ESPN

In the video above, new BC head coach Steve Addazio talks about the style of play he plans for the Eagles as well as the difficulties that can come with the first year at a new program.

In the video above, new Boston College head coach Steve Addazio discusses what the day of the Boston Marathon bombings was like on campus. He also talks about what the entire week following the bombings was like and the decision to cancel the spring game.

Also, Addazio was on Mike & Mike this morning, talking about his thoughts on conference realignment, the College Football Playoff, coaching Tim Tebow, the expectations for the Eagles and more. Click here to listen to that interview.

None of them heard their names called during the draft, but all of them will have a shot at an NFL career.

Four former Boston College players signed free-agent deals with teams soon after the final round ended on Saturday. Linebacker Nick Clancy signed with the Atlanta Falcons, offensive tackle Emmett Cleary signed with the Indianapolis Colts, tight end Chris Pantale signed with the New York Jets and offensive tackle John Wetzel signed with the Oakland Raiders.

After finishing his first season as a starter with an ACC-high 145 tackles, Clancy was named first-team All-ACC. Once he signed with the Falcons, the Plainfield, Ill., native tweeted:

So psyched to join the Atlanta Falcons!

— Nick Clancy (@nickclancy54) April 28, 2013

Cleary, who was named an offensive cocaptain and started at left tackle for the Eagles in 2012, will join fellow Boston College alumni Gosder Cherilus and Anthony Castonzo in the offensive line corps in Indy.

Pantale, the other offensive cocaptain in 2012, suffered a foot injury early in training camp and as a result had a subpar senior season after being named to the preseason Mackey Award watch list.

When word of his deal with the Jets spread, one former and now future teammate celebrated the news:

Big shout out to my boy Chris Pantale for signing with the Jets! #WeAreBC #JETS

— Ryan Quigley (@RQuigs46) April 28, 2013

After going undrafted himself after the 2011 season and spending time with the Chicago Bears as an undrafted free agent, punter Ryan Quigley signed a free-agent deal with New York prior to this April’s draft.

And while he had to have been at least somewhat disappointed not to hear his name called as he watched the draft from home in Pittsburgh, Wetzel, like his former teammates, has a chance to fulfill his career ambitions after signing with the Raiders.

“I feel good,” Wetzel said by text Sunday. “Oakland was one of the teams who liked me and called me right after the draft to get a deal done.”

The Raiders made the best offer, and now Wetzel is ready to get back on the field.

“I am just looking forward to getting back into football stuff and making the most of the opportunity,” Wetzel said.

The draft may be over, but the NFL dreams aren’t.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

To watch, or not to watch?

That is the question for potential late-round NFL draft picks like Boston College linemen Emmett Cleary and John Wetzel.

Whether ‘tis better to sit in front of the TV and stew, or to get out and find something to do.

Both Cleary and Wetzel were invited to the combine in February, where they were poked and prodded, questioned and tested. In Scouts Inc.’s full seven-round mock draft, both are projected to be drafted in the final round.

“It’s definitely been interesting,” Cleary said Thursday of the pre-draft process. “It’s been great to kind of go through the whole thing and learn how to comport yourself and treat yourself as a job applicant for the first time.”

The strangest part of the combine for Cleary was during the testing at Indianapolis’ Lucas Oil Stadium.

“It’s so quiet in that dome,” the 6-foot-6, 316-pound left tackle said. “Watching on TV for a couple years, you always expected this is the big thing. Then you get up to the start line and the whole NFL is looking at you ….”

“It’s a once-in-a-lifetime experience,” said Wetzel, a 6-foot-7, 315-pound right tackle. “I was training at ING in Florida for two months before, and just spent so much time preparing for the things in the combine. And then when you get there, the first two days it was a lot of waiting. You just want to get out there and get it done.

“Then the last day, it just went by so fast. It was a great experience. I enjoyed talking to all the coaches and meeting a bunch of new people there that I’ll be playing with in the NFL later on.”

Neither Cleary nor Wetzel knows exactly what to expect this weekend.

“I heard a lot of stuff,” Wetzel said of where he might be selected. “I heard I could possibly even go [from] three to seven, within that range. … Some teams think real highly of me and really want me and some teams might have a different perspective.”

Cleary doesn’t expect his phone to ring with good news until Saturday.

“I think it’s a crapshoot, honestly,” he said. “I’ll be a late-rounder. Regardless, it’ll be either Saturday or free agency.”

Whatever happens, the Illinois native is keeping his eyes on the horizon.

“My focus is on making a team and making the best of the situation that I have,” he said. “I don’t think [whether I’m drafted or not] really changes my outlook.”

For now, there is no backup plan.

“Geez, I hope I don’t have to worry about that for a couple years,” Cleary said. “This is something I want to do so I’m gonna chase this dream for as long as I reasonably can.”

As offensive linemen from Boston College, Cleary and Wetzel both said they feel some added pressure to continue the tradition the school has established at the position.

“You want to do everything you can to keep that going,” Wetzel said. “It’s something we pride ourselves on. We still think we have some good linemen who can continue that tradition of O-line U at Boston College.”

Anthony Castonzo, who first Wetzel and then Cleary replaced at left tackle in Chestnut Hill, was the latest high-profile lineman to make the successful transition from college to the pros when he was taken in the first round by Indianapolis in 2011 and started as a rookie. Also included in the lineage are players like Marc Colombo, Jeremy Trueblood and former Patriots center Dan Koppen.

That the Eagles have struggled in recent seasons, going 4-8 in 2011 and 2-10 in 2012 under former coach Frank Spaziani, just adds to the pressure.

“Our year last year was terrible,” Cleary said, “but we’re hoping to prove that we’re just as good as those guys who’ve gone before.”

All the workouts now done, the interviews finished, Cleary and Wetzel just have to decide whether or not to watch.

Cleary said he’ll probably watch the first round, but he’s not sure about Friday or Saturday. He said he doesn’t want to be “stuck in front of the TV all day.”

Wetzel, meanwhile, said he might get in a workout instead of watching Thursday night. But the Pittsburgh, Penn., native has a different plan for Rounds 2-7.

“The next two days I’ll be in front of the TV with my family watching,” Wetzel said. “And if I get picked, after that I’ll have a bunch of family and friends over to celebrate.”

