Boston College Prepares for Minnesota's Speed and Scorers Slap Shot will feature reports from the writers at the colleges and universities playing in the N.C.A.A. Frozen Four tournament this week. TAMPA - When Boston College takes the ice Thursday night at the Tampa Bay Times Forum, it might look like the Eagles are practicing again. But not because Minnesota is an opponent to take lightly - just the opposite, actually. The Gophers will be displaying a similar brand of hockey as BC plays, presenting a difficult challenge for the Eagles in the semifinal round of the Frozen Four. "I think of all the teams in the country, when we look at [Minnesota], we kind of look in the mirror," said head coach Jerry York. And they like to play the game with pace. They like the play the game with high skill level. "It's remarkable, you can look at, "Hey, they wear the same color uniforms." You can look at a lot of peripheral things. But the tradition of the programs, there's a lot of things that are similar with BC and Minnesota. The similarities include the pace the two teams play at, the talent on the ice, and the speedy yet physical style of play. "The pace of the game and the way they play, it's not a rock fight," York said. We play enough games in the year that's a rock fight. This is a hockey game. Lots of skill. Lots of good hard checking, and they play the way we want to play. While the Eagles have only seen the Gophers play on tape this year, they don't have to look far - just to the N.C.A.A. Regionals - to see the damage Minnesota can do to other top-notch teams. "The Gophers have been at the top of the national rankings all year," said senior captain and defenseman Tommy Cross. They come from a storied program with a lot of history. And for me, all you have to do is look at what they did two weekends ago. They beat a really good Boston University team and a really good North Dakota team. So we know they've got a lot of good players. And Minnesota is playing some of their best hockey this season. They like to play with speed and play with skill, and it should be a real exciting hockey game. The Gophers tallied seven goals against BU and five against North Dakota, demonstrating the firepower offense they are capable of having. Keeping that offense in check will be a big factor for the Eagles if they want to extend their season. We know they're a good club because they made it here. We know they can score a lot of goals. They just took over the most goals per game this past weekend," said senior forward Paul Carey. So I guess we're kind of focusing on that, and I think if we manage the puck correctly, then we'll be able to limit them. If BC has trouble controlling the puck, it can be thankful to have one of the hottest goalies in the country behind them. Parker Milner has started every game of the Eagles" current 17-game winning streak, and has turned into a new goaltender since the beginning of the season. "[Parker] has gone from a good goaltender to an exceptional goaltender," York said. Assistant coach Jimmy Logue's done a great job with him. And Parker, he's not even close to what he was in November and December. He's matured, emotionally he's matured. His game's just a lot better. But focusing just on Milner would be the wrong way to go about describing this BC team in the way that York prefers to. The team-first attitude, after all, is why the Eagles are still lacing up the skates at this point in the year. It's tough getting here. It's not easy to get here," Carey said. But I think that Coach York has made it part of our culture, and each year he expects his teams to work hard and really try as hard as they can to get here. "We feel at BC, that when you come into our program, that no one player's bigger than the Eagle," York said. You're there for one purpose: you represent our school. Your focus is on winning trophies. And I don't care how good the player is, the reason we're so effective is that I think they all buy into that system. They're all a team first. And it sounds simple to say; it's really difficult to do. I think that's the basis of our success. Greg Joyce is the sports editor of The Heights, the student newspaper at Boston College.