Eight Future Terriers Taken On Day Two

Yesterday, the first round of the NHL draft kicked off in Pittsburgh, next year's host to the Frozen Four. No current of future Terriers were selected in the first round. In fact, no current college hockey players were selected in the first round for the first time since 1997. There were a few soon to be Hockey East players taken, though. Vermont bound Zemgus Girgensons heard his name called by Buffalo with the 14th overall pick. Providence recruit Mark Jankowski went 21st overall to Calgary and BC recruit Michael Matheson was selected 23rd overall to Florida.

The first future Terrier to be selected in the 2012 NHL draft was Sam Kurker, a standout forward from St. Johns Prep. Kruker went 56 overall to the St. Louis Blues in the second round. The third Round saw Matt Grzelcyk, a soon to be Terrier defenseman, went 85th overall to the Boston Bruins. The man who will be put in charge of replacing Kieran Millan in net, Sean Maguire was picked at the 113 mark by the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Skipping ahead to the fifth round, a pair of 2013 recruits heard their name called. Doyle Somerby was taken with the 125 overall selection by the New York Islanders. Currently, Somerby is at Kimble Union Academy where he is a strong defenseman. 11 picks later, fellow 2013 recruit Robbie Baillargeon was taken 136th overall by the Ottawa Senators. Two picks later at 138, 2012 recruit Danny O'Regan was picked by the San Jose Sharks. O'regan is the third Terrier in three years to be taken by the Sharks. Charlie Coyle went 29th overall in 2010 and Matt Nieto was taken in the second round last year.

In the 6th round, future Terrier forward Wesley Myron was selected with the 177th overall pick by the Vancouver Canucks. Last year, Myron played for Victory of the BCHL. He will be at BU next fall. 2013 recruit Brandon Collier was taken with the 189th pick by the Carolina Hurricanes in the 7th round. Collier played at Malden Catholic last season where he and his MC teammates won their second straight State Championship.

So with little else to report, this is undoubtably one of the more exciting days of blog work in the summer. With each Terrier selected today, it makes me want it to be October even more.

Shields vs Cages

Yesterday, the NCAA Men's Ice Hockey Rules Committee kicked off their offseason meetings. The committee meets every two years to revise and/or change any rules. This year, the main topic of discussion in Florida will be the debate over cages or shields on helmets. Currently, the NCAA mandates that all players wear full protective cages over their face.

There have been several years of talk over whether to eliminate the full cage in the college game. The basis for the argument is that every other level of hockey that is equivalent to NCAA hockey in the world plays with shields. Even lower level hockey sees the players sporting shields. The USHL and BCHL, both junior  developmental leagues that produce NCAA commitments like cows produce milk, both allow the use of shields. So, it must be a rather awkward transition to go back to the cage when these recruits step onto the ice with the full cage.

It is even thought that by introducing the shield into the college game, that it will make the game safer. How? because (a) players will naturally become less aggressive (for a lack of a better word) in the corners. Players will likely no longer target the face of an opponent in the corner, thus making the game safer for all involved. (b) players will no longer have metal bars running in the path of vision. Instead, there will be a clear plastic shield. This will increase vision for all players, and will reduce the time it takes to locate the puck on the ice. This not only makes the game safer because the player will find the puck sooner and not have the need to have his head down, but it could make for a better product of hockey.

Types of shields

Here is an example of a "Half Shield"
as worn by former Terrier Nick Bonino.

Like everything manufactured in hockey, there are different types of products. Different types of sticks (more flexible vs less flexible), Different types of skates (lighter vs stiffer)... etc... etc, you get my point. Well, the shield is no different. In the USHL/NHL/AHL players are allowed to wear a "half shield". This protects from the bridge of the nose, covering the eyes then connecting the helmet at the forehead. The proposed shield that would be used in college would be a "three quarter shield". This is a slightly larger shield (hence the name), that would cover and protect from the bottom of the nose to the beginning of the helmet at the forehead plus some of the orbital bone and side of the player's face.

Here is an example of a "three quarter
shield" being worn by
Danny Heatley.
(Photo from NHL Connection)

The advantage of the "three quarter shields" is that is virtually impossible to take a high stick in the eyes. The disadvantage is that because the shield covers from  the bottom of the nose, it tends to fog up from the player's breathing. The NCAA (from my understanding) does not want to go to the "half shield" because it does not protect the nose, so it looks like players will need to keep a towel on the bench to wipe away the fog if the NCAA does indeed convert to "three quarter shields" in 2013.

2012 Season Highlights

Rape Charges Dropped Against Nicastro

Max Nicastro helps celebrate
 a goal against Merrimack
in 2010.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

In late February, Terrier Defenseman Max Nicastro was arrested for sexual assault on a female student at BU. He was suspended from the hockey team and was later kicked out of school. Today the charges were dropped by the prosecutor, but there was no real reason stated why the charges were dropped.

Former Terrier Colby Cohen tweeted this about the dropped charges:

"Great to see the charges dropped on Max Nicastro, very disapointed in the univ. for not taking the time to let the true facts come out. Not the hockey team at fault, they did the right thing only suspending him, University copped out by not waiting for the truth." -Colby Cohen

It really shows how fast people jump to conclusions.

It will be interesting to see the media coverage on this subject. The second Nicastro was arrested, all the major news outlets in Boston were reporting it. Like I said, it will be interesting to see who all comes out and reports that he is innocent after all.

Filling a Hole
At this time, I don't know if this means that Max will be back on the team next year. Right now I would say no, but things could change. If he does come back, it would greatly help the D with Clendening signing with Chicago yesterday. A huge hole needs to be filled. If Max comes back (again I don't know if he/theUniversity wants him to come back) it would only be for one year. I think it would be better for both parties involved (Max and the Hockey Team) to just move on.

If Nicastro does not return, recruit, Matt Grzelczyk will be one of two freshman defenseman on the squad in 2013. It is unknown who the second defense recruit is, but Marc Hetnik, a fall of 2013 recruit may jump a class and come this fall.

The Pipeline show is reporting that Kevin Roy, a Brown University recruit for next fall is "exploring getting out of his commitment and possibly playing for Boston University or Boston College, if possible." This is the main reason I want BU to keep an open scholarship for next season. Roy was the leading scorer in the USHL and was also the league MVP with the Lincoln Stars.

Hopefully, there will be more to come in the next few days about Roy and Nicastro. Also, BU's schedule will be released in mid June for those wondering.