The BU Hockey Blog

Maine Turns Out The Lights On BU

2012-01-27T23:20:00.000-05:00

Tonight, Maine ended BU's five game win streak, topping the Terriers 4-2 in front of 5,066 at Agganis Arena.

The first period was a struggle for both teams, as Maine and BU traded scoring chances for the first half of the frame. BU broke the ice on their suddenly hot power play at the 17:56 mark. Alex Chiasson put the Terriers up 1-0 on a beautiful passing play. Chris Connolly fed Wade Megan, who dished to Chiasson through traffic. Chiasson then clanked a shot off the post and into the net, behind Maine Goalie Dan Sullivan (28 saves). It was Chiasson's 8th goal of the season, and the lone goal for either team in the first period.

Maine evened the game on a power play of their own a little over five minutes into the season stanza. Adam Shemansky beat Kieran Millan (21 saves) five hole with just two seconds left on the man advantage. About three minuets later, John Parker tossed a backhander past Millan, making it 2-1 Black Bears. In my opinion, this was a very weak goal allowed by Millan. From My angle, it looked as if Parker shoveled a backhand shot up over Millan's shoulder. The shot was perfectly placed and seemed to surprised Millan.

Directly following the goal, a large section of lights at Agganis shut off and suspended play for about 15 minutes.

Above sections 113, 114, and 115 the lights shut off
unexpectedly, creating a dark area on the ice. Clearly
the right side of the picture is what it looks like when the
lights are working normaly. To the left, that's where the lights
malfunctioned.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

After the black out, BU took over the pace of play for a long stretch of the second period.. Finally, after many good scouring chances Ross Gaudet evened the score 2-2. A rebound kicked around the crease and ended up behind the goal line, right of the cage. Gaudet, from behind the goal line, banked a shot off Sullivan's back and into the goal, for his third tally of the season.

Adam Clendening nearly put BU up 3-2, after he broke up a Maine passing play at the blue line and skated away on a shorthanded break a way. Sullivan made a great glove save, keeping the game tied.

The teams headed to the third period tied 2-2.

At 9:55 of the third period, Wade Megan was called for a sketchy hooking call, giving one of the best power play's another opportunity. 12 seconds into the man advantage, Mark Anthoine tipped Spencer Abbott's shot past Millan and into the net, regaining the lead for Maine.

BU had a chance to tie things up in the closing minutes. Garrett Noonan had an open look at the top corner, but fired it high and instead of finding twine, he drilled the glass behind the goal, ending the scoring chance.

Spencer Abbott sealed the game for the Black Bears, as he blocked Adam Clendening's shot from the point and skated in alone facing nothing but an empty net. Needless to say, he scored.

*Injury Report* Freshman Defenseman, Alexx Privitera left the game midway through the first period with a wrist injury. He is undergoing testing tonight and may have suffered a broken wrist.

Tomorrow, the teams will go back at it, this time on national television (CBS College Sports) at 7:30.

Weekend Preview: The Maine Event

2012-01-26T17:39:00.000-05:00

This weekend, Number 2 BU will host Maine in a two game series featuring Hockey East's two best power plays. BU has scored on 27.3% of their man advantages this season, while Maine has scored on 28%.

A lot has changed since these two teams last met in the middle of December, but one thing remains the same; there are four points on the line this weekend. If BU sweeps, they will be in the driver's seat for the league title and the number one seed in the conference tournament.

From The Vault
Former Terrier Chris Higgins gets stuffed on a one timer by
former Maine goalie Scott Darling in the 2009 Hockey East
Quarterfinals. BU won this game - game one- 2-1 on a power
play goal by Colby Cohen.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Since losing to BU 5-1 at home earlier this season, Maine has lost just one game, a 6-2 loss at Merrimack. Notable wins this year include a sweep of Boston College just last weekend and winning the Florida College Hockey Classic over holiday break. In that tournament, Maine beat Clarkson 6-1, then topped UMass 5-2 in the final.

