UPDATED: Nelson Minor Hockey grad Isaac MacLeod helps Boston College to NCAA title
By Bruce Fuhr
During his freshman season at Boston College Nelson Minor Hockey grad Isaac MacLeod didn’t see a lot of ice time.
A season later the smooth-skating defenceman saw a lot more ice as a 20-year-old sophomore while at the same time helping Boston College Eagles to its third NCAA Hockey title in five seasons Saturday at the Frozen Four Tournament in Tampa, Fla.
Steven Whitney scored twice sparking the Eagles to a 4-1 decision over Ferris State.
“It’s pretty surreal . . . it’s been a bit of a world win for the past 48 hours but it’s still pretty cool,” MacLeod told The Nelson Daily Sunday evening from Boston.
The title is the fifth NCAA hockey title for Boston College.
According to the school’s website, the Eagles (33-10-1) finished with a 19-game winning streak, outscoring their opponents 77-21 during that span.
“Everybody bought into the team and what the team needed as opposed to what each individual needs,” MacLeod said about the year-end streak.
“No matter if it was a freshman not playing big roles or a fourth-line player, everybody played like stars for their six or ten minutes.”
Boston College advanced to the final by blasting Minnesota 6-1.
MacLeod, the son of Deb and Allan MacLeod of Nelson, definitely made the most of his second season with the Eagles.
The 6’5”, 210-pound draft pick of the NHL’s San Jose Sharks played 43 games finishing with six assists and a plus-14 rating.
“I was the sixth defenceman this year, killing penalties for the coaches and eating up minutes so our top players wouldn’t get so tired,” MacLeod explained.
“It (minutes) was an improvement from last year but definitely not as many minutes as I would have liked,” added MacLeod, the youngest defenceman on the roster.
In 2009 MacLeod helped anchor the blueline of the Nelson Leafs to a Kootenay International Junior Hockey League title.
The soft-spoken defenceman played the next season in the B.C Hockey League for the Penticton Vees before inking a letter to attend Boston College.
MacLeod, expecting to return to Boston College for his junior and senior seasons, is enrolled in the Carroll School of Management and earned 2010-11 Hockey East All-Academic Team honors.
“I’ve got a month left of school and there’s a few projects I need to wrap up,” he said.
It’s been a few minutes since the most recent interview began.
And still MacLeod still has the memory of the final buzzer sounding in the Tampa Bay Times Forum somewhat planted firmly in his memory banks.
That’s because no matter what the level of competition, winning a championship is always an honour.
“It was shear mayhem,” recanted MacLeod, ecstatic he was able to experience the championship with his family in the crowd.
“I don’t really remember what happened because there was all that confetti falling from the rafters and you didn’t want to step on it with our skates . . .. It was just nuts.”
sports@thenelsondaily.com
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