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

The City of Boston, Hockey East and Fenway Sports Management announced "Frozen Fenway 2014" on Thursday. The two week series of hockey and ice skating events will including two Hockey East men’s doubleheaders.

On Saturday, January 4, 2014, Merrimack College will face Providence, followed by Notre Dame against Boston College.

On Saturday, January 11, UMass Lowell will play Northeastern University, followed by University of Maine against Boston University.

“Last year, more than 90,000 people came to Fenway Park to watch college and high school hockey or to enjoy free, public skating,” said Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino. “This generated tens of millions of dollars for local business. I’m confident that top-notch outdoor college hockey at Fenway Park will make for another unforgettable experience, drawing fans from across the region and serving as a major platform to showcase the people, culture, and local businesses that make our city special.”

“After the success of the Winter Classic in 2010 and the Frozen Fenway college games in 2012, hockey and skating are fast becoming winter traditions at Fenway Park,” said FSM President and Red Sox EVP/COO Sam Kennedy. “We welcome back Hockey East and, along with the Mayor, look forward to once again having our beloved ballpark be host to college games, high school games, and to welcome various communities throughout New England to Fenway Park this winter.”

Game times and ticket information for the two doubleheaders will be announced in the coming months.

In addition to the two Hockey East doubleheaders, there will also be two, free public skating days for City of Boston residents. The skates will be on Sunday, December 29, New Year’s Day, Wednesday, January 1. Information about tickets for the skates will be announced in the coming months.

Boston College has canceled all home events for Saturday in light of the massive manhunt underway in and around the city for suspects of the Boston Marathon bombing.

“After consulting with campus, city and law enforcement officials, including the Boston College Police Department, we have decided to cancel all home athletics events scheduled for Saturday, including the spring football game," athletic director Brad Bates said in a statement. "Our first priority is ensuring the safety of our student-athletes, coaches and spectators. Our local law enforcement community has done a phenomenal job this past week, and we do not want our events to serve as a distraction.

“Furthermore, now is a time for reflection to honor those who have been tragically killed and injured this past week and to allow our community to heal. The entire Boston College family stands with those who have been affected by this week's events. Together we will persevere and emerge stronger and more unified than ever.”

Events scheduled for Saturday included an alumni flag football game, a fan fest, the spring football game, a women’s lacrosse game and a women’s tennis match.

NEWTON, Mass. -- As far as Steve Addazio is concerned, there’s no room for “my bad” at Boston College.

The new coach of the Eagles, one of the last people off the Alumni Stadium field on Thursday after practice, said he’s encouraged with how the players have responded so far this spring. But he knows there’s a long, long way to go.

As the team went through scrimmage situations late in the day’s session, shadows creeping farther and farther across the turf, the energy level was noticeably different from years past. Players on the sidelines were shouting encouragement to teammates on the field. Coaches were shouting instructions and exhortations, and voicing their pleasure (or displeasure) with results as they happened.

“I think it’s important that there’s energy, that there’s passion, there’s energy and they’re holding each other accountable,” Addazio said afterward about the noise level. “There’s no such thing as my bad. You gotta count on the guy on your left and the guy on your right, and they’ve gotta perform, when their number’s called they’ve gotta get the job done.

“Not being able to just brush off, ‘Oh, yeah, I made a mistake.’ Well that’s not acceptable. Can’t have that. It’s a fine line in football. It’s creating that atmosphere, and putting that pressure on and finding out who can really make a play when the pressure’s really on.”

For a program coming off a 2-10 finish, changing the mindset is important. So far Addazio has been pleased with the players’ attitudes.

“It’s important,” he said of seeing the offense and defense competing as hard as they did Thursday. “We’re trying to reestablish [a mindset of] winning is all that matters and losing is not tolerable. You’ve gotta fight for every inch, for every win. And how hard it is, how fragile it is to win a major college football game.

“We have to get back into that mindset, because we’ve had two years when we have not been bowl eligible. This is all about changing that and establishing that atmosphere. This is just the start.”

Asked where the team is in the process of installing new offensive and defensive systems, Addazio said the focus this spring is more fundamental than that.

“We don’t really know exactly which system it’s gonna be,” the coach said. “We’re really hunting and pecking to find our identity right now. It’s hard to know [what system you’ll run] until you really see what you have and what you can do. I know we can run some power football.”

Addazio said the staff is still figuring out how best to deploy the personnel at its disposal.

“We’ve got a lot of ball left to go. This was practice seven,” he said with a short laugh. “We’ve got a long way to go. But I like the attitude, I like the effort, I like where we’re headed. I really do. I do. I’d like to get a little bit more explosive, make a few more plays. Although we made a few today, [Alex] Amidon had a few today.”

The last hour of practice was devoted to game situations, complete with officials and down-and-distance markers. In one sequence, Amidon caught a ball from the left slot and exploded up the left side for a touchdown.

His offensive teammates chased him, cheering, all the way to the end zone to celebrate the practice score.

And later, when Sean Sylvia delivered a hit that produced a loud “Pop” of pad-on-pad, it was the defense‘s turn to turn up the volume.

It’s instances like those that have Addazio excited. But the veteran coach isn’t getting ahead of himself.

“I’m realistic about where we are,” he said. “I know where we need to be, and we’re not there. But I like our effort. I like our willingness, I like our energy.

“I know where we are, though, we’ve got a long way to go,” he said, with another short laugh. “But I like the fact that we’re scratching and clawing to get there. And my experience is we’ll get there.

“I don’t have a time clock on it. We’ll just keep working, building this thing the right way: on a good foundation of physical toughness and accountability.”

There’s no more room for “my bad” in Chestnut Hill, and that can only be a good thing.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

Boston College may have lost its first Hockey East playoff game in four years this past weekend, but the Eagles still have an ace up their sleeve as they get their head coach back just in time for the opening round of NCAA tournament play on Saturday

In the East Regional, held in Providence, R.I., the second-seeded Eagles (22-11-4) will begin defense of their 2012 national championship against the Union Dutchmen (21-12-5) late Saturday night. Like Wisconsin, Rick Bennett's Dutchmen punched their ticket into the NCAAs by catapulting from a regular-season 4th-place finish to capture the ECAC Hockey crown last weekend in Atlantic, City, N.J.