Scouting the Black Bears
There's no surprise who's leading Maine in scoring this year. The top line of Spencer Abbott, Joey Diamond, and Brian Flynn racked up an impressive 42 points in their last eight games played. Abbott leads the team in points with 38(12 goals, 26 assists) in 23 games played. Flynn is a close second with a line of 13-22-35, also in 23 games played. Diamond, the only Junior on the line, leads the team in goals with 17, but only has 29 points on the year in 22 games played. Obviously put, BU's ability to control/stop this line will dictate the outcome of this weekend's game. Also look out for Matt Mangene, a versatile player who has played both defense and forward this season.

In The Cage
In the last few weeks, Sophomore Dan Sullivan has taken over control in the Maine goal. In 19 games played, Sullivan has an 11-5-3 record with an .896 save percentage. He has allowed 54 goals on 517 shots. Sullivan took the starting job from Martin Ouellette earlier in the year. Ouellette has appeared in eight games thus far and has a 1-3-0 record in games he has started.

College Hockey Picks For The Week

2012-01-26T14:55:00.000-05:00

Injury Report

2012-01-25T19:13:00.000-05:00

Evan Rodrigues
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Earlier this week, the Boston Hockey Blog reported that Freshman Evan Rodrigues was listed day to day with a shoulder injury. Apparently, Rodrigues left saturday's 8-0 pounding of Providence midway through the game and did not return.

If Rodrigues is out for Friday's tilt against Maine, Kevin Gilroy will likely dress, shifting Cason Hohmann up to the second line, taking Rodrigues' place. Gilroy would likely play with Ryan Santana and Ross Gaudet on the fourth line. More to follow in the next few days.

Weekend in Review: We Keep Roll'n

2012-01-23T21:35:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week
Kieran Millan was named Hockey East
Defensive Player of the Week, I will
also give him POTW honers. In two
games Millan let up one goal on 62
total shots.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Dominate. Power-surge. Statement. All three words come to mind in expressing how BU performed over the weekend. The first period of Friday night's 6-1 win over Providence set the tone for the entire weekend. Sahir Gill, Alex Chiasson, Ryan Santana, and Matt Nieto all posted goals in the opening frame. PC came out and played a solid second period, cutting the BU lead to 4-1. BU tacked on two more power play goals in the third, as Alexx Privitera and Garrett Noonan found the back of the net.

Saturday's game was a night to remember for the BU power play. The Terriers racked up six (no that's not a typo) goals on the man advantage. Nieto started the attack less than five minutes into the game . From there, Sahir Gill, Garrett Noonan, Wade Megan (2) and Alex Chiasson all scored power play goals. Gill and Max Nicastro posted the only five on five goals of the night. Millan made 26 saves in a shutout effort.

*State of the week: BU scored more power play goals over the past weekend (8) than Dartmouth has all season long*

At The Polls
BU remained the Nation's second ranked team, but this week USCHO gave them five first place votes. Minnesota Duluth was again ranked number one. Minnesota, Notre Dame, and Merrimack rounded out the top five.

BU leapfrogged Duluth, moving from second to first over the weekend in the ever changing PairWise rankings. What that means is if the season were to end today, BU would be the overall number one seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Around Hockey East
Friday: Maine topped Boston College 4-3 in overtime at Alfond Arena... New hampshire slipped by Merrimack 2-1 at Lawer Arena... Lowell blanked Northeastern 4-0 at Mathews Arena... UMass one upped Vermont, 4-3, at Vermont... BU ran over Providence 6-1 at Agganis.

Saturday: Maine completed the home sweep of Boston College with a 7-4 win... Merrimack upended New Hampshire 3-2 in overtime at the Whittimore Center... Lowell beat Northeastern 4-3 in overtime... BU destroyed Providence 8-0 in Providence.

BU 8, Providence 0

2012-01-21T23:34:00.001-05:00

That was the score of tonight's lopsided victory for the Terriers. The scoring started in the opening period, as Matt Nieto put home his 10th of the year on the power play. Later in the period, Max Nicastro converted his second of the season from Wade Megan and Cason Hohmann at 7:41. At the 16:03 mark, Sahir Gill scored his first of two, on the power play. BU took a 3-0 lead into the second period.

