177 days have passed since last season’s heartbreak in the Frozen Four, and head coach Jay Pandolfo and the No. 3 Boston University men’s hockey team are prepared to begin another run towards the ultimate goal — a national title.
It all begins Saturday night, when the Terriers take on Holy Cross in the season opener at Agganis Arena. The puck drops at 7 p.m.
“We’ve been looking forward to this day for a long time,” Pandolfo said in his weekly media call on Friday. “Our group’s ready to go.”
There will be lots to take away from this one, regardless of the result. Saturday will be the debut for at least eight newcomers — a mix of freshmen and additions from the transfer portal.
We’ll see how well BU’s young defensive core — which will likely feature just one upperclassmen, grad transfer Brehdan Engum — can hold up against a heavy Holy Cross team with veteran savvy.
And we’ll see how BU’s new offensive weapons — including dynamic freshmen Cole Eiserman and Cole Hutson — can help replace the void left by the departures of Lane Hutson and Macklin Celebrini.
Here’s what you need to know before tonight’s game.
All signs pointing to a packed Agganis Arena
BU fans, it seems, are ready for this one. As of Saturday morning, only a handful of tickets remained available on Ticketmaster for the season-opening tilt. And student tickets completely sold out on Friday night, according to Agganis Arena’s social media platforms.
That’s a good sign for tonight’s atmosphere and for high attendance throughout the season. Attendance is traditionally strong for the home opener, but student tickets rarely sell out completely — especially when the opponent is a lower-profile non-conference opponent.
It’s also a stark difference from last season, when the first game at Agganis was an exhibition game against the US Under-18 team on Oct. 14, and the first regular season home game wasn’t until Oct. 27.
“I think it’s always fun for the group to get a chance to start at home, in front of your home fans, the excitement,” Pandolfo said. “So I think it’s great for us. We’re comfortable playing at Agganis.”
What might lines and defensive pairings look like?
The short answer: we’ll find out when the line chart is posted this afternoon.
But Pandolfo gave some insight into the process of determining lines and pairings, saying the group has tested a bunch of different combinations during the four weeks of preseason practice.
In the last week and a half, though, a few lines and defensive pairings have stuck together. Those groups will start together against Holy Cross, according to Pandolfo.
Scouting the Crusaders
Holy Cross is not a name-brand program, but the Crusaders have the potential to hang with this young BU team.
Holy Cross was picked third of 11 teams in the Atlantic Hockey (AHA) preseason poll, just one point behind second-place RIT. Last year, the team went 21-14-4 but bowed out to American International in the second round of the AHA tournament.
The Crusaders are led by senior forward Liam McLinskey, who is the AHA coaches’ preseason player of the year. He transferred to Holy Cross from Quinnipiac for the 2022-23 season and has tallied 72 points in his two years in Worcester. Last year, he put up 19 goals and 28 assists. Sophomore forward Jack Stockfish, who tallied 25 points in his freshman season, is another player to watch.
Senior Thomas Gale is the probable starter in net for the Crusaders. The AHA preseason goaltender of the year, he posted a 2.41 goals against average and a .917 save percentage in 19 games last season.
The Boston Hockey Blog will be distributing our annual Hockey Issue in the Agganis Arena lobby before tonight’s game, starting at 5:30 p.m. Come grab a copy!
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