An Overall Good Weekend *UPDATED*

Millan during his freshman year.
(Photo by Mat Dresens) 

Whenever a team goes up to Maine and takes three out of four points it is a good weekend. BU did just that last weekend. This is the second time in three years (only played Maine once at Alfond last year) that the Terriers have three points from the Black Bears. That last time came back in 2009 and in 2007 BU swept Maine in a weekend series in Orono.

Millan Named Hockey East Defensive Player Of The Week
BU Net Minder Kieran Millan was named Hockey East's defensive player of the week after he stoned the Maine Black Bears this past weekend. He had an expressive 41 save game Saturday night. After being scored on only 21 seconds into the game, Millan responded to stop every other shot he faced that night.

BU, Hockey East's Team Of The Week
After a win and a tie in Maine, BU was named the team of the week by Hockey East.

In Other News 

Joe Pereira scored his first career short-handed goal in Saturday's 1-1 tie.

John Curry, BU former goaltender, took part in the AHL Skills Competition and in the All Star Game over the weekend. 

Former BU Captain Sean Sullivan had the hit of the year a few nights a go. Here is the video:

At The Polls 

For the second time this season, Boston College submitted the USCHO rankings. They were followed by Denver, Yale the former #1, Minnesota Duluth, and North Dakota round out the top five. BU moved from 16th to 14th. 

They were also 14th in the USA Today Poll and 15 in the INCH Power Rankings 

Millan Stands On His Head As BU Ties Maine

Last night BU's netminder, Kieran Millan made 41 saves in a 1-1 tie against the Black Bears. Millan is the only reason that the game resulted in a tie, because BU was way out played and out chanced in all phases of the game.

This may have been the best game that Millan has ever played
as a Terrier. The only other game that comes to mind is the
Northeast Regional Final against UNH in the '09 playoffs.

Maine grabbed the lead just 21 seconds into the game. Will O'neal's blast from the point was the only shot that got by Millan the whole night. He was definitely screened and never had a good look at the shot.

Later in the frame, BU picked up their fourth short handed goal goal on the season. After a tape to tape pass from Chis Connolly, Joe Pereira it past Maine goalie Martin Ouellette to tie the game. The score would stand for the remainder of the game.

Both teams had great chances to break the tie throughout the game. BU had a five minute power play after Ben Rosen got caught with a cross check to the face. During the five minute man advantage, Maine was called for another penalty and the Terriers had a full two minute 5 on 3. They did not score.

Maine had their own two man advantage in the third period. Thanks to Millan the game stayed tied.

The important thing is, BU came away with tree points in Orono, something that is never easy. Next weekend BU and Lowell will face off for their final meeting of the season. Then next Monday is the Beanpot showdown with Boston College.

BU Comes Back And Dumps Maine

After trialing 3-1 in the second period, BU scored three unanswered goals to beat the #12 ranks Black Bears 4-3 last night. Corey Trivino scored the first Terrier goal followed by Alex Chiasson, Wade Meagan and David Warsofsky's winner.

Millan played well in net, again and Trivino came up clutch on faceoffs towards the end of the game.

Video Highlights:

Terriers Trip To Orono

Alex Chiasson slips a pass through
the legs of Maine's Joey Diamond

BU will travail to the Maine Black Bears tonight to kick off a weekend series at Alfond Arena. For both teams this is a pivotal weekend. Maine and BU could not be closer right now. Just one points separates them in the Hockey East Standings and Maine is only point slot higher then the Terriers  in the Pair Wise, at 17.

If BU were to sweep this weekend or even get three points, they would be in the drivers seat for home ice in the conference playoffs. After this weekend, BU plays the bottom half of the league, Lowell followed by a trip over to Amherst to play UMass between the Beanpot games and then two game series with Providence, Vermont, and Northeastern to close out the regular season.