"We're concerned about any team you play in the national tournament because you know they're a good club – they've all qualified," said BC coach Jerry York, who will return to the bench after another surgical procedure on his right eye. "Union certainly is one of those teams with a legitimate chance to win a national title. We watched them play last year and they're gritty. They're very well schooled in fundamentals. Rick has them playing from the goal out -- really good defense. They move pucks through -- excellent special teams, so they concern me."

York also said the Eagles will take steps this week to limit the stretch passes that Boston University used so effectively to create multiple scoring opportunities -- and five straight goals -- while knocking BC out of the Hockey east semifinals, 6-3, last Friday.

"You learn from every game, from wins and losses," said York. "You look at them and say, ‘How can we get better here?' We're certainly not a finished product by any means. This week we'll try to really make sure we balance our practice sessions with offense and defense. Defensively, to win at this level we'll need strong play from our defense and strong play from our goaltender.

"We are going to have to score when we have great chances," he said. "We had some terrific chances against the Terriers but could not score. We can say, ‘Hey, that goalie played well,' but from our perspective we have to really make sure to bury some pucks. BU was able to get some breakaways on us, and we've looked at that and talked about pucks that are flipped up in the neutral zone. There are different areas that we have to tighten up on."

Bennett's squad was dominating in the ECAC playoffs, strafing Dartmouth twice in the quarters, 4-1 and 5-2, before knocking out Yale in the semifinals, 5-0, and Brown, 3-1, in the championship game. Though his Eagles have never faced Union, York knows his defense will need to step up its game.

"We're going to look to our two seniors in Pat Wey and Patch Alber to really settle us down. We've seen continued improvement this year from Isaac MacLeod, Mike Matheson, and Teddy Doherty is going to give us some good minutes also," said York. "They have to play better as a unit … and that helps our goaltender, that helps our offense with their breakouts. They are the keys to whether we can get passed Union. "

BOSTON -- Jack Parker's farewell tour picked up steam Friday night, as his Boston University Terriers fought back from a 2-0 deficit to beat archrival Boston College 6-3 in the Hockey East semifinals at TD Garden.

The third-seeded Terriers (21-15-2) turned the tables on the second-seeded Eagles (22-11-4) with five straight goals, including three critical goals in the second period that gave BU a 3-2 lead going into the final stanza. After BU sophomore Evan Rodrigues finally sealed Parker's 897th win with an empty-net tally at 17:31 of the third period, the Terriers locked up their date in the finals against UMass Lowell on Saturday.

"We came back from the dead, I thought," said Parker, who is retiring after the season. "The game could have been a lot worse in the first half. We hung in there and hung in there, got a little life and took advantage of it.

"I was very proud of these guys," he said.

Saturday's final will mark BU's 10th time in the Hockey East championship game, where the Terriers have a 7-2 record. Perhaps more importantly, it gives Parker's players a chance to win the league crown, and the automatic bid to the NCAA tournament that comes with it, in their coach's swan song.

"Now we have a chance to not only win a championship, but if we do, we'll have a chance to go to another tournament, which is what we would like to do. And we'll have all we can handle with Lowell tomorrow night," said Parker. "I was real pleased with my team. I was real pleased with my special teams. We got a very, very competitive effort tonight."

It didn't look that way early on. The Terriers took three first-period penalties, and the Eagles' power play looked impressive, moving the puck crisply and patiently. But BU's bend-but-don't-break defense, and some timely saves by freshman goaltender Sean Maguire (44 saves), kept BC off the board.

"The game was so out of hand the first half," said Parker. "I thought my guys were uptight, I thought we were struggling to move the puck, I thought we were outskated. I thought our goaltender really stood tall. Forget the fact that we were outshot badly. We were tentative."

At 17:50, BC's Johnny Gaudreau, the league's leading scorer and player of the year, had Maguire down and out, with the puck on his backhand, but he snapped it over the crossbar. Eventually, though, playing a man down caught up with the Terriers.

With BU's Sean Escobedo serving two minutes for tripping, the Eagles broke the scoreless tie at 18:33. Eagles forward Bill Arnold, driving down the right wing, threw the puck in front. It never got there. Instead, the puck deflected off BU defender Garrett Noonan and ramped over Maguire's left shoulder for a 1-0 BC lead.

"Kind of a bad hop," said the junior defender, who just returned from injury.

Quinn Smith nearly doubled the BC lead at the 5-minute mark, on another power play, but the sophomore forward's bid from the low slot rang iron. At 8:25, Whitney, streaking down the left wing, rifled a shot that narrowly missed the cage while being pressured by Matt Grzelcyk.

Twenty seconds later, though, the Eagles were attacking again. Smith didn't miss on his next bid, taking a picture-perfect feed from BC captain Pat Mullane and redirecting it over Maguire's glove at 8:46 for an even-strength tally.

BU showed some life at 12:17, halving the Eagles' lead. BU's Rodrigues executed a nifty toe drag that tripped up Smith, and then fired a wrister that broke through Parker Milner (21 saves). The goal gave the BU offense some spark, and the Terriers started strafing the BC net.

"I think it was almost two completely different games," said BC associate head coach Greg Brown, who along with Mike Cavanaugh was handling bench duties for a recuperating Jerry York. "I thought the first half, we were controlling a lot of the play, dictating the tempo. And then basically, right from their first goal by Rodrigues, their bench got a huge lift, and it seemed like they were asserting themselves more than we were after that."

The Terriers clawed all the way back at the 14:21 mark. When BC's Danny Linell, a converted forward playing defense, bobbled the puck at the BU blue line, Terrier Matt Lane seized the opportunity. Jumping past Linell, Lane raced in on Milner, switched to his backhand and tucked the puck between the legs of the BC netminder.

At 16:55, Milner came up with a big blocker stop on BU's Rodrigues, who got off a quality backhand bit while being tripped by Mike Matheson. The Terriers capitalized on the ensuing power play, with Noonan taking a super-cross-ice feed from Grzelcyk and threading the needle between Milner and the short side post from a bad angle. Noonan's sixth goal of the season gave BU a 3-2 lead at 17:59.

