Year in Review: Men's Hockey
BC was set to enter the postseason on a nine-game unbeaten streak with a Hockey East regular season crown under its belt.
A three-year NCAA Tournament drought is something that, just a short while ago, would have been anathema to Boston College men’s hockey fans. From 1997 to 2015, the Eagles missed the postseason just twice—in 2001-02 and 2008-09. But entering 2019-20, BC had indeed missed the NCAA Tournament in three straight years, despite two trips to the Hockey East Championship and two Hockey East regular season titles.
Before the season was prematurely and unfortunately ended by the COVID-19 pandemic, however, the Eagles were well on the way to ending that drought. Riding an offense that ended the year with the second-most goals in the country as well as star freshman goalie Spencer Knight, BC had ascended to the No. 5 spot in the national polls and No. 6 in the Pairwise rankings. The Eagles had also locked up another Hockey East regular-season crown, and were entering the Hockey East tournament red-hot, unbeaten in nine games. Alas, thanks to coronavirus we’ll never find out what kind of postseason run BC was capable of, so this season-in-review is slightly abridged. Nevertheless, here’s a comprehensive look at the Eagles’ 2019-20 campaign.
Best Moment: BC Sweeps Notre Dame
The Eagles would have had their fair share of opportunities for great moments if the postseason had continued, but a sweep of rivals Notre Dame isn’t a bad consolation prize. The first game of the weekend series, on Friday, Dec. 6, ended with BC on the right end of a 4-0 scoreline, thanks largely in part to three second-period goals from Julius Mattila, Logan Hutsko, and Patrick Giles.
Two days later, the Irish did manage to get on the scoresheet, but that’s about all that went right for them. The Eagles raced out to a 4-0 lead just 2:02 into the second period, and coasted to a 6-1 victory from there. Jack McBain found the back of the net twice in the win, while Julius Mattila chipped in with three assists.
Worst Moment: BU Comeback Ends Beanpot Dreams
The last time BC made the NCAA Tournament, in 2015-16, was also the last time the Eagles hoisted the Beanpot trophy, with a dramatic 1-0 victory over rivals Boston University in overtime. The 68th edition of the historic tournament was a perfect opportunity for BC to break its drought, and when the Eagles entered the third period of their semifinal with a 3-1 lead over the Terriers, it appeared everything was going according to plan.
Things quickly took a turn for the worse midway through the final frame, however, when an ill-timed Luke McInnis penalty helped BU score two goals in the span of 70 seconds to knot the game, and Robert Mastrosimone tucked home a presumed winning goal with just 1:42 to play. David Cotton temporarily gave BC hope, scoring with 58 seconds left to send the contest to overtime, but Wilmer Skoog slammed home the winner 7:20 into overtime to ensure the Eagles’ drought extended to four years.
MVP: Spencer Knight
After the departure of Joseph Woll to the Toronto Maple Leafs, there’s no question that freshman netminder Knight—who was selected 13th overall by the Florida Panthers in the 2019 NHL draft—needed to live up to his draft position for the Eagles to become a national title contender. And do that he did.
Knight finished the year allowing just 1.97 goals per game—ninth best in the country and third-best in Hockey East behind the Massachusetts duo of Filip Lindberg and Matt Murray. In fact, no freshman netminder allowed fewer scores per game than him. In the season’s stretch run, he was at his best, and allowed more than two goals just once in the final nine games—a 3-3 overtime tie at New Hampshire in which he also made 47 saves. It’s unfortunate that his debut season was cut short, but until he leaves for the NHL, BC has an excellent player manning the pipes.
Breakout Player: Alex Newhook
It’s unclear if Newhook can really be considered a “breakout player.” After all, he was the 16th overall pick in the 2019 NHL draft. But if he’s not the Eagles’ most valuable player—and there’s certainly an argument for it—then it feels right to devote some space to him elsewhere and this is as good a place as any. Newhook was the best player on BC’s excellent all-freshman line of him, Matthew Boldy, and Mike Hardman and ended the year with 19 goals and 42 total points—both tops among Eagles skaters. In fact, Newhook’s 42 points were ninth most in the country.
Much like Knight, Newhook was also at his best in the final games of the season, notching at least one point in 12 consecutive games to close the year. Such a prolific close to the campaign raised some questions about whether Newhook would elect to leave school and join the Avalanche—the team that drafted him—early, but according to a report from The Athletiche will indeed be back at BC for 2020-21. That’s sure to be welcome news for BC, which has some forward depth to replace.
Top-Three Storylines
1) BC Finds Balance on Offense
Last season, the line of David Cotton, Julius Mattila, and Logan Hutsko was an effective one. The problem was, they were veritably the only effective one. That line accounted for over 40 percent of the Eagles’ 90 goals, and Cotton was the only BC player with more than 10 goals. In 2019-20? Six Eagles reached the 10-goal mark: Newhook, Hutsko, Cotton, Hardman, Aapeli Räsänen, and Julius Mattila. By season’s end, BC had beaten its 2018-19 goal total by a whopping 46 scores, and had done so in five less games—a simply stunning turnaround that indicates how much more cohesive the Eagles were in the offensive zone.
2) Fantastic Freshmen
Of course, BC couldn’t have had such an excellent year without significant contributions from a highly-heralded freshman class. We’ve already touched on Newhook in detail, and it would be remiss not to mention his linemates—Boldy and Hardman combined for 51 points of their own. And let’s not forget, thanks in large part to the arrival of Knight and immediate contributions from both Marshall Warren and Drew Helleson, the Eagles conceded just 71 goals, well down from 110 a season ago. Top to bottom, BC’s freshman stepped in immediately and helped the Eagles manufacture a solid bounceback campaign.
3) Back in the Postseason
We’ll never know with absolute certainty if the Eagles would have made the NCAA Tournament, but a No. 6 slot in the Pairwise all but guaranteed it. Thanks to the season’s early end, we’ll never know if the Eagles would have won the Hockey East Tournament or the National Championship—both of which they last won in 2012—but with the team red-hot there’s no doubting they had a fair chance at both.
Top-Three Plays
1) Hutsko’s Goal Gets Bieber’s Attention
At the end of November, Logan Hutsko scored a highlight-reel goal against Yale in a 6-2 blowout win that featured a nifty spin move and a top shelf finish. Somehow, that’s not even the coolest thing about the goal, because a couple weeks later Justin Bieber apparently got wind of it and shouted him out on Instagram.
2) Cotton’s Beanpot Heroics
It ultimately came in a losing effort, but picture the moment: you’re losing in the Beanpot to your most hated rival with just a minute to go, and fire in a goal from a tough angle to send the game into overtime. Pretty cool moment for David Cotton.
3) Mattila’s BU Winner
It may not have been the cleanest of goals—in fact it came off a deflected centering pass, but it was the winning goal late in the third period against the Terriers in front of a sold out Conte Forum crowd. That makes a list of top plays any day of the week.
What’s Next?
With 11 seniors gone, the Eagles are losing quite a few key contributors to graduation—including team captain Cotton, both Mattila brothers, McInnis, Ben Finkelstein, and Connor Moore. Nonetheless, Hutsko will likely be back, along with Newhook, Boldy, Hardman, and others to form a solid forward line core. Knight will also be back in net for at least one more season. A lot will depend on chemistry, of course, but BC has the players to be a contender—both in Hockey East and nationally—next season. It’s unfortunate that the Eagles weren’t able to see their postseason all the way through, for better or worse, but it’s hard to see them taking a significant step back next season.
Images courtesy of Boston College Athletics