of drama. When the Black Bears tied it with 30 seconds left, I thought we were doomed. But the guys played well and now add another trophy to Hockey's displays.

Thanks to Benjamin for the photo.

One step closer...

BU loves the Beanpot, but BC is at its best at the Garden when the Hockey East title is on the line. Tonight, BC beat Vermont to advance to the Finals against Maine. BC is in the NCAAs regardless of Saturday's outcome, but it would be nice to go into the tourney hot and with a high seed. Let's hope Muse keeps up the solid play as we will need him to play well against Maine.

Garden glory

Thanks to Meredith C. for capturing the moment as BC's championship banner joined the more famous flags at the Garden.