Some of college hockey’s elite teams ease into their schedule, opening the season against less-heralded programs from small conferences.
Not the case for Boston College this year. The Eagles, ranked No. 2 in the USCHO.com Division I Men’s Poll and picked first in Hockey East by both the coaches and the media, kicks off its 2024-25 campaign at No. 4 Michigan State, defending B1G tournament champions and the preseason No. 1 pick among its league’s coaches.
After last year’s run to the NCAA championship game (a 2-0 loss to Denver), expectations are high for the Eagles. Greg Brown, BC’s third-year coach, said he welcomes the opportunity to take on a national contender right away.
“We like it, because you learn so much about your team right away,” said Brown. “You’re put under fire right at the beginning of the season. It’s a great barometer for what you’re good at, what you need to improve, where your strengths and weaknesses are, all those things. (For) the freshmen, it’s the quickest way to grow up, to get right into the fire, to get used to college hockey.”
The Eagles and Spartans will face off Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. Eastern. Friday’s game will air on the B1G Network while Saturday’s contest can be found on B1G+. The two teams met in a pair of early season games last year in Chestnut Hill, Mass., which ended in a Boston College sweep (6-4, 5-1).
As for the freshman Brown mentioned, BC features one of the nation’s strongest recruiting classes, of which much is expected following the departure of Will Smith and Cutter Gauthier, who both took their game to the NHL. Smith and Gauthier were not only BC’s top two scorers last season, but they were the top two scorers in the nation.
The Eagles’ illustrious freshman class includes three NHL draft picks — forward Dean Letourneau (Boston, 25th) forward Teddy Stiga (Nashville, 55th) and defenseman Will Skahan (Utah, 65th).
With last year’s regular-season and Hockey East tournament championships, a subsequent trip to the Frozen Four and plenty of preseason respect from pollsters, logic would dictate that BC will be playing with a target on its back all season. Brown said his team’s focus is on constant improvement.
“We just have to worry about what we have to get better at, what we have to take care of,” Brown said. “It’s a much shorter view. Hopefully we put ourselves in a position to be in some important games at the end of the year. But there’s so much work to be done before that. We’re concentrating on ourselves and what we need to do to be ready.”
As for the Spartans, BC will have to contend with standout forwards Karsen Dorward and Isaac Howard, and goalie Trey Augustine, all of whom were named to the all-B1G preseason first team.
“They’re a great team,” Brown said. “They’re playing fast, really attacking, hunting pucks. heavy forecheck. We know we’re going to have to be ready (for) their pressure. We had great games with them last year, and we expect much of the same this weekend.
