Monday, November 27, 2017

Red Hot Hockey Recap

This was originally a project done for class, but I'll share it here too.

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Photos From Red Hot Hockey

For the first time in six attempts, Cornell came away victorious against BU at Madison Square Garden in Red Hot Hockey.

Men's Hockey vs Cornell (Red Hot Hockey, 11/25/17)

Cornell struck once in the first and twice in the second to take a 3-0 lead into the third. Dante Fabbro scored a power-play goal 4:48 into the third to cut the Big Red lead to 3-1.

Tristan Mullin scored the eventual winner at 11:51, but BU battled to the bitter end. First, Chad Krys scored a 6 on 4 goal with less than seven minutes to play and Patrick Harper made it a one-goal game with 4:58 left, but that was as close as BU would get.

Saturday, November 25, 2017

Let's Play Six

*Originally published on WTBU Sports*

NEW YORK — For the sixth time since 2007, BU and Cornell will square off at Madison Square Garden in New York City as part of the bi-annual Red Hot Hockey series.

The No. 19 Terriers have won the event three times (2007, 2011 and 2013), tied in a thrilling fashion in 2009 and won a dramatic shootout in 2015 to stay undefeated against the Big Red in the Big Apple.

Here's a little project I worked on for Terrier Hockey, a look back at the previous 
five Red Hot Hockey games.

“Its a pretty good experience,” mentioned junior forward Jordan Greenway, who scored a late goal in the 2015 meeting to force overtime and a shootout. “The atmosphere is unbelievable. I didn’t think there was going to be as many people as there were and it was really loud. All the history in that building, its an honor to be able to play there.”

“It’s such a special night for both schools,” said BU Coach Dave Quinn. “The fact that we do it every other year makes it a bit more special. We’re playing one of the top teams in the country right now, a team that’s 8-1-0 and fourth in the country [PairWise] right now. It’s gonna be a test for us.”

No. 7 Cornell started the season on October 27th and rolled off seven straight wins to open their schedule. A 3-2 victory at home to ranked Harvard and a 2-1 win at Quinnipiac are the most notable. The Big Red’s only loss thus far came at the hands of Clarkson last weekend in Ithaca, 4-0.

Last weekend, BU’s offense finally exploded, posted seven goals against Maine in a 7-0 blanking of the Black Bears to salvage a weekend split.

“It was good for a lot of the freshman to get their first goal[s],” said Greenway. “Its a confidence booster, but we are really focused on just going to the net hard and playing harder defense because we think that leads to more offense, and that’s kind of how it worked out for us in that second game [at Maine].

BU Notes
It sounds a lot like Brandon Hickey is close to making a return to the Terrier lineup. Quinn simply said earlier this week, “He should be ready to go.”

There is no update on Nikolas Olsson, who has been out since the beginning of November with an undisclosed injury.

Scouting the Big Red
Senior Trevor Yates, who scored Cornell’s second goal in the last RHH game, currently leads the team in scoring with 10 points. Those tallies come by way of six goals and four assists. Jeff Malott is second with eight points off of three goals and five assists.

Overall, the offense is running at a 3.56 goals-per-game pace, while the Big Red have only allowed an average of 1.89 goals a game.

Between the pipes, freshman Matthew Galajda has posted an impressive 7-1-0 record in nine appearances. In that time, the Aurora, Ontario native has a .913 save percentage and a 1.92 goals against average.

Puck drop is set for 8 p.m. at Madison Square Garden between the Terriers and the Big Red.

Friday, November 17, 2017

Opportunistic Black Bears Stymie BU

ORONO - In a frustrating battle with the Maine Black Bears, BU fell 5-2, despite outshooting Maine 42-28 in front of 4,532 at Alfond Arena and having two skaters pick up their first collegiate goals.
Jordan Greenway dives for a loose puck at the edge of the
crease in the second period.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)
Maine took advantage of the power play and was strong on the kill, but BU just could not find the back of the net.

Coach Quinn put it pretty simply, stating, "We are just not capitalizing on our opportunities."

Not once, but twice BU had Maine hemmed in, pouring on the pressure, only to have the Black Bears turn around and score at the other end.

First, in the second period with the game tied at one, BU controlled the play in their offensive zone for an extended period of time, thanks in large part to a power play that had expired. Maine’s Canon Pieper gained control of the puck off an errant pass at the blue line and blew by the Terrier defense, before streaking in alone on Max Prawdzik (23 saves). From the bottom of the slot, Pieper beat Prawdzik five-hole for his first goal of the year.

