Calgary Flames fans should have become excited as they watched the Boston College Eagles beat the University of Minnesota-Duluth last night 4-0 on the road to the Frozen Four. Helping them extend their winning streak to 17 wins in a row was two future Flames.
Flames prospects Bill Arnold knocked the puck in during the 2nd period at 5:27 to boost the Eagles to a 2-0 lead on UMD. To seal the win, Johnny Gaudreau scored a powerplay goal at 11:47 in the 3rd.
Bill Arnold, the sophomore forward from Needham, MA was drafted by the Flames in the 2010 Entry Level Draft in the 4th round. In 40 games this season for the Eagles, Arnold has racked up 34 points with 17 goals and 17 assists. Arnold played for Team USA at the World Juniors U-20, in which he averaged a point a game, with 3 goals and 3 assists in 6 games.
Johnny Gaudreau, the freshman forward from Carney’s Point, NJ was drafted by the Flames in 2011 Entry Level Draft in the 4th round. In 42 games in his first season for the Eagle, Gaudreau has 41 points with 20 goals and 21 assist.
While both of these players are much too young to make their NHL debut, they have much growing still to do, the Flames should hold on to hope. Both Arnold and Gaudreau are good building blocks of the future. With Sven Baertschi, Roman Horak, and Leland Irving, finally there is some youth being groomed to take over the franchise as much of the backbone of the team is nearing retirement.
Don’t forget, the puck drops at 7 tonight against the Dallas Stars.