Weekend Thoughts

A day after we finally got to see the 2013 BU squad in action, it's time to look back. I was pretty impressed at how the team played as a collective group considering the amount of new faces and lack of "real" practices. 

Player of the Week
Matt Grzelcyk gets
Player of the Week for his
set ups on the power play.
Grzelcyk had a hand in BU's
first two goals, his best set
up was to Oksanen for a
one-timer on the second
Terrier goal.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Looking at the Freshman

I thought all nine Freshmen in the game made some sort of impact, granted some were bigger than others. Mike Moran picked up the lone goal for the frosh, the fourth BU goal. Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk and Ahti Oksanen both added a pair of assists. In goal, Matt O'Conner appeared to be a tough guy to score on with his size, granted he only faced 5 shots, but looked good in the process. 

The Rest of the Squad

Goal scorers Matt Nieto and Evan Rodrigues both had solid games, but it was sophomore Cason Hohmann who looked to be the most improved from last year. Hohmann looked very confident carrying the puck and made a great set up on BU's third goal: From the center of the slot he found Alexx Privitera pitching down from the point, Privitera's one-timer was stopped, but Yasin Cisse was there to bang home the rebound. Later in the game, Hohmann found the back of the net himself, cashing in on a on a nice set up from Oksanen in the slot. In addition to Hohmann's strong play, Cisse had a sound game, as well. For the first time in three season's, Cisse is finally 100% healthy. In the words of College Hockey New writer Joe Meloni "Yasin Cisse is healthy and that should scare the hell out of Hockey East."

At The Polls

Somehow by dismantling Toronto in a game that did not actually count, BU moved up one slot in the USCHO rankings from 13 to 12. Boston College was once again number one, receiving 37 of a possible 50 first place votes. Minnesota picked up 12 first place votes and was slotted second in the nation, with Michigan getting the final first place vote a coming in third. North Dakota and Cornell rounded out the top five. 

I could not find the USA Today rankings so.... 

Around Hockey East

Saturday: Maine had an abrupt start to their regular season, falling to Quinnipiac 2-1 in Orono... Merrimack faired far better in their regular season opener, dropping Union 4-1 in Schenectady... Lowell rolled past Toronto in an exhibition tilt at Tsongas... Boston College blanked New Brunswick 6-0 at home... New Hampshire came away with a 5-2 victory at the Witt over St. Francis Xavier... Vermont throttled Concordia, 7-1 at Gutterson Fieldhouse.

Sunday: Maine continued their tough weekend, tying New Brunswick 2-2 in an exhibition match... Northeastern was the lone team to lose to a Canadian school, falling to St. Francis Xavier, 4-3 at home. NU has not won an exhibition game since 2009... BU shutout Toronto 5-0.