I will always go on the record saying the NCAA Basketball Tournament is the best tournament in sports, but coming in a close second is the NHL Playoffs. The main reason why I prefer March Madness is because of the one and done format and there are teams from all different conferences ranging in skill ability, whereas in professional sports like the NHL, where there is a salary cap, each team in theory should have close to equal skill sets and have a relatively equal chance of winning a title. As we all know this isn't the case because some teams have better scouts and manage their money better than others, but for the most part there is great parity in the NHL when it comes to the teams that make the playoffs. As a result of the parity in the NHL Playoffs, the chances of the underdog winning a series is better than in any other professional sport and that is why I love watching the games so much.
What makes hockey and the NHL Playoffs so unique is it's such a team sport, whereas the NBA, who is also in their playoffs now, is more of an individual driven sport. Another reason why I love the NHL Playoffs is the Stanley Cup. If I were to win one trophy as an athlete it would be the Stanley Cup. When a player hoists the Stanley Cup, you can immediately tell how much that player sacrificed to win that trophy. Since nearly every NHL Playoff series seems to go 6-7 games, the teams that end up playing for the Stanley Cup have to play nearly 3 more months of hockey on top of the taxing 82 game regular season. In addition to the extreme joy and emotions associated with hoisting the Stanley Cup, the party that ensues after is unbelievable. The hockey player more than any professional athlete relates to the common man, and when the Bruins won it in 2011 it was awesome to see the team bring the Cup to bars in the days following to share it with the fans. Add in the fact that each player gets a day with the Cup during the off-season and has their name is forever etched on its side, to me there is no better trophy to win in sports.
If there was a perfect example of how awesome the NHL Playoffs are, last night was it. All three games last night (St. Louis-Chicago, Dallas-Anaheim and Columbus-Pittsburgh) all entered with a team (St. Louis, Anaheim and Pittsburgh) leading a series 2-1 and as a sports fan one of the worst things that could have happened is if all three games ended with the series at 3-1. However, the sports gods were in full force last night and provided us with three extremely entertaining games and when all was said and done all three series were all tied up at 2-2. What made last night so entertaining in particular was in each game there was a lead of at least 2-0 and in all cases the team losing came back to tie the game, and in the case of Columbus and Dallas, ended up winning the game.
Finally, I've been to almost every possible sporting event and I can honestly say the best games to see in person are a college basketball game with two highly ranked teams and an NHL Playoff game. What separates these two sporting events from the others is the energy in the building. If you watched the NHL games last night, you would have seen fans on their feet at HOCKEY game in cities that aren't known for their love of hockey, in Columbus and Dallas. There is something special about the NHL Playoffs where a switch is turned on and the fans become electric and each shift the players skate with unbelievable energy and intensity. Even watching the NHL Playoff games at home on television like I did last night you could feel the energy from the arenas on the couch in my house.
As awesome as these first round series have been so far, the best part is this is just the beginning of the NHL Playoffs and we still have a good two months left. Buckle up.
P.S. One way you know it's officially April Madness is when Marc-Andre Fleury becomes a complete sieve like he did at the end of last night's game against the Blue Jackets.
This past week in Boston was an emotional one; from the one year anniversary of the Marathon bombings last week on April 15th to running of the race yesterday. As a person who has called Boston home for the entire 30 years of my life, Marathon Monday has always been in many ways a high holiday. As a kid it meant having school off, in college at BC it meant having a big party with fellow students while cheering on the runners as they finished up Heartbreak Hill, and as an adult it has meant meeting up with friends around the city and enjoying what always seems to be one of the first real nice days of spring. Last year however as we all know everything changed. Four lives were lost and nearly 300 people were injured and many wondered as a result if one of the most celebrated events in Boston would ever be the same.
