We’re on the cusp of a new hockey season, but before we begin, we have two season previews remaining: today, we look at last year’s regular season and Hockey East tournament champions – the Boston College Eagles.

Last year: 30-8-1 (20-6-1 HEA), finished 1st in regular season standings, won Hockey East championship, lost to Colorado College in NCAA tournament first round.

What happened: Boston College started the season (once again) as the team to beat last year. The team sat in first place in the national rankings for most of the season and looked destined for another national championship – in our WRBB bracket pool, BC was heavily favored to win it all. Yet despite an 8-game winning streak leading into the NCAA tournament, they were stunned by Colorado College in a largely empty Scottrade Center in St. Louis. Were they too complacent? Untested when their backs were against the wall? Perhaps. But sometimes the NCAA tournament is full of crazy upsets, and for the way BC played throughout the season, they likely deserved better – stellar offense helped carry them through the year, despite a defense that was at times inconsistent (it allowed 4+ goals on 10 occasions).

Key losses:

• John Muse (G): A two-time national champion, and one of the best goalies we’ve seen in the NCAA tournament (a record of 8-1). Despite not being the most skilled goalie, he stepped up when it mattered and deserves a hefty share of the credit in BC’s two national title runs in the last four years. In addition to the national championships, he backstopped the Eagles to three Hockey East championships, three Beanpot championships, and two first-place regular season finishes. That’s quite a glittering resume.
• Brian Gibbons (F): One of the most consistent forwards in the league, Gibbons departs BC with 164 career points, but more importantly, 108 career assists. He was crucial in setting up BC’s talented, athletic forwards and was tied for second in the nation in short-handed goals (4)
• Cam Atkinson, Jimmy Hayes (F): Both left to sign professional contracts over the off-season, and can you blame them? They had both achieved all there is to achieve at the college hockey level, and both were always threats to score on the ice, from any angle. Atkinson in particular will be tough to replace: 68 goals in three seasons, including a staggering 31 last season. Atkinson finished tied for 10th in the nation in points per game (1.33, with UNH’s Paul Thompson), second in the nation in goals scored (31). Hayes, meanwhile, had a nose for big games, scoring the Beanpot game winner over Northeastern, one of five game-winning goals on the year. Their departures mean that four of BC’s top 5 scorers from last season will have left.
• Philip Samuelsson (D): Perhaps one of the most criticized early departures of the off-season, Samuelsson leaves after a sophomore year in which he became a key part of BC’s defense, but many believe still could have spent another year in college hockey to develop.

Key returners:

• Brian Dumoulin (D): One of the best defenseman in all of Hockey East, he was named to the all-conference first team, and scored more points than any defenseman in the league last year. Dumoulin rejoins a BC defensive corps that is highly talented (with names like Tommy Cross, Patrick Wey, and Edwin Shea) and largely intact from last season. And in all of this, Brian is still only a junior. Look for him to again be one of the top-performing defenseman in the league, if not the country.
• Chris Kreider (F): The New York Rangers had at one point wanted Kreider to leave the team, but Kreider wanted to stay, and his decision may pay dividends – he’s one of the most exciting players to watch in the conference, and coming back for his junior season may be what Boston College needs after its offensive firepower was somewhat depleted during the offseason. After a terrifying injury late in the season last year, Kreider should be back to full health.
• Patrick Wey (D): With a new goaltender at Boston College, the defense will have to play tighter, and perhaps no BC defenseman will be more counted on to do the job than Wey. Wey wasn’t the type to join the fray on offense, but was as solid a defenseman as anyone in the league.

2011-2012 Outlook: Boston College lost a lot of offense to graduation and early departures, but as we often say, they don’t rebuild – they reload. Expect plenty of freshmen to get chances to contribute – Jerry York is confident in his recruits, and has no problem putting them into pressure situations. At the same time, the most important area of the team – goaltender – has quite a bit of uncertainty. Parker Milner saw very limited time the last two years, and Chris Venti has barely seen game time. The defense will become more of a focal point for BC, much as they will try to retain their reputation for a run-and-gun offense. There may be some surprise results in the first half of the year, but counting BC out of a home ice spot would be foolish. They’ll be contenders, just as ever.

–Alex Faust

WRBB Sports Fall Sports, Hockey BC, Fall Preview, Hockey East