BU would score three more times in the second. Garrett Noonan scored his second power play goal of the weekend at 11:01. Gill found the back of the net at 14:56 from Alexx Privitera and Matt Nieto. Wade Megan rounded out the scoring in the second at 16:35, from Chris Connolly and Alex Chiasson, a power play goal.

BU tacked on two more power play goals in the third. Megan scored his 12th of the season at 4:07 from Priviteta and Nieto. Later in the frame, Ross Gaudet potted BU's sixth power play goal of the night. The assits went to Chiasson and Nicastro at 17:35. Millan turned away 26 shots in the 8-0 Terrier win.

BU Drubs Providence

2012-01-21T00:23:00.001-05:00

Tonight, BU hit the ground running and did something that they have not done all year; Score four goals in one period. They accomplished the feat in the first period and never looked back.

Terrier's Evan Rodrigues (26) and Matt Nieto (17) celebrate
BU's first goal scored by Sahir Gill (28).
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Sahir Gill opened the scoring less than two minutes into the game. A rebound was kicking around the crease and the Trace British Columba native was able to flip it over PC goalie Alex Beaudry, who was down and out of position.

Alex Chiasson picked up the eventual game winner at the 10:40 mark. As he skated over the blue line, carrying the puck into the attacking zone, he reared back and blasted a slapper past Beaudry. The PC goaltender got a piece of the shot, but not enough as it nicked off his stick and into the net. It was Chiasson's 7th goal of the season.

At the 13:23 mark, Ryan Santana scored one of the strangest goal I think I've ever seen. As he raced after a loose puck that was at the top of the circle in the PC zone, Beaudry -the goalie- also charged after it. Both Beaudry and Santana got tangled up and the puck hopped up and bounced into the vacant net.
Little over a minute later, Matt Nieto tipped Adam Clendening's shot from the point past PC goalie Justin Gates, who came in relief of Beaudry following the Santana goal.

Providence finally got on the scoreboard during a power play in the second frame. Shane Luke was the last person to touch the puck before it crossed the line, giving PC their lone goal of the night. Luke was able to, somehow, jam home the puck in a large scrum to Millan's left. It was Luke's first goal as a Friar.

BU added two power play goals in the third stanza to salt the game away. Alexx Peivitera picked up the first one, as his shot from the point made it's way through traffic, past Gates and into the bottom of the net. Garrett Noonan added the 6th and final BU goal at the 7:02 point in period three. Noonan taped in a loose rebound and pulled off the Jagr solute after the goal to the crowd's delight.

Adam Clendening was named the game's number one star for his four point night. Kieran Millan made 36 saves in the 6-1 victory. With the win, BU moves into sole possession of first place in Hockey East with 23 points. The Terriers, also are now in second in the ever changing PairWise rankings.

Weekend Preview: Getting Friared Up

2012-01-19T22:11:00.000-05:00

This weekend, BU will take on Providence in their first home and home series of the new year. Earlier this year, in Providence's home opener, the Friars handed BU their first loss of the season. The story behind that game was that BU was late arriving to the rink and it showed as PC took a 3-0 lead. BU came back though, tying the game at three, before Providence scored two third period goals, bucking the Terriers 5-3.

From The Vault
Wade Megan fights through a check during a game at
PC's Schneider Rink back in February of 2011.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Other than that win, Providence has been up and down all year. Currently they sit tied for 27th in the PairWise with Bemidji State and are six points behind the Terriers for first in Hockey East. This is a critical weekend for both teams. If BU sweeps, they will not only pick up four points in the league standings, but could (with some help from a Minnesota Duluth loss or two) move into the top spot in the PWR.