I think it's safe to say whenever the Boston Marathon occurs that we will always remember what happened on April 15, 2013, but the way yesterday transpired it is apparent the city has built itself back up. Besides the great weather, it was awesome to see the large crowds on the sidewalks and the race packed with tens of thousands of runners all running for great causes. The true sign however that I knew Boston took back the finish line however was when Patrick Downes and Jessica Kensky Downes crossed the finish line together (pictured above). Both Patrick and Jessica lost their left legs last year during the explosions by the finish line last year, but just 53 weeks later they were able to cross the finish line together in handcycles. As a BC alum in particular it was great to see a fellow Eagle in Patrick accomplish such a feat knowing all obstacles he and Jessica have had to overcome.
Between Patrick and Jessica and all the thousands of others who were able to finish the race along with an American male in Meb Keflezighi winning the Marathon for the first time since 1983, it was truly a special day. The only way the day could have possibly gone better was if the Red Sox pulled off another massive comeback, but I will let that one slide given the way the organization honored all the first responders and victims the night before and then ended up coming from behind to beat the Orioles in the ninth inning. All in all it was an awesome day and one in which I am proud to call myself a Bostonian.
Below I have posted a few pictures that I was able to take at the bottom of my street at the 25 kilometer mark in Wellesley.
So I realize I haven't had a Rant in a week, and the main reason is that there appeared to be a lot going on in a short amount of time and I didn't know which topic to blog about, so I finally decided to do a comprehensive piece today that quickly hits upon a variety of topics starting with the BC spring football game last Saturday and ending with the NHL debuts for Johnny Gaudreau and Bill Arnold this Sunday.
So last Saturday (April 5th) my father and I spent the afternoon at Alumni Stadium taking in the annual Jay McGillis spring football game. Like with any spring game no matter who your team is, it is very hard to judge how a team is based upon a spring game. First off everyone plays for the same team, secondly it is not a legit football game, there is a lot of situational football with a scoring system that I think nobody understood and finally there were a fair share of players who sat out.
As for my thoughts based on what I saw, it was a tale of two halves. In the first half the offense dominated. Tyler Murphy, the quarterback transfer from Florida, showed off his speed on a few scrambles and Myles Willis, David Dudeck and Tyler Rouse all ran the ball well. Although Murphy is cable of throwing the ball, due to BC's lack of a go to receiver I think you will see a lot of running the ball as we saw last year, but I think with Murphy's speed there will be the added element of the option in this year's run game.
The second half was dominated by the defense with Sean Duggan anchoring the squad. Duggan appeared to be all over the field, which is a good sign since the Eagles have to replace their defensive leader in Kevin Pierre-Louis from last year. My one real negative thought in regards to the defensive play was that the secondary dropped a few interceptions that they should have easily had.
Finally, I actually thought the crowd wasn't that bad. I'm sure if you see my pictures from the game you may say it looks like no one is there, but that was because the whole crowd was behind the sideline I was sitting on. I have been to a handful of spring games in the past decade and I thought this was easily the biggest turnout. I know some people mentioned there was a lack of young alumni presence, but I thought as a whole the turnout was good. Also, I am smart enough to know BC is never going to get 100,000 like Alabama does. Finally congratulations to Dominique Williams on winning the Jay McGillis scholarship. This year's recipient is extra special because Williams comes from McGillis' hometown of Brockton. Below I posted a picture of Williams receiving the scholarship.
