by Mike McMahon/Staff Writer (@mikemcmahon)
(photo: Matt Dewkett)
BOSTON — Back in October, it was fair to wonder what Boston College would look like.
The Eagles were coming off two historic seasons, including a trip to the national championship game in 2024. Over that span, they went a combined 61-14-3.
They were a buzzsaw.
But this year was always going to be different. No Ryan Leonard, Gabe Perreault, Cutter Gauthier, Will Smith, or Jacob Fowler.
In the words of Rick Pitino, “they aren’t walking through that door.”
The transition showed early.
BC stumbled out of the gate, including an opening-night loss to Quinnipiac. The Eagles dropped a 4-3 decision, but the margin flattered them — they were thoroughly outplayed. There was also an October loss to Denver and a sweep at the hands of Northeastern.
Head coach Greg Brown needed his team to evolve, to adopt a different identity. At times, they found it.
But the margin for error became slim, especially after a late-season four-game losing streak. Never mind that BC thought it played better than those results indicated, those results sent it off the NCAA Tournament bubble.
And on Friday night at TD Garden, Boston College’s season ended on an unfortunate bounce.
In overtime, UConn’s Tristan Fraser fired a shot that deflected off two BC defenders before slipping past Louka Cloutier, sealing the Eagles’ fate.
“We did a good job battling, coming back in the third,” Brown said. “But as you often see in overtime, some crazy goals. It bounced off two of our players and ended up in the back of the net. That’s a bad bounce.”
Boston College found a rhythm from November through mid-February, but a late stumble proved costly. A sweep by Boston University sparked a 1-5 finish over the final six games of the regular season.
“In our last four regular-season games we played well but we didn’t score,” Brown said. “That can be frustrating. But if you re-watch those games, you can see the scoring chances, and we saw those games as being played in our favor. But when you aren’t winning, it’s hard to keep your confidence up.
“We did a fantastic job of bouncing back against Maine (last week). The league is just really tough. Every game is a battle.”
As the Eagles adjusted to a new-look roster, injuries compounded the challenge. Andre Gasseau and Oskar Jellvik — two forwards expected to shoulder larger roles — both missed time, disrupting any chance at sustained continuity.
“You need to get into a rhythm,” Brown said. “We had it at times, but we lost a lot of man games to injury, too, and we didn’t have a set lineup for many games in a row. We found that in spurts.
“We played a lot of good hockey, but we didn’t have a very consistent lineup because of injuries.”
Now, the program turns the page once again.
James Hagens is expected to sign with the Boston Bruins in the coming days. Gasseau and Jellvik could both depart as graduates, along with senior defenseman Lukas Gustafsson.
Once more, Boston College faces the same question that defined its offseason a year ago:
What comes next?