Best Moments of the 2015-16 Boston College Hockey Season: Part III

There are five moments to go in our countdown of the best moments of the 2015-16 BC hockey season. Let's get right to it:

5. March 6 - BC demolishes BU in the women's Hockey East final, breaks the hex

In theory, this should have been ho-hum and not particularly exciting. As BC thrashed the competition in Hockey East this year, it was reasonable to think they'd also have no trouble winning the conference tournament. But as anyone who follows the program knows, for four straight years, BU inexplicably went on a winning streak in the Hockey East title, tripping up BC year after year.

After BC qualified for this year's final, it was expected that they'd play Northeastern, a top-8 team all year. Nope - BU pulled the upset. BC would have to slay the BU dragon themselves.

And slay they did. BC ran BU out of the building, holding the Terriers without a single shot on goal (by our count; the official scorer gave them 1) for the entire first period.

This was fun.

4. February 8: Alex Tuch delivers the Beanpot for BC

This was the culmination of a truly epic game - one of the best in a long line of great BC-BU games at TD Garden. After 60 scoreless, breath-taking minutes of regulation, the Eagles and Terriers battled in to OT with the Beanpot on the line.

That's when Alex Tuch stepped up and scored the signature goal of his BC career, giving BC their 6th Beanpot title in 7 years;

3. March 26: Eagles survive a late scare to advance to the Frozen Four

There's a debate to be had about the value of the various trophies and accomplishments and what means more. It's often pretty obvious that to Jerry York (and to most of us at BCI) going to the Frozen Four is the next biggest deal after winning it all. It's putting yourself on the biggest stage for maximum exposure and team building - and of course, giving yourself a chance to play for the national title.

It helps for purposes of our countdown that BC survived and advanced in to the Frozen Four in dramatic, hair-raising fashion, with Austin Cangelosi helping clear the puck off the line in the final seconds to prevent OT and secure an Eagle victory over Minnesota-Duluth:

2. March 18: BC women top Clarkson in OT to advance to national championship game

I know, some of the shine comes off this one because they didn't win the national title game on the ensuing Sunday. But it's hard to overstate just how important Haley Skarupa's OT winning goal against Clarkson was in terms of BC women's hockey history. It put BC in to the national title game for the first time in program history, and it culminated a tremendous comeback that truly tested the heart and a resolve of a team that pretty easily skewered most of the teams they played all year.

Ultimately, there's really no shame in losing to Minnesota or Wisconsin in women's hockey - they're pretty much the Boss Level. But it would have stung really badly to go in to the Frozen Four 39-0 and come out with a loss to an Eastern team in a national semifinal. BC avoided that and put themselves in to the ring with the Gophers; win or lose, that's worth remembering fondly.

1. January 22 - #JY1K happens in style

OK, so 1,000 is just a number. But 1,000 was a great, months-long opportunity to reflect upon just what Jerry York has meant to both the BC program and college hockey itself. The fact that the win came in style - an 8-0 rout over UMass - just added to the fun.