“We go 0-6 on the power play and not even that, we give up a goal at the end of our power play for not knowing the situation and they go down and score,” added Coach Quinn.

While the power play struggled, Maine’s goalie Jeremy Swayman was fabulous between the pipes. He stopped 40 shots and got a little luck from the post as BU rang the iron three times on shots that cleanly beat the Maine netminder.

Less than three minutes after Pieper’s goal, he was back on the scoresheet again. This time as he attempted a wraparound and banked the puck off of Brendan Robbin’s skate in the crease an in. It was his second goal of the year.

The game really took a turn after Logan Cockerill scored his first collegiate goal. The play was set up nicely Patrick Harper and Shane Bowers with Cockerill crashing the back post for the loose rebound. Following the goal, BU had complete control of the game and the momentum carried into the third period.

With 12:15 left in the third, BU was pumping chance after chance towards the net, looking for the equalizer. Then, Kasper Kotkansalo rang the post, Maine broke it out and eventually set Patrick Hollowly up with a point shot that found twine.

“I thought we had so many chances to make it 3-3,” said Coach Quinn. “They come down and their first chance is in the back of the net. It’s really what’s been happening for a while here. We have to just continue to preserve.”

That would be as close as BU would get. Maine ran out the clock and eventually, Patrick Shea added an empty-net tally with 1:52 left to round out the scoring.

Back in the first, BU opened the scoring on Kasper Kotkansalo’s first goal as a Terrier. Logan Cockerill and Patrick Harper added the assists.

Maine stuck back less than three minutes later on the power play as Brady Keeper beat Prawdzik on a high wrister from the point.

The two teams will meet again tomorrow night in Portland for game two.

Weekend In Maine

A weekend ago, BU had an interesting pair of games. First, they were shelled by NU 6-1 on Friday, before blanking UNH 4-0 at home behind a 29 save shutout by Max Prawdzik in his first collegiate start. This weekend, BU will make the long trek to Maine, where they will play one game against the Black Bears in Orono, before heading south to Portland for game two.

From The Vault
Nik Olsson scores a late goal against Maine last January in a
4-1 Terrier win at Agganis.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)
Maine has been a bit of a surprise this year and has the ability to play teams tight. It's just another example of how wide open Hockey East is this year. The Black Bears are currently 2-2-0 in league play with wins over UConn and Lowell, including a 6-2 drubbing of the River Hawks last weekend in Lowell.

Overall, Maine comes into this weekend with a  3-5-0 record, but as stated before, they play teams very close. Earlier this year, Maine was swept by Minnesota Duluth at home by scores of 2-1 and 2-0. While they only managed one goal against the Bulldogs, Maine has the ability to find the back of the net. In a weekend series with Miami, the Black Bears pumped home 11 goals in a two-game split with the RedHawks.

A year ago, BU swept Maine in January with a 4-1 win at home, followed by a 3-1 win at the Alfond the next night.

Scouting the Black Bears
Gone are the days where Joey Diamond, Gus Nyquist, and Brian Flynn carried the entire Maine offense. This year, Maine has one of the most balanced attacks in the country. They have scored 25 goals and yet no one has more than seven points on the roster. All but three skaters have registered a point and among those three, only Keith Muehlbaurer has played in all eight games.

Nine of the 25 goals come from Eduards Tralmaks and Mitchell Fossier. Tralmaks, a freshman from Riga, Latvia (same hometown as former Terrier defenseman Jekabs Redlihs) has a team-high five goals and has added two assists. Fossier, on the other hand, comes into the weekend with four goals and three assists. Other players to watch include Nolan Vesey, Chase Pearson, and Tim Doherty.

In goal, Jeremy Swagman is 2-2-0 in five appearances with a 2.86 goals against average and a .908 save percentage. Junior Rob McGovern has posted a .891 SV% and to go along with a 3.87 GAA.

Friday, November 10, 2017

Weekend Preview: Cats and Dogs

From The Vault
Jordan Greenway celebrates after scoring
at Northeastern last November in a 4-4 tie
(Photo by Matt Dresens)
Article originally posted on WTBU Sports

For the third weekend in a row, No. 15 Boston University will face two different opponents, as they travel to Matthews Arena on Friday night to wrap up an extended home and home with Northeastern before hosting New Hampshire at the Greek on Saturday.