Scouting Providence
PC is an even .500 this season, with a record of 9-9-2. There are not many notable wins to report other than when they beat BU in their first game of the season. A week after dropping BU, the Friars skated into a two game series, at home, with current number one ranked Minnesota Duluth. Providence was outplayed in game one, a game that I actually was in attendance, losing 5-2. The next night though, PC tied the defending National Champions 2-2. PC's next big win was an overtime shocker, in which they topped previously unbeaten Merrimack 2-1. the next night, the Friars rolled over the Warriors 6-1 at Merrimack.

Scoring leaders
Freshman Ross Mauermann has racked up a team leading 17 points (8g, 9a) in 20 games. Closely behind is Sophomore Derek Army with 15 points, eight goals and seven assists. Providence's goal scoring leader is Tim Schaller, a junior from Merrimack, New Hampshire has 10 goals in 17 games played.

In goal
Every time BU plays Providence and Alex Beaudry is between the pipes, I think of when he stood on his head and knocked off the team of the decade, the '09 BU team, at Agganis on a Tuesday night in February. This year, the Cumberland, Ontario native has an 8-8-2 record with a .902 record and one shutout. He has allowed 50 goals on 510 shots thus far. Beaudry holds a 3-7-0 record vs BU.

Weekend in Review: The Comeback Kids

2012-01-16T22:20:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week
Finally, the Captain registered a goal.
For that, Chris Connolly is my player of
the week. His two goal night at Harvard
helped the Terriers battle back and win a
preview of the opening round of the
Beanpot.
(photo by Matt Dresens)

This past weekend, BU picked up two more wins. They were not your typical two wins, though. Friday night at Northeastern, BU fell behind 2-0 after the first period. At the end of the second period they were leading the Huskies 3-2. Adam Clendening put the Terriers on the board half way through the period, and a minute later, Wade Megan tied the game. Evan Rodrigues added a power play goal to finish out the scoring in the second.

Megan notched his second of the game less than two minutes into the third, also on the power play. NU's Ludwig Karlsson cut the BU lead to 4-3 with about three minutes left, but BU hung on for the W. The obvious player of the game is Wade Megan: two goals, including the game winner, but if you really watched the game, you would have noticed that Ryan Santana, yes the fourth line winger, played a great game. He was all over the ice, breaking up NU shots and his hustle lead to BU's game tying goal. He went balls to the wall to pick up a loose puck behind Northeastern's net, and as he was falling, slid a pass over to Megan who slammed it past NU goalie Chris Rawlings.

Friday's game was a great hockey game to attend. It ranks right up there for best game of the year. There is nothing like a front row balcony seat at Matthew's Arena. Luckily, I was able to sneak into the front row midway through the first period. The balcony actual hangs over the glass and there is no view quite like it any where else in Hockey East.

Unfortunately, I was unable to make it over to Harvard Saturday night to catch BU's come from behind 4-3 overtime win. The reason I could not go was that I was at the Patriot's game. Anyway, from all accounts of the game, it sounds like BU was a bit lucky to come away with the win.

Harvard took a 1-0 lead, before Chris Connolly, finally scored his first goal of the season, to tie the game at one. Harvard picked up two more goals in the first, including one with just nine seconds left in the period. The Crimson took a 3-1 lead into the dressing room. After a scoreless second frame, BU battled back, scoring twice in the third stanza to tie the game. Connolly picked up his second of the night and Ben Rosen tied the game with about four minutes to play. In overtime, it was Garrett Noonan converting on an odd man rush for the Terriers, giving BU the win and continuing the Terrier win streak, which is now at three games.

At The Polls
BU moved up four slots from 6th to 2nd in the USCHO polls. Minnesota Duluth picked up all 50 first place votes. The top five looked as follows: Minnesota Duluth, Boston University, Boston College, Minnesota, and Ohio State.

USA Today had BU in the number three slot with a top five of Duluth, Minnesota, BU, BC and Ohio State.

Around Hockey East
Wednesday: New Hampshire blanked Providence 1-0 at Schneider Rink.

Friday: Merrimack topped Maine 6-2 at home... UMass shutout Boston College at home 4-0... Vermont upended Lowell, 3-2 in overtime... BU beat Northeastern 4-3 at Matthew's Arena.

