We have come upon the final weekend of the fall semester in BC hockey, and the men will close out its semester with a home-and-home against an old friend in Mike Cavanaugh and the UConn Huskies. Let’s break it down.

1. Knocking off the rust: UConn was never expected to blow the doors off the league, but the Huskies did get a surprising point on the weekend against UMass Amherst. Certainly UMass Amherst’s stock has fallen a little bit since that weekend, but a point is definitely nothing to sneeze at. With that said, because of COVID-related cancellations, the Huskies haven’t played since Nov. 21. Everyone has been playing an odd schedule—it’s a fact of life— but that’s an awfully long layover between games. Will the Huskies be up to the task, or will rust hold them back?
2. Not-so-friendly confines: Because of attendance restrictions related to COVID, the Huskies have eschewed its usual digs at the XL Center in Hartford in favor of its practice arena, the Freitas Ice Forum. On the spectrum of “Yeah, these are technically Hockey East arenas!” to “UMass Lowell is playing in an actual AHL arena!” Freitas trends more towards the former. It’s almost reminiscent of Merrimack’s Lawler Arena, in all of its bandbox glory. I mention this because Lawler is a building where, no matter BC’s skill level in a year, the Eagles struggle. It’s hard to qualitatively evaluate why that’s the case (sight-lines?) but it’s something to keep an eye out for since the Eagles tend to not play as well in those bandbox arenas.
3. Don’t play down to the opponent: Look, this is not a UConn team that’s going to be in a national championship conversation. It does what it can, but it usually finds itself at the bottom of the league. With that said, the Huskies have shown they can sneak up on good teams, and BC cannot let up on the accelerator pedal they’ve been pushing the past two weekends.

Random, Possibly Incorrect Fact from UConn’s Wikipedia Page

The Storrs campus is 4,440 acres.

Barley and Hops Based Alcoholic Beverage of the Game

Narangansett

When I lived in Athens, there was this bar that prided itself in having just a wide variety of assorted craft beer from all over the place. On the board they had recommendations, and the bartenders all came up with their recommendations of beer on sale. Some came up with Athenian beer, some from Birmingham, some from Atlanta. And then… one dude picked Narangansett. Like… why? I realize that because it has a New England-y name they probably thought it was bougie, but… it’s ‘gansett. You don’t buy that to be sophisticated, you buy it because you want a super cheap beer to drink.

Anyway, drink the beer equivalent of going to UConn, something you do when you have no other good choices.

Is Jonathon a Good Boy?

Yes. Yes he is.

Predictions:

I think BC launches UConn in the opener in Chestnut Hill, but I am concerned about the Freitas game. I think BC wins that game, but I also think it’ll be too close for comfort.

Fri: BC 6 UConn 0

Sat: BC 3 UConn 2