Updated: Sonny Milano to sign with Columbus Blue Jackets

Sonny Milano has informed @BCHockeyNews that he will sign a professional contract with the Columbus Blue Jackets organization.
— BC Hockey (@BCHockeyNews) August 16, 2014

This seems to be a re-occurring theme for some of the USNDT players. Like I told someone the other day, until they come on Campus they're a threat to not make it to campus, especially if they were drafted high. It's a big loss for Boston College Eagles, but they're still a very loaded hockey team. My money says that Milano will end up with the Plymouth Whalers of the OHL.

Jerry York: “Sonny has informed me he will sign a contract with Columbus. They will dictate his path as he embarks upon his pro career.”
— BC Hockey (@BCHockeyNews) August 16, 2014

CBJ 1st round pick Sonny Milano will not attend Boston College, has chosen to play with @PWhalers of the OHL this season.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) August 17, 2014

According to @Aportzline, Milano will sign his ELC in the next few days.
— Jeff Marek (@JeffMarek) August 17, 2014

Congrats to Jerry York... Tonight will get win 926

I would like to congratulate Boston College head coach Jerry York who won his 925 game last night, that’s no small feat. York has been coaching since the 1972-73 season, when he was the head coach of the Clarkson Knight’s.

Over a span of 40+ years and 1579 games York has compiled an impressive record of (925-559-95).

York won his first NCAA title 12 years after he became a head coach in 1983-84, when he was the head coach of the Bowling Green Falcons.

Over the years, York's teams have compiled an impressive record 37 wins in the NCAA tournament. In his 19 years with the Eagle, York has won the Hockey East tournament nine times. York’s Eagles have also won five Beanpot titles – including the last three in a row.

Here is the link to the video of post-game press conference after his 925 win.

Prediction: tonight, I predict that York’s will get 926 against the Minnesota Gophers.

Men's Hockey Coaching Records

A week after the onslaught

Boston College Eagles men's ice hockey (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

After taking some time to let last weekend’s Frozen Four sink in; the first comment I want to make is that there is no shame in the Gophers or the Ferris State Bulldogs losing to the Boston College Eagles. The 2011-12 version of the Boston College Eagles is one of the best NCAA championship teams that I have seen for a very long time.

I was eviscerated by Gopher fans for my prediction that the Boston College Eagles would beat the Golden Gophers 5-1, I know I was off; the final score ended up being 6-1; silly me. 

Losing to the Boston College Eagles should never be looked at as a "chock job" either, I think we can put that to bed right now.

Let’s also not forget that Jerry York “will” be in the U.S. Hockey Hall of fame when he is done coaching, I would bet my next pay check on that.

Let’s break York’s impressive record down further.

Currently, coach York is the winingest active division I college hockey coach and he has been coaching for 40 seasons and started coaching during the 1972-73 season with the Clarkson Knights.

Coach York with 913 career wins and has a coaching record of 913-557-94 and an impressive record of 446-222-60 at Boston College.

York’s has led Boston College to ten Frozen Fours while he was the coach of the Eagles – 1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2004, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2010 and 2012. York’s Eagles have four Frozen Fours at Boston College since the 2000-01 season.

Overall, York’s teams have also won an impressive 5 NCAA championships.

As a fan of team that has been beaten by the Eagles, let me just say I seen this act before and I really didn’t enjoy it very much. I am sure the Ferris State and Minnesota fans felt the same way a week later.

Let me just say that, the Boston College Eagles are a very good hockey team that plays well in all three zones on the ice and we need to give credit where credit. There is no shame losing to the Eagles.

This season’s version of the Boston College Eagles won an unprecedented 19 games in a row and during that winning streak the Eagles didn’t give up more than three goals in any game. That’s impressive in any hockey league.

The last game the Eagles lost was when they were swept by the Maine Black Bears back on January 27-28 when the Eagles lost both games of a weekend series in Orono, Maine (3-4 L, 4-7 L).  Since the late January display of mediocrity the Eagles were flawless.

After being swept by the Black Bears, the Eagles record stood at 14-10-1 and looked like they were an average bubble team and they were in the Pairwise Rankings. We all know how that turned out. 

My question is, will team’s finally change the way they recruit (fast forwards, some of them under sized and a very mobile defense corps, that play both ends of the ice well) based on the way the Eagles have steamrolled the opposition when they get to the Frozen Four?

Just for the record, Boston College only had 9 NHL draft choices on their team as opposed to the Minnesota Gophers who had 17.

Related articles

• My prediction for the Frozen Four (ndgoon.blogspot.com)

Friday morning reading...

