Congratulations to the 2010 NCAA Hockey Champions, the Boston College Eagles!
The 2010 hockey trifecta has been completed. They won the Beanpot, they won the Hockey East title, and now they have won the NCAA Championship.
This is the 4th national title for BC (1949, 2001, 2008, 2010), who made Wisconsin look like RIT in a 5-0 victory at Ford Field.
It was a close game until the third period. BC held a 1-0 lead for two periods off a goal by Ben Smith 12:57 into the first period, who was voted the Most Outstanding Player in the Frozen Four Tournament.
Despite not being named most outstanding player, Cam Askinson’s play was deserving of an award. Only 1:38 into the third, Atkinson, the team’s leading scorer, made it 2-0. Two minutes later, Chris Kreider made it 3-0. Four minutes after that, Cam Atkinson scored his second goal of the game (30th of the season making him the NATIONAL leading scorer) making it 4-0. With about five minutes left to play, Wisconsin pulled the goalie, only to see Matt Price score on an empty net for a 5-0 lead. Two of the goals came on power plays, as BC was able to capitalize on Wisconsin’s penalties.
Terrific zone defense was key. Muse had 20 saves for a shutout against Wisconsin. Jerry York said that his players were disciplined, and after blanking Wisconsin, I think anyone who watched the game knows that. In the Frozen Four, the Eagles outscored their two opponents 12-1. BC was by no means an underdog, but everyone kept talking about how small the players are, especially compared to those Wisconsin players who are much bigger. It would seem that size didn’t matter tonight. The Eagles out-skated them in all three periods. They were faster and better than the Badgers. For what was expected to be a close game, the Eagles never let Wisconsin have any chance. Consider the 1-2 loss to the Badgers in the 2006 title game avenged.
The Eagles have 29 NCAA appearances, 22 Frozen Four appearances, and now 4 National Championship titles.
It would seem that Beantown is a perennial hockey power house. 2008 it was the Eagles, 2009 it was the Boston University Terriers, and 2010 it is the Boston College Eagles!
BC finishes the season 29-10-3, while Wisconsin drops to 28-10-5. Three of BC’s four Championship titles have come in the past decade and two in the past three years. The Eagles have established themselves as a dominant hockey force. When I talked to athletic director Gene DeFilippo back in January, I asked him if he thought the Eagles could win the Championship game this year. He answered “Oh yeah, yeah, I really do. I always think we’re going to win every game. It’s about this time of the year that Jerry York’s teams always take off. People are always worried in December and January. “Oh they’re young or they’ve got a few guys hurt” or whatever. I never worry. And I know this, there’s no team in hockey East that’s going to want to face this BC hockey team in March, I’ll just tell you that right now.”
Make that March and April. Not to mention, I don’t think young age is a bad thing. Cam Atkinson is a sophomore, and he is leading the nation in scoring. York and his Eagles proved too good for any other team to come close to ruining their bid at the 2010 NCAA title.
Come celebrate this impressive accomplishment on Monday (4/12). At 5:00 p.m., a parade will begin at Conte Forum and will continue through Lower Campus, past Corcoran Commons, up Commonwealth Ave. and down Linden Lane to O’Neill Plaza for a 5:30 ceremony.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE BOSTON COLLEGE EAGLES ON A TERRIFIC SEASON!!!