"I think we just finally figured it out," said BU's superb freshman Danny O'Regan. "Coach [was] telling us to play wings out of the zone. Our D's made some great looks up the ice. Nieto and Rodrigues are tough to keep track of. They slipped behind them a couple of times. A couple of skill guys, tough to contain sometimes. So I think it was us adjusting to them."

Milner made amends with 34 seconds left, denying Nieto with a great blocker stop on another breakaway bid. But the second-period collapse was an ominous sign, as BU had a 15-1-0 record this season while leading after two periods and the Eagles were 1-9-0 when trailing after the middle stanza.

BU went right back on the power play to start the third when BC's Gaudreau was whistled for cross-checking Escobedo behind the BU net, resulting in a five-minute major. And again, the Terriers made BC pay.

The Terriers were patient, sending the puck around the perimeter before it was sent to an unmarked O'Regan in prime scoring position. With Ryan Santana setting a monster screen in front of Milner, O'Regan calmly snapped a shot low glove side for a 4-2 Terriers advantage at 1:42.

The Terriers kept firing away, slowly wearing down the Eagles. Arnold and Whitney got off a pair of short-handed shots, but they were long-range efforts that Maguire handled easily. O'Regan then put the game out of reach with another power-play strike.

With BC's Whitney serving two minutes for high-sticking, BU's Nieto launched a bomb from the right point that Milner blocked but couldn't control. O'Regan, cruising in the low slot, found the puck on his stick and immediately deposited it into the BC net, stretching BU's lead to 5-2.

BC showed some life when BU's Patrick MacGregor was sent off for cross-checking at 9:16, but the Eagles couldn't get the puck past Maguire.

"Maggie's been unbelievable this whole stretch, the last eight games or so," said O'Regan. "We'll rely on him tomorrow. He's the most competitive kid I know, so I know he's going to bring it tomorrow as well."

Whitney got one back for BC when he took a carom off the backboard and chipped a bad angle shot that rolled over Maguire's left shoulder at 13:43, cutting the BU margin to 5-3.

At 17:31, with Milner pulled in favor of the extra BC attacker, Rodrigues buried the Eagles with a short-handed, empty-net goal. But the Terriers were keenly aware that their season could easily end Saturday if they don't bring the same effort against Lowell.

"The job's not done yet," said Noonan afterward. "We have to win tomorrow. But it was a good win tonight."

Saturday's Hockey East championship will be a rematch of the 2009 title game won by BU 1-0. Both Lowell and BC have already punched their tickets to the NCAA tournament by virtue of their lofty national and PairWise rankings. BU, however, doesn't have the same luxury. The Terriers need to win to keep playing and extend Parker's legendary career for at least another game.

"Especially after the first period, we kind of realized he's such a great coach," said O'Regan. "We weren't going to let him lose to BC at the Garden as his last game, and we were willing to do whatever we had to."

"Much appreciated, Danny," quipped Parker. "Thank you."

In Lowell, BU faces a squad that swept three straight games with the Terriers this season. "They've had everybody's number," said Parker of the River Hawks.

"We have our backs to the wall," he said. "We have to win to continue our season. More importantly, we have to win for our seniors, not for me. We have to win for these guys who would like to win a championship."

As the region braces for yet another late-winter storm, enviously huddling around TV sets tuned to sunny Florida for split-squad Red Sox spring training games, quietly another sure sign of spring approaches.

Boston College starts spring football practice Tuesday, one day before the equinox officially marks the start of the season.

Originally, new head coach Steve Addazio had planned to get his team on the field late last month. But Nemo had other ideas.

The snow storm that dropped more than 2 feet of powder on parts of Massachusetts damaged the bubble that BC erects on the field at Alumni Stadium each winter, pushing the start of spring practice back from Feb. 28.

The bubble has subsequently been repaired and inspected for safety, and a new schedule has been drawn up.

So the fiery Addazio and his staff will lead the Eagles onto the field for the first time at 3:15 Tuesday afternoon, beginning the first of 15 spring sessions. The Eagles have three scrimmages scheduled -- on April 6, April 13 and April 20, with the last one the annual spring game.

NCAA rules specify teams can have 15 spring practices, the first two of which must be non-contact. After those days, 12 of the 13 remaining sessions can involve contact and eight of those 12 can involve tackling.

BC will practice five times in the bubble before it is scheduled to be taken down over the Easter break (March 28-April 1), with the rest of the sessions planned for the open air in Alumni.

Also on the slate for the Eagles is the annual pro day for the team’s potential draft prospects. Linebacker Nick Clancy, left tackle Emmett Cleary, tight end Chris Pantale and right tackle John Wetzel are all scheduled to work out for scouts in the bubble at Alumni on Wednesday.

There’s a lot of ground work to do between Tuesday and the official beginning of the 2013 season, Aug. 31 versus Villanova. Addazio and new coordinators Ryan Day and Don Brown need to install new systems and adapt to the personnel at their disposal. Players like QB Chase Rettig have to learn yet another philosophy while building relationships with a mostly new coaching staff.

A new foundation must be built if the 2013 edition of the Eagles is to improve on the 2-10 disaster that was the 2012 version.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

BOSTON -- When BU coach Jack Parker announced his retirement Monday, he got a laugh from the assembled crowd with his characterization of the Terriers' hockey program.

"I always talk about BU being a family," said Parker. "I've got two daughters, and 226 sons. The team I have right now are my youngest sons. And I'm not having any more children."

Those "youngest sons" made sure their coach would have another game at the helm, and another trip to the TD Garden, by knocking the Merrimack Warriors out of the Hockey East playoffs with a scintillating 5-3 victory before 3,043 at Agganis Arena on Saturday. But the Terriers (20-15-2) did it the hard way, three times fighting back from one-goal deficits to finally take the lead for good in the third period.

"I thought everybody played hard," said Parker. "I thought both teams played really smart hockey, real intense hockey. You could tell that Merrimack knew this was it for them. They had to get going. They put 42 shots on net, 20 in the second period. They kept coming at us all night long."

For Merrimack (15-17-6), the loss was the fifth straight to BU, and a bitter pill for coach Mark Dennehy despite the improved play of his squad.

