At Hockey East media day, Boston College coach Jerry York glanced at the preseason coaches poll, which slotted his Eagles at No. 4 with one first-place vote, and said, “I think we’re pretty good. We’re young. But they’re hard workers and have great spirit. If you show spirit and hard work you can do some good things.’’
Despite stumbling out of the starting gate with a 1-5-1 mark, York maintained faith in his club, considering all seven of those games were against teams ranked among the top 20 at the time, including three against No. 1 Denver and No. 2 St. Cloud State.
Don’t look now but BC is now 8-5-1 after a seven-game winning streak, with a Hockey East-leading 8-1-0 mark. After beating the nation’s No. 11 (New Hampshire) and No. 12 (Northeastern) teams on the road this past weekend, the Eagles have now captured four straight road games for the first time since 2009-10.
In the UNH win, junior captain Michael Kim scored two goals — the fifth different BC skater with a multiple-goal game this season. The next night, sophomore twins Jesper and Julius Mattila of Tampere, Finland, combined for five points against NU. In both games, sophomore Joe Woll came up solid in net.
“It was a terrific weekend. Even when we were 1-5-1, I said this is going to be a pretty good year,” York said. “We just didn’t have the experience. Starting with the type of schedule that we had, you could see the strengths that we had and, more importantly, the weaknesses that we had and what we had to work on. Our players just needed to play games.’’
BC puts its streak to the test Friday, when it hosts No. 13 Harvard (2-5-0). The struggling Crimson are 0-4-0 on the road.
Quiz of the Week
This father of a current Harvard player scored a hat trick in the 1990 NCAA title game. Who was he? Hint: He later played with the Bruins. Answer below.
On the River
UMass-Lowell coach Norm Bazin (197-105-28) is closing in on career win No. 200 in 10 seasons overall, including three seasons at Hamilton.
Also, River Hawks junior goalie Christoffer Hernberg (8-1-0, 1.51 goals-against average, .946 save percentage) is among the nation’s leaders, while sophomore forward Guillaume Leclerc returned home to France to pursue other hockey interests. . . .
Congrats to Boston University freshman Brady Tkachuk on his first college goal. His dad, former NHL great Keith Tkachuk, scored 17 goals during his one-season BU career.
Brady’s teammate Ty Amonte, registered his first tally earlier this season. His dad, Tony, another NHL legend, potted 56 goals in two Terriers seasons. The dads were BU linemates.
Reinstein reigns
Worcester State sophomore Josh Reinstein (5-0-0 MASCAC) leads Division 3 in GAA (0.80) and save percentage (.963). . . .
Saint Anselm junior Maddie Scavotto (6-0-0) of East Falmouth leads Div. 1 independents in GAA (0.33) and SP (.976). . . .
Providence freshman Maureen Murphy has scored goals in five of her last six games, with six tallies over that span. . . .
Worcester’s Brian McGrath registered 35 saves as Fitchburg State blanked Framingham State, 4-0, for his first career shutout.
Quiz answer
Wisconsin’s John Byce, father of Harvard sophomore forward Ty Pelton-Byce. Drop the puck!