By Mikayla Geraghty – Staff Writer  

The weekend of Nov. 18-19 was an exciting one for fans of college hockey. The Bishop’s men’s club team played their home-opening weekend in front of a packed crowd at the Jane and Erik Molson Arena. The team played two games against Stonehill College, who traveled up from Massachusetts. Bishop’s team eyed a redemption run after losing their first game of the season to Stonehill 6-5 in a close game that ended in a shootout.  

The puck dropped for the first game Saturday afternoon at 2:30 p.m. in a packed crowd buzzing with excitement seeing the team in action at home base. Both teams came ready to play, resulting in a fast-paced game right from the get-go.

Raph Deslauriers (#93) scored the first goal of the game with just over six minutes left in the first period. With just under three minutes remaining in the first, Frederic Nicolas (#91) netted the second goal of the game. Stonehill clinched a goal, scoring with 25 seconds left. Bishop’s men’s team held a 2-1 lead going into the second period. 

Bishop’s came back into the second period ready to play as Frédéric Grenon (#11) scored with a beautiful shot for his first career goal. The game heated up at the top of the second after a couple hits, resulting in a line brawl. Ultimately, Keyan Hogan (#5) got thrown from the game with a one game suspension. After the fight, players Jack McGowan and Joe Aubert both received 10-minute misconducts, throwing the BU men into a penalty kill.

Grenon played a strong game, securing another goal for the team. Nicholas Deichmann (#97) also scored his first career goal at home this game. Frederic Nicolas boasted a phenomenal game, scoring three more goals for the team including the game-winning goal that put the men up 8-5 for their first home win of the season. When Nicolas scored the hat trick, fans were ecstatic, rushing to throw their hats on the ice and celebrate with the team.   

The crowd couldn’t contain their excitement as they watched the club team claim their first home victory of the season, chanting and cheering up until the last seconds of the game. In a post-game interview with Hogan he shared that “the home crowd was unreal. We couldn’t have earned the W without them. The chants and overall support just reiterated that we’ve got the best fans in college hockey – probably the most electric atmosphere I’ve ever played in front of.” 

The boys came back the next day for a 10 a.m. puck drop. BU men dominated this game with a 6-2 win for their third victory in a row. Alex Budd (#16), Kalum Gendron (#21) and Ryan Gudernatsch (#79) all scored their first career goals with the men’s hockey team. Ryan Massicotte (#7), Jack McGowan (#83) and Nicholas Deichmann (#97) also struck goals in the second home game of the weekend. The home opening weekend secured the team a top ten spot in the AAU college hockey national rankings, coming in at number nine on the scale.

John Geraghty, a fan that travels to all the team games, shares that “The BU hockey experience is the real deal! Every player pulling in the same direction to ensure the team’s success… and the crowd at the home games providing the energy needed to make the experience electric! These games are so fun to watch.” Geraghty is not the only fan to share this sentiment; the team was featured on a popular hockey Instagram page “hockeyhousepod”, noting the huge crowd that came out to support the team.