"I thought we played much better than we did last night [a 3-0 loss]," said Dennehy. "We gave ourselves a chance to win. Some great efforts by a lot of people. Sam [Marotta, Merrimack's goaltender] made some really big saves when he needed to. It just wasn't enough."

The win -- Parker's last on the rink that bears his name -- gave the third-seeded Terriers a sweep of their quarterfinal series against the Warriors, and a date with archrival Boston College in the league semifinals on Friday. Parker is seeking his eighth league championship, and 25th invitation to the NCAA tournament, during his swan song. And although Parker holds a 48-38-7 record all-time over his longtime rival, BC coach Jerry York, the two giants of college hockey are dead even, 37-37-7, since York returned to The Heights.

"It was kind of weird tonight," said Parker. "This is my last game in a BU rink. It hasn't dawned on me. It didn't dawn on me in the press conference [Monday], because I knew I had to go to practice the next day. It was weird. But it was nice to win."

The Warriors came out intent on spoiling the Terriers' party, blitzing the BU end in the opening minutes. An ill-advised elbowing penalty to Warrior Connor Toomey gave BU the game's first power play, but Merrimack's Marotta (29) came up big, blocking Sahir Gill's one-timer off a cross-crease feed at the bottom of the right faceoff circle.

At 9:28, Marotta came up big again, first stopping Wade Megan point-blank after a nifty toe-drag move by the BU captain, and then employing an unorthodox snow-angel technique to deny Gill on the rebound.

The Warriors broke on top with a minute left in the opening period, with BU's Evan Rodriguez in the box for interference. Junior Shawn Bates, carrying the puck into the Terriers' end with speed, split a pair of BU defenders before deking out goalie Sean Maguire (39 saves). The big freshman netminder managed to get an arm on Bates' shot, but a second effort by the forward from Saskatchewan, Alberta, got the puck across the line for the power-play strike and a 1-0 Merrimack lead. It was the first time that Merrimack took the lead in five games against the Terriers this year, and ended Maguire's shutout streak at 1:51:22 over three games, the fifth-longest in BU history.

Marotta again stymied the BU power play to open the second period, as the Terriers attacked the Merrimack net with Brendan Ellis serving two minutes for tripping. But just after Ellis got back on the ice, BU junior Matt Nieto tied the game, 1-1, with his 100th career point. Driving down the slot, Nieto snuck behind Merrimack defender Justin Mansfield, took a perfect pass from freshman Danny O'Regan, and tapped it behind Marotta.

Undaunted, the Warriors regained the lead just three minutes later. With Terrier Patrick MacGregor cooling his heels on a high-sticking call, and Merrimack's Josh Myers creating havoc in front of the BU net, Mike Collins collected the puck on his off wing and flicked a shot through a maze of bodies that beat Maguire over his blocker at 4:32.

Maguire prevented the Warriors from doubling the lead moments later, stuffing Merrimack's Brian Christie on a clean breakaway. Just before the midway point, Marotta denied Megan with a sparkling stop of his own, reaching behind to grab Megan's backhand bid.

Marotta had another big stop at 15:51, sliding across his crease to deny Cason Hohmann in the low slot as BU had the extra attacker on a delayed penalty call. During the ensuing penalty, though, Hohmann got the equalizer. Walking in off the left half-wall, the sophomore from Texas snapped a shot that Mansfield blocked. But in the blink of an eye, Hohmann collected his own rebound and roofed a shot over Marotta's right shoulder to square the game, 2-2, at 16:12.

Again, Merrimack responded. Collecting the puck after a mixup between two BU defenders, Warrior John Gustafsson spun at the right faceoff dot and ripped a wrister that beat Maguire short side for a 3-2 margin at 18:40. It wasn't enough.

With eight seconds remaining in the middle stanza and the Terriers on their third power play of the period, BU freshman Sam Kurker jammed at a puck as Marotta tried to cover it, and the biscuit slipped through the netminder's legs to tie the match, 3-3.

"It's bizarre that they score so late in the second period, and we come right back and score again," said Parker. "That was big. If they could have gotten out of the period up, we would have been down a little bit. We lost the first period, and came back and won the second period, which was big when we got that goal."

The Terriers took their first lead at 5:11. Sam Rosen flicked a shot that Marotta blocked, but Rosen followed his initial shot, and shoveled the rebound over the fallen netminder to give BU a 4-3 lead.

Marotta kept the Warriors within 1 with a super blocker stop on Lane, who had a clean breakaway at the 10:10 mark. Lane had another spectacular bid to put the game out of reach at 12:44, when he chipped the puck past Ellis and then slashed across the crease, beating Marotta before his shot clanked off the left post and out.

BU captain Megan put the icing on Parker's final home win, diving at the puck on the right boards and sending it just inside the left post on the empty Merrimack net, where Gill tapped it in for the insurance marker at 19:55.

"I'd just like to start by saying what an honor it was to coach against Jack Parker. He's one of the reasons I wanted to come back to Hockey East, to coach against the likes of Coach Parker and Coach York and Coach [Dick] Umile," said Dennehy. "The game will take an absolute hit with his departure. Pretty big shoes to fill."

Parker departs Agganis with a record of 95-50-18 in the program's sparkling building on Commonwealth Avenue, and 896-471-116 overall. The Terriers now move on to the home of the Boston Bruins, where Parker has won 21 Beanpots and seven Hockey East tournaments. An eighth would ensure Parker's 25th trip to the NCAAs, the most of any coach, and a chance for the legendary coach to reach 900 wins.

"All good things must come to an end," said Parker with his trademark grin. "Oscar Wilde once said that some people cause joy wherever they go. Others whenever they go. So, some of my guys might be cheering when I finish up here. You never know."

Other Hockey East quarterfinals:

No. 2 Boston College 4, No. 7 Vermont 1
The Boston College Eagles suffered a setback before the puck even dropped on Saturday, as head coach Jerry York was sidelined after suffering a second detached retina in his right eye. However, the second-seed Eagles rallied, overwhelming the seventh-seed Vermont Catamounts by a 4-1 margin at Conte Forum to take the quarterfinal series, two games to none. BC scored the game's first goals, with the team's leading scorers Johnny Gaudreau, Steve Whitney and captain Pat Mullane all lighting the lamp to lead the Eagles. The win sends BC, the defending Hockey East and NCAA champs, on to the league semifinals, where they will face Boston University for the 262nd time.

