2014-15 Boston College Hockey Season Expectations

When figuring out what might be the 2014-15 Boston College hockey season expectations, one must turn to the expectations placed upon this team every year: contending for a national championship.

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In fact, it has been a rare event in the last decade when Boston College has not been seen as a legitimate contender to win the whole thing.

But how about this season, where the Eagles lost all three players on the team’s most productive line ever, and had a first-round NHL draft pick back out on them at the last minute?

What are some reasonable things to expect from Boston College heading into this year? What might constitute the best or worst-possible seasons?

Find out our season predictions tomorrow.

2014-15 Boston College Hockey Season Expectations: Minimums Acceptable

• Finish the season in the top ten. Most of the time under Jerry York, Boston College has just needed to show up to get into the top ten. They are starting in the top five despite having lost some manpower. If this team plays to their potential, this should happen.
• Finish the season in the top three of Hockey East. Again, this is another scenario where Boston College is beginning their trek presumed to be in that realm. Ending up somewhere towards the middle of the pack in the conference would be a big letdown.
• Qualify for the NCAA Tournament. This just goes without saying.

2014-15 Boston College Hockey Season Expectations: Best-Case Scenario

Put succinctly, in the best-case scenario, the Eagles win the Beanpot as preparation for winning Hockey East, while Thatcher Demko leads the team to their sixth national championship.

Many things have to go right for a team in order to pull that off, but the Eagles have done it before, and not that long ago. They have the talent to do it.

2014-15 Boston College Hockey Season Expectations: Worst-Case Scenario

The younger Eagles stumble out of the gate against some of the better non-conference teams they face, eventually recovering in Hockey East play to get back into the top ten. This Boston College team again checks out at some point during the Hockey East Tournament, possibly before the TD Garden, and, as a lower seed in the NCAA Tournament (think a #3 or maybe even a #4 in one region), they get bounced in the first round and that’s that.

The above is about as bad as it gets for Boston College in an average year; a true disaster scenario would be a season like 2008-09 where they waste away at around .500, but that seems less realistic.