Boston College 2012-13 Year in Review, Part III: Men’s Hockey

Post-season and beyond

Another national championship is almost always a possibility with this Boston College team, but this year, it was simply not meant to be.

After the end of the season, we learned that all Eagles, including Johnny Gaudreau and Mike Matheson, would come back to the Heights for 2013-14. It must be duly noted, however, that the year that is to come will probably be their last in maroon and gold. If they want to hoist another trophy (or, in Matheson’s case, his first), then it’ll be next year or bust.

Aside from the one great stretch they had early on, the Eagles played some very ordinary hockey. They made the NCAA Tournament with a decent seed and finished second in the conference on the back of what they did in the opening phases of the season, but the post-Beanpot heat-up never came. When you close out a season with 19 wins in a row and a national championship, virtually everything pales in comparison, but it had become almost customary to see Eagles teams start strong, trail off in the middle, and then start scorching late in the year and adding to the trophy collection.

This year, we kept waiting for the late hot streak, but it did not start. It is easy to forgive the Eagles for not getting the job done, especially since they have done so much to make the fans cheer in recent seasons. The one thing that might be taken from this experience is that perhaps they can use 2012-13 as motivation. Being removed from winning titles can make a team hungry for it again, and once more, Boston College will be the hunters as opposed to the hunted.