World Juniors Troubles For Boston College Hockey?

On Wednesday, three Boston College men's hockey players -- defenseman Brian Dumoulin, forward Chris Kreider and defenseman Patrick Wey -- were named to the 22-man 2011 U.S. National Junior Team final roster. The US National team will compete at the International Ice Hockey Federation World Junior Championships from December 26-January 5 in Buffalo and Niagara.

Kreider is one of eight players returning to this year's U.S. National Team, a team that took home the gold medal at last year's 2010 IIHF World Juniors.

The BC hockey team will be without the services of Dumoulin, Kreider and Wey the next time they take the ice. The Eagles next play on December 30 and 31 in the Ledyard National Bank Classic in Dartmouth, New Hampshire. BC will first take on Colgate before concluding the two-game holiday tournament against either Mercyhurst or Dartmouth. 

The losses of those three key BC players caused SB Nation Boston's Kat Hasenauer Cornetta to wonder what effect this will have on the Eagles over the holidays.

"Boston College will play the Ledyard National Bank Classic in New Hampshire without USA World Junior roster forwards Chris Kreider and Patrick Wey, and defender Brian Dumoulin. The loss of Kreider, who has 5 points in his last 3 games, can be absorbed thanks to the rest of the Eagles' offense, but it's the steely defense of Dumoulin that could present problems. Paired with Patch Alber on the blue line in last weekend's home-and-home against BU, Dumoulin mitigated several Terrier scoring chances on Saturday night. The Eagles roster losses may not come into play against 3-9-1 Colgate, their first round opponent, but could if they square off with 6-3-1 Dartmouth in the second round."

Last season, BC played without Chris Kreider in the Denver Cup against St. Lawrence and host Denver. BC lost both games, 5-2 and 4-3.

As Kat mentioned, I think BC can recover from the loss of Kreider. It's the loss of first-line defensemen Dumoulin and Wey that has me worried. The Eagles will be left with just four defenders who have seen significant playing time this year -- Philip Samuelsson, Isaac MacLeod, Edwin Shea and Patch Alber. Tommy Cross is still out with a knee injury, and it's unclear when he'll be able to return. 

York might have to convert one of his forwards on the bench into a defender for the games against Colgate and Mercyhurst/Dartmouth.