Thursday, April 07, 2016

Hockey's run ends in Semis

Although they pressed hard until the very end, BC Hockey won't add another trophy this year. The team came out flat against Quinnipiac and it ultimately them the game. Although the first goal probably should have been waved off, there were enough mental errors in a row that it was no surprise when the puck went between Demko's legs.

You could argue that BC was the better team in the third but the hole was too big by then. Saying BC came out flat should not minimize how good Quinnipiac is and how well they played. They were aggressive,  fast and smothering. Numerous BC power plays were totally neutralized. They look like champions.

It was still a great year for the team. And puts them in the right frame of mind to go out and win it all next year.

17 comments:

Tim said...

In the three seasons since Mike Cavanaugh left BC for UConn, BC has gone 8-9 in the postseason and hasn't won a single postseason trophy. We haven't even reached the Hockey East title game, let alone the national title game, during that stretch.

Geezer eagle said...

Prayer of the day. Dear Lord, please give BC a championship in just one sport - golf, bowling, beer chugging, etc. I don't care. We are desperate for a winner. Amen.

Napolean Bonaparte said...

Tough game. From a fan's perspective, can't criticize the program - they were good enough to get themselves in a position to win a championship - that's all you can ask. From that point, the competition is fierce and everything has to click - including your luck - unless in the rare instance you are so dominant talent wise that you really don't need any luck (e.g., UConn women's basketball, UCLA teams under John Wooden, etc.).

Different subject - has there been any fallout from the front page Sunday Globe article of March 12th? Or is it all simply going to be ignored by the powers that be?

mod34b said...
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Heights said...
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Heights said...

Yesterday was certainly disappointing; there isn't much of an excuse for such a sluggish start in a national semifinal game. The hockey team had another successful year, but it was a painful ending.

The loss would be much easier to stomach if BC didn't have such a terrible year in sports, especially considering the athletics program's lack of success over the last 8 years.

We're sick and tired of supporting a program that loses all the time. Being a fan is not fun anymore (at all).

Get your act together, BC!

Guido said...

Tim - just a follow up comment - Cavanaugh is going to be very successful at UCONN - he is a very good tactician and has a great eye for talent and subsequently recruiting that talent. I was sorry to see him leave , but especially to UCONN - one of the schools that I really disrespect !!!!! It would have been interesting (had he stayed)to have seen whether he would have been named Head Coach.

Kash86 said...

If there was a major drop off in talent once Cavanaugh left (i.e. With Skinner when his assistants left) this would be a bigger concern. BC still recruits at a nationally elite level with or without Cavanaugh.

The bigger concern in my opinion, is BC has to capitalize on the success of the last 20 years and upgrade hockey's facilities ASAP. Quinnipiac is a great example of a program committed financially who has had very quick success. BC has to upgrade or they are in a position to see other places do so and start making recruiting life hard on BC, especially when York retires.

Heights said...

Absolutely, I completely agree about the need for an upgrade in order to attract recruits in the post-York era.

I also do not trust the BC athletics administration to select the right replacement for York, which makes me very nervous.

Get your act together, BC!

Kash86 said...

The replacement is simple, its promoting Brown. I assume York will have a hand in making sure that happens

JBQ said...

@GeorgiaEagle: You forgot "Dancing With the Stars". After all, that is the current athletic excitement on a boring athletic agenda.

Heights said...

Kash86 - Do you think Brown will be a good replacement?

Tim said...

Kash / NYC-
What upgrades does BC need? Conte is actually a pretty good facility for hockey. I understand that BC has serious shortcomings in, say, baseball facilities, but I don't see the issue with hockey facilities.

Cavanaugh will also be a strong candidate to succeed York (no one "replaces" Jerry York). ;-)

Heights said...

Tim - The hockey team needs the following:

1. Dedicated weight room
2. Conditioning space
3. Larger and modernized locker room
4. Practice facility (although not completely necessary and will probably never happen)

Kash86 said...

This is basically spot on. Steps 1-3 really shouldn't be difficult, quite frankly, you can expand/revamp the Beacon St side of Conte to accommodate these things. A dedicated practice rink should be built, but I don't know where that would go (thinking outside the box, could they build one on top of the indoor football facility ? I've seen 2 level hockey rinks before, so the concept exists).

I think the easier solution, from a space perspective, is building a full time basketball practice facility and then using Conte full time for hockey (except for bball games). Totally gut the Beacon St side of conte and use just for hockey (with gameday bball locker rooms). As for location, there is space behind Conte, next to the Merkert Chem building on Beacon for a building where a small parking lot currently sits. Does basketball deserve its own facility, after the last decade no, but from a space perspective it's all that really work.

Kash86 said...

To that end, Conte could use some renovations as well, with a side effect being a slight downsizing. It's always been too big. Hockey will never draw enough to fill Conte, and even when basketball was humming, they failed to average more than 7k. Some people say it's easier to just build a new aren, yea good luck with that one. Conte could easily be upgraded

Heights said...

Absolutely, Conte just needs a minor facelift and slight reconfiguration.