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What Boston College’s opening-weekend loss portends for the rest of the men’s college hockey season
Let’s take a look at what we learned on the opening weekend of the men’s college hockey season, as well as a glimpse ahead to another weekend of nonconference showdowns.
The season-opening matchups between Boston College and Quinnipiac have served as a good barometer in recent years. Three years ago, the Bobcats rolled into Conte Forum and emerged with a 4-0 win. That squad went on to the Frozen Four and captured the program’s first national championship in Tampa Bay.
The following October, the Eagles played spoiler on the night Quinnipiac raised its championship banner, defeating the Bobcats, 2-1, at M&T Bank Arena to begin a season in which BC rolled all the way to an appearance in the NCAA championship game before falling to Denver.
So, what did we make of Quinnipiac’s 4-3 win at Conte Forum last Friday?
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Let’s take a look at what we learned on the opening weekend of the men’s college hockey season, as well as a glimpse ahead to another weekend of nonconference showdowns.
· One of the reasons BC entered the season ranked sixth nationally despite the departures of Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, and Jacob Fowler was the returning defense corps, which has five players who appeared in at least 30 games last season. But the play and puck management against Quinnipiac was sloppy at times, leading to breakdowns.
“Surprisingly, it wasn’t the young guys,” said BC coach Greg Brown. “It was our older guys, that should know, and be the guides and the calm ones out there. But they were trying to do a bit too much, and it just wasn’t clicking at all.”
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· Bruins 2025 first-round pick James Hagens centered the top line, flanked by Teddy Stiga and UNH transfer Ryan Conmy, both of whom registered power-play goals. It marked Conmy’s first goal as an Eagle after posting 29 goals and 35 assists in two seasons with the Wildcats.
There were seven Bruins draft picks on the ice between the teams — five for BC and two for Quinnipiac. Hagens, who had the primary assist on Conmy’s goal, was joined by teammates Oskar Jellvik, Will Moore, and Andre Gasseau, who formed BC’s second line, as well as 2024 first-rounder Dean Letourneau.
· Sophomores Chris Pelosi and Elliott Groenewold are Bruins selections skating for a Quinnipiac squad that is favored to win a sixth straight ECAC regular-season crown. Pelosi scored what proved to be the winner at BC.
· Quinnipiac’s Dylan Silverstein recorded 12 saves to get the win in his return to Chestnut Hill. The netminder originally enrolled at BC in the fall of 2022, but he never took the ice as he dealt with injuries before leaving the school.
· Next up for the Eagles, who dropped to 11th in this week’s USCHO.com poll, is a pair of games at No. 12 Minnesota. That’s one of three Hockey East/Big Ten matchups this week. UNH is off to No. 2 Michigan State, while No.7 Providence will host No. 9 Michigan.
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· Quinnipiac looked to be in midseason form with its stifling defense that limited BC to 15 shots. The Bobcats moved up to eighth and head to Arizona to face Alaska Fairbanks in the Ice Breaker tournament, then will play Notre Dame or Arizona State.
· Boston University opened with a 4-2 win over Long Island on Saturday, although coach Jay Pandolfo was not exactly pleased.
“I mean, I liked the result,” said Pandolfo. “It was certainly not pretty. We just played a very immature game. Our puck management was atrocious … There’s a lot to learn for our group, so there’s a lot of good takeaways that way.”
Sophomores Cole Eiserman (two goals) and Cole Hutson picked up where they left off last season. Hutson’s strike in the third period was the winner. He also had an assist.
The third-ranked Terriers followed up the win with a 3-0 shutout of RPI in an exhibition on Sunday. They’ll host Colgate for a pair of games this weekend.
· Northeastern and Holy Cross attempted to shake off the rust in the season opener for both teams at Matthews Arena, won by the Huskies, 6-4.
Matthew Perkins, a transfer from Minnesota Duluth, centered NU’s top line, skating with Joe Connor and Dylan Hryckowian. The trio combined for four goals, led by Connor’s pair.
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Three times the Crusaders cut the deficit to one goal, but NU answered in short order, highlighted by Connor’s second of the night.
Northeastern’s front-loaded home schedule continues Friday with Army, while the Crusaders hit the road for a pair of games at No. 6 Maine.
· UMass had a commanding 70-26 edge in shots in its season opener in Amherst, but still needed to rally for the 5-3 win thanks to Northern Michigan goalie William Gramme’s 65-save effort. The Minutemen completed the sweep with a 4-1 win on Sunday. Junior Jack Musa had three goals and a pair of assists on the weekend.
UMass hits the road for a Friday contest at Stonehill, which is playing its home games this season at Warrior Ice Arena.
· Jay Ahearn made his presence felt in his first game with UMass Lowell. The graduate transfer from Niagara scored a pair of goals as the River Hawks opened with a 4-0 win over Merrimack at home. Freshman Austin Elliott stopped 17 shots to record a shutout in his first collegiate game. The teams meet again Friday, this time at Merrimack.
· UConn forward Joey Muldowney picked up where he left off last season. After posting 29 goals as a sophomore, Muldowney scored a goal in each of the Huskies’ first two games over the weekend as they earned a split at Colorado College. UConn is off this weekend.
· Bentley opens its season this weekend with a road trip, taking on Colorado College before moving on to No. 5 Denver.
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