No. 5 New Hampshire 4, No. 4 Providence 1
UMass Lowell will have to wait another day to see who their semifinal opponent will be next Friday, as New Hampshire forced a third and deciding game with a series-tying 4-1 victory over the Friars in Providence. Dick Umile's squad scored in each period, but didn't guarantee itself a game on Sunday until Jeff Silengo put UNH up 3-1 at the 17:33 mark of the third. UNH's Matt Willows put a bow on the win with an empty-netter at 18:23. Wildcats goalie Casey DeSmith (38 saves) got the best of his former USHL teammate, Providence goalie John Gillies (20 saves), to register the win.

College hockey's "second season" -- highlighted by the Hockey East quarterfinals -- resumes Thursday in Lowell, with the River Hawks hosting Maine. The remaining three quarterfinal matchups start Friday.

The Hockey East championship has been won by a local Boston squad -- Boston College six times, and Boston University twice -- each of the past eight years. Still, given the tight race for Hockey East's regular-season crown, with two points separating the top five teams, the postseason promises no easy passage to the NCAAs. Only top-ranked Lowell and second-seeded Boston College appear to be locks for at-large bids to the national tournament, though New Hampshire (ranked seventh nationally) should be safe as well. The remaining five teams must capture the Hockey East crown to prolong their season.

"This is anybody's tournament," said BU coach Jack Parker on Tuesday. "There's a lot of [teams] that have had really solid years. It's unbelievable that Northeastern and UMass are not in this tournament; they are such good college teams. Anybody you get is going to be a tough draw."

Here's the breakdown of the matchups, and the eight teams gunning to play in the league semifinals at TD Garden in Boston on March 22:

Hockey East
No. 1 Lowell vs. No. 8 Maine
The student faces the teacher. River Hawks coach Norm Bazin, in just his second year at Lowell, guided his squad to the top of the Hockey East with a remarkable second-half surge, going 18-3-1 since Dec. 8, and finishing 22-10-2 (16-9-2 in Hockey East). Now he'll face a Maine squad (11-17-8; 7-12-8 HE) led by Tim Whitehead, the man who hired Bazin when he was running the Lowell program.

"Obviously we're good friends," said Bazin. "He gave me my first opportunity in coaching and you never forget that. We really respect their staff and their team and the way they compete.

"It's one of those things you're certainly going to have a candid conversation before the game, but come game time, I think we'll have our game faces on."

Whitehead, who coached Bazin before adding him to the Lowell staff, echoed the comments of his former assistant, saying: "It is bittersweet to have to go against him in this playoff series. When the puck is dropped, it will be a great competition."

He's right. Maine, despite sneaking into the playoffs last weekend, took the season series from the River Hawks, including a 4-3 win at the Tsongas Center. Plus, the Black Bears are a road-worthy team, coming off a huge three-point weekend at rival New Hampshire.

"We were gripping our sticks a little tightly at home," said Whitehead, adding that the seniors had never suffered a losing record in Orono. "When we started going on the road, we were able to play with a lot more composure and intensity."

In Lowell, the Black Bears face a team with incredible balance. "Up front, I think we have four second lines," said Bazin of a squad that boasts eight players with 18 points or more. "I can't tell you who's going to be our best line every night, and I can't tell you who will be our weakest."

Bazin, however, did say his team won't make the same mistake as last year, when the River Hawks, then seeded No. 2, were upset at home by Providence. "Some of the best lessons you learn are from your failures," he said. "We probably didn't bring our A-game to the table every night. I think we have better depth this year."

Depth is something the Black Bears lack. What they do have, at the moment, is great goaltending from junior Martin Ouellette, fiery leadership from captain Joey Diamond and house money.

"We just want to keep playing," said Whitehead. "It is a very tight-knit group. They have stuck together through a lot. Our seniors have been excellent. ... They have all fought through adversity, but have stuck together and really helped our team move forward and improve. It is a great opportunity to get into the playoffs. We just want to play."

No. 2 Boston College vs. No. 7 Vermont
The BC Eagles (20-10-4; 15-9-3 HE) are in the rare position of looking up at someone above them in the Hockey East playoff seedings. But Friday's 4-4 tie with Vermont (11-17-6; 8-13-6 HE), coupled with Lowell's victory over Providence, cost the Eagles a shot at the regular-season crown.

"We're disappointed in the fact that we couldn't win a championship, but you've got to reset and all of a sudden it's the playoff championship we're going to go after," said BC coach Jerry York. "Our goal is to try and win it. We understand just because of our seeding doesn't put us in the Garden. We have to get by Kevin Sneddon's team, who has played very well at times over the course of the year, and I thought played us toe-to-toe on Friday night up in Burlington."

For the second year in a row, the league's No. 2 vs. 7 matchup pits two teams that met the week before, in the regular season's final games. Last year, it was Lowell against Providence, and the No. 7 Friars bounced the host River Hawks from the playoffs. York will likely remind his squad of that result. He said he doesn't expect any surprises, and he doesn't expect his Eagles to look past the seventh-seeded Catamounts.

"It's not like, hey, we played them six weeks ago, what are they like now?" said York. "We know exactly what Vermont is and what their strengths are, and we're going to have to really be conscious of that, because they're a dangerous team."

York's senior class is looking for its fourth straight championship, but the current edition of the Eagles isn't the same as last year's model, which finished the season winning 19 straight to capture the NCAA title.

"We're completely different teams from last year," said York. "We lost a lot of seniors, we lost [Chris] Kreider, we lost [Brian] Dumoulin. Coming into this year is a whole new group of players to work with, with different strengths and different weaknesses. We've tried to address the weaknesses during the course of the year and build on our strengths. I think we've got a pretty good club."

Vermont, meanwhile, is returning the playoffs after a brief absence. Sneddon said his players have already put last weekend, and especially Saturday's 7-2 loss, behind them.

"There was a little bit of an emotional letdown from just kind of knowing we're in the playoffs, we're the seventh seed," said Sneddon. "It was a good learning lesson for us, to just remind our guys that if we're going to play soft against a team like Boston College, that's what they can do to you. In some respects, it may have been a perfect reminder as we head into the new season here."

