Soooooo good news bad news.
Good news is that BC has clinched a spot in the Hockey East tournament, meaning they will have a shot to get to the Garden and win the Hockey East championship and the conference’s autobid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bad news is that they will almost certainly have to go to another campus to get there.
playoffstatus.com currently lists BC as having merely an ~11% chance of finishing in a spot with a home tournament series in the first round. That means that there is an 89% chance BC goes on the road in the tournament. What’s worse, while there is a significant amount of statistical uncertainty, BC’s most likely finishing spot is the eighth spot, where the Eagles will almost certainly have to travel to Amherst to make it to the Garden.
The thing is that BC, with two games against Northeastern and a game against Providence coming up, controls its destiny for the third and fourth spots in the tournament. But that does mean that BC cannot slip this upcoming weekend against a team that... let’s just say it struggled against the last time the two teams played. And Maine has a lot to play for too in terms of seeding, so this will not be a pushover of a game.
So what’s going on with this two game series in Orono?
What to Watch For
- Struggling in the second period: Last week’s games followed the same blueprint: play a competitive game in the first, fall apart in the second. It’s a blueprint that has crept up more times than most BC fans are happy about this year (including, incidentally, the last game BC and Maine played). The Eagles can’t let it happen again.
- Better Defensive Play: This goes without much explanation. The defense needs to be better than it was in January
- It’s crunch time: This is the part of the season where there can’t be any mistakes. These games matter a whole lot now.
Random, Possibly Incorrect Fact from Maine’s Wikipedia Page
The Black Bears are Maine’s only Division I athletic program.
Drink of the Game
Water
No nonsense this weekend. Get the job done.
Maine’s Mascot
This is mostly here for Laura’s benefit.
Predictions
This is a big series, not just for BC but for Maine too. There’s a lot in terms of tournament implications riding on this weekend. I think BC bucks the trend of poor play on the road for one game but drops the next.
Maine Predictions
Name | Who Will Win Friday? | What Will Be The Score? | Who Will Win Saturday? | What Will Be The Score? | In Five Words Or Less, Describe Your Thoughts On Losing To Maine 7-1 Earlier In The Season: |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Name | Who Will Win Friday? | What Will Be The Score? | Who Will Win Saturday? | What Will Be The Score? | In Five Words Or Less, Describe Your Thoughts On Losing To Maine 7-1 Earlier In The Season: |
Grant | Boston College | 3-2 | Boston College | 4-2 | I forced out that memory |
Steven | Boston College | 3-2 | Maine | 4-1 | I envied those not watching |
Peter | Boston College | 4-1 | Boston College | 3-2 | Meh, it's just a game. |
Laura | Boston College | Baldwin > Bananas | Boston College | Eagles > Black bears that look like panthers | Bananas is my enemy |
Arthur | Boston College | 3-2 | Maine | 2-1 | Whyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy |