The Power Play Needs a Makeover

Sahir Gill lays a hit on a UNH forward. He also is
one of my "Players of the Week"
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU is currently ranked at #9 in penalty kill. At one point this year they were at the top of that statistical ranking. The other half of the special teams category, the power play, you would have to look much farther down the ranking to find BU. In fact they are not even on the top 40 list at all. BU went just 1-11 on the power play over the weekend. Last weekend they went 0-17. Something has to change.

This happened last year too. BU was struggling to even get pucks to the net. Over the holiday break Parker revamped the power play and in the teams first game back against UMass, they scored 3 PP goals on route to a 7-3 win. The new power play looked sort of like a diamond. One player would be behind the net, the two defenseman would be at the point, and there would either be two skaters out in front of the goal or on the face off dots. That work last year, could it work again this year? I don't know, but I would like to see something done, anything! Maybe decline the penalty?

Something will change this upcoming weekend when Brown comes to town. Chris Connolly, the teams top goal scorer, will be out for 4 to 6 weeks with a broken finger. Connolly has just one power play goal this season, but is sill a key man on the man advantage for the Terriers. He is the setup man. He feeds the defenseman the puck for onetimers and also the other forwards for tap in goals.

At The Polls 

BU, for the second straight week, finds it self as the #2 ranked team in all three polls. The USCHO rankings have Minnesota Duluth again at #1 followed by BU, Yale, Nebraska Omaha, and Miami (oh), rounding out the top five. Maine dropped all they way from 3 to 10, after being swept at the hands of Boston college who moved from 10 to 7. Merrimack cracked the top 20 for the first time since 1988. They currently sit at 18. 

The top 7 is identical in the USA Today poll.

The top 4 were the same in the INCH Power Rankings. Maine remained in the top five, at #5. North Dakota, UNH, Miami, Michigan, and Union made up the top ten in this poll.

BU remained in the one slot in the Hockey East standings and now have 14 points,. after the win over New Hampshire.

The Terriers find themselves down three spots in the Pair Wise rankings from 3 to 6. This is undoubtably the most important of all the poll because it determines the field of 16 for the NCAA tournament.

Around Hockey East. 
As you already know BU and UNH spilt a home and home series. BC swept Maine at home. Merrimack also picked up a sweep against Lowell. Northeastern tied Providence 3-3, Friday night a then blanked them 5-0 Saturday.

My Player of the Weekend
I've got two.
Grant Rolleihser, Stopped 41 shots in BU's 4-2 win, Saturday night. With this win he upped his record to a perfect 3-0-0 on the season. Pretty good for a guy who sat on the bench for almost a month, to come in and shut down #7 New Hampshire. It would not shock me if he got the start this upcoming Saturday against Brown University.

Sahir Gill. He had a ton of energy in the win. He was up and down the ice and created many chances to score which he eventually did in the second period. It was on a break away, which makes three of this type this year. He did not pull his typical move, fore hand back hand, but instead just stuffed it five hole.