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!!!

Boston College hockey has defeated Wisconsin in the Frozen Four finals by a score of 5-0. More details to follow.

We are…BC!

Ivy, Ivy, Ivy. It seems Boston College is looking to the Ivy Leagues to usher in this new era of BC men’s basketball. It has been reported by ESPN, not yet announced or confirmed by Boston College, that Joe Jones, who has been the head coach of the Columbia men’s basketball team for the last seven years, has been hired to work alongside Steve Donahue as the associate head coach.

BC made the announcement introducing Steve Donahue, from Cornell, as the new head coach a few days ago on Wednesday. There had been rumors that Donahue had contacted other coaches about joining his BC staff.

If Jones is coming here, it will be interesting to see what he does to help Donahue. He was 86-108 overall at Columbia, with a 39-59 record in the Ivy League.

Although BC’s athletic director, Gene D, has been busy with our new basketball coach, Steve Donahue, I sat down with him on Friday to discuss the men’s hockey team.

The Observer: BC has dominated Miami of Ohio. Four out of the last five years, they have bounced them from the NCAA tournament. Even though Miami was ranked #1, BC went in and decisively won 7-1. Were you at all surprised?

Gene DeFilippo: I was a little bit surprised at the fact that we won 7-1. Not at all surprised that we won the game. I was surprised by the goal differential. Miami is a terrific hockey team. Our guys really played well. I was so proud of them.

O: The last time BC met Wisconsin in a final was in 2006 when they lost 1-2. Think they have a better chance this time?

GD: I always think that we’re going to win every game. The Wisconsin team that beat us several years ago was a terrific hockey team. And they’re good again this year. But I have a great feeling that we’re going to beat them.

O: The team’s leading scorer is Cam Atkinson, who is only a sophomore. There is a lot of young talent on the team. Because of that, do you see York’s team being a dominant hockey force for the next couple of years?

GD: The saying around here with hockey is  ”We don’t rebuild. We reload.” We have been to nine frozen fours in the past 13 years. As long as Jerry York is here as our coach, we’ll be going to a lot more frozen fours in the near future.

I have to agree. Jerry York is an amazing college hockey coach and he’s coaching a very talented team. On Thursday, they went in and made #1 Miami look like they didn’t belong in the tournament. The victory doesn’t have to be that decisive on Saturday as long as they skate their way to a win.

Speaking of sophomore Cam Atkinson, when I spoke with him after the decisive 7-1 victory on Thursday night. I told him I had high hopes for the team on Saturday. This is what he said:  ”We’re gonna take it home.” That’s what I like to hear. The players need to be confident in their capabilities. They need to take to the ice on Ford Field believing that they can win.

I think that if the team can continue to play the way its been playing, the Boston College men’s hockey team has a good chance at being the 2010 National Champs. Let’s hope they carry Thursday’s momentum into tomorrow. The game is at 7 p.m. on ESPN!

GO EAGLES!

As I sit here in the beautiful Hampton Inn located in Southfield, Michigan, the other Eagle faithful and I who journeyed out here are eager to see the Eagles avenge their 2006 National Title loss to The University of Wisconsin. About twenty five of us caravanned out here on Wednesday night and arrived in the Motor City Thursday morning.

We showed up to Ford Field and watched Wisconsin annihilate RIT. It seemed odd on paper that RIT was playing on the last weekend, and it seemed even odder to actually see them play in person on the last weekend. Even though they looked very good against The University of Denver and UNH, the Tigers looked more like Merrimac than a legitimate Frozen Four contender. One could only feel pity for them as they were massacred in front of 35,000+ in an awkwardly large football stadium.

The Eagles and Redhawks finally dropped the puck at 8:41 pm, the moment we had been waiting for since we left the St. Ignatius parking lot on Wednesday night. Miami came out strong the first ten minutes and outshot the Eagles 5-1. The Redhawks gave us a man advantage towards the end of the first period, and center Ben Smith put one home at 18:32 of the first period. Smith redirected a centering pass from Joe Whitney between Connor Knapp’s legs.

Section 101 at Ford Field erupted in frenzy as the Eagles went into intermission up one, even though it seemed that Miami had outplayed us in the opening act. The Eagles came out roaring in the second period and put up two goals only three minutes into the period. Jimmy Hayes beat Knapp at 2:06, and Joe Whitney followed him up 62 seconds later as he beat Knapp top shelf. The Redhawks’ goaltender seemed to fall asleep in net, prompting head coach Enrico Blasi to pull Knapp in favor of Cody Reichard. Knapp had the second best GAA average in college hockey this season, but it didn’t matter against the Eagles’ offensive barrage.

