CHESTNUT HILL, Mass. – Second-ranked Boston College begins its 103rd men’s hockey season this weekend with a trip to East Lansing, Michigan, to face Michigan State on Friday and Saturday at 6 p.m. Friday’s game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network, while Saturday’s game will be broadcast live on B1G+. The radio broadcast on WEEI 850 AM for both games begins at 5:45 p.m

Boston College enters the 2024-25 season with seven additions to a roster of 27 players, including six freshmen and one transfer. The newcomers include five forwards, two defensemen and three NHL draft picks.

LEADER ELECTED

• Graduate defense attorney Eamon Powell was elected senior captain of the Eagles for the second year in a row Connor Joyce And Mike Posma and in the second year Ryan Leonard will serve as deputy captains
• During the 2023-24 season, Powell ranked fourth nationally among defensemen in assists (33) and points (38), earning him a Hockey East Second Team All-Star and receiving Hockey East’s Len Ceglarski Sportsmanship Award
• Powell was also named to the Hockey East All-Tournament and NCAA Providence All-Regional teams

NATIONAL RANKINGS

• Boston College is currently ranked No. 2 in both the USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls

PRE-SEASON POLL

• Boston College was picked as the favorite to win Hockey East this season, according to the annual preseason coaches poll
• The Eagles received nine first-place votes and finished with 109 points in the poll
• Boston University was voted second with one first-place vote and 99 points. Providence received the final first-place vote and placed third with 88 points, while Maine (83) placed fourth
• UMass (72), Northeastern (67) and New Hampshire (58) ranked fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively. UConn (47), UMass Lowell (40), Merrimack (27) and Vermont (20) rounded out the 11-team poll

THREE SELECTED IN NHL DRAFT

• Three new Boston College players were selected during the 2024 NHL Draft
• Dean Letourneau became the 26th first-round draft pick in program history after being selected 25th overall by the Boston Bruins
• Teddy Stiga And Will Skahanboth from the US National Team Development Program, were selected in the second round
• Stiga was selected 55th overall by the Nashville Predators, while Skahan was drafted 65th overall by the Utah Hockey Club
• This was the 29th consecutive year that Boston College had a draft pick, the longest such streak in college hockey history

THE RETURNS

• The Eagles return 20 players from last year’s team, including four Hockey East All-Stars
• During 2023-24 Jacob Fowler was a finalist for the Mike Richter Award and was named Hockey East’s “Stop It Goaltending” Goaltender of the Year
• Ryan Leonard And Gabe Perreault ranked fourth nationally with 60 points
• Fowler, Leonard and Perreault were all named CCM/AHCA All-Americans after their freshman seasons
• 13 Eagles on this year’s team played in at least 33 of the 41 games during the 2023-24 season

A LOOK AT MICHIGAN STATE

• Michigan State enters the weekend with a record of 2-0-0 after defeating Lake Superior State in its opening weekend
• The Spartans are ranked No. 4 in the latest USCHO.com and USA Hockey/The Rink Live polls
• Isaac Howard leads the team with five points (3-2-5)
• Trey Augustine has a .962 save percentage with 50 saves and two goals allowed

HISTORY OF THE SERIES

• Friday and Saturday will be the 30th and 31st meetings all-time between BC and Michigan State
• Boston College has a record of 11-17-1 in the series
• The Eagles defeated the Spartans 6-4 and 5-1 at Kelley Rink in the 2023-24 season

NEXT

• BC opens its home game next weekend with a Friday night game against AIC, followed by a Saturday matchup against USNTDP. Puck drop at Kelley Rink for both games is scheduled for 7:00 p.m