From the gridiron to the ice, it was a week of extreme lows and extreme highs for the BC hockey team. The week started off with a tough loss to the eventual National Champion Union. Even though BC got off to an early 1-0 on a Johnny Gaudreau goal, it was clear from the first puck drop that Union was going to be really tough. I won't really comment too much on the game, because it is tough to recap a loss of such magnitude but I think we can all agree that not being able to score on the 5 minute power play in the 3rd period and having Union score shortly after they killed the penalty was the back breaker. The one encouraging sign is the team did fight to the literal last second as they almost scored which would have tied the game as time expired. The tough part about this loss is there are two teams that have played BC really tough the last two years and those teams are Notre Dame, who knocked BC out of the Hockey East playoffs and Union who ended the Eagles' season in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
If there was a silver lining to this year's Frozen Four loss it was that nearly 24 hours after defeat BC fans had a lot to cheer for as Johnny Gaudreau won the school's 3rd Hobey Baker. This award came as no shock as Gaudreau was hands down the best player in college hockey this year scoring a nation leading 36 goals and 44 assists to finish the season with 80 points which was 15 more points than teammate and linemate Kevin Hayes who finished second in the nation in points with 65. The celebratory weekend continued for Johnny Hockey and BC teammate Bill Arnold as they signed professional contracts with the Calgary Flames on Friday and were able to make their NHL debuts Sunday night against the Vancouver Canucks. And to anyone who has watched Gaudreau this year it was no shock he scored (which you can watch below) his first NHL goal on his first ever shot. While many are skeptical on the type of player Gaudreau will be in the NHL based on his size, or lack thereof, I always counter with the line about how you can't hit someone who you can't catch. Add his hockey IQ, and unbelievable stick handling skills to his speed and I am confident Gaudreau will have a strong NHL career. It also helps that former Eagles Brian Gionta and Nathan Gerbe, who are also both small, have had very good NHL careers. As for the team Arnold and Gaudreau will be playing for, watching the game Sunday it appears the Flames have a long, long way to go to becoming a playoff contender.
Now transitioning from the ice to the hardwood. The Jim Christian hire came with much skepticism, as was noted in my previous Rant, but the one thing Christian made clear in his introductory press conference is he needed to hire a staff with ACC experience and had roots in recruiting New England, and Christian followed through on his promise with the hiring of former Maryland assistant coach Scott Spinelli. Spinelli is a Leominster, MA native and graduate of Boston University and has spent the last three seasons on Mark Turgeon's staff with the Terrapins. Prior to coaching at Maryland he also worked with Turgeon at both Wichita State and Texas A&M. I think this is a solid hire, and hopefully will help BC in the recruitment of local kids, an area in which the program has struggled with immensely in recent history. It would be nice if Christian could also add Danya Abrams to his staff, as I mentioned last week. I think it always helps to have a former player as part of the staff. Also, Abrams has strong knowledge of the current team having been a part of the radio broadcasts for the past couple of seasons.
Finally, it was tough to see Ryan Anderson and now potentially Joe Rahon transfer. It doesn't come as a shock as it has been rumored since Michael Vega's article during The ACC tournament, but I was hoping Christian would be able to convince them to stay (although Rahon's isn't official yet). It will also be very interesting to see if Olivier Hanlan will declare for the draft. If Rahon actually does in fact transfer, it may be real tough to convince Hanlan to stay, since he will literally be a one man team and I have to imagine staying next year will only hurt his draft stock. With that being said I hope he does decide to stay and hopefully Christian can also bring in a strong transfer who can play right away.
Finally I will end this Rant on a positive story. This past weekend Catholic School rivals Notre Dame and Boston College took the diamond in Chicago as opponents but were both fighting for a common cause. Fellow BC '07 alum and former Birdballer Pete Frates was diagnosed last year with ALS and this past weekend both ND and BC joined forces to raise money to help Strike Out ALS as all ticket proceeds went towards the Pete Frates #3 Fund. It was nice to see former BC Manager and current Notre Dame Manager Mik Aoki help set this weekend up, and it was even nicer to see Notre Dame do away with their green uniforms for the weekend as they wore red jerseys this weekend in honor of ALS awareness. As for the series, Notre Dame took 2 of 3 from the Eagles, but needless to say the outcome to a backseat to awareness this series created. Finally, if you weren't able to attend but want to contribute to the Pete Frates #3 Fund, here is the link .
Well after two very long weeks, Brad Bates finally hired former Ohio University head coach Jim Christian to be the next head man for Boston College men's basketball team. Unfortunately the excitement Bates has regarding this hire is not mutual amongst fans and alums. While I think everyone agrees Steve Donahue had to be let go as BC's coach, I am not sure Christian is that much of an upgrade. This was BC's opportunity to make a splash hire, but in my mind this hire was a complete flop. I am not saying Christian will fail as the head coach, but I don't think he's the guy who will take the team to the next level and make the Eagles a constant fixture in the second weekend of the NCAA Tournament.
