Boston College Daily Links: Opponents Preview BC

Good morning! For some reason, three different opposing teams' newspapers decided it was their day to preview their team's matchup with BC yesterday. As such, there's plenty of football-related reading, though much of it is redundant:

Better know a '14 opponent: Boston College - Roanoke Times: Andy Bitter Virginia Tech Football

This team will still be a tough out. It's still going to bring a hard-nosed rushing attack wherever it goes, with an offensive line that will test the mettle of any defensive line, and it'll have a physical defense that historically has been tough to handle in its front seven.

Except for 2009, nothing has come particularly easy for the Hokies against Boston College. I'd expect it to be similar this year, despite a point spread that, at least right now, is more than two touchdowns.

The Eagles' winning formula worked into the second quarter of last year's meeting, as they won the battle on the line of scrimmage. Running lanes were open often and swing passes were plentiful. It was another slow start for the FSU defense, which was an early point of contention among the fan base.

Coach Brian Kelly received his 14th verbal commitment for the 2015 class today from K Justin Yoon (Milton, MA - Milton Academy). He is listed at 5'11"/185 lbs. Yoon has visited Notre Dame twice this month after receiving his scholarship offer. He was on campus most recently on Sunday and chose the Irish over Stanford and Northwestern. He also held offers from Boston College and Texas A&M.

The Carolina Hurricanes continue their busy day with another signing, this time locking up Nathan Gerbe for two years.  The forward will be paid $1.5 million in year one and $2 million in year two of his new deal.

While even first-round defensemen and forwards carry risk that they will never materialize into everyday NHL players, goaltender seems to be an especially risky and volatile position. Out of 25 first-round goaltender picks, I would say that only Price and Rask are franchise goaltenders. Of the remaining first-round goaltenders, only Schneider, Lehtonen, Bernier, and Varlamov able to post a >.914 Sv% over 100 games.

Well, just because Hannu Toivonen didn't work out doesn't mean Demko won't, right? For the sake of argument, let's assume that Demko is going to be at least a Fleury or Ward-level player. Even if we allow for that, it's unlikely that Demko will be up anytime soon. Goaltenders often take a longer time to develop, and the possibility that Demko wouldn't be NHL-ready in 3 or 4 years is very realistic. The likelihood of him being the solution to the Wild's goaltending problems anytime soon is very slim.

This is a compelling article; I read it wondering what the knocks against Demko were going to be, but there weren't any. The article had nothing but good things to say about Demko's ability. But it points out - rightly, I think - that drafting a goalie in the first round is a very risky proposition. I would tend to agree with that assessment, though I'm sure Demko is going to be a pretty high pick.