Drop the puck!

I always look forward to Hockey East's Media Day, because its the milepost that indicates that the college hockey season is right around the corner. This year, I covered the festivities for ESPNBoston.com. The main feature can be found here, with the accompanying Notebook posted here. Below, you can find both. Full props to Steven King of Icon SMI for this great shot of Boston College netminder John Muse.

Defending champs tabbed as nation's No. 1
BC faces tall task of repeating, gunning for third crown in four years

Make no mistake. Boston College hockey coach Jerry York knows exactly the odds he's up against this season as his Eagles (29-10-3 overall last year; 16-8-3 Hockey East) look to defend the national crown they won last spring. Minnesota (2002-03) and Denver (2004-05) were each able to repeat earlier this decade, but an East Coast squad hasn't won back-to-back championships since Boston University turned the trick in1971 and 1972.

That hasn't discouraged the pundits, who pegged York's Eagles as the overwhelming preseason favorite in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine Men's College Hockey Poll. BC garnered 28 of 34 first place votes and 504 points, easily outdistancing North Dakota (4 first-place votes, 462 points). Hockey East coaches agreed, giving the Eagles the top spot with a virtual unanimous vote (York cannot vote for BC).

"That's the best hockey team I've seen in a long, long time," said Northeastern coach Greg Cronin. "They could get 40 wins."

But for York, the memory of a lackluster 2008-09 season (18-14-5, no NCAA bid) on the heals of BC's 2008 championship is still fresh. The same thing happened to York's Eagles after their 2001 title run, when they responded with an 18-18-2 mark, and again missed the NCAA cut.

On Wednesday, though, York looked cool, calm and composed during the Hockey East Media Day at TD Bank Garden in Boston. The No. 1 ranking, he said, is simply "an indication that we have a lot of good players."

Like their cross-town rivals Boston University, the BC Eagles don't rebuild as much as they re-load. The leadership void created by the loss of senior captains Matt Price, Ben Smith and Matt Lombardi is expected to be filled capably by seniors Joe Whitney and Brian Gibbons, and junior Tommy Cross. Add senior goaltender John Muse, who already lists two national championships (2008 and 2010) on his glittering collegiate resume, and the Eagles have the players that can crack the whip.

"Obviously, we'll get everybody's best game, every night," said Muse. "I think our guys have prepared this summer. At the end of the day, it will all come down to how hard we work, and how much fun we'll have."

As for coming into each game with a bull's-eye, Muse replied: "When you come to Boston College, there's the expectation to win every year. So I don't think we'll get worn down by expectations."

York concurred, saying that his players understand that Boston College is never a date that opponents look past. Though the coach prefers to nurture his team during the course of the season, allowing younger players time to develop and mature, he knows the No. 1 ranking brings added pressure from the first drop of the puck this year.

"We're accustomed to that," said York. "We also have high expectations. Now it's time to tee it up."

York can afford to be eager. Cross, the highly regarded blueliner (a Boston Bruin draft pick), is finally healthy, and York expects the junior to have a breakout season. Cross heads a young defensive corps that made huge strides last year (Brian Dumolin led Hockey East with an astounding plus-40 rating as a freshman). Muse and goaltending partner Parker Milner shore up the goal. And up front, the Eagles return their top three scorers, and seven of their top nine, from a team that outshot opponents 33 to 26½ per game, and outscored them 171 to 104, last season. Leading that Magnificent Seven are junior Cam Atkinson (53 points), and senior captains Gibbons (50), and Whitney (45).

And more reinforcements are on the way. York's incoming class, with three NHL draft picks, including first-rounder Kevin Hayes (Chicago), is again rock solid, despite the loss of NHL draft pick Cody Ferriero (San Jose) to Northeastern. Ferriero won't have to wait long to get a close look at the team he spurned, as the Eagles and Huskies clash at Northeastern in the season opener on Saturday, Oct. 9. NU's Cronin knows his Huskies will have their hands full.

"BC has so much returning talent," said Cronin. "So much firepower."

York, however, isn’t making predictions. He expects another season-long battle in Hockey East play, pinpointing Maine (ranked No. 2 in the coaches poll), New Hampshire, Boston University and Merrimack as teams he's particularly concerned with. Asked to handicap his team's chances of repeating as NCAA champs, York opted to hold his hand close to the vest. "That's a question that has to be answered in late April," said the coach who has the second most wins (850) in college hockey history.

But York made the statement with the confident air of a man who expects to be there when the final cards are dealt.