Players to watch 

• Gustav Nyquist, Maine Forward. Nyquist this season leads his team in points at 28 but only has six goals on the year. Last year he had 30+ goals and was a Hoby Hat trick finalist. 

• Spencer Abbott, Maine Forward. Abbott is second on the team in overall points, 26 and goals with 12.  

The Last Time They Met..

was back in November. After being down in the third period, BU came back and tied the Black Bears 2-2 at Agganis Arena. Last Year the Terrier fell 3-2 at Alfond Arena

Millan Hitting His Stride

We have been waiting a long time for this; the return of Kieran Millan to his Freshman form. Named the  National Rookie of the Year in 2009, Millan was one of the better goalies not only in Hockey East, but in the nation. That season Millan had one of the best season by a goaltender ever in college hockey, an unbelievable 29-2-3 (.897%) record with 3 shutouts and only 67 goals against the whole year. Never mind the fact he did not lose a road game the entire season. Also in '09, he posted a .921 save percentage and 1.94 goals against average.

Millan sticks aside a shot in his freshman campaign
during the Hockey East playoffs against Maine.
(Photo By Matt Dresens) 

Last year was definitely a sophomore slump for the Edmonton Alberta native. Millan had a not so hot .500 win%  and an equally bad .891 save%. Despite having more total saves in '10, he had almost a two goal difference in goals against, a very average 3.15.

This season he has looked almost as good as his first year with the Terriers. While the win% and GAA are still higher than the National Championship year, his save % is not far off at .913. Let's also remember that the team in front of him is no where near the caliber of the 2009 squad.

In the last three games alone, Millan has stopped exactly 100 shots against three top 20 teams. His best performance came on last Saturday against New Hampshire, where he held the #7 Wildcats to just one goal. In that game he stopped 38 shots including 13 in the third period alone.

Millan will have to stay on his game for the rest of the season if BU wants to make a run at either the Hockey East Championship or the NCAA tournament.

Next Weekend could determine the fate of the Terriers as they travel to rival Maine next weekend for two games. As of right now, the Black Bears sit just one point behind the Terrier in the conference standings.

Millan Helps BU One Up UNH

Ross Gaudet scored his second goal of the
season in the second period.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

For the second night in a row BU's netminder, Kieran Millan has returned to the form of his freshman year. Tonight he made 38 saves including 13 in the  third period. 

After a scoreless opening period, UNH jumped out to a 1-0 lead on their first power play of the night. There was a huge scrum in front of the BU with about everyone on the ice standing in the slot. The puck found it's way on to the stick of UNH's Greg Burke who put it past Millan for his first collegiate goal.

About three and half minutes later BU tied the game on a power play goal of their own. At the point with the puck was Adam Clendening. His slap shot hit the dead center of the post and bounced into Charlie Coyle's lap who tapped it past New Hampshire's goalie, Matt DiGirolamo

BU's second came just minutes later. A bad turnover by a UNH defender lead to a semi break-a-way for BU's Ross Gaudet. Gaudet's shot looked like it hit off the leg of a Wildcat player. The deflection found it's way past DiGirolamo, five hole,  giving the Terriers their first lead in three games.

There were three plays that went to review, all being dis-allowed goals. Sahir Gill's high stick goal in the first period was called off after video review along with Alex Chiasson's strike with the net off it's pegs. The third a final one was UNH's Paul Thompson's goal that never crossed the line.

In the third period UNH dominated the Terriers. All the play was down the BU end, but thanks to Millan, The Terrier came away with the win and more importantly gained two points in the Hockey east standings. They are now in third behind BC and UNH. 

Slow Start Kills BU

Garret Noonan scored his first collegiate goal
in the first period.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)  

For the second game in a row, BU fell behind three nothing. Boston College scored three first Period goals to put the Terriers in a deep hole from the start.

Steven Whitney put the Eagles up 1-0 less then five minutes into the game. Paul Carey fond Whitney skating into the slot and hit him with a perfect pass. Whitney wasted no time a riffled one post Millan, off the post and in.