The question now becomes who could have Bates hired for this to have been considered a home run? In my mind it would have been Jay Wright. With Buzz Williams leaving Marquette in the now weakened Big East for a lower level basketball school in Virginia Tech, I thought Bates could have used a similar tactic to lure Wright from Villanova to BC. I know the chances of Wright, a Pennsylvania native who currently coaches at a school where basketball is the #1 sport by a landslide, leaving Philly for Boston would have been slim, but I was hoping Bates could have made a financial offer that he couldn't refuse. Also, as I joked on Twitter I was hoping Bates would let Wright know that the BC head basketball coach gets free suits at Eastern Clothing of Watertown. Ed Cooley, the former BC assistant and current Providence head coach, was another guy I thought Bates could have convinced to leave the Big East and come to the ACC. While Cooley is a Providence native and currently makes $2 million annually as the Friars head coach, I was really hoping that the BC brass would have realized that this was the time to open up their checkbook to get a guy like Cooley or Wright to come to Chestnut Hill. If BC wants to take their basketball program to the next level they have to make a commitment financially both in terms of the salary of the head coach and upgrades to the practice facility. The other name that was thrown around that would have been a home run hire was Ben Howland, but the chances of him leaving California for the East Coast was very unlikely, and now that the Cal job is open I think it's only a matter of days until he is announced as the new coach of the Bears.
My one huge gripe with the Christian hire isn't necessarily that he came from the MAC, a conference where he has had great success both at Kent State and Ohio, but when he had a chance to coach on a bigger stage like when he was at TCU, he didn't do much to prove that he could coach at an elite level. I would rather have had Bates hire a guy who was an unknown than to hire a guy whom we know what his ceiling is mostly going to be. That is why Joe Dooley, the current head coach at Florida Gulf Coast and who was considered another finalist in the BC coaching search, would have made me more excited. Dooley came within one win of having the Florida Gulf Coast back in the NCAA Tournament, and having spent the previous 10 years as an assistant at Kansas under Bill Self he became known as one of the top recruiters,including getting many kids from the East Coast to go to school in Lawrence.
The other direction I wouldn't have minded Bates going was giving a long time assistant at one of college basketball's elite programs a chance. For instance Jeff Boals, a long time assistant for Thad Matta at Ohio State, to me would have made more sense than Christian. Matta's assistants, including Archie and Sean Miller, have had great success as head coaches, and I am confident Boals will make a great head coach one day. Ironically Boals, an Ohio University alum, appears to be the front runner to replace Christian at Ohio. Other programs I wouldn't have minded Bates taking a look at assistant coaches are Michigan State and Michigan. Tom Izzo and John Beilein have been the models for consistency in college basketball and I don't think it would have hurt to have taken a look at some of their assistant coaches to see if anyone was ready to take their careers to the next level.
My final point I want to touch upon in this Rant is to compare Christian to a coach I think BC fans should look at for a comparison. This coach is Brad Brownell, the current head coach of Clemson. Both Brownell and Christian are relatively the same age, and both coaches came from coaching mid major schools in Ohio prior to making the jump to the ACC. Brownell made the NCAA Tournament in his first year as the head coach of the Tigers in the 2010-11 season, and after two tough years he finally had the Tigers competitive again, leading them to the NIT Semifinals and finishing with a record of 23-13. Brownell appears to have rebounded well from his recent struggles and if he can get Clemson to the NCAA Tournament next year it will give me hope that Christian will have similar success at BC. If Christian can convince Hanlan, Rahon and Anderson all to stay, which is still a huge question mark, BC could have a potentially good season if they can play better defense and be more consistent on offense. However, expect after next season for the Eagles to have a huge drop off, as they will lose just about everyone who is part of their current core, which leads me to my next point.
