Weekend Preview- Boston College is bad at hockey

Tonight BC travels to Agganis Arena at BU to renew the rivalry of Comm Ave.  BU beat BC 5-3 earlier this year at Conte Forum in what was one of the Terriers' shakier performances of the year. Two of the three BC goals were directly off BU turnovers. BC fans are proud of how the team played against BU last time and thinks they played pretty well. The BU freshmen played tentatively for the entire first half of that game and I wouldn't expect that again tonight. Brandon Hickey, who had a bad turnover in the first matchup, has made huge strides since then and is a force on the blue line. Upperclassmen Evan Rodrigues and Matt Grzcylek are BC killers and primed for big nights. Grizz is quietly having an all Hockey East type of year on the blue line. The new first line (Rodeo) line of Rodrigues, Eichel, O'Regan is going to be fun to watch as putting the top 3 scorers in Hockey East on the same line is an absolute ruthless move by Coach Quinn.

BC may be completely healthy for the first time all year but they don't scare me. Writers are hyping them up for their recent "hot" streak while BU has "tailed off". BU hasn't lost a game since November but they have trailed off? Don't buy into the narrative. BU is top 2 in the league in both offense and defense. BC is not. BU has 3 players with more points than anyone else in the league. BC does not. BU has two goalies with over a .931 save percentage. BC has 0. BC fans will keep telling themselves that anything is possible in this rivalry game. Typically this is true. Not tonight. If this game is within 2 goals, its because of mistakes BU made not that BC played well. BC's confidence is based off of wins over Brown and  Malden Catholic ..Northeastern. BC isn't good this year. They are a bubble tournament team at best and I hope they stay in it until the Hockey East tournament and then lose a heartbreaker to miss the field by one spot. BC's forwards shouldn't scare you. BC as a team shouldn't scare you. Their defense is full of "NHL talent"  yet last time they played, did anybody notice Noah Hanafin because I didn't. I only noticed Mike Matheson when he was kicking the puck into his own goal. I hope Santini tries to "put Eichel through the glass"(see below) because then Eichel can skate right past him when he doesn't take the perfect angle and set up a 2 on 1 goal with O'Regan. BU's defense is better than BC's (look at the stats). BU's forwards are better than BC's because well because Medford High has better forwards than BC.



#DISRES9ECT

"Jim’s pick: This is a difficult game to pick because a part of me thinks that BC is playing the better hockey right now.." -USCHO

"Here's to Santini putting Eichel through the glass on Friday night."-  BC Interruption 

"I think we're going to beat BU. I think they're a good team that's nothing special -- just like the rest of the top 15. We looked great against them earlier in the year, and so we'll be playing with both a full squad and some confidence." -BC Interruption

5 Bold and Some not so Bold Predictions

1. Matt O'Connor will shutout BC- All year people have talked about how skilled the BC d core is. Meanwhile BU's and O'Connor are second in the league and have only allowed more than 3 goals once.
2. A BC player will take a dive during the game- As Jack Parker once said, "I know two schools teach it..BC and Maine". He isn't wrong. This will happen during the game. Hopefully the refs don't buy it.
3. The officiating won't determine the outcome of the game(so don't start whining BC fans)- BC fans love to whine about the officiating. Shutup and lose the hockey game with some dignity for once.
4. Jack Eichel will have multiple points in the game- No explanation required. The future Hobey winner is going to have a big night.
5. Demko will let in a soft goal- It isn't a BU BC game without this happening as of late. He let one two in from below the goal line back in November.

Oh yeah and BU plays Lowell on Sunday.