The SuperFans were rockin’ as we had sights of a rematch with the Wiscy Badgers. After a final intermission, the Redhawks drew first blood in the third period as Joe Hartman beat John Muse far, blocker side from the right circle. The Miami faithful came to life and made Ford Field seem to have a pulse. It rejuvenated their players as well, and they had an extra hop to their skate. That did not matter for long though as the Eagles responded with three goals in a 90 second span, five minutes later. A good number of Miami fans exited the building, and started scalping their title tickets on the spot.

After chants of touchdown Eagles by the always witty Eagle die hards, BC completed the day with a PAT, sans Steve Apponavicius. Ben Smith took over Sid Vicius’ duty and capped a beautiful evening in Detroit. Ford Field resonated with “We Are, BC” chants as security men ushered out the students.

There was also the chant, “one more win,” which would give the Eagles their third national title in the 2000’s. Jerry York has a tall task in front of him. His counterpart, Coach Mike Eaves, father of former BC greats Ben and Patrick, has a very impressive group of players this season. The Badgers are big, strong, have outstanding mustaches and an excellent veteran defense. Their offense also does not seem to be lacking as they were able to complete the two-point conversion against RIT.

However, things could and should be different Saturday night. The Eagles have a proven post-season goaltender in John Muse and one of the best college coaches ever in Jerry York. There are several remaining players from the ’08 championship team who can slow things down and redirect the ship when everything gets a little tighter.

So when 7:00 pm rolls around Saturday night, expect it all to be a little closer than things were Thursday night. It’ll be primetime in Mo Town, and BC will have sixty minutes in front of them to capture the trifecta of Beanpot, Hockey East Title Champs and National Champs. Expect both teams to come out flying, and whoever is able to impose their will on the other will likely be hoisting the trophy around 9:30.

If the Eagles can create space and move the puck they should be able to beat goalie Scott Gudmandson at least a few times. They must fight against the Badgers’ physicality. While the Badgers have Hobey finalist Blake Geoffrin, and two other fifty-point scorers, the Eagles could take the title back to Chestnut Hill if they can play their brand of hockey. Let’s hope that the largest indoor hockey crowd ever will hear the “Jerry” chants into the night.

Boston College (#4) beat Miami of Ohio (#1) in decisive fashion at Ford Field in Detroit, Michigan, beating them 7-1. With the blowout win, they advanced to the championship game on Saturday against the Wisconsin Badgers (#3) at 7 p.m. This is BC’s 10th appearance in the final of the frozen four.

The Eagles continued their streak of dominance against the RedHawks in Detroit tonight with bursts of unanswered goals. This year marks the fourth year out of five that the Eagles have eliminated Miami of Ohio from the NCAA Hockey Tournament. (Ironically, BU knocked Miami (OH) out of the tourney the other year. Beantown dominance!)

Ben Smith started the scoring late in the first period to give the Eagles a 1-0 going into the first intermission. The break did not stop the Eagles’ momentum at all as they scored two goals in the first 3:10 of the second period, off the sticks of Jimmy Hayes and Joe Whitney.

The rest of the period was offensively quiet, but BC and goalie Muse continued their stellar defense, not allowing any goals. The RedHawks scored their lone goal five minutes into the third period to narrow their deficit to only two. Just when it looked like Miami (OH) may stage a comeback, things fell apart quickly for the Red Hawks. Cam Atkinson netted a goal, followed by Patch Alber and Paul Carey within a mere 90 seconds to increase the Eagles’ lead to five.

The scoring looked to be over at this point, but Ben Smith ended the game just how he started it to give the Eagles a 7-1 lead, which turned out to be the final score.

Ben Smith led the way with two goals and an assist, although this was a great overall team effort by BC. The Eagles scored their 7 goals on only 30 shots against a team that allowed an NCAA Division-I leading 1.84 goals per game in the 2010 season.

Wisconsin beat RIT 8-1 to reach the final. With both BC and Wisconsin achieving impressive wins to reach Saturday’s final, it should be a good, high-scoring game.

The final will be on Saturday, April 10, at 7 p.m. on ESPN. The #4 Boston College Eagles (28-10-3) will look to defeat the #3 Wisconsin Badgers (28-10-4). On Saturday, the Eagles will be looking to avenge their 2-1 loss in the 2006 NCAA finals against the Badgers (which was also in Detroit, but at the Joe Louis Arena).

The Eagles last won the title in 2008 and are certainly coming into this game with momentum, having won the Beanpot and Hockey East title. Not to mention, steamrolling the top-ranked team in the nation tonight.

GO EAGLES :)

If you get Eagle Mail, BC athletics sent out a mass e-mail around 4:15 today (4/6) letting SuperFans know there is a new era in BC Men’s Basketball.

The e-mail was also an invitation to welcome our new coach to the Heights tomorrow (4/7) at 5 p.m. on the Campus Green (in front of McElroy.) In order to encourage attendance, if you arrive early, you’ll have the chance to win 2010-2011 Student Men’s Basketball Season Tickets, a JetBlue flight voucher, a Blackberry Curve from AT&T, and BC practice gear.

