Boston College freshman defenseman Noah Hanifin joined NHL Live to discuss playing for the United States at the 2015 IIHF World Junior Championship and to look ahead to the 63rd annual Beanpot Tournament.
Hanifin scored two points in five games at the WJC for the United States, which did not reach the medal round.
"It was a great experience," Hanifin said. "Obviously we didn't get the outcome we wanted, but just being able to play with great players every day … being able to measure myself against players around the world at such a high level was awesome. Coming back to BC I think it really helped me a lot. I think I got better over the course of that tournament. I think I gained confidence from it."
Ranked third in NHL Central Scouting's midterm ranking of the top North American skaters for the 2015 NHL Draft, Hanifin has three goals and 14 points in 24 games for the Eagles.
"I really don't like to think about that stuff a lot," Hanifin said regarding his draft prospects. "My focus is just on my team. We're trying to win the Beanpot coming up and hopefully make the national tournament and win that as well. I think just by focusing on winning games and helping my team win will help me for the draft. But I think it's important to put that in the back of my head and not think about that too much."
Hanafin will play in his first Beanpot tournament beginning Monday against Harvard at TD Garden. The Eagles won last year's tournament after defeating Northeastern in the championship game.
"It's a tournament that really actually drew my interest in college hockey from a young age," Hanifin said. "It's a huge Boston tradition and being able to play in it this year is going to be pretty surreal. I'm really excited to go through it with my teammates, for sure."
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