Boston College Men’s Hockey v. Notre Dame: Final Thoughts and Predictions

Hello everyone. After the long break, Boston College takes on a familiar foe in Notre Dame in a precursor to Tuesday’s NHL Winter Classic in South Bend at Notre Dame Stadium.

Now before we begin, it’s probably worth noting this is the first time these two teams have played since the 2016-17 season, and it’s probably worth looking back as to why.

A long time ago in a galaxy far away, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hockey program, after a history of playing jump rope with Division I status, joined the CCHA and flirted with success in the latter-aughts. But then conference realignment happened, and Notre Dame needed a place to land. For some reason, Joe Bertagna thought it would a good idea to offer them a spot in Hockey East. (It wasn’t). Notre Dame then joined Hockey East and it was predictably a bad fit, but it did mean that BC got to play Notre Dame every year, which was fun. But Notre Dame was never happy. Maybe it had something to do with Jeff Jackson not being able to complain his way to getting officials to give them calls (#freemadigan). At that point the Big Ten, another college hockey entity with a flashy name and terrible underachievement, came calling, and Notre Dame fled Hockey East, and GIF posts may or not have been made to commemorate the moment. At that point the Eagles wouldn’t play the Irish every year regularly, except when games are scheduled out of conference. So, moral of the story: Jeff Jackson complains too much, and Joe Bertagana needs to be more intentional with expansion.

Random, Definitely Incorrect Fact from Notre Dame’s Wikipedia Page

Notre Dame participated in the 2018-19 College Football Playoff

Things to Watch Out For

1. #tendylife: Notre Dame has achieved a great deal of success this season off the back of some excellent goaltending. Cale Morris will be the probable starter for the Irish, but whether it is Morris or Dylan St. Cyr, the goaltending for Notre Dame has been absolutely phenomenal and should be something to keep an eye on for BC.
2. In Cotton We Trust: David Cotton has been an absolute godsend for the Eagles, averaging 1.29 points per game this season. Along with Julius Mattila and Logan Hutsko, the three have become one of the strongest lines in hockey. The rest of the team are starting to come into their own, but the Eagles’ efforts are going to be spearheaded by those three guys.
3. Oliver Wahlstrom: Yeah all I’ve really got is that he’ll not be playing. Something about representing his country at World Juniors. Seems made up.

Alcoholic Beverage of the Game

Water

Water is the alcoholic beverage of the game, because what is water but a liquid devoid of anything fun or interesting? Just like South Bend.

Am I Salty About the College Football Playoff?

Duh. Go Clemson I guess.

Expand the playoff to eight teams. You know you want to. All arguments against it are dumb and stupid. (go dawgs)

Predictions:

This is a game that is going to be a battle of wits between the Cotton-Mattila-Hutsko and whoever is in net for Notre Dame. I think there’s a tie.