Image via WikipediaThe Boston College Eagles are back up and running and are going to be a force to be reckoned with this season. Check out the classic quote by Eagles head coach Jerry York. One think I learned from last weekend is that York always has something witty to say. You have to love the quote about playing cupcakes.

ESPN Boston ---- Last weekend, Boston College sat at No. 5 in the two major national hockey polls. That was before the Eagles swept through the annual Ice Breaker Tournament, downing Michigan State (5-2) and then No. 3 North Dakota (6-2). Coupled with losses by Miami and Notre Dame, those results made the Eagles the overwhelming choice as the nation's No. 1 team in both polls.

"It was a good start for us, but we emphasized all week that it's just a start," said BC coach Jerry York. "We've always tried to schedule teams like Denver or North Dakota early. If you put a cupcake schedule in front of your kids, it can create a sense of false manhood, because they think 'Hey, we're really good, because we're undefeated.' You've got to be tested."

The Eagles passed their first-week exams with flying colors. But things don't get any easier for York's crew, as they host WCHA heavyweight Denver, sitting at No. 3 in both polls, on Friday night, and then travel to No. 15/16 New Hampshire on Saturday. Of course, the same can be said for the Pioneers, who open their 2011-12 campaign with a Northeast swing through the iron of Hockey East, playing at Boston University on Saturday after their stop at BC.

Here is what Rachel Lenzi beat writer of the Maine Black Bears has to say in today's Portland Press Herald. Looks like both teams know what is on the line this weekend when they face off in the Ralph.

Portland Press Herald --- In last Friday's 2-1 loss to Merrimack, the Black Bears (1-1) believed they put forth the effort but didn't assert themselves in front of the opposing goal.

In Sunday's 6-3 win over Northeastern, Maine captain Will O'Neill said his team brought a certain attitude and edge to its game, one that the Black Bears, ranked 17th in the USCHO.com top 20 poll, will have to sustain not just this weekend against North Dakota (1-1) but through the season.

"When we came out Friday night, we thought we were ready," O'Neill said. "We thought we were prepared. We thought we were going to go out there and work. The effort was there Friday night, but we needed to work hard in the right areas.

"On Sunday, we had more focus and we utilized our hard work and our tenacity. It's very difficult to sustain that in sports, but that's what good teams do. Good teams show up every night and very rarely do they lay an egg. That's where we want to be."

The Fighting Sioux represent that standard. The Sioux have won seven national championships and when they face the Black Bears at Ralph Engelstad Arena in Grand Forks, N.D., will return 14 players from last year's team that reached the Frozen Four, losing 2-0 to Michigan in a national semifinal.

UND MEN’S HOCKEY: Sioux eager for another shot against Maine [Grand Forks Herald]

How to watch this weekends games

RADIO: 96.1 The Fox (KQHT-FM) • WEBCAST: www.fightingsioux.com
TV: Fighting Sioux Sports Network, Fox College Sports Central, MidcoSN3,
DirecTV 617 (Friday), DirecTV 623 (Saturday)

Jerry York after the Ice Breaker tourney.

Check out of what Jerry York head coach of the Boston College Eagles had to say after his team won the Ice Breaker Tourney this past weekend in Grand Forks, ND.  York has been coaching college hockey for a very long time and I found his post game comments to be interesting. Notice how coach York also gave the Sioux kudos and credit for their play in the game. s/t to Nate Ewell the Communications for College Hockey Inc.

Ice Breaker Championship - Eagles 6 and Sioux 2

Image via WikipediaGame Four - University of North Dakota Fighting versus Boston College Eagles

Fighting Sioux forward Roco Grimaldi will make his Fighting Sioux debut tonight. The Eagles are 3-0-1 against the Fighting Sioux in their last four games. The Fighting Sioux hold the series edge over the Eagles, 11-10-1 in 22 games. The Eagles are 6-3-1 against the Fighting Sioux under head coach Jerry York. The Eagles under York have a  4-2 against the Sioux in the NCAA tourney. 