BC's second goal came on the power play. BU was caught up ice on a short handed rush. BC turned it up ice and had a 3 on 1 into the BU zone. The Eagle's Brain Gibbons scored a tap in goal after a couple of nice passes.

The Eagle's third tally also came on the power play. Brian Dumoulin, a member of the US WJC team, seemed to take a harmless wrist shot from the point. Millan never saw it through a screen and the puck found it's way into the back of the net.

After a terrible first period, BU rebounded nicely in the second scoring two goals of their own. Both goals were a result of the power play.  Just after BC got its man back BU's Alex Chiasson won a battle in the corner, then slipped a pass to Garret Noonan, who put it pass BC goalie John Muse from the top of the crease.

BU's second goal came on the power play. Chis Connolly took a slap shot from the point. It was deflected up in the air and gloved down by Charlie Coyle. Coyle gave it back to Connolly who fed David Warsofsky with a perfect one timer pass. Dave's bomb found it's way past Muse to make it a one goal game.

The third period saw both teams have their fair share of chances, all being denied by great goaltending. Milllan made some big stops to keep it a one goal game while Muse did the same.

Bu travels to NewHampshire tonight to face the Wildcats.

BC and UNH, A Weekend Preview

BU enters this weekend third in the conference standings behind both of their opponents that they will see on the weekend. UNH and BC have both been on fire as of late, although the two teams did both fall once last weekend to Dartmouth and Maine, respectively. BU, on the other hand, has been playing just ok. After getting waxed by Brown 6-1 on the first day of the month, the Terriers rebounded and went on a three game unbeaten streak before losing to Merrimack 3-2 Wednesday night. 

Chis Connolly will be a key for the Terrier to have any
kind of success this weekend. He missed both games
BC earlier this season due to a broken figure suffered in the
first period of a 4-2 win over New Hampshire. 

These two games and the following weekend's pair with Maine will likely determine if or where the Terriers will be seeded in the NCAA tournament. They will also play a huge role in positioning for the Hockey East Tournament. Remember, the top four teams in the league are rewarded with home ice in the first round of the playoffs and the top eight make the tournament.

Players to Watch 

• Cam Atkinson Boston College Forward. Atkinson leads the team in total points (28) and total goals with 17. Earlier this year he destroyed BU. He scored at least a goal a game against the Terriers this season.

•  Chris Kreider Boston College Forward. Kreider is coming off an impressive showing at the World Junior Championships. He was on a line with BU's Charlie Coyle and they both dominated on the power play. At BC he has 7 goals and 7 assist for 14 points, good for 5th best on the Eagles.  

• Brian Gibbons Boston College Forward. Gibbons is one of only three seniors on the Eagles. He is second in scoring with 27 points (10g 17a). He, like Atkinson, can score from everywhere. He has good speed and a hard shot.

• John Muse, Boston College Goalie.  Muse has 17 wins including 2 shutouts. He has a 2.16 goals against average.

• Mike Sislo, UNH forward. Sislo is second on the team in goals (9) and over all points (28) . 

• Matt DiGirolamo, UNH goaltender. DiGirolamo has played in 20 games and holds a .922 save %. 

A Mid-Week Showdown

Max Nicastro has 2 goals and 2
assists on the year so far. His last goal
came last weekend against Vermont.  

Two years ago this would have been a "penciled in win" for BU against Merrimack. This season it will be anything but. Merrimack is just three points behind the Terriers in the Hockey East standings. Also, BU is one spot higher then the Warriors in the Pair Wise rankings, in tie for 12th with Union. MC is tied for 14th with Nebraska Omaha.

Getting a boost 
BU will welcome back Max Nicastro to the line up tonight. He served a one game suspension last Saturday missing the Harvard game. He was suspended by coach Parker for tossing the net into the ref after Vermont scored on BU back on Sunday the 9th.

