Denver at Boston College: (Another) Top 5 Tilt

It’s good to be the king(s).

Right now, Boston College are the very early kings of college hockey heading into their home opener at Kelley Rink tonight. The Eagles soar into this game now as the top team in the nation, looking to stop the #3 Denver Pioneers from doing to them what they did to North Dakota last week.

There is so much hockey left to be played, however, that it is practically absurd to generate too much excitement over being #1 in the nation, but let’s put it this way: there’s no downside.

The game against Boston College on Friday night will be Denver’s first of the season; their first two games were exhibitions. On October 1, the Pioneers tied their Canadian visitors from McGill University and on October 7, they defeated the US Under-18 team. This is not going to be an easy road trip for Denver, having to play the #1 team at their place on Friday night, and then going a few miles down Commonwealth Avenue to face #7 Boston University. On the bright side, the Pioneers only have to book one hotel, but if they aren’t sharp, they may go back home 0-2.

Denver’s point leader from last year was now-junior Drew Shore, who returns to the Pioneers for his third season. Shore, property of the Florida Panthers (selected in 2009 NHL Draft), is the captain of this team. In 2010-11, he had 46 points (evenly-split between goals and assists) in 40 games. He will have the difficult task of leading them to victory at the Conte Forum, keeping in mind how Boston College demolished the Pioneers in two games last season, 6-2 and 3-0.

In their first two games of this season, Boston College has taken care of business. In number one, they beat Michigan State, 5-2, and in number two, they beat then-#3 North Dakota 6-2 on their home ice. In so doing, they got points from a whopping twelve players en route to an Ice Breaker Tournament victory. If you were wondering who those players with points were, they are: Arnold (5), Mullane (4), Gaudreau (4), Kreider (3), Whitney (3), Alber (2), Carey (2), Cross (2), Almeida (1), Brown (1), Straight (1), and Wey (1). Most notable of those would have to be John Gaudreau, who has four points in his first two games at Boston College; the kid is going to be a factor around here.

When you’re a team like Boston College in hockey, stressing over the quality of the opposition is never a huge concern: this is an elite program capable of beating anyone. Eagles fans know better than to worry about rankings at this early stage, and they certainly also know better than to worry about the other team’s ranking coming into a game. There is no reason the Eagles cannot win this game and go to 3-0-0, but since both are Top 5 teams, it should be a close, exciting contest. Denver will be ready to play, but so too will the Eagles.