Vermont's success in the postseason will hinge on the Catamounts' ability to shackle the league's most potent offense (88 goals), led by the likes of Johnny Gaudreau (18 goals, 28 assists, 46 points), Steve Whitney (24-17-41), captain Pat Mullane (15-23-38) and Bill Arnold (16-17-33). It will also be an interesting matchup in goal between UVM freshman Brody Hoffman and BC senior Parker Milner, the MVP of last year's NCAA title run.

"The biggest thing we have to do is make sure we're well aware of when Mr. Gaudreau, Mr. Whitney and Mr. Arnold are on the ice," said Sneddon. "They're excellent players, they're going to get chances. We just have to make sure that we make them earn those chances and minimize to the best of our ability their time of possession with the puck.

"I think right now our depth has helped us," he said. "Knock on wood, we're healthy and ready to go, and I think it's going to be a pretty big battle so we're going to rely on that depth."

No. 3 Boston University vs. No. 6 Merrimack
There's no shortage of one-liners when BU coach Jack Parker and Merrimack bench boss Mark Dennehy discuss hockey.

"I think I just heard [Parker] say that even though they finished third [in Hockey East], and they beat us three times, that Merrimack may be favored," said Warriors head coach Mark Dennehy on Tuesday. "He is amazing. Again, I just tip my cap, because he is always coaching."

But Parker's run is about to come to an end, and Dennehy knows full well that his 5th-seeded Warriors (15-15-6; 13-11-3 HE) are facing a Terriers team (18-15-2; 15-10-2 HE) eager to deliver Parker his eighth Hockey East championship, and its automatic bid to the NCAAs.

"My players have to be motivated too, because I'm coming back next year," Dennehy said. "So whoever is coming back with me better be motivated as well. This time of the year, I don't think it comes down to motivation. I believe it comes down to execution."

Execution has been a concern for the Terriers, who have played uneven throughout the year. The Terriers have again been a force up front, with 82 league goals (second in Hockey East), but the goaltending of freshmen Matt O'Connor and Sean Maguire, while good, hasn't been championship caliber. With O'Connor injured, Maguire will carry the load in the playoffs.

"We had a very solid and consistent first half. When we came back after break, we were very inconsistent," said Parker. "Mostly our inconsistency was in regard to playing without the puck -- how well we defended, how well we defended the initial rush, how well we played in our own zone. That lack of consistency of effort and focus is something that caused us some heartache, as far as wins and losses are considered. We seem to be out of that now."

The Terriers enter the playoffs having won five of their past six, a streak that started with a 5-2 series-sweeping victory over Merrimack. "It wasn't as if we dominated any one of those games" against Merrimack, said Parker. "They always saw our best game and hopefully we can do that again. I'm not sure if we saw Merrimack's best game, so I would say the advantage falls with them right now as far as that's concerned."

Dennehy agreed, to a point. "We do think we can play better against the Terriers than we have played, but you have to give them a lot of credit," he said. "Jack has said that they have played their best hockey against us; it's good to hear that we bring out the best in them. But it would be nice to see our team play a little bit better as well. They are very hard to play against. They defend incredibly well and all of their goaltenders have played well against us. They have got some timely goal-scoring and some really good play out of their better players."

"The biggest thing that we have recognized in the three games that we have played them -- two out of the three we outshot them by a pretty good margin -- was our turnovers and
giveaways," Dennehy said. "You can't turn the puck over against a team whose defensemen move the puck way too well. They can transition. Their forwards are fast, and if they get up the side on you, they make really good plays on the rush and they go to the net very hard."

No. 4 Providence vs. No. 5 New Hampshire
Last year, Nate Leaman got the Friars back into the Hockey East playoffs. This year, his second on the job, Leaman got them home ice. Now Providence (15-12-7; 13-8-6 HE) has got a date with New Hampshire, one of the league's perennial powers.

"Our games against UNH this year were all extremely tight games, and obviously we tied with them in the standings," said Leaman. "It's Hockey East, there's obviously a lot of really good teams. We are really excited about hosting and again, expecting really tight games.

"They bring statistically the best goaltender in the league. That's always concerning," said Leaman of UNH's Casey DeSmith. "They have a very good power play. They have a lot of pluses, they have a lot of weapons. Overall they were a very good offensive team. They have a very good power play and don't take a lot of penalties."

With the league's best defense, and third most potent offense, it's alarming that the Wildcats (18-9-7; 13-8-6 HE) slipped to fifth in the league, despite a lofty national ranking (No. 7). But if the lack of killer instinct (four one-goal losses and five ties in the past 14 games) was a concern for UNH coach Dick Umile, he didn't let on this week.

"Nate has done a tremendous job at Providence," said Umile. "The team is playing well and they have great goaltending [with freshman John Gillies], but I don't think enough is said about their great balance and speed. It's going to be a challenge, but as the team knows, it's a whole new season since only four teams go on to the Boston Garden.

"We have good leadership on the team and I think the team is ready to get on the bus, head down to Providence and play down there."

A day after he was the only unanimous selection for the All-ACC freshman team and earned his fourth ACC Rookie of the Week honor, Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan has been named ACC Rookie of the Year.

Hanlan, a native of Aylmer, Quebec, received 43 of the 77 votes cast by members of the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association. The next highest vote-getter was Duke’s Rasheed Sulaimon, with 15.

“It is a great honor for him and well deserved,” BC coach Steve Donahue said in a statement, “mostly because he is someone who is putting a great amount of work in to improve both on and off the basketball court.

"It is also a credit to his teammates for trusting him with the ball quite a bit. Their unselfishness has made him better as well."

Hanlan becomes the fifth BC player to win a conference rookie of the year honor, and the first since Troy Bell won Big East Rookie of the Year in 1999-2000.

The 6-foot-4, 188-pound point guard finished eighth in the ACC in scoring (14.6 points per game) and led all freshmen with 26 games scoring in double figures.

Hanlan and the Eagles will face Georgia Tech in the first round of the ACC tournament on Thursday in Greensboro, N.C.

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

The regular season is over, and the honors have begun to roll in for Boston College’s Olivier Hanlan.