Players to watch 

• Stephane De Costa, Merrimack forward. Leads the team in goals with 10 points, assists with 16 and total points with 26.  
• Joe Cucci, Merrimack forward. Is 4th on the team in points with 17 (5g, 12a). He is a senior with speed and strength. 
• Joe Cannata, Merrimack goalie. Holds an impressive .924 save% along with a 2.0047 goals against average. Cannata was the main reason why BU did not come away with a win or two earlier in the season against Merrimack. 

The Last Time They Met...

was a weekend series in November. Both games ended in a tie. In the second game B had to come back from three goals down. 

Photos & Video Highlights From The Harvard Game

All Photos by Matt Dresens 

Connolly Doubles up Harvard

In only his second game back in the line up from a broken finger, the Captain Chris Connolly certainly made his mark on tonight's win, a 5-2 victory over the Harvard Crimson. Connolly's first of two special teams goals came on a power play in period one. Positioned at the face off dot left of the Harvard goal, he one-timed Corey Trivino's pass into the bottom of the net. His second was a result of some crafty defensive work. While on the penalty kill, he pick-pocketed Harvard's point man, then skated in on a break-a-way and scored on a top shelf wrister.
 

Chris Connolly makes a play on Harvard's Connor Morrison
in the third period. Connolly missed the hat trick by the
slimiest of margins, as he hit the cross bar with less
then a minute to go in the game.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Other Terriers to find the back of the net were Wade Megan, Joe Pereira; and scoring his first collegiate goal was Justin Courtnall. Courtanall's was an odd goal. The puck bounced up high in the air and hit the goalie's shoulder  then rolling on in. Meagan's was a tap in rebound and Joey's came as a result of an extremely bad turn over right in the slot by a Harvard defenseman. Pereira wasted no time and burring the mistake just seconds into the third period.

Merrimack game moved

Due to the fast approaching snow storm that will hit tomorrow, the Merrimack game scheduled for Wednesday has been moved to Tuesday the 18th, according to both the Boston Hockey Blog and a Merrimack Hockey Blog.

Six Current/Future Terriers On NHL Central Scouting Report

Adam Clendening has 2 goals and 8
assists on the year for a total of 10
points. he was ranked 61st in the
NHL's Central Scouting
Mid-season Report.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

Earlier this week the NHL Central Scouting Report came out. The CSR is a list of the best possible draft eligible players. On the mid season rankings BU has three current players and three future players on the list.

Spearheading the rankings for the Terriers is Matt Nieto. Nieto is ranked 55th, a likely second round pick. Adam Clendening fell into the 61ft slot, an early third round pick. Freshman, Sahir Gill was next slipping in as the 139th (5th round) best draft eligible player. A likely soon to be star at BU, Cason Homann was put in the 172nd position. I think this is low for a player with so much potential. It is likely because of his size, only 5'8. Following Homann was defenseman Alexx Privitera from Muskegon of the USHL. Privitera  came in at 193, a 7th rounder.  Rounding out the six Terriers is their goalie of the future, Matt O'Connor from Youngstown, also in the USHL. O'Connor was ranked 24th out of all goaltenders on the CSR.

In News 
Tomorrow (weather permitting) BU will take on Merrimack with out Max Nicastro. The Blue Liner was handed a one game suspension by coach Parker for throwing the net into a referee after Vermont's second goal.

Chiasson's Two Goals Puts BU Past Vermont

For the first time in exactly a month, BU won a game. The last one came on the 8th of December, 31 days ago. Last night, despite getting out shot 31-16, the Terriers were able to hold off the Catamounts 4-2 at Gutterson Field House.

With two goals in last night's win, Alex Chiasson now has
seven on the season, the exact number he had all of last
season.
(Photo By Matt Dresens) 

It was Vermont who jumped out to an early lead on a really strange goal. A broken two on one had BU's Garret Noonan diving to break up a pass off the stick of Chris McCarthy. The pass was broken up but took a odd deflection of Noonan's stick shaft and into the net, over Millan's blocker.

