Happy Time: Eagles in NHL, Men's Hoops and Baseball

Happy Birthday wishes, both early and belated, to our BC hockey alumni that made names for themselves in the NHL. Marty Reasoner (February 26), Joe Mullen (February 26) and Brian Leetch (March 3). Reasoner played 3 seasons on the Heights culminating in a trip to the 1998 NCAA championship game in his junior year (we lost in typical, BC heartbreaking fashion 3-2 in OT to Michigan). Joe Mullen, brother of Brian Mullen, played for BC from 1975-1979 and went on to have a successful career with the St. Louis Blues, Calgary Flames, Pittsburgh Penguins and the Boston Bruins. Mullen became the first American player to score 500 goals and 1,000 points in the NHL. Finally, Brian Leetch’s illustrious 19 season NHL career goes without mentioning. But did you know, for the Eagles, he only played one season (1986-1987), where the defensemen took home the Hockey East Rookie of the Year, Player of the Year and First Team All-Star honors as a freshman. The Eagles defeated Maine 4-2 that season to capture the 1987 Hockey East championship.

A not so Happy Anniversary to the BC men’s basketball team. On this date 3 years ago, you were throttled at home by the Pittsburgh Panthers in men’s basketball action, 72-50. The blowout denied the Eagles, led by Craig Smith and Jared Dudley, a chance at the regular season Big East championship. The Eagles took care of Rutgers in their final regular season game to capture the Big East regular season championship and the #1 seed in the Big East tournament. Sadly though, after receiving a first round bye in the Big East tourney, the Eagles were bounced by the West Virginia Mountaineers 78-72. A #4 seed in the NCAA tournament, the Eagles dispatched the Penn Quakers before being upset by BC alum Bruce Pearl and the #12 seed UW-Milwaukee Panthers in the round of 32.



An early Happy Trails to the BC baseball team. They face off against the World Series Champion Red Sox later today at 1:05pm. While we don’t expect the Eagles to win, this game has had its share of memorable moments, including Dice-K’s first pitch in the majors. BC’s two sport athlete Johnny Ayers knocked it into the outfield for a double. Eagles fans proceeded to see this clip ~1,871,615 times throughout the football season when Ayers would get onto the field to punt.