McCoshen Leaves Eagles for Panthers

The offseason exodus from Boston College continues. According to USCHO.com, BC rising junior defenseman Ian  McCoshen has signed a contract with the NHL's Florida Panthers, foregoing his final year of NCAA eligibility.

A native of Hudson, Wisc., the 6-foot-3, 218-pound McCoshen tied a career-high mark this past season with six goals, and  also set new personal career highs with 15 assists, 21 points and 86 penalty minutes in 40 games. In 110 career appearances with the Eagles, the left-shooting blueliner registered 17-33—50 points to go with 201 PIM. He posted one assist in his final collegiate contest, a 3-2 NCAA semifinal loss to Quinnipiac on April 7 in Tampa. He also recorded a team-high six shots on goal in that game, including a potential game-tying one-timer that was turned aside with four seconds remaining in regulation.

McCoshen prepped three seasons with Waterloo (USHL) before enrolling at BC in the fall of 2013, after being selected by Florida in the second round (31st overall) of the NHL Entry Draft that year.  An applied psychology and human development major in BC’s Morrissey College of Arts and Sciences, according to bceagles.com, he played in two World Junior Championships for the United States, and helped the Eagles to two Hockey East regular-season titles and two NCAA Frozen Four appearances in his three years at the Heights.

McCoshen becomes the sixth Eagle this offseason to leave BC early for the pros, following Steve Santini, Miles Wood, Alex Tuch, Adam Gilmour, and Thatcher Demko.

Eagles Top Terriers, 5-3, in Hockey East Play

Junior defenseman Ian McCoshen scored two goals, including the game winner, and set up two others as fourth-ranked Boston College rebounded to edge No. 10 Boston University, 5-3, in a Hockey East matchup on Friday night at a sold-out Kelley Rink in Chestnut Hill, Mass.

A second-round selection by the Florida Panthers in the 2013 NHL Entry Draft, McCoshen rocketed a shot from the right point past Terriers netminder Sean Maguire (32 saves) on a power play 17:50 into the third period, after visiting BU had tied the contest just two minutes earlier. McCoshen, a native of Faribault, Minn., then flipped an insurance marker into an empty Terrier cage with 13 seconds remaining in regulation and Maguire having been pulled for an extra attacker.

BU held a 1-0 lead after 20 minutes on a power-play tally by Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, who also picked up an assist on the night, before BC’s Austin Cangelosi tied it on a second-period penalty shot. Ahti Oksanen then put the Terriers (11-7-3 overall, 5-4-2 Hockey East) back ahead, 2-1, in a matter of 17 seconds, before Zach Sanford knotted matters exactly three minutes later for the Eagles (15-4-2, 8-1-2).

Colin White made it a 3-2 game for BC late in the second period, before BU’s Bobo Carpenter forged a third-period tie shortly before McCoshen’s late-game heroics. Thatcher Demko finished with 25 stops in his return to the BC net from an injury, as the Eagles outshot the Terriers, 37-28. BU went 3-for-6 on the power play, while BC was 2-for-7 with a man advantage.

The win also marked the 999th victory in the storied career of BC head coach jerry York, the all-time winningest coach in college hockey. York will go for No 1,000 on Saturday night when the Eagles and Terriers face-off cross town at Agannis Arena to complete the home-and-home series.

ADDENDUM: BC skated to a 1-1 tie at BU on Saturday, as Demko made 30 saves and Ryan Fitzgerald scored the tying goal with under three minutes remaining in regulation.