Boston College 2011-12 in Review, Part III: Men’s Hockey

BC’s road to the Frozen Four began as expected in Worcester for regional action. Being the #1 overall seed has its perks, after all, and getting to play within an hour of your campus is one such benefit. Also, getting to face the weakest team in the field is another. Eagles fans knew that Air Force, the semifinal opponent, had strong goaltending, but that was about all. Nevertheless, Boston College had a strong offense and strong goaltending, and that was the difference in a hard-fought 2-0 win to advance to the regional final against the defending national champions, Minnesota-Duluth.

Some said BC’s performance against the Falcons wasn’t good enough, and it was nowhere near as dominant as one might expect (but give credit to AFA’s goalie), but in the Minnesota-Duluth game, few had that complaint. Parker Milner recorded his second-straight shutout in the tournament, blanking the high-powered Bulldogs offense, 4-0, to earn yet another trip to the Frozen Four. The calamity of a first-round defeat last year was long forgotten and BC was back where they belonged for the tenth time since 1998.

While there, the opposition only got tougher (but the weather outside got much nicer, as they went to Tampa). The Minnesota Golden Gophers, another supercharged offensive team, were the national semifinal opponent. Sure, this time Parker Milner allowed a goal, but the Gophers allowed six in a game that started competitively but saw the Eagles pull away in grand style. After a 16-game stretch in the middle of the season where Boston College looked lifeless and mediocre, they were now playing like an unstoppable freight train with only one opponent left in the way: Ferris State.

The final score for the national championship game said 4-1, but there was nothing easy about it. This was a tie game or one-goal contest throughout the vast majority, but as typically happens in title games, legends are born. Johnny Gaudreau, whom we all had seen do many special things on the ice throughout the course of the season, buried a late highlight-reel goal with about three minutes to go to all but put the game away. One more score was to come, but Boston College had climbed the mountain again and were national champions for the third time in five years.

One can never stop marveling at the job that Jerry York does with these teams year-in and year-out, getting tremendous talent and turning his club into champions. In April 2012, he did it again, but not without the help of many exceptional hockey players. In particular, Parker Milner, the Most Outstanding Player in the 2012 NCAA Tournament, bounced back from a mid-season benching and led his team to the ultimate goal. He is a microcosm of what his team did, coming back from a serious slump to get hot at the right time and ride the wave all the way to another trophy. The fact that getting to their goal did not come easy to them right from the first puck drop made the season all the more exciting, meaningful, and awe-inspiring.

Of course, there were losses of manpower after the glorious run ended. Chris Kreider and Brian Dumoulin finally headed to the NHL (with Kreider making an instant impact on the New York Rangers), with others like Barry Almeida, Tommy Cross, and Paul Carey departing due to graduation. Still, there is no reason for BC fans to fear the future. As long as Jerry York is here and all those trophies are still visible to recruits, they’ll see the dynastic tradition BC has built in the last decade. Boston College hockey doesn’t rebuild — it reloads, and York’s pitch to the best talent is simple: if you want to win, you come here. It’s hard to argue with his results.

Thank you, Boston College hockey, for giving us a season to remember and being a bright spot in a down year.