Jim Christian has to hire a staff that has experience not only in recruiting elite players, but recruiting players in New England. One of Donahue's failures as a head coach was he surrounded himself, after the departure of Joe Jones to BU, with a staff that was made up of coaches with only Ivy League and Division III coaching experience. If you watched the NCAA Tournament this year you would have seen numerous players who came from the New England area, yet didn't even consider going to BC. When Steve Addazio, another coach who came from the MAC, took over the BC football program he stated he wanted to build a fence around New England in terms of recruiting and so far he has lived up to his word. Having coached in Ohio and Texas for the majority of his career, Christian does not appear to have much experience in recruiting the Northeast and because of that it is key that he finds an assistant who has this experience. One potential assistant coach whose name has been thrown around is current BC basketball radio analyst and former BC player Danya Abrams who was part of the famed Elite 8 team in 1994. While Abrams does not have the coaching experience needed to be a lead assistant, I think it would be good for the team to have a former player on the staff. Also, having called BC games on the radio for the past couple of seasons Abrams is knowledgeable about the current team and could be helpful to Christian in that regard.
Needless to say I am not thrilled with this hire. I was really hoping BC would have hired a prominent coach, but unfortunately that wasn't the case. I hope Christian is able to shut up the critics, but I am very skeptical that he will. As I tweeted yesterday, I will still support and root for Christian and the BC basketball team, but I am worried there won't be much to cheer for. On the bright side, at least there is one team that plays in Conte Forum that always gives us something to cheer about, and I am looking forward to see them play next Thursday as they go for the school's sixth national title.
So I am going to change the format for the Rant up a bit for this. I decided to break the first weekend of March Madness into various categories and picking the team/teams that best fit that category. If you want me to potentially add a different category for next week let me know.
BEST GAME: I think it's safe to say the best game of the weekend without a doubt was the Wichita State-Kentucky game. When filling out my bracket, no game in the first weekend caused me to deliberate when picking a winner more than this game. My heart wanted me to pick Wichita State, but my head always said Kentucky. Kentucky finished the season strong and came within one point of beating Florida in the SEC title game. The Shockers on the other hand came in undefeated, but hadn't really been challenged in quite sometime.
Prior to the game I had such high expectations for the game, which usually means the game will end up being one sided, kind of like how the Super Bowl was this year. This game however lived up to the hype for all 40 minutes. It was continuously back and forth and the stars of both teams brought their "A" games. Cleanthony Early played arguably the best game of his career for Wichita State, which I am sure caught the eyes of many NBA scouts, and the Harrison twins for Kentucky played probably their two best games of the season. It's a shame one team had to lose, but it was fitting that Kentucky won by 2 points as it showed just how close the game really was. I came into the tournament with skepticism regarding Wichita State's #1 seed and how far they would go in the tournament, and although they lost in the second round, they proved that they could indeed play with anybody in the country. Kentucky on the other hand, whom many had as their pre-season #1 based on another extremely talented freshman class, failed to live up to their expectations for nearly the whole season, but now it looks like they have finally come together as a team, and are now a legitimate threat in the tournament and playing far better than a team that is seeded 8th in their region.
MOST SURPRISING TEAM: This was a toss up between Dayton and Stanford, but I decided to go with Dayton ever so slightly. Coincidentally both these teams, whom I am sure nearly no one had advancing past the first weekend, will face each other int he Sweet 16 this week, meaning one of these teams seeded 11 and 10 respectively will be in the Elite 8. Dayton had to beat both their in state foe Ohio State and the Syracuse, who was playing a near home game in Buffalo, to advance. While I think Stanford's win over Kansas was the most impressive win between the two teams, regardless of Kansas not having Embiid play, I thought the body of work by Dayton over the two games was slightly better.