First impressions are critical, so we’ll see what Donahue has to say on Wednesday… After a 15-16 record this past season, losses to teams like Harvard, and no chance in the big dance, SuperFans need this program to make a 180.

Donahue had success in the Ivy League, leading Cornell to three straight Ivy League titles. In this last season, he led the Big Red to a 29-5 record–the most wins in Ivy history–and to the round of 16 in this NCAA tournament (where they lost to number one seed Kentucky) after they beat Temple and Wisconsin to be the first Ivy team to reach the round of 16 in more than 30 years.

Donahue is replacing Al Skinner, who was fired after 13 years. He is currently in the middle of a $3 million buyout negotiation with BC. While he is the winningest coach in BC’s history, it doesn’t seem like many people are saying Donahue has big shoes to fill, understandably so. That flex offense just wasn’t working.

The most important decision Donahue will need to make now is who to put on his staff. Multiple sources have said that he has already contacted coaches about joining his Eagles’ staff, including one Ivy League head coach. With high expectations for the next basketball season, he’ll want to choose wisely.

If the weather is nice, we should all try to make it out to Campus Green to welcome BC’s newest head coach. If not for the sheer excitement of a new era of BC Men’s Basketball, at least for the chance at winning some cool prizes. Gene did bring him in with the hopes of attracting more people to Conte Forum, so it’ll be interesting to see how many people he attracts to Campus Green. I myself will be in class, unless I make the poor decision to skip my Law class for the second time in a row.

It has been reported by Jeff Goodman of FoxSports.com that Steve Donahue, Cornell’s basketball coach, will be coming to Chestnut Hill to fill the vacancy left by Al Skinner’s departure.

Donahue reportedly met with Gene DeFilippo, BC’s athletic director, and vice president of human resources Leo Sullivan last Wednesday.

Donahue is 47 years old and was with Cornell for 10 seasons, in which he achieved a 146-138 record. He led Cornell to the Sweet 16 in this year’s NCAA tournament, which Duke won last night with a 61-59 victory over Butler.

An announcement regarding this coaching matter may be made as early as today.

BostonHerald.com also broke the news, according to a BC source, that Donahue will be the new BC basketball coach. They reported that Donahue met with Father Leahy this morning on campus for a final interview. They reported that a press conference announcing the new coach is planned for Wednesday (4/7) afternoon.

Stay tuned!

After thirteen years at BC, Al Skinner was told it’s time he finds a new gig. Gene, BC’s athletic director, told Al that he did not see eye-to-eye with him on the direction of the program. One cannot blame Gene as anyone with a pulse and a set of eyes could tell that BC hoops were headed down a dead-end street sketchier than the street with the last house on the left.

Al Skinner’s tenure at BC was solid. He is the winningest coach in school history. He took over in 1997, when star coach Jim O’Brien bolted for Ohio State. O’Brien also took his future pro point guard, Scoonie Penn, with him. Thus the cupboard was rather bare when Big Al took over.

Al did not find immediate success at BC. Three sub-par seasons were not what Eagle fans had envisioned. The Eagles were ridin’ high with O’Brien at the helm and were disappointed with Skinner’s start. He then met his savior, Troy Bell. Mr. Bell came from Minnesota and was wetter from the field than all those lakes in his home state. Bell and his buddies delivered in 2000-01 as the Eagles went 27-5 and brought home the Big East tourney.

Things were good back in the day. The Eagles had a good stretch that started with Bell and continued with the likes of Craig Smith, Jared Dudley, Sean Williams (for a bit), Tyrese Rice and many other very solid role players.

The Eagles started the ’03-’04 season 20-0 and were ranked third in the nation. The Eagles also made the Sweet 16 in ’05-’06. However, since that season that finished with a disappointing collapse against Villanova in the tourney, BC has been fluttering to say the least. Although they made the tourney two years ago, they bowed out in the first round to a lower seeded USC team.

Thus, two of the past three years have been losing seasons. Not only has the product slipped dramatically on the court, the lack of passion and hustle both by the players and Al is alarming and unacceptable. The Eagles have always dropped games that should be cupcake victories. These past few seasons BC has lost to Harvard, Maine, St. Louis, Robert Morris, etc. These losses greatly hurt BC’s chances at victory. They often did not come ready to play, which does not really make sense, as they all go to school for free to play.

It was pretty obvious that Al struggled at motivating young men to play a children’s game. While I initially got mad at the players, and rightfully so, one must look at the coach as each new wave of players failed to give a better hustle. BC had the rep of playing to their opponents level, something which will never allow a program to get to that ‘next level.’

