Boston College Hockey at Vermont: Lowered Expectations
By Joe Micik
The Boston College Eagles hockey team, once #1 in the nation but now #6, finds themselves in a bit of an unfamiliar position.
When they play their regular-season finale series against Vermont this weekend, they will not only need the games, but they will need a few big breaks to win the top seed in the upcoming Hockey East Tournament.
“Trophy Season” is only good when you win trophies, and while there are more to possibly be won in the near future, it’s likely that this one for the regular-season champion will find a new home this year. The Eagles find themselves trailing in the conference standings with just two games to go, having to leap over two teams to repeat as Hockey East’s victors. Thus, expectations of winning it are not exactly high.
This weekend, BC draws the Vermont Catamounts for two games. UVM, with a win in either game, can guarantee themselves a spot in the Hockey East Tournament; the Catamounts sit in seventh place overall and lead ninth place by three points. Vermont would play this weekend hard for a sake of pride, anyway, but the Catamounts can both assure their place in the tournament and make sure BC’s path to ultimate victory is harder.
BC and Vermont played each other at Conte Forum a little over a month ago just before the start of the Beanpot; the Eagles won by a score of 4-1.
Not being particularly hot heading into this weekend presents a problem, but it also presents an opportunity for Boston College. A good weekend for the Eagles up in Burlington could give them the momentum they’ve been desperately seeking. A bad weekend would mean quite a bit for Vermont in terms of their own standing, but it would definitely set the wrong tone for BC as they prepare for the most important time of the season. Steven Whitney and Patrick Wey will reportedly be back in the lineup to help to that end.
That tone has been all wrong since the very end of last year. Boston College did enough to this point in the season to secure themselves a spot in the tournaments to come, so they will get a second chance. If they intend to take advantage of it, however, this weekend would be a very good place to start.
Both Friday and Saturday night’s games begin at 7pm.