MOST IMPROVED TEAM FROM GAME 1 to GAME 2: This award will have to go to the Virginia Cavaliers. Even though I am an ACC fan, being a BC alum, and knowing UVA won both the regular and ACC Tournament titles, I still had my doubts about them being a #1 seed. Clearly they could win, but they have never been a team that was flashy. If you know the Bennett family, you know that they emphasize defense, and Tony Bennett has had UVA play some incredible defense this year. In the first game against Coastal Carolina UVA looked far from a #1 seed and struggled to pull away from the Chanticleers (I had to work in that mascot into the Rant somehow, one of the most unique in college sports) until the final 7 minutes or so of the game. Against Memphis in round 2 however, UVA looked like a #1 seed, and a team that could give Michigan State, whom I have as one of the favorites to win it all, a hell of a fight in the Sweet 16. The Cavaliers completely shut down the Memphis offense, and they were also able to knock down the 3 point shot with ease, which is the key to their offensive success. Between game 1 and game 2 UVA looked like a completely different team, and now one that wouldn't shock me if they end up in Dallas next weekend.
DARK HORSE TEAM TO ADVANCE TO THE FINAL 4: For some reason I felt like I watched more Big 12 games this year than any other league. It seemed anytime I turned ESPN on during the week, another Big 12 game was being played. As a result there were two teams that I put int he category of "they can beat any team, but at the same time they can lose to any team" and those two teams were Baylor and Oklahoma State. On paper Baylor seems like they should be a force of a team. They probably have 2 of the best big men in college basketball in Cory Jefferson and Isaiah Austin, they have a knock down three-point shooter in Brady Heslip and a skilled point guard in Kenny Chery. The team the Bears put on the court in the first weekend, especially the one against Creighton, was a team that I feel like could compete with anyone in the tournament. The Bears dominated down low and were hitting three pointers left and right, and when a team can dominate in those two categories it is almost impossible to defend. While the Bears will face a tough opponent in Wisconsin in the Sweet 16, if they can play like they did in San Antonio then it really wouldn't shock me if they beat the Badgers and then move on to the next game with a chance to advance to the Final 4.
BEST SWEET 16 GAME: I won't go too in depth here because anytime you mention Louisville-Kentucky, then you know it's a big basketball game. While it's always a huge game when the two in-state rivals play each other in the regular season, it is even that much more magnified when the two meet in the NCAA Tournament. The last time the Wildcats and Cardinals met in the tournament was in the 2012 Final 4 when Kentucky beat Louisville to advance to the title game in which they ended up winning. While this game only a Sweet 16 game, I do believe the winner has the inside track in the region to advancing to the Final 4. For the sake of my bracket, I am going to have to root for the Cardinals in this one, but I am expecting a great game.
TEAMS THAT I THINK WILL WIN IT ALL: If you saw either of my two brackets you would know that I think the winner of my predicted Final 4 match-up between Florida and Michigan State will win it all, and as a result I am going to stick with those teams. I believe both these teams not only have the most overall talent, but both have the greatest depth of any teams left. While I think Florida without a doubt has the easiest route to get to the Final 4, I do think if UVA plays like they did against Memphis then they could give Michigan State a very tough time in the Sweet 16. Arizona is also a team that has lived up their #1 seeding through the first weekend and looks like they have what it takes to cut down the nets in Dallas.
BEST MOMENT OF THE FIRST WEEKEND: If you love pageantry in college sports like I do, then you know one of the best parts of the March Madness is watching the bench players' reactions and the pep bands for each school. It is for this reason why I am giving my moment of the first weekend award to the Stanford cow bell guy Alex Chang. Hands down most enthusiastic cow beller I have ever seen. Feel free to see him in his element below.
RANDOM THOUGHT: This random thought doesn't really have much to do with the NCAA Tournament per se, but watching Gonzaga get beat pretty handily by Arizona on Sunday made me think if Mark Few will now start to consider leaving Gonzaga. Last year when the Zags were the #1 seed you could argue it was their best chance, with the exception of maybe the Adam Morrison years, to make it to the Final 4, and they lost in the Round of 32. I thought for sure Mark Few may have made the jump to a power conference when his alma mater Oregon had a job opening in 2010, but he decided again to stay put in Spokane. The one job I think he may now consider is Washington, which has a good chance of opening up if Lorenzo Romar has another sub par year next season. Former Boise State football coach Chris Petersen, a guy whom many compared to Few, finally made the jump to Washington this year, and I am curious to see if the Husky job opens up if Few will follow in Petersen's footsteps.
