April 7, 2008

Frozen Four Notes in PDF Format

SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
Boston College will depart for the 2008 Frozen Four in Denver on Tuesday, April 8 at 10:45 a.m. from the North entrance of Conte Forum. The Undergraduate Government of Boston College will sponsor a Frozen Four send-off at this location prior to the Eagles departure. The event will feature the BC Pep Band, the coaches and players. Head coach Jerry York and senior captain Mike Brennan will address the crowd prior to boarding the bus for Logan Airport. All are welcome.

BROADCAST INFORMATION
All three NCAA Frozen Four games will be produced - and aired - by ESPN. Both semifinal match-ups will be carried live on ESPN2, while the national championship game will be broadcast live on ESPN. Gary Thorne (play-by-play), Ray Ferraro (analyst), Clay Matvick (rinkside) and Bob Norton (intermission analyst) will have the call. Additionally, all BC hockey games can be heard live on Boston's AM 1150 WTTT with Dan Parkhurst (play-by-play) and Ken Hodge (color) calling the action. All games can be heard live on the internet by logging on to the official Boston College athletic Web site: www.bceagles.com. Westwood One/NCAA Radio Network will carry the national radio broadcast with Sean Grande and Cap Raeder calling the action.

WE'RE BACK
The 2008 season marks Boston College's third consecutive trip to the NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four. It also marks the program's fourth Frozen Four appearance in the last five seasons, its eighth in the last 11 seasons and its 21st overall. The Eagles rank second in all-time Frozen Four appearances ... BC earned four consecutive Frozen Four berths from 1998-2001 and earned berths in 2004, `06, `07 and `08. In the last 11 seasons, the Eagles have advanced to the tournament's Frozen Four more than any other team in the country.

SECOND SEED
Boston College advanced to the 2008 Frozen Four after winning two games -- against No. 3 seed Minnesota and No. 1 seed Miami -- as the second-seeded team in the Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass.

NUMBER 28
The 2008 tournament marks the 28th time the Eagles have earned an NCAA Tournament berth. It is the team's 10 berth in the last 11 years ... BC ranks fourth all-time in NCAA appearances ... BC has a 35-37 all-time record in the national tournament. ... Snooks Kelley and Len Ceglarski both led BC to nine NCAA Tournament appearances, while Jerry York has led BC to 10 NCAA Tournaments in the last 11 seasons.

POSTSEASON SUCCESS Boston College has enjoyed postseason success throughout its history. In particular, the program has achieved great postseason success since the 1997-98 season. Since that time, the Eagles have won six Hockey East Tournament titles -- 1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008 -- and have advanced to the NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four eight times, highlighted by the 2001 national championship. During this span, the Eagles own a record of 55-15 (.786 win percentage) in 70 playoff contests. That win total is first among all Division I college hockey programs in the country. The Eagles own the best playoff winning percentage in postseason hockey during that time.

THE COACH
Jerry York is in his 36th season as a head coach and his 14th season at Boston College. The second winningest coach in NCAA history and first among active Division I coaches, York enters the Frozen Four with a 801-515-84 career record, including a 334-180-50 mark at Boston College ... In the last 11 years, he has guided the Eagles to eight Frozen Four appearances, four Hockey East regular-season trophies (2000-01, 2002-03, 2003-04 and 2004-05), six Hockey East Tournament titles (1998, 1999, 2001, 2005, 2007 and 2008), and the 2001 national championship. A 1967 graduate of Boston College, York was a three-year letterman at the Heights and earned All-America and All-New England first-team honors in 1966-67.

York Earns 800th Win: York earned his 800th and 801st career victories at the 2008 NCAA Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass., joining Ron Mason (924) as the only two coaches in college hockey to earn 800 (or more) career wins. York captured win No. 800 with a 5-2 win over Minnesota in the opening round on Saturday, March 29.

York and the NCAA Tournament: York has led his teams to 16 NCAA Tournament berths -- six at Bowling Green and 10 at BC. Ten of those 16 teams advanced to the tournament's semifinal/championship round ... York has a 27-18 (.600 win percentage) all-time record in the NCAA Tournament and owns a 22-8 (.733) mark at BC.

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT SEMIFINALS
The Eagles are 8-12 in the NCAA Tournament's semfinal round. In each of the previous two seasons, BC defeated North Dakota in the national semifinals to advance to the championship game ... In 2004, the Eagles lost to Maine, 2-1, in Boston.

