Boston College Men’s Hockey vs. Connecticut Preview

Following a rough performance against Northeastern going into the finals break, the Boston College Eagles are hosting the UConn Huskies for the second time this year. The Eagles beat the Huskies earlier this season 2-1 in the midst of their seven game winning streak. With Aapeli Räsänen and Joe Woll on international duty at the World Junior Classic, Ryan Edquist will likely get the nod, and the lines will be shuffled to accommodate the absence.

GAME DETAILS

Who: Connecticut Huskies (8-11-2, 5-7-1 HEA) at

Boston College Eagles (9-7-2, 9-3-0 HEA)

What: The second of three meetings between the two teams.

When: Saturday, December 30 @ 3:00 PM

Where: Conte Forum, Chestnut Hill, MA

Why: Because.

How to Watch: ESPN3

How to Listen: WEEI 850 AM or BCEagles.com

Live Stats: (x)

How to Follow: @BCHockey, @BCInterruption, @LBerestecki, @Salzano14, @JoeGrav, @ArthurBailin, @Caligraphy15.

STATS

Goals per game: BC: 2.7 Conn.: 2.9

Opponent goals per game: BC: 2.9 Conn.: 2.9

Power play conversion: BC: 14.3% NU: 22.0%

Penalty kill: BC: 80.5% NU: 80.5%

Penalties per game: BC: 6.2 NU: 4.8

Face-off percentage: BC: 52.0% NU: 55.2%

Ice Cream of the Game

Many of our other previews feature a beverage of the game, but this year we’ll be picking an ice cream dessert of the game for MIH games. Why, you ask? Because when Jerry York got the BC coaching job, he went out for ice cream sundaes to celebrate.

Laura gave me control of the men’s hockey preview this week, and I’m home for the holidays, so I’m going to add a bunch of Philly related things. MUAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAH

Anyway, frequent visitors to the site know I’m a big fan of Turkey Hill products. Its cookies n’ cream ice cream is particularly solid.

Cat Dog Predictions

Every game, we have the cats of the Ellen M. Gifford Cat Shelter (located right across from BC at 30 Undine Road) predict the outcome of the games. The Gifford Cat Shelter is the oldest cageless, no-kill shelter in the USA.

Today, however, we’re doing something different. Since I do not have a cat, we instead will use my dog, a little Shih-Tzu.

I put her treats down, and she looked at them and refused to move away from our fireplace. She’s predicting a 0-0 tie.

Actual Cat Predictions

Laura’s cat, Yorkie, predicted that BC would be victorious 2-0.

Human Predictions

Laura: BC 3, Conn. 2

Grant: BC 2, Conn. 1

Steven: BC 4, Conn. 2

Arthur: BC 3, Conn. 1

Prediction Standings (3 points for the 100% correct score, 2 points for the correct outcome & goal differential, 1 point for the correct outcome)

Laura: 15

Grant: 14

Arthur: 11

Steven: 6

Cats: 5

Eaglekeeper: 3

AJ: 1

Share your prediction in the comments!