With March Madness now in full swing and also occupying nearly all of my attention there are two teams that I have failed to Rant about being a Boston and BC sports fan, and those are the Bruins and the BC men's hockey team.
The Bruins are currently the hottest team in the NHL, having won 12 straight games and leading the Penguins by 6 points in the Eastern Conference and tied with the St. Louis Blues with 103 points for top the team in all of the NHL. The Olympic break to me couldn't have come at a worse time for the B's as they had won 7 of 9 heading into the break, and I was worried that the long layoff would cause the team to lose all of their momentum. The B's returned from the break by losing their first two games, which caused me to believe that my previous concerns had become true, but since a 6-3 Sunday night beating of the New York Rangers at MSG on the night of the Oscars on March 1st, the Bruins have been in cruise control having not lost a game since.
When the NHL trade deadline hit on March 5, most Bruins fans thought the team didn't fully address the team's top need, which was getting a top 4 defenseman, having lost Dennis Seidenberg for the season due to injury. The Bruins did get defensemen Andrej Meszaros and Corey Potter but neither of these guys really wowed the Bruins' fanbase. What the Bruins did get at the beginning of March however, which has proven to be a major factor in the team's recent success, was a rejuvenated Jerome Iginla and a confident Carl Soderberg.
When the Bruins got Iginila in the off-season, Bruins fans were hoping for a second or third line player and for much of the beginning part of the season he seemed out of sorts. Since the Olympic break however he has lit the ice on fire and has looked like the Jerome Iginla of old during his peak with the Calgary Flames. In the team's 13 games in the month of March Iginla has 11 goals, 3 assists and a +/- of +10. Soderberg on the other hand was a player that came to the Bruins with high expectations, and starting last year and through the beginning of this season he had failed to live up to those lofty expectations. Similar to Iginla, Soderberg has been playing some great hockey in the month of March by scoring 4 goals and tallying 6 assists, many of which have been highlight reel passes. Many would argue the main reason why the Bruins have been so good over the past few seasons is because of how strong all four of their lines are. Soderberg has been the anchor on the Bruins third line as of late and this past Saturday against the Coyotes in Phoenix the Bruins won on a goal from B's enforcer Shawn Thornton which is another example how even the 4th line, aka The Merlot line, is contributing to the team's recent success.
While the Bruins have been scorching hot this month, this week will be a strong test to see where the team stands heading into the playoffs. Tonight the B's take on Montreal, a team until their most recent outing 2 weeks ago has had the Bruins number as of late, then they play last year's Stanley Cup Champion Chicago Blackhawks at the Garden on Thursday night and then the team finishes the week with games at Washington and at Philadelphia. Needless to say this team has been a treat to watch recently and I look forward to another long playoff run this spring.
As for the BC hockey team, the regular season did not end the way many fans thought it would. The team ended the regular season losing to Notre Dame, and then lost 2-1 in the best of 3 series to the Irish in the Hockey East quarterfinals. While this was tough to swallow after the team had a 17 game unbeaten stream and seemed unstoppable, I am hoping that a) Notre Dame just had the Eagles' number and b) the team learned from their mistakes and will correct them this weekend in the Northeast Regional of the NCAA Tournament in Worcester.
BC's draw in the tournament is somewhat favorable. The Eagles earned the Northeast Regional's #1 seed and the #2 overall seed in the tournament and will begin play Saturday afternoon by taking on a Denver team that has a mediocre record of 20-15-6 and who would not have made the tournament had they not won the NCHC Tournament this past weekend. If BC were to win this game, which I expect they will, then they will take on the winner of UMass-Lowell and Minnesota State. I expect the Hockey East Tournament winner Riverhawks to win this game, which would give us a Hockey East regional final with BC against UMass Lowell. This is where things could get interesting. Lowell is obviously a hot team right now, and has played BC tough this season, but I think this is where the power of Jerry York kicks in. In case you aren't aware BC's last 3 titles were in the years 2008, 2010 and 2012, so it only makes sense that 2014 is the next time the Eagles would raise another banner, which would give the school a total of six titles in men's hockey. Also, in all those years BC made it to the Frozen Four via Worcester, so that is something else in BC's favor.