BU answered with a 4 on 4 strike. Charlie Coyle, who had great success on faceoffs at the World Junior Championships, was kicked out of the circle . Matt Nieto stepped in and could not have won the draw cleaner. It went right back to the point where Max Nicastro took a blast off the inside of the post and by Vermont goalie Rob Madore.

Not long after, BU found themselves on a two on one of their own. Alex Chiasson picked up the puck in the neutral zone and took off with great speed toward the Vermont net. Corey Trivino was his wing man. With a Vermont defender back-checking hard and then sliding to his knees, Chiasson pulled one of the best toe drags I have ever seen, completely undressing the defender. Chiasson then picked the top corner on Madaore to make it a 2-1 game.

Prior to the two quick goals, Vermont had been badly outplaying the Terriers. All the play was down the BU end.

Both goalies played well in the second, as there were no goals scored in the stanza.

Vermont tied things up on Josh Burrow's first goal of the season. There was a huge scrum in front of the Terrier net. The puck somehow creeped over the line just before the net was knocked off its pegs. At a closer look though, it did seem that the cage was off before the puck crossed the line. Max Nicastro made sure it came off, though way after the puck went in, as he tossed the net into the referee. He was given a ten minute misconduct.

Believe it or not, BU answered with a power play goal. Charlie Coyle won a battle in the corner and fed Chiasson in the slot with a crisp pass. Chiasson when down on one knee and one-touched the pass into the upper twine, giving the Terriers a 3-2 lead with 13:00 minutes left.

As the Catamounts came up the ice, in one last desperate attempt to tie the game, Corey Trivino picked off a centering pass and skated all the way in on the empty net and pushed the puck over the line, handing UVM the loss and improving the Terrier's record to 9-5-6.

A Full Line Up, Finally, Sort Of

BU will take the ice tonight for their first Hockey East League game since a 5-4 win over Northeastern back on the 8th of December. Tonight, BU will have a complete lineup for the first time in a long time. Chris Connolly and Alex Chiasson are back from injuries and Charlie Coyle has returned from Buffalo and the WJC. Ok, maybe the line up will not be completely full. Andrew Glass was dismissed from the team earlier in the week for missing team meetings. Glass was in the middle of his Junior campaign. He had one goal this season and had a hard time finding the ice. He will likely be replaced by fellow Junior, Kevin Gilroy.

On to the game. Vermont has had a terrible season to date. They find themselves one point better than last place Lowell in the Hockey East Standings, with just five total points. BU can not take this game lightly at all. If anyone had not noticed they have been playing like crap since the end of October. A good win tonight could be a huge boost of confidence for the Terriers. Vermont always plays BU tough. Even the National Championship year, Vermont beat BU twice in one weekend in Agganis. BU did however win the most important game they have ever played against the Catamounts later that season in the National Semi Final, 4-3.

Players To Watch For 

• Wahsontiio Stacey, Vermont Forward. In his senior year with the Catamounts, Stacey leads the team in goals and overall points. He has 9 goals to go along with 6 assists for a total of 15 points. 

• Rob Madore, Vermont Goaltender. Madore is one of the better goalies in Hockey East but just does not have the team to back him up. He is the type of tender who can steal a game and stand on his head. This season he has an .897 save percentage but just three wins on the season.

The last time they met... 

was February 28th, 2010. Vermont came back and beat the Terriers 3-2 in Gutterson Field House, the site of tonight's contest. 

Back Where They Started

When the preseason rankings came out BU was in the 14 slot. That is exactly where they sit now in the current USCHO rankings which came out Monday.

This Saturday the Terriers will open the second half of their Hockey East schedule, with a game at Vermont. Then it's a quick turn-around as BU travails to Merrimack on Wednesday the 12th.