In last Saturday’s clash with the Huskies, Nolan Steven paced the NU victory with a hat trick, while Bobby Hampton added a goal with Ryan Ruck and Cayden Primeau combining to make 33 saves. Ruck left the game midway through the second frame after Patrick Harper crashed into him, leaving the senior netminder dazed.

Jordan Greenway was the only Terrier to find the back of the net on the night. That strike came on a power play from Harper and Shane Bowers in the second period.

“I liked what we did this week,” said Head Coach David Quinn. “I thought we were much more focused and we went over a bunch of things structurally that I think we have slipped in. We just have to stay at it and stick together. We have a big challenge this weekend.”

BU will be without a main piece of their lineup Friday night. Assistant Captain Nik Olsson was suspended for one game by Hockey East “stemming from an incident at 4:38 of the third period on Saturday,” according to the league press release.

NU, on the other hand, keeps one of its most prolific scorers, Dylan Sikura. The team leader in goals was supposed to be with Team Canada in a pre-Olympic tournament in Finland this weekend, however, an upper-body injury sustained in last week's game against BU puts his status up in the air.

With or without Sikura, Quinn mentioned that BU's preparation does not change.

“They’ve got other good forwards that we are certainly aware of," said the coach. "We just have to make sure that whatever line’s out there for us, we’re doing the things we're trying to focus on regardless of the opponent.”

Scouting the Huskies
If Sikura is absent, Adam Gaudette will likely be the Husky with the most points on the stat sheet this weekend. The junior from Braintree has notched six goals and seven assists for 13 points thus far on the year. Zach Solow, who had a pair of assists in Saturday’s trouncing of the Terriers, comes in with nine points on the year by way of three goals and six assists. Other players to watch include Nolan Stevens, Matt Filipe, and Ryan Shea.

“We have seen them so much the last few years that there are really no surprises,” added Quinn.

Cayden Primeau will most likely get the start in net. In five appearances, the Montreal Canadians prospect is 1-1-1 with a .886 save percentage and a 2.55 goals-against-average.

From The Vault
Dante Fabbro scored a power play goal in
BU's 8-4 win at the Whittemore Center.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)
Shifting gears to the Wildcats of the University of New Hampshire, UNH is without a doubt the
biggest surprise in Hockey East and possibly all of college hockey this season. The Wildcats were slated to finish 8th in the conference after going 15-20-5 a year ago, but, currently, sit in sole position of second place at 3-0-1 in Hockey East, and hold an impressive 6-1-1 overall record.

UNH is certainly trying to send Head Coach Dick Umile out on a high note in his 27th and final season behind the Wildcat bench. Its been a rough go at UNH the last few seasons, as the Wildcats have finished higher than fourth just once since winning the regular season title in 2010.

This year, they swept Lowell in surprising fashion on opening weekend and swept Colgate the following weekend. Colorado College is the only blemish on the UNH schedule, a 2-1 overtime loss at home on October 21st. Last weekend, the 'Cats picked up a 3-0 shutout at UMass and have climbed into the top 10 in the USCHO poll.

UNH will play Friday night at home against Lowell, so both BU and UNH will be in the second game of back-to-backs when they face off on Saturday.

A year ago, BU took three points from UNH in a weekend series in February. On their Friday night contest, the Terriers battled back from a 4-2 deficit entering the third on goals from Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson to scratch out a tie. The next day saw the BU offense erupt for eight goals from seven different players in an 8-4 win at the Whittemore Center.

Scouting the Wildcats
Pacing the UNH offense is senior Michael McNicholas, who has 10 points off of a pair of goals and eight assists. Coming in with an identical point total is defenseman Benton Maass, who has notched a goal and nine helpers in eight games. Fellow defenseman Max Gildon has found twine six times to lead the team in goals scored. Other players to watch include Ara Nazarian, Liam Blackburn, and Jason Salvaggio.

In goal, Danny Tirone has been outstanding. The left-handed netminder holds a .936 save percentage and 1.98 goals-against-average.

Friday, November 3, 2017

Pair of Krys Goals Pushes BU Past Providence

It took two periods of absolute struggle, but Chad Krys finally broke through for a pair of goals in the third period to lift the Terriers to a 2-0 win over Providence in front of 3,293 at Agganis Arena.

