Common struggles for Eagles, Terriers
Rivals meet twice on ice
There will be more than merely crosstown bragging rights up for grabs this weekend when traditional foes Boston College and Boston University cross sticks in a home-and-home series that begins tomorrow night (7:30) at Agganis Arena and continues Saturday (7 p.m.) at Kelley Rink.
The early season has been somewhat of a statistical anomaly as both teams are fighting their way back to respectability. BC (3-6-1, 3-1-1 Hockey East) and BU (4-6-1, 3-3-1 HE) are in the middle of the pack in the league standings despite being tabbed to finish first and third, respectively, in the preseason Hockey East coaches poll. Both remain far down the lists among the national leaders, as well.
“Our club has been up and down during the course of the year,’’ veteran BC coach Jerry York said. “We’re had some terrific hockey being played but not for 60 minutes. We’ve had flashes, whether it’s been on the penalty kill or power play, but we haven’t been able to do it on a consistent basis. We’ll fix it.’’
First-year BU coach Albie O’Connell said the clubs, at times, have been mirror images.
“I think us, as a team, have played well the past five or six games. Our penalty kill and power play is getting better. Five-on-five we’ve made improvement but we’re not where we want to be, but we’re getting there.,’’ he said. “The big thing for us is playing smarter and managing the puck, keeping it simple instead of going for the knockout punch and making crazy plays.’’
“I think that if you look at the early opponents for both of us, they played at Wisconsin and then had to go to Quinnipiac, which is a good team. We had to play twice at Minnesota State and then play at Merrimack and those are older, stronger teams and obviously when you have young teams it takes awhile to find that identity,’’ O’Connell said.
BU holds a 135-124-18 advantage in the century-old series, which first began during the 1917-18 season.
Both coaches played in the traditional rivalry and captained their respective clubs, BC’s York in 1966-67, and BU’s O’Connell in 1998-99. But each coach is hardpressed to single out a particular favorite given the intensity and the vast number of classics played.
“There have been so many great games, it’s hard to pick out one,” said BC’s York, who is 45-44-8 against BU since returning to The Heights for the 1994-95 season. “There’s numerous games. When you look back, some of them take your breath away with the level of hockey that has been played. But, it’s not one game. It’s numerous games.”
O’Connell agreed, saying, “It’s always been a tight series. We’re excited. This is as good as it gets. They’re a hard opponent to play. They’re well-coached. They have good players. They won the Hockey East regular-season title the last two years.”
O’Connell neglected to mention that BU won the Hockey East playoff crown last season.
Just to stir the ’Pot.