IN THE NCAA TOURNAMENT CHAMPIONSHIP
BC is 2-6 in NCAA championship games. In 2007, the Eagles fell to Michigan State 3-1 in the title game. In 2006, BC lost to Wisconsin 2-1 in the championship game. In 2001, BC defeated North Dakota 3-2 in overtime to capture the national title.

POWER PLAY
Boston College has scored 46 power-play goals in 42 games this season; the Eagles have converted 21.7 percent (46-of-212) of their power-play opportunities. Freshman Joe Whitney leads all BC skaters with 28 points -- four goals and 24 assists -- in power-play situations, while sophomore Ben Smith has recorded a team-high 10 man-advantage goals and Nathan Gerbe has scored nine times while skating with a man advantage. The Eagles rank No. 7 nationally in power-play conversion percentage. The team has scored in 29-of-42 games and has registered 2+ man-advantage tallies 12 times.

PENALTY KILL
In penalty-killing situations, Boston College has held its opponents scoreless 83.9 percent (177-of-211) of the time ... In the last 10 games, the Eagles have given up just three power-play goals, killing penalties at a 93.2 percent clip (41-of-44).

GERBE ONE OF THREE FINALISTS FOR HOBEY BAKER AWARD
Junior forward Nathan Gerbe has been named one of three Hobey Baker Award Hat Trick finalists. The three finalists for college hockey's top individual honor are Gerbe, Miami's Ryan Jones and Michigan's Kevin Porter. Gerbe, a first-team All-Hockey East honoree, has tallied 60 points - 30 goals and 30 assists - in 41 games and enters Frozen Four in Denver, Colo., ranked second in country in points and third nationally in goals.

WHO'S HOT
Three Boston College players -- junior forward Nathan Gerbe, freshman defenseman Nick Petrecki and freshman forward Joe Whitney -- earned All-Tournament honors at the NCAA Tournament's Northeast Regional in Worcester, Mass. Whitney was also honored as the tournament's Most Outstanding Player ... Whitney totaled two points -- one goal and one assist -- in the team's 5-2 win over Minnesota (3/29) in the opening round and scored the BC's dramatic overtime game-winning goal in the team's 4-3 victory over Miami ... Gerbe totaled three points -- two goals and one assist -- in two games. He recorded two points -- one goal and one assist -- in BC's 5-2 victory over Minnesota and scored once in the team's 4-3 overtime win over Miami the following day ... Petrecki scored the team's first goal in a 4-3 overtime victory over Miami in the NCAA Northeast Regional title game.

SCORING STREAKS
Three BC players -- junior Nathan Gerbe, freshman Brian Gibbons and sophomore Ben Smith -- enter the 2008 Frozen Four with scoring streaks of three (or more) games in tact ... Gerbe has tallied at least one point in each of the last seven games, while Gibbons has registered at least one point in each of the last five games and Smith has at least one goal in each of the last five games. Junior Benn Ferriero was held off the scoresheet for the first time in five games (5-4--9 totals) against Miami (3/30) in the NCAA Northeast Regional title game.

IN GOAL
Freshman John Muse has started all 42 games in goal. He has recorded a 2.26 goals against average and a .920 save percentage in 2605:05 of action.

In Postseason Play: Muse is 6-0 with a 1.60 goals against average and a .950 save percentage in postseason play. He has stopped 207-of-218 shots faced in playoff play and has recorded 30 (or more) saves in five-of-six contests.

Nation's Leader in Minutes Played: Muse has played every minute of every Boston College game this season (excluding time when the goaltender leaves the ice for an extra attacker) and enters the NCAA Frozen Four with 2605:05 in 42 games. That ranks first among all goalies in college hockey. Michigan State junior Jeff Lerg ranks second with 2464:14 while North Dakota senior Jean-Philippe Lamoureux ranks third with 2447:38 minutes played.

School-Record Holder For Saves: Muse enters the 2008 NCAA Frozen Four with a school-record 1,122 saves. He is just the fourth goalie in BC history to record 1,000 (or more) saves in a season. He joins Cory Schneider (1,111 in 2006-07 and 1,088 in 2005-06), Scott Gordon (1,048 in 1984-85) and Greg Taylor (1,024 in 1993-94).

AGAINST THE FROZEN FOUR FIELD
BC is 0-1-1 against the three teams in the 2008 NCAA Tournament's Frozen Four. The Eagles fell to Michigan 4-3 in overtime in the first game of the season and played to a scoreless two-period tie on Nov. 19 against North Dakota. The Eagles have not met Notre Dame this season.