Al also was rather lazy in his offensive philosophy and recruiting. He demanded on running the restrictive flex offense. The offense was usually too tight and held the offense back from their true potential. BC’s offense was not only extremely boring to watch, but often ineffective and predictable. Skinner also was not huge into mid-game changes to the game plan. He only used about 25% of his allotted timeouts. Perhaps he was in a hurry to go shoot another commercial for his snazzy wardrobe. I mean, who does not love those polo shirts that he buttoned all the way up, sans tie?

And perhaps the most infuriating aspect of Al Skinner basketball was his laziness in recruiting. He always relied on stealing ‘diamonds in the rough’ late in recruiting season. While he rode off of the unheralded guys for awhile, it was clear that would eventually catch up to him. It is virtually impossible to keep finding All-Americans in August before their freshman seasons (i.e. Jared Dudley).

Skinner never developed a good relationship with the local AAU coaches which greatly hurt New England recruiting. While he got Jermaine Watson and Steve Hailey on campus, it’s pretty lame that the state’s premier program could not get any more local talent. He struck out on countless guys, initially. He couldn’t bring in Torin Francis from Roslindale. The guy who grew up six miles away opted to travel to South Bend. Ouch. After he failed on some locals, he just stopped trying to get them. He barely sniffed on Eric Murphy from Southboro or Carson Derosiers from Central Catholic. There was not one freshman in this year’s class. Out of 2300 + students, not one could play hoops well.

So you can probably tell I and many others have been waiting for Al to get the boot for some time now. I am sick and tired of BC coaches acting as if they just accidentally chugged a thing of NyQuil before every game. It is time that Gene goes after a young, energetic coach who can recruit and get people excited. Maybe Donor Based Seating would work if people actually cared about the team. Conte’s attendance is mindboggling. While I doubt Bruce Pearl will jump back to his alma mater, they must find someone who can get the student body, players and alumni to care about the product on the court.

Unfortunately, I doubt that the “Al Skinner basketball camp” takes place this summer. But maybe the new coach will play on Wednesday afternoons in the plex, so Al won’t be too missed in that regard. Also BC should let Reggie Jackson show off his pizzazz in acting and take over for Al’s commercials. Maybe that’ll prevent him from jumping ship.

Athletic Director DeFillipo said in a statement that he and Al Skinner agreed it would be “mutually beneficial for us to part ways.”

Last Friday, Skinner interview for the position at St. Johns, but this was reportedly two days after they had reached an agreement. The coaching decision was withheld for a week, reportedly at the request of Skinner so he could look for other jobs.

“We agreed to separate before he interviewed, for the best interests of both parties,” DeFilippo said. “We agreed to part ways before he talked to St. John’s. And we kept it out of the public so that he could gain employment.”

Skinner won more games than any coach in school history, finishing 13 seasons with a 247-165 record and seven appearances in the NCAA tourney since 2001.

BC has scheduled  a news conference for noon on Tuesday (3/30) to announce Skinner’s depature.

The Boston Globe was the first to report that Skinner was out as coach.

Skinner was not fired for interviewing with St. John’s, according to two BC officials. This situation is not the same as when DeFilippo fired head football coach Jeff Jagodzinski last year for interviewing for an NFL job without permission. An agreement had already been reached when Skinner interviewed for the St. John’s vacancy (According to ESPN sources, Skinner isn’t expected to get the job at St. John’s).

Skinner coached at Rhode Island before coming to BC when Jim O’Brien left for Ohio State over academic reasons. He started with only six scholarship players, and four short seasons later, the Eagles won the Big East. He was named Big East and national coach of the year in 2001, and Big East coach of the year in 2005.

DeFilippo said the university has a buyout agreement with Skinner, who is reportedly still owed $3 million for the reamining three seasons on his contract. DeFilippo said that Skinner and his assistants will be treated fairly.

When asked why they were parting ways with Skinner, DeFilippo said “people weren’t willing to go to the arena. There’s a lot of reasons.”

Many say that our men’s basketball is poorly attended at BC regardless of who is head coach and that the Eagles have suffered in Boston because they don’t generate enough college basketball interest with all of the professional sports stealing the spotlight.

As far as who will fill Skinner’s role, DeFilippo has contacted Richmond and Cornell to get permission to speak with their head coaches. He said he has yes to speak to any. It is expected that Harvard’s Tommy Amaker will also be on this short list of possible replacements.

This agreement to part ways comes after the Eagles had a losing record of 15-16, 6-10 ACC and missed the postseason as they were unable to replace all-ACC guard Tyrese Rice.

Whatever coach takes Skinner’s spot will have a roster packed with seniors. Rakim Sanders, Joe Trapani, Corey Raji, Biko Paris, and Josh Southern will all be seniors next season, but the top player will be Reggie Jackson, who will be a junior next season. We can only hope that he won’t transfer after this coaching change.