Scoring - 1^st Period (20:00)                                    

B.C. Pat Mullane (1) (Johnny Gaudreau) 2:21   

UND Corban Knight (2) (Danny Kristo) 15:55   SH

Scoring - 2nd Period (20:00) 

UND Derek Forbort (1) (Mark MacMillan) 5:23   

BC Chris Kreider (2) (Bill Arnold, Patch Alber) 7:27 

BC Johnny Gaudreau (1) (Bill Arnold, Steven Whitney) 13:16   

BC  Pat Mullane (2) (Johnny Gaudreau, Patrick Wey) 16:05   

BC Bill Arnold (1) (Paul Carey, Tommy Cross) 17:14     

Scoring - 3rd Period (20:00) 

BC  Steven Whitney (2) (Pat Mullane, Johnny Gaudreau) 15:15   

Box Score

Fighting Sioux Lines

29 Brock Nelson – 10 Corban Knight (A) – 7 Danny Kristo
9 Mario Lamoureux (C) – 27 Carter Rowney – 15 Michael Parks
21 Brendan O’Donnell – 16 Mark MacMillan – 19 Rocco Grimaldi

28 Stephane Pattyn – 14 Taylor Dickin –  11 Derek Rodwell

Defensive Pairings

4 Derek Forbort – Ben Blood (A)
2 Andrew MacWilliam (A) – Dillon Simpson
5 Nick Mattson – 20 Joe Gleason
22 Andrew Panzarella

Goalies

32 Aaron Dell
31 Brad Eidsness
35 Tate Maris

Scratches for UND: 13 Connor Gaarder, 19 Roco Grimaldi, 17 Colten St. Clair, 8 Dan Senkbell

Fighting Sioux Roster

Fighting Sioux Stats

Boston College lines

9 Barry Almeida (A) - 12 Kevin Hayes - 22 Paul Carey (A)
19 Chris Kreider - 24 Bill Arnold - Destry Straight
13 Johnny Gaudreau - 11 Pat Mullane - 21 Steven Whitney
28 Tommy Atkinson - 23 Patrick Brown - 10 Danny Linell

Defense Pairings

4 Tommy Cross (C) - Patch Alber
2 Brian Dumoulin - 8 Edwin Shea
7 Issac MacLeod - 6 Patrick Wey

Goalies

35 Parker Milner
30 Chris Venti
1 Brian Billett

Boston College Eagles Scratches: 5 Mark Bergert, 14 Brooks Dyroff, 15 Cam Spiro, 18 Michael Sit, 27 Quinn Smith, 29 Brad Barone

Eagles Roster

Eagles Stats

Quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker Tourney

Image via WikipediaHere are some of the quotes from day one of the Ice Breaker tourney.

This is what first year head coach Tom Anastos had this to say about his Michigan State University Spartan after their loss to the Boston College Eagles.

“I thought our guys showed a good energy level to compete, you know we certainly made our share of mistakes and against a team of this caliber they usually end up in our net and they did. There were definitely a number of good things that we can take away from the game but you know we have a long way to go."

"I think we have to make sure for sixty minutes we make good decisions all over the ice. At times tonight we did make good decisions and at other times we made some bad choices and made it easier to play against us. So we have to be a hard team to play against for sixty minutes we weren’t all night tonight.”

Boston College Eagles Head Coach Jerry York had to say this after his team beat the Spartans 5-2.

“For our club we haven’t had an exhibition game, it was our first real opportunity to play a game we say a lot of positive signs. One of which was [Parker] Milner who looked very self assured in the net and I think that half the battle with goaltender he made some key saves, he just looked his poise is improved his confidence level is improved. That’s certainly a big plus for our team.

State battled, it was a hard, two - one and they tied it two – two. Chris Kreider he has just become such a force for us and we call it a run of day light and he comes down and cuts across and he is hard to stop he is 225 pounds, he’s strong. Having said that I think State is a good club and I think we have a good club it’s early so we will see how it plays out.”

This is what Fighting Sioux junior forward Corbin Knight had to say about the game against the Air Force Academy Falcons and their rough second period.

“It was just a combination of things; we were playing a little bit of pond hockey out there, we weren’t really playing Sioux hockey. So, guys were running around we just weren’t moving our feet and playing Sioux tough. We knew we needed to make a few adjustments and we were able to make those in the third and we had a strong third. So it was a good learning experience for us.”

This is what Fighting Sioux Head Coach Dave Hakstol had to say about last night’s third period against the Falcons.

"I thought Air Force was doing a really good job early in the period we didn’t get a whole going. You know everything, any possession we had was perimeter, the shift we had with [Mario] Lamoureux, [Carter] Rowney and one of their line mates turned the tide of that period at bit, they got a puck to the net, they jammed a couple of pucks to the crease they seemed to create a little momentum for us. We needed to find a way to generate some momentum after a pretty soft second period."

This is what coach Hakstol had to say on playing the Boston College Eagles in the Championship game of the Ice Breaker Tourney.

"For this early in the year, you know what are we are playing our second game of the year. It’s going to be a fun game; there is a lot of importance on the line, for us we first of all look within our dressing room and make sure that we are improving in a lot of the little areas. You know I said coming into this year we have to build depth and build experience. Hopefully we took a real small step towards that tonight and we have to do the same thing tomorrow."