BC v. Providence In-Game Comments: 3rd Period

This loss hurts. The possibility is very real now that both the men's hockey team and men's basketball team won't be playing in postseason tournaments (providing for about a month of really lonely blogging about BC sports). Here is USCHO's most recent Bracketology. Its reasonable to think that only 2 Hockey East teams will make the postseason. With other results tonight in throughout Hockey East, the Hockey East standings now look like this:

1. UNH - 38 points
2. BU - 29 points
2. Vermont - 29 points
4. Providence - 26 points
4. BC - 26 points (PC owns the head-to-head against us)
6. Northeastern - 24 points (luckily lost to Lowell tonight in OT)

Disappointing. Deflating. We'll need a huge turnaround tomorrow to get back on track. Here are the third period and game end likes and dislikes:

Likes:

• Whitney from the blue line. 3-2 Friars.
• A great flurry and an opportunity with roughly a minute to play, but ultimately too little, too late.
• Once again, getting way more opportunities than our opponent. We outshot the Friars 37-24.
  
• Overall, though, not much to like here. I'm really not sure where we go from here other than a desperately needed 2 point outing tomorrow night in Providence ...
  

Dislikes:

• Muse is the only goalie in Hockey East to start every game in net. I'm starting to question this season's plan by York. I'm usually not one to question anything about York given my enormous (albeit hetero) man-crush on him, but I'm genuinely curious. Has Margolin been red-shirted? Is he injured? More analysis on this in the coming days.
  
• Where is Gerbe and his Hobey hopes? Unless he does something incredible over the next 8 days, and in both postseason tournaments, his odds of taking home college hockey's most prestigious hardware is approaching 0%.
  
• Terrible penalty taken (Brennan with interference) with 3 only minutes to play. Essentially put the game out of reach.
  
• I wanted to give the crowd the benefit of the doubt (with late arrivals), but it didn't look any better come the 3rd period. Just thinking about loud here: shouldn't BC's event staff encourage those still sitting in the rafters after two periods to move into the red seats to watch the 3rd period? At least make it look respectable on television ...
  

For those readers curious about the ACC Select experience for hockey, here are some observations:

• For the first 11 minutes of the broadcast (including the opening comments and player introductions), there was no sound. I was getting a bit concerned until randomly it turned on ...
• Also, there's no sound or commentary between periods either
• The announcing quality is well, tolerated. If you can mute the game and listen on radio, that might be a bit better. "This is low quality broadcasting right here." and "I could poop." - color guy, ACC Select.com. Yep, they really said it.
• They flash advertisements and full-screen placards as play is going on. Somewhat annoying.
• And my biggest beef with the ACC Select hockey experience is they don't show the game clock on the screen, what team is on the power play, or how much time is left on the man-advantage. You don't realize how much you need these facts while watching a hockey game until you don't have them.
  

Overall, though, for big game viewing (read: Hockey East tournament time) and if you have a night off, its a viable option to catch our Eagles live for this New York resident. I'd be interested in seeing viewership numbers of BC hockey games on ACC Select to see how many people are watching and if its a viable medium for BC hockey. I can't imagine many people watch considering BC is the only ACC school that has a major D-I hockey program. And those who do watch are motivated by their online sports betting habits...not that there's anything with sports betting.

Let's hope the Eagles can get back on track tomorrow with a win at Providence. Otherwise, it might be another miserable weekend for Eagles fans ...

BC v. Providence In-Game Comments: 2nd Period

Deflated, through 2 periods. Only a few minutes after we draw within 1, Muse gives up another really poor loose puck right in front of the net. 3-1 Friars after 2 periods.

Likes:

• John Muse gets some confidence back with a huge stop on a penalty shot awarded to Providence about halfway through the period. If that goes in, this game is essentially over.
• Decent penalty kill from 9:11-7:11 after a stupid penalty by Petrecki
  
• We have some life. Orpik with the PP goal to cut the deficit to 1 with about 3 minutes left in the period.
  
• Outshooting our opponent 26 to 17. What is a like is also a ...
  

Dislikes:

• Did I mention that Sims was standing on his head and Muse wasn't up to the task? Midway through the second period, Sims had 17 saves and Muse had 3, and had let in 2 goals. I don't need to bust out my calculator to know that that's a poor goals against average through half the game.
• Both teams had stretches where they couldn't get anything together.
• Oh no! Bertram missed a WIDE open net to draw the Eagles closer.
• And Muse gives it right back with 2 minutes to play. Terrible puck management and a really soft goal. 3-1 Friars.
  

On to the 3rd period ...

BC v. Providence In-Game Comments: 1st Period

Brian: Yep, I shelled out the $4.99 to watch the game on ACC Select. This was actually the first game of the year I've gotten to watch live (read alot of online articles and looked over a ton of box scores). Here are my thoughts on the game after 1 period, 2-0 Friars.

Likes

• BC came out of the gate strong. The first 5 minutes were dominated by BC. Then Muse let in a really soft goal and all of the team's confidence was lost.
  
• BC's aggressive play. In typical BC fashion, we outshot Providence in the first period.
  

Dislikes

• A tale of two goaltenders. Muse looks like a freshman. Providence's Tyler Sims looks like a senior. It looks like Muse's confidence is completely shot after letting in two really soft goals.
• Gerbe misses a golden opportunity. He went in almost unabated on a breakaway and came up short. This team really needs him to step up down the stretch if we have any hope of making noise in the Hockey East tournament.
  
• Home ice advantage. What home ice advantage? I understand that this ticket wasn't in the student ticket package (since BC's spring break is March 3-7 and many students have headed home), but maybe the BC Athletic Department should rethink that strategy. Wouldn't it be better to give those tickets to students to give to other students / friends that will be in the area over break? Also, consider that the last two regular season home games aren't in the student season ticket package. That's really a downer for this class of seniors and Senior Day next Friday against Northeastern. The arena looks very empty. Really depressing.
  

Here's to hoping we have a better second period ...