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BC Women's Hockey 2023: Back In Contention

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  • #76
    Sorry Grant, I guess my joke backfired with Barnes really jumping ship to Ohio State!
    Last edited by Hockeybuckeye; 03-25-2023, 02:33 PM.

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    • #77
      reggiedunlap9 - just to respond to your post. I have no doubt that some of this is on the coaching, and maybe most of it. But why no accountability with the players? Why do these players just get a pass where USA Hockey is concerned. No doubt a little "will to win" and compete level from these world class players would have made a difference. How about making the other players around you better so that you can actually win games? Bilka and Barnes were disappointing in that with all of the supposed talent, they didn't want it enough for their team to even be top 10. They didn't play with consistently and they didn't play inspired. They shouldn't get a pass.

      Of course Bilka and Barnes will have more successful years at OSU because they are surrounding themselves with other players equally as heralded. A lot easier to play with another Olympian. But we will never build NCAA parity nor build up other programs if we keep rewarding the same teams and same players with the accolades. We need to recognize players who do a lot more with a lot less. And recognize players that are willing to actually compete shift in and shift out for their team to win.

      As it stands now, if you want to play for USA Hockey, you have to go to Wisconsin, Minnesota or Ohio State. Forget trying to build other programs or leading your team to win and grinding for the players around you.

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      • #78
        Originally posted by tedlasso View Post
        As it stands now, if you want to play for USA Hockey, you have to go to Wisconsin, Minnesota or Ohio State.
        Huh. I thought Barnes made the Olympic team while playing for Boston College. Must have been a different Cayla Barnes.

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        • #79
          Originally posted by Still Eeyore View Post

          Huh. I thought Barnes made the Olympic team while playing for Boston College. Must have been a different Cayla Barnes.
          Wasn’t that like 6 years ago?

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          • #80
            Originally posted by PondHockeyGuy View Post

            Wasn’t that like 6 years ago?
            And 2022.

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            • #81
              Originally posted by reggiedunlap9 View Post
              I have followed Grant for years on the BC Interruption
              Much appreciated.

              but unfortunately he has been drinking the BC Kool aid for way too long and refuses to ever come out and write anything negative about the BC coach or anything else about all of the issues that they have been having for years.
              I've tried to make it pretty clear from the time that I started writing about the team that I am writing as a fan and not as a journalist. I love the team and I support the team and want them to succeed. Which is why I support Coach Crowley. Not to get all "I know stuff and you don't" here, but I've got pretty good insight to the program and to the players and Coach Crowley is not the problem.

              BC's problems lie at a much more macro level than "The coach is bad," it goes all the way down to New England youth hockey on the decline relative to out west. The western teams have (1) more talent to choose from and (2) fewer college teams among whom to divvy up that talent. MA youth hockey gets nowhere near the resources as, say, MN, and it's really starting to hurt not just us, but eastern hockey as a whole. Just look at the NCAA tournament this year.

              Northeastern has largely been able to avoid the effects of the declines of eastern youth hockey by finding a niche recruiting internationally. Look at the other programs out here who have had some success lately -- Clarkson, Colgate, etc., these teams are loaded with Canadians and foreign players. BC cannot really go down this route unless it's an elite player who were going to offer a scholarship to, because BC does not offer need-based aid to foreign students. So with us not being a destination for top foreign talent, we get far fewer of them than the other schools.

              Look at Barnes (California) and Bilka (Texas). Not from MA. Came to BC. Loved BC. But can you blame them for getting their diploma and trying to win some hardware out west before their eligiblity is up? I can't.

              Recruiting MA talent has always been BC's bread and butter. MA youth hockey is in a serious decline relative to elsewhere. As a result, here we are.

              I don't really know what the solution is for BC or the other schools out here trying to recruit locally, but you need only look at the ever-growing dominance of the WCHA -- even relative to what it used to be -- to see that while BC's decline is more dramatic relative to how far they've had to fall, they are not the only ones feeling the effects of this.

              This is really much larger than just being a BC problem.
              Grant Salzano, Boston College '10
              Writer Emeritus, BC Interruption
              Twitter: @Salzano14


              Click here for the BC Interruption Pairwise, KRACH, and GRaNT Calculators

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              • #82
                Originally posted by TonyTheTiger20 View Post
                Recruiting MA talent has always been BC's bread and butter. MA youth hockey is in a serious decline relative to elsewhere. As a result, here we are.
                I cannot emphasize enough how much of a difference it makes that girls hockey is a widespread and serious sport in the public high schools out here. It trickles down to the youth level, because communities feel invested in their local high schools. Elite players don't get siloed off as early or thoroughly, allowing for more late bloomers. It's a completely different environment.

                There are plenty of problems with the high school sports industry, but you do get a lot more players.

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                • #83
                  TonyTheTiger20 I appreciate the response and the passion for BCWIH I thinks its time to take your fanboy hat off and start acting like an actual journalist. I'm sorry but you saying Crowley is not the problem sounds absurd. She has had this program going backwards for 5-6 years and there is nothing that I have seen that tells me that things will get better anytime soon. Nothing ! I have watched schools like Northeastern, UVM Providence UConn Colgate Yale Qpac all make enormous strides over this same period of time. The reasons for that is very simple. These other schools recruit much better than BC has and more importantly these schools develop their players much much better than BC does. I don't think I can name more than a few non USA Hockey player that had come to BC during this same period of time and gotten better ! And I can name a bunch of them that unfortunately have gotten much worse !

