College Hockey:

This Week in Hockey East: Jan. 11, 2007

Interesting Times At The Heights

There were plenty of eyebrows raised when Boston College coach Jerry York stripped the captain’s and assistant captain’s letters off Brian Boyle and Joe Rooney, respectively. No doubt the rumor mills in some locations shifted into high gear. Drugs? Police charges? Barroom brawls?

“It’s strictly an academic issue,” York explains. “Both Joe and Brian weren’t going to class to my liking. They’re eligible as far as institutional [criteria]. There were no felonies committed, no problems other than just not going to class.

“To be a leader, to wear a C, you have to show great effort academically. If you’re not an A student, that’s fine, but [you have to] work hard academically like you work hard in hockey. There is a correlation between leadership that carries on off the ice as well as on the ice.”

As for how that might affect a player’s mentality, York minces no words.

“It has nothing to do with hockey,” York says. “It makes you a better person. It’s not going to affect hockey one way or the other. Practicing hockey, [working on your] skill level, watching tapes — that makes you a better hockey player. This will make you a better person.”

The reprimands won’t necessarily last the rest of the season.

“I’ll watch their behavior academically just prior to the Beanpot and make a decision,” York says. “Clearly, I will be checking with professors and making sure they go to class.”

While York’s actions have intended consequences off the ice, they might also spark Boyle on ice as well. Last summer, the senior turned down lucrative offers to turn pro and most expected that he’d put up monster numbers this season. While his seven goals and nine assists are hardly chopped liver, they’re rather pedestrian compared to expectations.

“We certainly feel that he has to be a real force in the games — if he’s not scoring, at least knocking people down and being a real physical player,” York says. “I think he’s at his best when he’s very physical and, of course, scoring goals.

“He’s working real hard at it. We’re pushing him real hard at this end. We expect him to really step up in goal production as the season progresses.

“The other teams, of course, know exactly who he is and they’re shadowing him and working very hard defensively on him. That makes it more difficult. But I think he’s capable of doing a lot better for sure.”

Boyle has been shifted to left wing, with Benn Ferriero taking over at center on the top line.

“We’re trying to create a little more offense,” York says. “Benny has played center in the past for us. I think Brian plays more along the wall. He’s more of a power forward rather than a clever little center-ice man. So I think his contributions can be more effective as a power left wing for us.”

Meanwhile, Nathan Gerbe and Dan Bertram returned from the World Junior Championships hoping to show the extra jump in their step that many pick up during that marquee event. Bertram won the gold with Team Canada; Gerbe the bronze with Team USA.

“It’s an unbelievable experience,” York says. “It’s a [lifetime] memory situation for all the players that play in the World Juniors. To wear, with Danny, a team Canada sweater or, with Nathan, a USA sweater, it’s a terrific feeling.

“I think all the players that play in the World Juniors benefit from it. Maybe not immediately because they’re tired especially when it’s overseas, but Nathan has a bronze medal and Danny has a gold medal and they’ve got memories now for the rest of their lives.”

Coincidence or not, Gerbe scored a goal and Bertram assisted twice in BC’s Wednesday night win over Merrimack.

A past member of Team USA, goaltender Cory Schneider, got to relax during the break now that he’s too old to be eligible, which perhaps is a good thing considering the workload he carries.

“I think the rest was certainly good for Cory, but also it was a long time without stopping shots,” York says. “So it was great to see him come back and play so well against Northeastern and Providence.

“I think he was a little bit rusty, but he’s going to be a workhorse and play every game that he’s eligible for us health-wise. We’ll need him down the stretch here.”

As for that stretch run, the Eagles need to crank up the performances to solidify their position within Hockey East and in the national picture.

“The team has been up and down during the course of the year,” York says. “We really haven’t hit the stride that I think we need to be a consistent winner in Hockey East. It’s proven by our record. I feel that we have our second half surge left in us.

“Every game now, points are so important to our team. New Hampshire is having just an incredible year as far as wins and loses and how they’re playing the game. For our team we need points. We need to put a good stretch of play together here.”

Up And Down And Back Up Again

It’s been quite an interesting season so far for the Maine Black Bears. They opened 8-0-1, going until Nov. 12 before recording their first loss.

But what a loss — an 8-2 thumping by one of their primary rivals, New Hampshire, and at home, no less. Then came another defeat at Alfond, this one to Boston College, followed by a third straight downer at Vermont.

Since then, however, the Black Bears have been almost perfect during a 6-0-1 stretch, including one of the league’s few bright moments in the holiday tournaments, wins over Western Michigan and Cornell to take the Florida College Classic championship.

“We’re excited about the possibilities here, but obviously it’s early and UNH has jumped out to a pretty serious early lead,” coach Tim Whitehead says. “We’ve got a lot of ground to make up.

“It’s a very competitive schedule that we’re up against, but we knew that coming [into the season]. We knew Hockey East would be very strong again this year. With Vermont joining the league, our conference is even that much stronger.”

Freshman Teddy Purcell has been a major sparkplug all season long, but especially of late, scoring two goals in each of the last three games. He’s now recorded points in all but two of Maine’s 19 games, totaling 12 goals and 16 assists.

“Quite frankly, we probably made a mistake not bringing him in last year,” Whitehead says. “When I saw him in the [USHL] Buc Bowl last fall, I [thought], ‘This guy should be at our place right now.’

“We knew he’d be ready this year. Obviously, you never know a guy is going to be this productive, but he’s certainly made the most impact of a freshman forward since Michel Lveill for us.”

Another underclassman, sophomore goaltender Ben Bishop, has taken his game to the next level, recording a 1.97 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

“Bish’s improvement has been great,” Whitehead says. “This year, his challenge has been to become an elite player at this level and I really think he’s doing that. He had a dip in November just like the rest of our team, but he’s bounced back strong as he always does.

“He’s really improved as a puck stopper. He’s always had a great presence in the net and the ability to impact the game handling the puck. Now he’s really emerged as a great puck stopper, too.

Joining Bishop on Whitehead’s “Most Improved” trio are senior forward Mike Hamilton and junior defenseman Travis Ramsey.

“Ramsey has become more assertive in every way,” Whitehead says. “We lost arguably our two best defensive defensemen from last year in Travis Wight and Steve Mullin, so there was a big hole that needed to be filled.

“Ramsey had already been their protg for the last couple of years and [this season] he has really asserted himself in the penalty kill, five-on-five, and the occasional cleanup duty on the power play. Just his overall physical presence [has been important].

“Hamilton has elevated his game in every area. He’s really playing a complete game of hockey. I moved him to center and he’s really taken off with that.

“He’s strong down below the dots. He can skate with anybody. He’s strong on the puck. He’s got his scoring tou