Anyone tired of the 'Eagles soar to Frozen Four' headlines? BC isn't

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

(Note: This is the last of a three-part series analyzing the performances of all three Hockey East teams in their respective regionals in the NCAA tournament.)

It's probably the most cliche headline in the history of journalism when referring to a team with a bird as its mascot. And for Boston Colllege, it seems every trip it takes to the Frozen Four, it is accompanied by at least a few headlines that read, "Eagles soar" etc., etc., etc. As one who has written a few headlines in my day - and is pretty good at it, if I do say so myself - I have one thing to say to those headline writers: It's not original. It's not clever. It's lazy and shame on you.

The reason I start with that little rant is because by using the same old cliche, it cheapens the accomplishment of being one of the four best teams in the NCAA hockey tournament. It's being one step away from the pinnacle of these players' hockey careers to this point and for a lot of them, it's the highest they will ever get.

Some think that especially by missing North Dakota in the second round, the Eagles had an easy go of it this tournament. Not so, my friends.

The Eagles won a 3-1 decision in the first round against Alaska-Fairbanks in a game that was surprisingly close. Alaska was especially good at pinching on defense, which prevented BC's skaters from odd-man rushes in transition and while in the end the better team won, you couldn't help but walk away impressed with the play of the Nanooks.

What might have BC fans concerned was the play of the Eagles' defense in the second round against an explosive Yale team. The Eagles beat the Bulldogs, 9-7, in the highest-scoring regional game ever. Going into the game, Yale's high-powered offense was thought to be severely weaker because of the loss of its best player, but a team doesn't become the top scoring team in the country simply because of one guy.

Boston College proved its offense can be explosive as well and really was in control of the game most of the way, despite the high goal totals. The goals were mostly scored in bunches and always with Yale trying to chip away at the Eagles' leads. And while BC on a couple of occasions let them back into the game, give them credit for not giving it up, even when Yale played nearly the last four minutes of the game with an extra attacker, which is a pretty gutsy move.

Those who are still concerned about the defense can rest assured that the next team BC faces in Miami (OH) will not have nearly the firepower and is much more of a defensive minded team. The question I have more than whether or not the Eagles can stop Miami from scoring is whether or not the Eagles will be able to put one past whichever goalie Miami throws out there. Both are at the top of the list in goals against average and Miami is one of the very best in goal prevention.

But if there's one thing we've learned from watching the Bruins, it's that goal prevention doesn't mean anything if you can't score. No one ever won a hockey game without scoring a goal.

Eagles make Frozen Four, but it's RIT I'll be watching

By Chris Maza
Fan Fanatic Sports Staff

The stage is set for the Frozen Four and once again Boston College will be there.

The Eagles earned their seventh trip in the last 11 seasons (2000-2010) with a 9-7 win over Yale Sunday evening. That's right. There were 16 goals between the two sides, which was an NCAA record for a regional game, eclipsing the previous mark of 13.

BC will face Miami (OH), who survived a double-overtime battle with Michigan, 3-2.

But with all the exciting action going on in the tournament, there is no better story than RIT, which has become this year's Bemidji State. RIT made heavily favored Denver (the No. 2 overall team in the tournament) look just plain bad in the opening round, then made New Hampshire look even worse with a 6-2 win to propell itself to Detriot.

Maybe it was the home-ice feel in Albany. Maybe the stars aligned just right. Maybe they caught Denver in the midst of a badly-timed slump (remember, they lost two games in the conference tournament, too). Maybe they dodged a bullet in having UNH upset Cornell. Or maybe the Tigers are really just that good.

I knew RIT was a balanced team, but the Tigers surprised me in how well they skated, making Denver look slow and how good their transition game is, as was displayed in the UNH game.

Do they have enough to get past Wisconsin and get to the title game? I'm still not sure and I don't know if anyone else can be, either. After all, most of the nation has only seen this team play for 120 minutes so far this year.

But in a tournament that now has three No. 1 seeds and a No. 4 remaining, I'm becoming a Tigers fan.

Here's how my bracket is shaping up (Click on the bracket for a larger view). Check back for analysis on how each Hockey East team has performed in the tournament thus far.