Saturday: Merrimack and Maine skated to a 2-2 draw at Lawler Arena... BC snuck by Northeastern, 2-1 at Fenway Park... New Hampshire beat in-state rival, Dartmouth 4-1 at Thompson Arena, the Big Green's home rink... BU fought back to beat Harvard 4-3 in overtime at the Bright Center.

Sunday: Providence defeated Vermont 5-2 at Gutterson Field-House

Megan's Two Goal Night Leads BU Comeback Over Northeastern

2012-01-14T00:28:00.002-05:00

Tonight, BU once again proved they have the capability to come back and win a hockey game. They have done it a number of times this season and tonight was no different.

After a fast start by both teams, that saw several good scoring chances wiped out by impressive goaltending, Northeastern broke the ice late in the first. Alex Tuckerman's goal at the 18:38 mark of the period was a result of BU getting out worked and out played. Less than a minute later, a turnover in the high slot allowed Ludwig Karlsson to walk down central and rip a shot over Millan’s glove and in. Northeastern took a 2-0 lead to the dressing room.

Alex Chiasson and Wade Megan battle for position in front of
the Northeastern goal while on the power play.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Whatever Parker said in between periods must have really sunk into his players, as BU came out flying in the second frame and totally dominated the play. Adam Clendening put BU on the board at the 8:23 mark. Clendening made a real highly skilled move after he got the puck from Justin Courtnall at the point. An NU defender was playing the man (Clendening) and Adam took two steps towards him and then backed off two steps. That created separation, allowing him to let a shot fly that Huskies goalie Chris Rawlings never saw. The puck found its way into the upper twine, cutting NU's lead to 2-1.

Less than a minute later, Ryan Santana made a great hustle play to chase down a loose puck behind the NU net. As Santana picked up the puck behind the goal, he dished it over to Wade Megan, as he was falling down. Megan slammed home the pass, through Rawlings leg's and into the back of the net, tying the game at 2-2.

Former teammates Vinny
Saponari (white) and Chris
Connolly (red) meet at the end
of the game.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU had a golden opportunity to break the game wide open, when NU's Josh Manson was called for a five minute major for contact to the head roughing. It was called after he smashed Matt Nieto who was cutting back to the middle of the slot to gain a better shooting angle on Rawlings. BU was only able to convert once on the all you can eat five minute man advantage, but it did give them the lead nonetheless. Evan Rodrigues was able to get a stick on Alexx Privitera's shot from the point, tipping it past Rawlings. For reasons I still don't understand, the play went to review. After a lengthy delay, the goal stood. That closed out the scoring in the second, despite BU having a 48 second five on three power play.

Wade Megan potted his second goal of the night, less than two minutes into the third. Alex Chiasson made a nice move to cut to the front of the net, but ran out of room and passed to Megan, who picked the top corner on Rawlings, upping BU's lead to 4-2. It was Megan's 10th goal of the year and it came on the power play.

Later in the stanza, NU had a full two minutes of five on three, but could not score. With 3:07 to play, Northeasten’s Ludwig Karlsson beat Millan with Rawlings pulled. That made it 4-3, but time ran out on the Huskies and BU skated away with the victory.

BU is now in first place in Hockey East with 21 points. BU is also third in the PairWise rankings.

Dog Fight: BU travels to NU

2012-01-12T22:27:00.000-05:00

From The Vault
BU and NU face off in the opening
round of the 2010 Beanpot. BU won
2-1.

Tomorrow, BU will travel to crosstown foe Northeastern and take on the suddenly surging Huskies at Matthew's Arena.

After winning just one of their first ten games, Northeastern caught fire and rolled off six straight wins and are winners of seven of their last eight. Victories include a 4-1 win at Michigan, a 9-2 shellacking of Notre Dame in South Bend (they completed the sweep a night later with a 2-1 win over the Irish) and a 3-2 win over at Minnesota in the Championship game of the Mariucci Classic. Despite the 8-7-3 record, NU finds themselves tied for 16th in the PairWise. With all the non-conference success, you would think the Huskies are killing Hockey East too. Not so fast. NU is just 4-7-2 in league play this season and is currently tied with UMass for 7th.

