Year in and year out, there are three goals on Boston College men’s hockey’s mind: winning the Beanpot, winning the Hockey East Championship, and winning the Frozen Four.
Last season, the Eagles put up a .000 batting average on that mark. The last time they went 3 for 3? 2012.
BC’s had quite the decade-and-a-half since then, and each year it enters with the same expectations: going 3 for 3. On Feb. 2, the cycle begins anew. To no surprise, this year’s expectations remain the same.
With BC’s last Beanpot win coming in 2016, the pressure grows with each year, especially given the star-studded roster it consistently puts on the ice.
Although the Eagles came out with a slower-than-expected start, to be frank, so did the rest of Hockey East. The Big Ten and NCHC have been on top of the rankings for most of this season—not only is the Beanpot up for grabs, but almost any Hockey East squad has a chance to etch its name into the Lamoriello Trophy come March.
And it seems BC is heating just at the right time. Winning 13 of its last 17, the Eagles have found their groove going into their semifinal matchup with Harvard.
Let’s look at what’s gotten them here:
First Half
Sophomores in the Driver’s Seat
Given the title of this section, surely I’ll be focusing on James Hagens and Teddy Stiga, right?
Well, no. In fact, it’s Dean Letourneau and Jake Sondreal who are powering the Eagles’ offense with 25 and 21 points, respectively. These two breakouts, paired with Will Vote on the right wing at the beginning of the season, fed off each other game after game. Vote falls not too far behind at 19 points.
Even with BC head coach Greg Brown frequently jumbling lines—swapping Ryan Conmy, Stiga, and Hagens around—Letourneau simply will not stop scoring. He entered the winter break with six goals in five games, including his first multi-goal game in BC’s 3–1 win at UMass Lowell.
His progression has been nothing short of incredible, and it’s safe to say every BC fan is exhilarated about what’s to come from him in what’s been dubbed the “Deanpot.”
Some could have guessed Letourneau would have a breakout season, given his hype and draft position. What’s surprised even more fans is how Sondreal has stepped into the spotlight.
Sondreal recorded six points last year and recorded nearly as many penalty minutes as shots on goal. He has cemented himself as a second and first-liner this season, stringing together six multi-point games and leading the team in assists with 14.
The growth of Letourneau and Sondreal might make you forget that BC also has two of the best players in college hockey. Hagens has 25 points, as well, and snagged his first collegiate hat trick in BC’s win over Notre Dame. Despite missing four games with injury, Stiga is climbing his way back with 14 points.
The Class of 2028 (they probably won’t stick around until then, though) is putting this team on their backs. Now, having experienced a Beanpot at TD Garden, they’re much more likely to take control in this year’s Beanpot, too.
Cloutier Has Made His Mark
The biggest question circulating after BC’s 2–4–1 start was the man standing between the pipes. At that point, Jan Korec had two starts with seven goals surrendered. Louka Cloutier had started five games with a goals-against average of 2.6.
Even if the Eagles found a way to get a year of eligibility from Wayne Gretzky and Mario Lemieux to bulk up their offense, it wouldn’t have mattered if the goalie situation remained unsteady.
Now, 23 games into the season, BC has found its man.
Cloutier has had some flukey games here and there, but his top-five GAA and .916 save percentage in Hockey East seem to be all this team needs after replacing a Hobey Baker candidate.
Cloutier has certainly made a name for himself, but the Beanpot is a stage where he can really prove himself.
The two toughest opponents Cloutier has faced this season—No. 11 Denver and No. 3 Western Michigan—scored a combined 10 goals, which is concerning. The Denver matchup was back when he was still getting settled, but BC’s loss to the defending champs on Dec. 28 featured goals Cloutier would certainly like to have back.
This might sound arrogant, in all honesty. After all, over half of the coaches in the nation would die to have a goalie like Cloutier, and he also had the biggest shoes to fill in the nation.
Nevertheless, BC got back on track after the rough skid to kick off the season, thanks to Cloutier’s sub-2.0 GAA in conference play and three shutouts since its back-to-back losses to Northeastern. And he’s still just a freshman—chances are, he’ll only get hotter.
Second Half
Ferraris in the Garage
What’s even more comforting for Eagles fans is the success BC has had even with absences from Stiga, Andre Gasseau, and Oskar Jellvik.
Gasseau and Jellvik combined for 43 points last season while alternating between the top-three lines. Their ability to mix and match with all different play types sets them up for a big 2025–26 season.
Unfortunately, Jellvik has appeared in only three games, and Gasseau in 10. And although Brown has been a bit unclear about a timetable to return, Jellvik, in particular, should be able to step back into his role as the regular season begins to wind down. Jellvik is not likely to return for BC’s first Beanpot game, but Gasseau’s game versus Providence on Jan. 16 was his first since Oct. 24 versus Denver—he’s had a point in every game since.
Stiga returned to the ice in BC’s 8–2 exhibition win over Stonehill, delivering two assists and a ridiculously angled goal, picking up right where he left off. He has some catching up to do but will thrust BC’s offense to new levels. After missing the Jan. 30 game versus BU, Stiga is now questionable for Monday night’s game.
Stiga’s stand-in—a Finnish, 17-year-old freshman and projected first-round pick—debuted in the Kwik Trip Holiday Face-Off. Standing at 6-foot-4 and 200 lbs., Oscar Hemming showed off dominant coast-to-coast drives and tallied two assists in the 4–3 win over Lake Superior State.
Hemming didn’t appear in BC’s exhibition versus Stonehill, but his presence was made in the seven games he has played in as he provided hard-hitting, quick-shooting flair to the offense.
The Beanpot is Up for Grabs
Not a single Hockey East team cracked the top ten entering the break—BC was the highest-ranked team out of the Beanpot schools at No. 13.
Boston University—the preseason No. 1 team—hasn’t been able to hit its stride yet and remains unranked. Northeastern’s hot start came to a halt after a rough five-game skid, and Harvard has, unsurprisingly, been floating around .500.
I’d love to say the Eagles are the far and away favorites to come away with their first Beanpot championship since 2016, but it’s anyone’s game this year. We’ll likely see another Battle of Comm. Ave. in the title game, but with how fickle the outcomes of these types of matchups have been, the Huskies and the Crimson could feasibly find themselves playing for hardware.
My prediction is the former, though. BC will handily take care of Harvard in the early game, winning on a three- to four-goal margin. BU will squeak a one-goal win over Northeastern or, what would be even better—mainly because BC fans won’t need to stress—an overtime finish. Cole Eiserman and Cole Hutson will click in the second half and prove too fiery an offense for goaltender Lawton Zacher to handle, setting up the 24th all-time meeting between the rivals in the Beanpot final.
I’m not going to get up here and talk up these sophomore forwards, their chemistry, and Cloutier’s potential manning the net, and then say BC is losing to BU in the championship—because they won’t.
The stars will come to shine on the biggest stage—Hagens, Eiserman, Stiga, and Jack Harvey will all pop goals and deliver a goal-for-goal, Wild West shootout of a game that will be sure to leave even the losing school’s students exiting TD Garden wishing they could watch it all over again.
It’s time for this team to make up for the poor performance across all (yes, all) BC athletics. And the Beanpot is only the first step of the process. We want 3 for 3.
