A Letter to Boston College University

December 9th, 2022, Boston College versus Boston University in Conte Forum. It was Jerry York Night. Blake James uttered the infamous phrase, “Boston College University” on accident, but I would be so bold as to call it a happy accident.

The odd moment of James meshing of BC and BU into one word, followed by a 9-6 victory serves as a watershed moment in my experience as a fan of Boston College Hockey.

When I arrived on Boston College’s campus in August of 2021, hockey was far from the first thing on my mind, or even the 10th. I needed to make friends, get involved, and do well in school. I didn’t know anything about hockey. I went to my first ever college hockey game on the 15th of October, 2021. I stood in the upper bowl. I barely even watched the game. Well—I did join in the chants booing visiting Northeastern fans leaving the arena after a BC win.

Flash forward to December 10th of that year, BC versus BU at Agganis Arena. This was my first experience of the Battle of Comm. Ave. We scored three goals in the third period to send it to overtime, and then won in a shootout which featured a heroic poke check from Eric Dop, a post to seal the game and Trevor Kuntar's shootout winner.

Not only was it an amazing game, but I was also surrounded by amazing people. I wouldn’t realize until years later that this was the beginning of the weaving of my friendships with hockey. Perhaps the best example of this is my friends and I bringing a “Defend the Nut” sign to BU, in reference to Chestnut Hill, which we were, of course, not in at Agganis. It was still cool, even though the game wasn’t in “the Nut.”

The next Battle of Comm. Ave took place in the snow in February of 2022, as we headed to Agganis again on a cold Saturday in late February, and lost. But, we scraped out of the weekend with a win at home on Sunday, nonetheless, I noticed the immense skill of BU’s Alex Vlasic, but it wasn’t enough for BU to pull out a sweep. This proved to me that the BC/BU rivalry took all of the skill out of the game, not insofar as skill wasn’t required, but that effort trumped skill in these Green Line rivalry games.

Connor Joyce is the perfect example of this. A fourth line forward who will do whatever it takes to win each and every puck battle. Watch out for him this weekend, as BU and BC face off for the first time as number one and number two.

Headed into the Summer after my freshman year, Jerry York was retired, but I cared about hockey, thanks mostly to my friends. So much so that I cared about the schedule releasing, and I anticipated it, so in the hot days of August, I was thinking only about the ice.

After a disappointing start to the season, December 9th, 2022 came around. It was a night to honor Jerry York, and his coaching greatness, against the consistently top-ten ranked Terriers led by veterans and the incredible season of freshman defenseman Lane Hutson.

I donated blood that morning, so by the time the game rolled around I felt like crap. But it didn’t matter, I was hyped, around my best friends after a difficult semester. This game was back and forth, a barn burner by every definition of the word. Somehow, some way, we won. Not just a win for the Eagles, but for my friends and I, as we had grown stronger and stronger throughout the semester, as we embraced the camaraderie of hockey.

Oh, and now we sat front row, at every single game.

The Eagles embraced around each other and the student section as I soaked in the moment.

We played BU three more times in the Spring semester, swept in the home and home, and then won in the Battle of Consolation Ave at the Beanpot. But that didn’t stop me from wearing my obnoxious eagle suit, and waving a BC flag taped to a leftover wrapping paper roll from Christmas.

BC hockey had become something to look forward to, as at this point in the beginning of 2023 I could confidently say that I knew the rules of hockey, which I was proud of. I had no idea what the rest of 2023 would bring for my life and hockey.

Coming into junior year, I was confident that I had great friends, and still do, but I wasn’t happy with my extracurricular involvement.

My friend Anthony said to me, “why don’t we finally start that BC Hockey podcast?” We had talked about doing a podcast, but it was mostly a pipe dream, and I thought to myself, “who would listen?” But at a point of confusion for extracurriculars, I said yes.

Anthony and I had started Conte Cast, which we described as the number one BC hockey podcast, mostly because we were the only one that covered exclusively hockey.

So we started recording, having no idea if it was good, but we kept at it. After a few episodes, we thought we should start trying to bring guests on, maybe to get more listens we thought. So, we brought on one of the presidents of WZBC Sports Radio, Jacob Lassner, who was a friend of a friend, to tell us all about what it was like to cover the games.

After the episode, Jacob asked if we would want to come on the broadcast sometime and be guest commentators, so I did it one night in the Fall of 2023 versus UMass Lowell. I served as the tertiary commentator, and it was the best experience possible, I loved talking about hockey live, and seeing the ice from a bird’s eye view.

I figured it would be a one time thing, but Jacob told me I was decent at it, and asked me to come back. So I did, time after time after time. Now I broadcast almost every single home hockey game, and some away ones for WZBC.

I love broadcasting, I love being able to experience the raw moments of joy and pain live and airing out my own thoughts. Broadcasting has become a beautiful and productive use of my time, making me much happier than any other activity could.

Beyond that, Anthony and I have had 3 players onto the podcast to tell us about their experiences on the team, and now we are officially a sponsored (and now eligible for monetization) podcast, and craziest to me—we are ranked #10 in the nation for college hockey podcasts according ncaa.feedspot.com. I couldn’t believe that, and honestly I still can’t.

Anthony and I after our episode with Captain Eamon Powell.

Circling back to BC versus BU, as we have officially entered “BU week,” I have to say above all that it truly is so special to be in the position to broadcast the Battle of Comm. Ave.

Everyone in college hockey media circles is talking about the #1 (BU) v. #2 (BC) matchups coming this weekend. While that is certainly special, and unprecedented, for me it is much more. This Battle of Comm. Ave represents the growth of the BC hockey team and growth within myself to learn what hockey is all about, and how it could and did change my life. I look forward to seeing what this weekend brings, hopefully, that is two Boston College wins!