This is the fourth of four previews for teams playing in the 2023 NCAA Men’s Frozen Four this week in St. Paul, Minn. Click here for all of USCHO’s Frozen Four coverage.
Boston College Eagles
Season record: 33-5-1
How they got to St. Paul: Won the Providence Regional, beating Michigan Tech 6—1 and Quinnipiac 5-4 in overtime
Top players: F Will Smith (23-46-69), F Cutter Gauthier (37-27-64), F Ryan Leonard (31-28-59)
Top goalie: Jacob Fowler (31-5-1, 2.20 goals-against average, .924 save percentage)
Why they’ll win the national championship: You don’t win 14 straight games by accident. They have two of the top three goal scorers in the nation in Gauthier and Leonard. The Eagles have shown they can win by blowout and rally to force overtime and put opponents away once there.
Why they won’t win the national championship: It’s been seven years since an overall No. 1 tournament seed went on to win the NCAA championship.
It’s not an annual tradition like the Boston Marathon or opening day at Fenway Park, but it happens so often it might as well be considered a rite of spring on the Boston sports calendar: The Boston College men’s hockey team going to the Frozen Four.
It’s happened 25 times in the storied program’s history, and the Hockey East champion Eagles made it No. 26 when it knocked off defending NCAA champ Quinnipiac 5-4 in overtime in the Providence regional.
“It’s a pretty impressive tradition here at BC and it’s something that it’s tough to kind of live up to, and I think that this group we have is pretty special,” said BC grad student forward Jack Malone, whose goal just over three minutes into overtime sent the Eagles to their first Frozen Four since 2016.
“The work that we put in, I think we’re very proud of what we have accomplished so far. We’re just going to continue that, to honor that tradition.”
This year saw a remarkable turnaround for BC, which went 33-5-1 and was the No. 1 team in the USCHO.com D-I men’s poll for a good chunk of the season after a disappointing 14-16-6 campaign in 2022-23. The Eagles were the No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament one year after failing to qualify for the Hockey East semifinals at the TD Garden following a 1-0 quarterfinal loss at Merrimack.
Enter a recruiting class with 11 freshmen, including goalie Jacob Fowler, forwards Will Smith, Gabe Perreault and Ryan Leonard (all three of whom were named Hockey East rookie of the week at least once), defenseman Aram Minnetian (who scored the goal against Quinnipiac that forced overtime) and the aforementioned Malone, a Cornell transfer.
“I think that talent in all those guys kind of speaks for themselves,” Fowler said. “They’re all super special hockey players. But we have a lot of special people in our room as well. Just having that kind of off-ice relationship with every guy and our staff included, makes it really easy to kind of step into a new environment and just have success. Everybody here just wants the best for you. Every resource we have was just to kind of better ourselves and I’m really happy to be part of this group.”
Then there was the emergence of sophomore forward Cutter Gauthier, a Hockey East all-rookie last season who is now one of three finalists for the Hobey Baker Award, which goes to college hockey’s most outstanding player. He leads the nation in goals scored — his two tallies in the regional final against Quinnipiac were his 36th and 37th of the year, the highest-single season total in the NCAA since 2005-06.
With Gauthier and Leonard (third in the nation in goals scored with 31) leading the offense, the Eagles steamrolled their way through the Hockey East tournament, outscoring opponents 19-7, including a 6-2 romp over the No. 2 team in the country, crosstown rival Boston University (and fellow Frozen Four participant) in the championship game. That followed a 6-1 blowout of CCHA champ Michigan Tech in the NCAA tournament first round, before the Eagles had to rally from three different deficits to finally beat Quinnipiac (ECAC Hockey) in overtime for their 14th straight victory.
The Eagles’ opponent on Thursday night will be Michigan (B1G), with the puck to drop at 8:30 EDT (ESPN2, ESPN-plus).
Overseeing it all is Greg Brown, who took over for Jerry York in 2022 when the legendary coach stepped down after 28 years and four national championships at BC.
Inexperience in the Frozen Four spotlight might be the only thing to trip up BC’s players, given how dominant they’ve played all season. But while this is Brown’s first trip to the Frozen Four as a head coach, he will be drawing on plenty of experience as an assistant under York, whom he helped win BC’s most recent national championships (out of five overall) in 2008, 2010 and 2012.
“You learn something every time you go to the Frozen Four,” Brown said. “The first time, I was just observing. Fortunately for me, Coach York (had) been there several times. So they had it pretty down pat. I’m glad I’ve been through this a few times, so I know what to expect. The biggest thing is not letting the kids get upset or be distracted by the different schedules we have when we get to the Frozen Four.”