NOTEBOOK
BOSTON - While Boston College is looking to defend its national title, here's a look at Hockey East's other Boston-area schools following media day on Wednesday:

Boston University
Legendary BU bench boss Jack Parker has seen plenty of surprises in his 37 seasons at the helm of the Terrier program, but few could have prepared the 65-year-old for the shock he got late last July. Parker went into the hospital to have a stent implant, but left after having quadruple bypass surgery on his heart.

"I feel fine," said Parker on Wednesday. "I was all blocked up. They say I'll have more energy, now that everything's flowing again."

Which leaves the Terrier coach, who has more wins (834) at a single institution than any other hockey coach in NCA history, itching to get back on the ice. He also has a team that he's excited about, despite losing five of last year's top six scorers (only 31-point man Chris Connelly returns).

"We have 17 freshmen and sophomores on the roster, so we're very, very young," said Parker. "It's quite a turnaround from the championship season of two years ago." This coming season, the Terriers must make due without the bruising presence of Eric Gryba (the school's all-time penalty minute record holder), slick puck-moving defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk (who left a year early to pursue his pro career with the Colorado Avalanche), and feisty forward Nick Bonino. The loss of Bonino, a face-off specialist who was critical to BU's success when he was healthy, may loom largest, but Parker wants to make certain his gifted-but-young blueliners continue to mature.

"Our biggest concern will be on defense," he said. "The only guy (on defense) back from the championship team is David Warsofsky, but he's a hell of a player."

A talented junior goaltender tandem of Kieran Millan and Grant Rollheiser return from last year's 18-17-3 squad as well. Also keep an eye on the freshmen forwards, led by NHL draft picks Charlie Coyle (San Jose) and Yasin Cisse (Atlanta). "It'll be interesting. I think it's a terrific (incoming) class," said Parker. "We expect two or three forwards to be very important right out of the gate. And from what we've seen in practice, we can expect a lot of them."

Merrimack College
The Warriors have one of the league's most gifted offensive threats in sophomore Stephane Da Costa, who ran away with the league's Rookie of the Year honors last season after tallying 45 points on 16 goals and 29 assists. However, like BC, Merrimack coach Mark Dennehy (an Eagle alum) must prevent his charges from being simply happy with getting to the Hockey East playoffs. "We took huge steps, but we didn't achieve a lot of our goals," said Dennehy. "Complacency won't be part of our vocabulary."

To make inroads, and possibly gain home-ice advantage in the Hockey East playoffs, the Warriors must improve on last season's woeful 4-16-1 road record. "What it comes down to is confidence," he said. "We know we're good enough. Now we have to take that on the road."

A key could well be the play of junior goalie Joe Cannata. "I think Joe Cannata is floating under everybody's radar," said Dennehy. "I think he's one of the best goalies in the league. And when the lights are shining brightest, he's at his best."

Northeastern
Woe to any Husky who thinks coach Greg Cronin won't be breathing fire this season. The Huntington Hounds missed the Hockey East playoffs last year on the last game of the season, a short 12 months after one of the program's most successful campaigns of recent vintage.

Sophomore netminder Chris Rawlings will have another year under his belt, and if he can mirror the same improvements he showed last season, NU will be set in goal. The incoming freshmen class, which includes forward Cody Ferriero, who spurned Boston College, looks promising as well, with a quartet of towering defensemen, Jake Hoeffler (6-foot-5, 210), Jamie Oleksiak (6-foot-7, 240), Luke Eibler (6-foot-2, 180), and Anthony Bitetto (6-foot-2, 200).

"Those guys are going to be critical," said Cronin. "I'm tired of being small. We've got to make sure we're defending our net."

Up front, Cronin expects typical tenacious Northeastern hockey from his upperclassmen forwards, especially captain Tyler McNeely and fellow senior Wade MacLeod, as well as talented sophomore Steve Quailer, who was granted a medical red shirt after a season-ending injury last fall.

UMass-Lowell
So, who's left to play defense for the River Hawks? UMass-Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald acknowledges that the conventional wisdom is to build from the net out, but the reality is that he lost his top two goaltenders and four top defensemen from last year's 19-16-4 squad. Perhaps UML's best defense will be a strong offense.

"I think we can roll out 12 really good forwards," said Riverhawk coach Blaise MacDonald. "Our forwards are faster and better than last year."

MacDonald said he'll rely heavily on the leadership of his four captains, and especially senior center Scott Campbell.

UMass-Amherst
Coach Donald "Toot" Cahoon lost his two most potent offensive players from last year's squad when James Marcou and Casey Wellman turned pro. "We've got 13 freshmen," said Cahoon. "We're the youngest team in college hockey. We're the great unknown."

"But I love the character of our kids,' he said. "The joy of this is that it's fresh. I'll have their attention."

FINIS