A few other side notes regarding the NCAA Tournament in respects to BC: Eagles fans can breathe a little easier knowing the earliest the BC would have to play the thorn in the team's side, the Irish of Notre Dame, would be in the National Title game. This would also be the earliest the Eagles would have to play Minnesota, who along with BC, were the clear top 2 teams throughout the entire college hockey season. The one potential drawback for the Eagles is they'd have to play Union, who is the hottest team in the nation and currently ranked #1, in the semi-finals.
Well that's about it, and as usual Go Eagles this weekend, and remember In York We Trust. As for those asking about a Rant in regards to the NCAA basketball tournament, I plan to have one up by Thursday. I literally felt overwhelmed, albeit in a good way, with March Madness these past four days so I figured I'd give my brain a rest for at least a day and focus on hockey.
I am Not sure if any of you have been paying attention to the Boston College baseball team, but after spending nearly a month on the road, Birdball finally had a chance to play a home game this week. Unfortunately the weather won't allow them to play on Pellagrini Diamond at Shea Field, as their game yesterday against Holy Cross was postponed and their games this weekend against Wake Forest have been moved to Northeastern and Bryant University respectively. Add in some really sub-par years recently for baseball, and I think it is now the perfect time for Athletic Director Brad Bates to finally start to think about dropping baseball and replacing it with lacrosse.
In my mind this is really a no brainer decision. BC is in arguably the toughest conference in college baseball, and yet they have to play at such a disadvantage compared to most their fellow conference members. The team is not only forced to practice in a bubble on a football field during the winter months, but they also have to play their first 15-20 games on the road. Also, from a talent perspective BC clearly doesn't have the players compared to many of the other teams in the ACC.
Lacrosse on the other hand is a sport that has become very popular among kids both at the lower level and high school ranks, and has become one of the top sports in Massachusetts over the last decade. If BC were to add lacrosse, they would have a plethora of talent to recruit from right in their own backyard. Also, a lot of kids that come to BC whether it be in Massachusetts, Connecticut, New York, New Jersey, Maryland or the Washington DC area, went to schools with strong lacrosse traditions. I'm sure who is ever hired to lead the program would use those relationships with the schools to help entice potential players to BC. While there may be some growing pains to start off, I think the allure of playing in the ACC would make the Eagles an exciting option for recruits, and would help BC become the premier school in New England for division 1 collegiate lacrosse.
Another reason why it would be smart for BC to switch to lacrosse is because of costs. Travel expenses in particular would be significantly less than baseball. Currently in the ACC only Duke, UNC, UVA, Syracuse and Notre Dame (this will be Maryland's final year) have division 1 lacrosse teams. Also, BC could play the majority of their non-conference games in New England playing teams like Holy Cross, Harvard, UMass, Providence, Fairfield, BU and Bryant. All these games would require a short bus ride and BC could play their home games on the all weather turf field on Newton Campus that the girl's lacrosse and both soccer teams currently play on. Barring a blizzard, there should really be no reason why the lacrosse team would have to postpone or move a home game to a different venue like the baseball team has had to do this week.
I have no idea whether Brad Bates has even considered switching out baseball for lacrosse, but I hope having seen the baseball team have to both postpone and switch venues for their home games this week, that the thought has at least crossed his mind. The club team has had great success in recent years and is currently ranked 5th nationally in the club rankings and I am confident, as long as Bates hires the right coach, that the transition could be a smooth one.
Finally I couldn't post a BC lacrosse related Rant without paying homage to one of the great BC alums and former lacrosse player Welles Crowther (pictured above), who sacrificed his life to help save others on September 11th. If you haven't seen the piece ESPN did on him it is posted below.
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