Men's Hockey vs Providence (11/3/17)

The first period saw BU get outshot 15-9, but Jake Oettinger was there to shut the door. He finished the game with 31 saves and his first shutout of the year.

“I didn’t care how we did it, what the score was, how it looked, we needed a win tonight,” said coach Quinn. “We needed to feel good about ourselves. Obviously our start tonight wasn’t what we wanted [outshot 11-1 to start the game]. I thought we were a step slow and after we killed some penalties and in the last five minutes we started playing better and spent some time in the offensive zone. I thought the next two periods we played much better and the third was our best period of the night. Obviously, Chad makes two great plays and our goalie looked like a big-time goalie.”

BU is back at it tomorrow as they face Northeastern at home.

Weekend Preview: Terriers Host Providence, Northeastern

Article first published on WTBU

BOSTON — After dropping a pair of games last weekend against Denver and Providence, the No. 12 Boston University Terriers will get another crack at the Friars on Friday night at home. They'll then welcome Northeastern back to Agganis for the first time since the Hockey East Quarterfinals last March as the Huskies visit on Saturday night.

No. 6 Providence (5-2-0) scored three times in the second period on goals from Vimal Sukumaran, Erik Foley and Brandon Duhime, while Hayden Hawkey made 22 saves for a 3-0 shutout win.

"Its obviously a big motivation," said senior assistant Captain Nik Olsson. "They have become a conference rival with us. We need to come back and we can't drop two straight to these guys. We need to come out hard and respond."

After BU (3-4-1) was swept by Mankato State, the team rebounded to pick up three points against UConn the following weekend. Head Coach David Quinn was very impressed with this week's practices, which is a good sign of resilience, saying, "If we can match our game efforts with our performance in practice we'll be in pretty good shape."

The Friars limited BU to just 22 shots last Saturday; that suffocation can be credited to PC's strong defense. One of the main focus areas this week was to create more offense with better puck support and puck management.

"We worked on changing the angle on shots this week and we can't be denied at the net front," Olsson added. "We worked on catching and releasing shots before they could get out in front of it."

Scouting the Friars
PC is now 5-2-0 on the year, as they not only beat BU last weekend, but topped Boston College, 2-1, on Friday night. After the strong showing against their Comm Ave foes, Providence was named Team of the Week by College Hockey News.

John Wilkins continues to pace the Friar scoring attack with six points by way of two goals and four assists. Fellow sophomore Kasper Björkqvist has a team-high four goals, while Jacob Bryson leads the assists column with five helpers in seven games played.

Now we look at Northeastern (4-2-1). The No. 15 Huskies come into this weekend with league's best offensive attack, with a strong 4.43 goals per game, netting 31 goals in seven games. By comparison, BU is working a pedestrian 2.62 G/GM with 21 strikes in eight contests.

"Your defense doesn't change," said Quinn. "It's pretty simplistic in the way you have to defend. The fact that we prepared to defend against Denver I think will bode well for the fact we are playing Northeastern."

NU started the year with two blowout wins against Sacred Heart, before hitting a three-game winless skid with a 3-3 tie at RIT and a sweep by Quinnipiac at home. The Huskies rebounded last weekend, sweeping Lowell in a home and home by scores of 3-1 and 5-4 in OT.

Scouting the Huskies
At the forefront of NU's high flying offense is Canadian Olympic hopeful Dylan Sikura. In seven games, the senior from Aurora, Ontario has six goals and eight assists for fourteen points. Next weekend, he will participate in a pre-Olympic tournament for Team Canada in Finland, thus missing the back end of this extended home and home with BU.

"You have to take away time and space and be physical with him" mentioned Quinn about defending Sikura. "We can't be fishing for the puck. You have to have your head up and your stick down and have to be committed to playing the body…in a controlled manner."

Adam Gaudette does not trail far behind in the point's race, coming into the weekend with thirteen off of six goals and seven assists. Other players to watch include Garret Cockerill, Matt Filipe and Nolan Stevens.

Ryan Ruck and Cayden Primeau have split time in net. Ruck is 3-1-0 on the year and has a .908 save percentage to go along with a 2.68 goals against average. Primeau, a Montreal draft pick, is the owner of a tough .850 save percentage and a 2.97 goals against average. He has allowed nine goals on 60 shots.