                  A response to some of your other points.

                  Blaming this on lack of Mass hockey resources is absurd. BC should be all over the world recruiting the very best players.

                  Northeastern and Colgate having a "niche" recruiting Europeans and Canadians is just another weak excuse. Everyone knows that NU has just outworked BC on the recruiting trail for years and the results speak for themselves

                  BC not offering "need based financial aid" for non scholarship players is another pathetic excuse. BC has 18 full scholarships available. GO FIND SOME TALENTED PLAYERS ! Recruiting is really hard work. It has gotten really competitive. BC has really struggled with this.

                  I'm sick of you saying Barnes and Bilka "loved BC" Sorry but they left to play at Ohio State. If they really loved BC and loved the coaching and the direction the program was headed they never would have left. End of story.

                  I've thought a lot about this. Its time for a coaching change. Its not personal. I'm sure Crowley is a great person. Lets open this up to a national search and get the best coach possible. BC has got to be one of the top WIH coaching jobs in the US. With the right person I think BC can be relevant again nationally in 3-4 years. But please no more of this mediocrity.

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                  • #84
                    Originally posted by reggiedunlap9 View Post
                    I'm sick of you saying Barnes and Bilka "loved BC" Sorry but they left to play at Ohio State. If they really loved BC and loved the coaching and the direction the program was headed they never would have left. End of story.
                    It's very nice of you to dictate how other people should feel and behave.

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                    • #85
                      This staff also drove Watts away.

                      If Mass youth hockey is in decline, recognize that and recruit elsewhere. Tons of MN talent heads off to Ivies every year. Recruit in Canada and Europe. Why not?

                      If T3 wants to go down with the ship, its his choice. Loyalty to the coach is more important than winning.
                      Wisconsin Hockey: 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11 WE WANT MORE!
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                      Timothy A --> Great hockey mind... Or Greatest hockey mind?!?"

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                      • #86
                        Still hoping someone on here that watches/watched a lot of the BC games can help answer my question. Why couldn't Barnes and Bilka, along with a great goalie, lead the team to better results? Again, many teams do a lot more in the win column with a lot less. Looks like some on this forum think this is a coaching issue. But what of the players just having that will to win and battling shift in and shift out? And lifting those around them? It's not an easy task to establish a culture of winning, but why couldn't they put their stamp of excellence on this program in a way that actually translated to wins?

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                        • #87
                          From a recruiting perspective, it appears that Crowley has either turned extremely provincial or lazy. When is the last time she has had a Minnesota player on her team. Ohio State had 8 this year and Wisconsin had 5.

                          It almost reminds me of the University of Minnesota men's teams under Doug Woog - where he would only take Minnesota players - except in reverse. When Don Lucia came in and took a few players from surrounding states (and Austria) they won back to back titles in 2002 and 2003. Believe me, there are plenty of Minnesota girls who are talented enough to play at a high level in Hockey East and interested in BC, but who never get recruited by Coach Crowley and her staff.

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                          • #88
                            tedlasso I'm not sure where you're going with this but yes I agree with you from a talent perspective BC should have been much better last year. If you are trying to imply that somehow the poor performance is because of poor play from Levy, Barnes and Bilka I think you are way off base. In the games that I watched all 3 of these players played very well. Levy kept them in every game, Barnes was probably playing close to 30 minutes a night and Bilka was all over the ice however snake bit for most of the season with her goal scoring.

                            bodyup88 Yes BC recruiting has been the single biggest factor in their collapse as a hockey program. I'm too young to remember Minnesota under Doug Woog but they have just been flat out lazy spending 95% of their time in Massachusetts offering scholarships to kids that have no business getting a scholarship. When you combine the poor recruiting with not knowing how to develop players and then factor in the 7-8 very good players that have left the program including stars like Watts, Lonergan, Bilka and Barnes well now you have a recipe for a complete disaster and that is exactly what has happened to the BCWIH program.

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                            • #89
                              Originally posted by tedlasso View Post
                              Still hoping someone on here that watches/watched a lot of the BC games can help answer my question. Why couldn't Barnes and Bilka, along with a great goalie, lead the team to better results? Again, many teams do a lot more in the win column with a lot less. Looks like some on this forum think this is a coaching issue. But what of the players just having that will to win and battling shift in and shift out? And lifting those around them? It's not an easy task to establish a culture of winning, but why couldn't they put their stamp of excellence on this program in a way that actually translated to wins?
                              You simply cannot tie the success of a team to the play of 2 or 3 players. Those top 2 to 3 may bring it every practice and game, but if the supporting cast is not engaged/committed to the same level, not able to compete at the D1 level, or simply doesn't have the depth as some other teams... it very well can translate into more L's than W's. Of course systems can also explain why some teams with no super top talent can generate more wins; Yale being an excellent example.

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                              • #90
                                I did not watch BC which is why I asked the question. And I am surprised by the comment that you cannot tie the success of a team to 2 or 3 players. While I understand that that might not be enough to win a national championship, I actually would have thought it would be enough for more wins. And the "supporting cast", on paper, is pretty darn good. Browne has been with USA Hockey for years, and Guay and Newhook as well. I wasn't suggesting poor play, I was just asking the question of how much the wins and losses really mean to these individuals. Maybe you as you suggest, there isn't "buy in".

                                Now your reference to Yale is more in my wheelhouse because I do watch the ECAC. Yale is an excellent example of my point, but not in the way you suggest. I have no idea what system you could be referring to. I never saw Yale playing "systems" hockey.

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