Boston College Men's Hockey Schedule Released
Yesterday, Hockey East announced the conference’s full schedule as the final step in its return-to-play process. You can check out the full 26 game slate below.
Picking up where they left off
Boston College kicks off on November 20 against New Hampshire. UNH was one of the few teams that played BC tough last season, as the Eagles were only able to manage a 1-1-1 record against the Wildcats during the 2019-20 season. New Hampshire handed BC its only conference shutout early on last season, and the two teams met to conclude the regular season. The Eagles concluded the regular season with a 3-3 draw in Durham and will look to have more success against UNH to kickstart the campaign.
Flex Weekends and Non-Conference Schedule
Boston College is currently scheduled for 20 league games and six non-conference matchups, all against teams in Hockey East. Essentially, BC will play every team twice in conference but will face BU, Providence and UNH two additional times each in games that won’t count towards the regular season standings. These games will come in three of the final five weekends of the season, which have been designated "Flex Weekends", meaning that these non-conference games could be replaced with previously-canceled games to allow for schedule flexibility.
Getting Familiar with BU
Given the unique nature of the season, the schedule was bound to come with quirks. While the Flex Weekends are subject to change, BC is currently slated to play four of its final eight games against BU. The Eagles and Terriers met in three particularly important games last season. In mid-January, Logan Hutsko led BC to a thrilling 4-3 victory in a game more remembered as Jeff Hafley’s introduction to the Boston College crowd. A few weeks later, BU stunned BC in double overtime of the opening round of the Beanpot. The Terriers rallied from 3-1 down in the third to take a 4-3 lead. David Cotton tied the game in the final minute, but BU got the OT winner. BC avenged the loss in March, defeating the Terriers on their home ice to clinch the Hockey East regular season championship.
No Newhook
Alex Newhook is rightfully a front-runner for the Hobey Baker award. Last season’s Tim Taylor Award recipient as National Rookie of the Year, Newhook exploded for 30 points in the second half of the season. His 42 points put him at ninth nationally in points per game, and he became just the 12th player under 19 to break the 40 point plateau. He is expected to center the first line with fellow sophomore Matt Boldy and Mike Hardman. BC will, however, be without Newhook to start the season, because he is currently in Canada after being selected to the preliminary roster of Canada’s World Junior team. Snubbed from last year’s team, Newhook appears to be a lock considering how much his game has grown since last December. If he makes the final roster, the soonest he could return to BC would be for the Northeastern series after the New Year.
Games on TV
With no fans being allowed in the arena, being able to get the games on tv is particularly important this season. Hockey East continues to partner with NESN and CBS to broadcast games and is offering an expanded package for the season. The conference released the NESN broadcast schedule through the end of the year. Of BC’s eight games before the break, five will be on NESN. Presumably, the remaining games will be on CBS All Access, which will be free to viewers this season.