This game has a little bit of a second story behind it, too. Former Terrier Vinny Saponari, who was kicked off the BU Hockey team in the Summer of 2010 for disciplinary reasons, is now on the Northeastern roster. Vinny had planned to play at Boston College this season, but did not get the grades to get into school there. Last season, Saponari helped lead the Dubuque Fighting Saints to the United States Hockey League Championship. This season at NU, he has just 3 goals and 10 assists in 18 games. Last year with Dubuque, Saponari was the sixth highest scorer in the USHL with 64 points (18 goals 46 assists) in 56 games.

NU Scoring Leaders
Senior Steve Quailer leads the charge with 18 points (7g, 11a) in 16 games. Freshman Ludwig Karlsson is second in points with 15. This season, Karlsson has 6 goals and 9 assists.

Between the pipes.
Chis Rawlings is right up there in terms of the best goalies in Hockey East. The Junior netminder currently has a 2.31 goals against average. In 17 games played, he holds an 8-6-3 record and has one shutout.

The Last Time They Met...
was in last year's Hockey East Quarterfinals at Agganis Arena. NU won the first game 4-2. BU came back with an impressive 5-2 victory, before NU edged the Terriers in the final game 5-4, sending the Huskies to the Garden.

Weekend In Review: Exceeding Expectations

2012-01-09T21:02:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week:
Alexx Privitera/Kieran Millan

I'm split this week. Millan had a

very strong game against MC.

He turned away 42 shots,

including 20 in the third frame.

Privitera (photo), on the other

hand, had the game winning goal in

the best game of his BU career.

Both make a great case, so I'll go

with co-players of the week.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The start to Friday's 4-2 win over Merrimack was less than favorable, as MC scored on the power play under five minutes into the game. 14 seconds later, BU answered right back with a pair of goals just 45 seconds apart. Justin Courtnall struck first and Alex Chiasson added the other. Freshman Alexx Privitera banged home a power play goal off a great pass from Matt Nieto. In the words of BU announcer Bernie Courbet, "Privitera was staring at a soccer net".

Merrimack cut the lead in the third on the power play, as Kyle Bigos beat Millan high blocker side. Sahir Gill drilled a one-timer off the post and in at the 17:23 mark, closing the scoring for the night.

The win did more than put BU in first place in the Hockey Standings. It gave hope to many fans (myself included) and even the team, that they can still play well and still win games even without Coyle and Trivino.

The most notable observation was the return of Adam Clendening. Clendening makes the defense very solid when he is out there. There is no questioning that he is 20x better than Ryan Ruikka, who was exposed on a number of accounts against Notre Dame. Clendening looks much more confident with the puck and his skill level really showed Friday night. The World Juniors made him a better player, regardless of how poorly the USA played.

At The Polls
In the USCHO rankings, BU moved up four slots from 10th to 6th. Minnesota Duluth was the overwhelming number one, receiving all 50 first place votes. Ohio State was two, Notre Dame three, Boston College four, and Minnesota rounded out the top five.

In the ever changing PairWise, BU currently finds themselves in fifth.

Around Hockey East
Wednesday Night: Maine skated past Vermont 3-1 at home.

Thursday night: UMass and Providence tied 4-4 at Schneider Rink, home of The Friars... Lowell defeated The Russian Red Stars 6-4 in an exhibition game at Tsongas Center.

Friday Night. BU slipped past Merrimack 4-2 at home.

Saturday Night. UMass upended Vermont 3-2 in the first game of Frozen Fenway part two... Maine knocked off New Hampshire 5-4 in the nightcap of the double header at Fenway Park... Northeastern fell 7-4 to the USA U18 team at Matthew's Arena.

