Know Your Enemy: The RIvalry Edition

Boston College Shipping Up To Agganis


The 08-09 Boston College season and the 09-10 BU season to this point are eerily similar.  Win a national championship, lose a bunch of players to graduation and early departure to the pros, have a forced re-building year, disappoint an expectant fan base.

I Hate This Clown

But you can consider the Eagles re-built now, as they now sit in second place in Hockey East with 10 points in 10 games.

So what will the Eagles bring to the table in the renewal of the rivalry this year?
It's starting to sound like a broken record in these segments, but Boston College will come to Agganis looking to avenge their season-ending defeat at the hands of the Terriers.  BU made a habit of ending their rivals' seasons in 2009, bouncing Maine, BC, UMass Lowell, UNH and Vermont from the playoffs.  Five Hockey east teams played their last game of the season against BU.  Talk about a target.

In the interest of saving time, I will pull an excerpt from my last post to remind you of how this happened.

For three straight seasons, the Eagles had played in the National Championship game, finally breaking through for the banner in 2008.  But on this night, at the tail end of a lackluster season, BC was staring down an early exit from the playoffs if they couldn't find a way to knock off the 30-6-4 Terriers.

It looked good early for the Eagles, who were able to hold down the high octane BU offense until they could finally push one fast Kieran Millan with 2:10 to go in the second period.

If the Terriers made adjustments during the second intermission, they didn't show.  Kevin Shattenkirk took a bad cross-checking penalty a minute into the period, and almost immediately after BU got back to full strength Eric Gryba sat down for two for high sticking.  BU seemed to be digging themselves into an even bigger hole, but the BU defense showed why it was ranked #1 in the nation.

The defense held on long enough for the prolific offense to go to work.

It all happened so fast, that even the Terriers' heads must have been spinning.  Zach Cohen at 11:01. Brian Strait at 11:22.  Colin Wilson at 11:45.  Three goals in forty four seconds.  By the way, Cohen's goal broke an incredible 179 minute scoreless streak for BC goalie John Muse in tournament play.  The three goals were also the fastest three goal spurt by one team in tourney history.

And just like that, the Terriers ended the Eagles season.  How sweet it was for BU fans to ride home on the Green Line that night.


The biggest offense force from that team, Brock Bradford, is gone, playing for the BU post-college development team, the Lake Erie Monsters of the AHL.


But it's a new year and a fresh outlook for BC, who suits up 3 seniors, 3 juniors, 6 sophomores and 7 freshmen.  Although they're a young team, they're using their strong core of upperclassmen as a base to build on, and strong performances from a group of sophomores.


The straw stirring the Eagles' drink is Junior Forward Brian Gibbons.  In his freshman year Gibbons scored 35 points for the National Champion Eagles, followed by a 28 point sophomore campaign, good enough for second on the team to world beater Brock Bradford.

Gibbons Getting Into It With Higgins

Gibbons, hailing from Braintree, MA is not the biggest player on the ice.  The 5'8" tall 160 pound forward makes up for his lack of size with a big bucket of skills.  Gibbons plays the role of team first, goals second playmaker on the Eagles.  He leads the team in points with 14, and assists with 9.

Use this video of a ridiculous two line pass to Brock Bradford setting up a breakaway goal as an example of the ice vision that Gibbons has.


Pass And Goal at the 1:00 Mark


Senior Forward Ben Smith is also having a solid year for the Eagles.  Smith had what seemed like an anomaly on the way to the Naitonal Championship, tallying a mammoth 50 points for BC.  This was sandwiched between an 18 point freshman year and a 17 point junior year.  But Smith seems to have regained some of the offensive magic he had in 2008, with 9 goals and 4 assists through 12 games.

Smith is one of many players on the Eagles finding that a fresh start after a disappointing year can be just what the doctor ordered.  His team-leading five power play goals seem to indicate that he is on his way to another big year.  Smith was a 2008 6th round draft selection of the Chicago Blackhawks.

The third upperclassman the Terriers will need to find a way to keep off the score sheet is senior defenseman Carl Sneep.  The future teammate of Brian Strait and Johnny Curry is well on his way to a career year offensively by putting up 13 points in 12 games.  And the kid is freakin' huge.

As his HS coach told Hockey's Future

"For a kid who is 6'4, 210 lbs—he gets around the rink very well," said Brainerd HS Head Coach Ty Eigner. "Carl, like all 18-year-old defensemen will need to improve his play in own end. He's always been good with the pick, but playing one-on-one and understanding the importance of playing the body, considering his size, will be important."

Well, three plus years under Jerry York have turned Sneep into a leader on the ice for Boston College.  The senior has found his stride offensively as well as in his own zone.  

The goaltending situation is awkward for BC right now.  For the past two seasons, BC rode John Muse. As a freshman they rode him all the way to the National Championship.  He didn't get a day off for two full seasons.  But maybe the extreme wear and tear took a toll on the kid, whose numbers have gotten worse since that initial burst on the scene.  From a 2.20 GAA as a freshman to a 2.72 GAA last season, to a 3.07 GAA so far this season, Muse has lost a step or two.

More importantly, his team has been just 4-3-2 with him in net.  That wouldn't be such a problem if not for the new kid in town.  Freshman goalie Parker Milner has shown the ability to knock Muse off his pedestal.  Milner is 3-0 this year, with his latest effort holding UMass to just one goal last night for the victory.  His 2.34 GAA may soon be good enough to knock John Muse down.

And in the tradition of BC, he is in fact an ugly goalie.

Oh, one more thing.  BC is coached by a horse's ass.  Weird how that's even possible.