On Monday, the freshman from Aylmer, Quebec, was named ACC rookie of the week for the fourth time and was the lone unanimous selection for the All-ACC freshman team. Ryan Anderson, BC’s leading scorer, was named to the All-ACC third team.

The four weekly honors is the most in the conference this season, and the latest one comes after Hanlan helped lead the Eagles to a three-game winning streak to end the ACC slate. In the past week, Hanlan averaged 19.0 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.5 assists in BC’s two games (a road win over Clemson and a home win over Georgia Tech).

Hanlan finished the season tied for eighth in the ACC in scoring (14.6) and was among the top six rookies in both rebounds (4.2) and assists (2.3) per game.

Anderson finished his sophomore season averaging 15.1 points (sixth in the ACC) and 8.1 rebounds (fourth) per game. His nine 20-point games was third in the league, his nine 10-rebound games was fifth and his eight double-doubles was sixth.

On his weekly ACC conference call earlier Monday, BC coach Steve Donahue was asked about Hanlan’s season.

“I think it’s been incredible,” he said. “I don’t really get caught up in these things -- I don’t think I’ve ever talked publicly about any of my players and what they deserve [as far as awards] -- but it’s hard to imagine, [he was] sixth in the league in scoring [15.7 PPG in ACC play] and 10th in field goal percentage [as] a freshman guard.

“Obviously he’s been our leader and catalyst in our improvement,” Donahue said. “I can’t imagine anybody having a better year and I think nationally there can’t be too many freshmen that have had the impact that he’s had in this league. And I think he’s one of the better players in the league, as well.

“Honestly he’s achieved way more than I ever could have imagined this early in his career.”

Hanlan was the only freshman named to all 77 ballots for the All-ACC freshman team in the Atlantic Coast Sports Media Association voting. He also received honorable mention for the All-ACC team.

With Hanlan in the fold, the Eagles improved modestly from 9-21 overall and 4-12 in the ACC to 15-16 overall and 7-11 in the ACC.

Donahue gives a great deal of credit for the improvement to Hanlan and fellow freshman backcourt member Joe Rahon. The coach also praised Hanlan’s work ethic.

“I say this to recruits, ‘The thing that I don’t know about you guys is are you really going to work hard?’” Donahue said. “Everyone says they work hard. Are they going to come here, in college, and have to be great? And that’s one thing [Hanlan] did since day one.

“The other thing is are you coachable? Are you willing to hear criticism and willing to work on it in a manner that you’re going to get better because you’re coachable? That kid’s a sponge and he wants every information that you can have. And our development is a credit to him because of those two things.”

NEWTON, Mass. -- Steve Donahue likes to say college basketball is a game of runs. If one team makes a few baskets in a row, the other will inevitably do the same.

Saturday’s regular season finale – a 74-72 come-from-behind victory over Georgia Tech at Conte Forum -- played out just that way.

The Yellow Jackets zipped out to an 8-2 lead before Andrew Van Nest, starting on senior day as the Eagles’ lone on-court senior (he’s actually a grad student), brought the Eagles back. The 6-foot-10, 247-pound former Harvard Crimson forward hit a 3-pointer from the top of the key on one possession, then made a driving layup on another.

When he checked out of the game for the first time, he was the Eagles’ leading scorer (with five of their nine points).

The lead volleyed back and forth throughout the first half, with the score tied three times and the lead changing hands six times. As the second half began the Eagles tried to keep things close, but when Marcus Georges-Hunt hit a long 2 from the top of the key they found themselves down 10 with 14:23 to go.

Donahue called time to talk it over.

“We’ve done this,” Donahue said. “It seems like we’ve been down 10 [often]. I said that in the huddle, ‘We’ve been down 10 before.’”

After the timeout, Ryan Anderson lofted a long pass from the top of the key to a streaking Eddie Odio for an alley-oop. That started a string of eight straight points by the sophomore from Miami, to cut into the Yellow Jackets’ lead and give the hosts a jump-start.

BC wasn’t going to let a little thing like a double-digit deficit with just more than 14 minutes to go get in its way.

“It’s our mentality,” Joe Rahon said. “We don’t get down. We play the whole 40 minutes. We know basketball is a long game and 40 minutes is a long time, we’ve gotta grind out for all 40 minutes.

“No one wavered, no one put their head down. We kept believing in each other and kept pushing. We got stops when we needed to, made shots when we needed to and came out with the win.”

It wasn’t quite as simple as that sounds, however. Every time the Eagles made a run at the Yellow Jackets’ lead, the visitors responded and kept the hosts at arm’s length.

But with just under five minutes to go, Rahon found Odio open on the right wing, right in front of the Eagles’ bench. Odio set his feet and let it fly, swishing the 3 to bring the Eagles within three. And though Daniel Miller answered with a jumper on the other end, the Yellow Jackets wouldn’t score again until there were just 25 ticks left on the clock.

By then, Rahon had put the Eagles on his back and carried them into the lead.

The freshman two-guard knew that the defense wasn’t going to collapse on him when he drove the lane, since the Jackets had been burned by Odio several times already when Odio’s man left him to help on Rahon. So he repeatedly took the ball to the basket, converting an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game and then blowing by his defender to put the Eagles up to stay 66-64.

“Coach just told me ‘if they don’t stop you just get to the rim’ and I was able to do that,” said Rahon, who had a team-high 15 points.

And while there were some rocky moments down the stretch, as Georgia Tech (16-14, 6-12 ACC) refused to go away and BC (15-16, 7-11 ACC) made life more difficult for itself with some shaky free throw shooting -- the Eagles missed more freebies (11, on 25 attempts) than the Yellow Jackets took all game (7) -- the regular season ended with a 74-72 win.

“We’re still a young team, but we’ve gotta do what we gotta do to win,” Odio said. “And we did it down the stretch.”

Rahon said their experience, such as the tight win over Virginia last weekend, helped.

“We’ve been talking all season, even when we were losing those close games, like ‘These are gonna help us down the road. We’re gonna be in close games down the road and these are gonna teach us how to win,’” he said.

“We put in the hard work and it’s starting to pay off already this season. Those close games earlier in the year, we learned from them and now we’re pretty good at them.”

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.