The lights are low and the crowd is quiet with attention directed toward the ice of Conte Forum’s Kelly Rink. The National Anthem is sung, the players stand at attention on the blue line as the words “the land of the free and the home of the brave” echo up to the nosebleeds where students are packed in to see the first game of the 2021-2022 regular season of Boston College Men’s Ice Hockey. But this isn’t just any old game, it was the start of the 100th official season of Boston College Men’s Hockey.
On Friday, October 15, 2021, the Boston College Men’s Ice Hockey Team faced Northeastern in their season opener. An exciting 5-3 win over the Huskies certainly kicked the Eagles’ centennial season off to a rip roaring start. With the game winning goal for Boston College coming in the middle of the third period forty-five seconds after goal number four, the atmosphere was electric as the BC community cheered in person for the first time in 588 days. In these early days of the season, the Eagles stand at number nine in the U.S. College Hockey Online rankings with a record of three wins, two losses, and one tie.
Coach York’s 50th season as a coach of Division I hockey and his title as the winningest coach in NCAA history provides him with no shortage of experience to carry on and build upon BC’s long standing tradition as an ice hockey powerhouse. Throughout the past century the Boston College Eagles have studied under the tutelage of legends such as John “Snooks” Kelley and Len Ceglarski, and have had the opportunity to become legends in and of themselves. Ed “Butch” Songin who was not only a member of the Eagles’ hockey roster, but also a football star who moved on to become the first ever quarterback of the New England Patriots. As the program has grown throughout the years, many of those who now claim fame and fortune walked the halls as students learning and striving to excel not only athletically, but also academically.
Since the establishment of the men’s hockey team in 1917 and the formation of the NCAA Tournament in 1948, the program has made 37 NCAA Tournament and 25 Frozen Four appearances. The success over the course of the last century seems to beg the question, what is BC’s secret. Some may say it’s simply a stroke of luck on the basis of the quality of players or strength of schedule, but what if there’s something more to it? Could it be the adherence to the Boston College motto of “Ever to Excel” that pushes BC’s athletes and students to look beyond what they desire? To persevere at the moments when it is the last thing they want to do? Looking to this hundredth season; the big question is, when do the Eagles soar? Is it when they are already riding on the crest of victory or is it the moment when all hope seems lost that they soar to new heights?
Julia Danehy is a Sophomore in the William F. Connell School of Nursing a hop, skip, and a jump away from her home town of Fort Myers, FL. With the variety of her interests spanning about a million miles long, in her spare time she can be found exploring history, painting, spending time outdoors, whipping up some form of baked good, or reading anything to do with The Theology of the Body/philosophy in general.
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