Re: Boston College Eagles 2019-20 - No Chit!
I don't know if you'll find highlights for this one but Boldy had a shift that was eerily similar to his draft reel, dangled on a few players, curled back around and dangled between the legs of one UNB player a second time. He looked great. McBain is just a huge dude with huge upside (as with all players that size). Also, see below regarding Marshall Warren. He had a "holy-chit-he's-good" kind of game on Saturday. Could be a huge steal for the Wild in this draft.
A few comments/impressions:
- Some caveats, BC looked great last year in the exhibition and turned out to be a terrible team. I thought UNB looked great and made life difficult for BC, really sound fundamentals defensively from these guys, good sticks in passing lanes, etc. They impressed me so I take the win as a positive. It was a dismal first period only salvaged by two late goals. Second period BC looked fantastic and really started picking it up. Third period was just meh.
- Bad stuff out of the way first, the players that stunk previously still stink and overall the team took way too many penalties, particularly in the first which they spent most of that frame killing penalties and struggling to get any flow to the game.
- The freshmen all looked good. Marshall Warren was tremendous - tough to put into perspective how good he looked, I haven't seen a BC Dman look this good on both ends since we had Dumoulin. He ended up cranked one off the pipe shorthanded in the second period coming down the wing on a one-on-one I believe. Helleson was also very, very good. These two guys can flip a sketchy defense into a formidable unit if the coaching staff has even the slightest idea of how to put the best lineup together. Knight, Newhook, and Boldy also looked great and I would not sleep on Hardman, who had a goal. Likewise on D, I would not sleep on Mitch Andres. Whatever he's listed at on the roster for height (6'1") has to be wrong, he's a monster (200+ lbs) and should be molded into THE defensive defenseman and the coaches should ask him to obliterate anyone that goes near Knight's crease.
- The pieces are here. Injuries and bad coaching are the two biggest concerns this year. If they are healthy, it comes down to putting the best lineup on the ice, which has been a problem for the better part of this decade. Defense particularly for this year's squad. Helleson and Warren absolutely have to play from Day 1 from what I'm seeing, they may be the two best Dmen on the team already. Finkelstein didn't really look great Sat. but you have to think he's locked in as well and Connor Moore also likely is locked in (although there is some debate on him). Mattila is locked in to a spot. So... it comes down to the 6th spot. #2 had another "not-great" game this weekend. I'm not sure if he can turn the corner and become serviceable for us. And you could probably say the same thing for #3 although I believe he had an assist Saturday. I think you seriously consider making them bench players or dress them as a 7th Dman on rotation and get Mitch Andres in there as the 6th guy and see what he can do. Important to consider, Andres adds a third left-handed option for the 6th spot (last LD pairing), #2 and #3 are both lefties.
It's still early but that's what I saw on Saturday.
ps - I'd like to dedicate my first post of the season in memory of SteveG.
