No one on the Boston College roster experienced an offseason like the last one. Just a year removed from a national championship that included citywide appearances and an on-field celebration at Fenway Park, the Eagles faced the realization of a hockey humbling.

Their title defense came to a crushing halt, as they missed the NCAA tournament for just the second time since 1998. For a program that had more national championships than early summers during a decade-long span, it was an unacceptable way to end the season. What’s more, BC’s final blow came in the form of a 3-2 loss to bitter rival Boston University in the Hockey East semifinals at the Garden.

It was time to break it down and build it back up, and Boston College strength and conditioning coach Russ DeRosa led a string of punishing offseason workouts. He reminded the team of its most prominent alums who gave it their all on and off the ice - guys like Brian Gionta, Mike Mottau and Nathan Gerbe - and it was up to the current crop of Eagles to hold themselves to a higher standard.

Brian Gibbons is a veteran player for a Boston College team that bought in to off-season challenges.

“When you have a down year, you have extra motivation in the offseason to work harder and do the extra things because you know you need to improve because last year wasn’t good enough,” BC junior forward Brian Gibbons said. “In the back of your head, you’re thinking, ‘What do I need to do better than I did last year to have more success, both individually and to help the team?’

“We had a good group of guys that stuck around school last summer, and our strength coach, Russ DeRosa, did a great job keeping us motivated throughout the summer to keep working hard. He would give us little reminders of how last year didn’t go our way and to keep reminding us that we needed to work hard if we wanted to right the ship.”

The Eagles went 18-14-5 last season, and their 11-11-5 conference record gave them the sixth seed in the Hockey East playoffs. While coach Jerry York often pointed out that the loss of Gerbe was too much for his team to overcome, Gibbons couldn’t necessarily narrow it down to one thing. He pointed out that they lost late leads and had some unfriendly bounces, and he said the national championship effect added an extra degree of difficulty.

“I can’t really put a finger on what the reason is, but you’ve seen it with BU this year,” Gibbons said in regard to defending a national title. “They kind of struggled out of the gate there. It’s tough when you win a national championship. The next year is always tough for whatever reason. It’s hard to tell why. It could be that other teams, it’s the biggest game on their schedule. They’re circling it at the beginning of the year, a chance to beat the defending national champion. It’s tough to put a finger on why, but for whatever reason, it’s different when you win a national championship.”

The combination of the Eagles’ down year, goalie John Muse’s hip surgery and a young roster - they’ve got four seniors, three juniors, nine sophomores and 10 freshmen - created somewhat of a bleak outlook for their 2009-10 season. It was tough to forecast what type of success they could experience when there were so many unknowns heading into the season.

“I think it’s fair from the outside perspective to maybe have their doubts about BC because we had a subpar season last year, and we have such a young team this year,” Gibbons said. “But inside the locker room, there were no doubts. We knew that we had an off-year, but we knew we still had the talent and the work ethic. We knew we were going to fix things, and we knew we were going to have a better year than last year.”

That confidence and the intense summer preparations have paid immediate dividends, as Boston College is 12-6-2 and 9-4-2 in Hockey East, which is good for second place. Gibbons credits the leadership at the top for keeping the team focused, but more so, the success is a result of every player on the roster buying into the system.

With the Eagles’ youth, they obviously needed significant contributions from the younger players, Gibbons believes the sophomores deserve a hefty amount of praise for being able to adapt to their roles and taking charge on the ice. Sophomore Cam Atkinson leads the team with 13 goals and is second with 22 points, and the rest of his class has combined for 30 goals, 36 assists and 66 points. The sophomores are also a combined plus-13, while the rest of the team is a combined minus-3.

“[The sophomores] all kind of improved on what they needed to improve,” said Gibbons, who leads the Eagles with 15 assists and 24 points. “They all got more confident, and it’s shown with their performance.”

It’s had a positive effect on the rest of the team, and with the good vibes flowing since last summer, Boston College has reclaimed its perch in the top portion of the league standings. Last year’s campaign is out of the picture, though to forget it would neglect the reason for this season’s hard work.

“We just didn’t have the year we wanted for whatever reason,” Gibbons said. “Everyone knows how lucky they are to be here at BC, and everyone wants to prove that they belong here. Everyone wants to win.”