In Other News 
The US WJC team won the Bronze Medal yesterday after a 4-2 win over Sweden. Russia pulled a BU-esk comeback against Canada to win the Gold. Down three goals going into the last stanza, Russia scored five third period goals to win 5-3 and claim their first Gold since 2003.

USA-Sweedan highlights:



Canada-Russia highlights:

What We All Wanted To See

USA-Canada. What else do I have to say? Yes, it is a night before everyone thought the two would meet (in the championship game), but who the hell cares? The winner of tonights contest will take on Russia in the championship game. The Russians slipped by Sweden 4-3 in a shootout earlier today. The loser will play the Swedes in the Bronze medal game.

A rematch of last year's WJC Final. This year I think the edge goes to the U.S. because of one player... Jack Campbell. The US netminder has played great this tournament, a far cry from the performance of the  two Canadian. Here is a video break down and preview from TSN.

Canada beat Switzerland 4-1 in the quarterfinals to advance to this game. The US, on the other hand, had a bye. 

Tough Pill To Swallow

Last night BU and Notre Dame played their second game of the season against one another. In the previous meeting, BU upended the Irish 5-4 in the Icebreaker Championship game. Last night's game looked a lot different. 

Justin Courtnall put Notre Dame Senior Ryan Guentzel
through the glass midway into the second period. A 15
minute delay (as long as the intermission between
periods) took place after the hit. Glass was every
where, according to the radio broadcast and it took some
time to clean that up. Never mind the fact that they had
to get a new pane of glass.

Alex Chaisson was out last night with a knee contusion. It is still unknown if he will play this weekend at Vermont. BU was also without Charlie Coyle, who is still at the WJC. With that, BU played with only 11 forwards and the lines were all messed up. The Terriers showed that you do need your whole bench because in the third period they were vastly out played and out shot by the Irish who held a 20-7 shot advantage in the third frame alone.

BU surrendered two goals in the third period after leading 3-1 on goals from Joe Pereira, Adam Clendening, and Chris Connolly. UND cut the Terrier lead to 3-2 on a goal from Anders Lee. Then with BU on the power play, with just two minutes and change left, Sam Calabrese tied the game with a short handed goal. 

BU should have been given a penalty shot in the overtime, as Chris Connolly was slashed in the arm on a breakaway. There was no call on the play, not even a power play. 

Notre Dame won the shootout and took third place in the Shillelagh Tournament. The shootout is irrelevant to the teams record and will go in the books as a tie. 

Brown Route

Earlier today, BU took on Brown in the Shillelagh Tournament opener, a Holiday tournament played about 45 minutes outside of Chicago. I could not make the trip out so I was forced to watch the game on the computer. The web cast was a far cry from HD quality and lacked game announcers so it was tough to follow the action. I did what I could before I turned it off after Brown took a 6-1 lead with about 7:00 left in the third.

Through the first and about half way through the second period the game was close. Matt Nieto picked up the only Terrier goal on a 4 on 4 in the first frame. After one it was 1-1. BU had several chances to take the lead in the beginning of the second. All chances were denied by Brown netminder Mike Clemente. A dumb penalty by BU defenceman Max Nicastro opened the flood gates for the Bears. Even I could tell on the web cast that Max clearly hit a Brown player right in the back.

After scoring on the power play, Brown went on to hang 5 unanswered goals, beating BU 6-1.

BU will take on tournament host Notre Dame tomorrow in the consolation game. UND lost to Minnesota State 4-3 on a last minute goal by State. BU beat Notre Dame back in the Icebreaker Invitational Championship game last October.

BU goaltender Kieran Millan played his worst game of the season tonight. The Terriers welcomed back forward Chris Connolly to the lineup but were without Charlie Coyle who is in Buffalo for the World Junior Championships.

Of note, BU has yet to field a complete squad in  either of this years intra-season tournaments. During the Icebreacker, the Terriers were without Corey Trivino and Alex Chaisson due to suspensions and lost Yassin Cisse for the year in the opener. Hopefully when Coyle returns the team will be more competitive.