Sunday Night: Boston College held off Merrimack to salvage a 2-2 tie at home. MC scored the game tying goal with 1:10 to go, then had a goal taken away in overtime... BU tied the USA U18 Team 3-3 at Agganis.

BU, Millan Hold Off Merrimack

2012-01-06T23:58:00.001-05:00

Tonight, BU did more than just beat a top ten ranked team. They proved that even though Coyle and Trivino are gone, they still have a strong hockey team. BU looked like they regained some of the swagger that helped them roll through late November and into December.

Before BU took over the first period, Merrimack notched a goal less then five minutes into the game. BU came back with two quick strikes. The first from Justin Courtnall, who put his own rebound past MC goalie Joe Cannata. The lone assist went to freshman, Cason Hohmann. Less than a minute later, Alex Chiasson converted on the power play, putting BU up 2-1. All three goals were scored in a minute and one second of game time.

With little over a minute and a half to go in the first, BU picked up their second power play tally of the game. After a perfect setup, Matt Nieto found defenseman Alexx Privitera all alone on the far post. Privitera one touched the puck past Cannata, upping BU's lead to 3-1. Privitera did a great job to sneak down from the point and become an option for Nieto. Clearly it worked, as the freshman defenseman scored his second goal of the year.

Merrimack cut the lead to 3-2 on the power play of their own, nearly half way through the second stanza. Kyle Bigos netted a shot from the point as BU goalie Kieran Millan was screened.

The Terriers regained a two goal lead at the 17:23 mark of the period. Max Nicastro made a heads up play to keep the puck in the attacking zone. He then found Sahir Gill unguarded at the top of the slot. Gill one timed the pass off the posted and into the goal behind Cannata. Nicastro's keep was more of a mistake by Merrimack's Brandon Bradhag than anything else. The junior forward turned toward center ice instead of to the boards where the breakout pass was. Instead of MC breaking out cleanly, Max picked-off the pass and the rest is history.

The score of 4-2 held up throughout the third period, but not without drama. Millan made big save after big save in the closing minutes. Nieto had a chance to salt the game away after making very skilled move to cut against the grain. It left an MC defender wondering where his jock was relocated to. Cannata shut the door on the play with his leg pad though and that prevented what could have been Sport Centers top play of the night.

Since BC was idle tonight, BU is currently in first place in the Hockey East standings with 20 points. BC and MC play Sunday.

BU's next game is Sunday, an exhibition game against the USA U18 team. I will not be able to make that game, so there will be no preview or recap. Sorry.

Just Watch This

2012-01-06T15:34:00.000-05:00

BU-MC Round Two

2012-01-05T18:50:00.000-05:00

Ben Rosen makes a move in the
corner against Merrimack in a
games played earlier this season.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Tomorrow, BU will play their first game of the new year, as they welcome Merrimack to Agganis for the second time this season. Earlier this year, Merrimack handed BU their first Hockey East regular season loss in overtime since 2003, dropping the Terriers 3-2 in the extra session.

Merrimack was the last unbeaten team in all Division One College Hockey this season. Strangely enough, BU was the last unbeaten team a season ago. Since going 9-0-1 to start the season, MC is just 2-3-1 in their last six games. Last weekend, the Mack tied St. Lawrence 6-6 in the opening round of the Ledyard Bank Tournament, but lost the shootout and ended up in the consolation game where they topped Holy Cross 3-0 to take third place. Merrimack is currently in third place in Hockey East, just two points behind the Terriers. With a win, BU will move into first place because league leading Boston College does not play until Sunday against who, but Merrimack. So that means the top three teams in the league are all playing each other this weekend. Needless to say, this is a huge weekend for all involved..

Scouting the Warriors
Senior Ryan Flannigan leads MC in total points and goals. In 15 games, he has 6 goals and 14 points. Mike Collins comes in second for total points with 11 (5 goals, 6 assists). Between the pipes, Merrimack has a literal brick wall in Joe Cannata. The Senior from Wakefield Mass has a 10-3-3 record with a .929 save percentage. He has only allowed 31 goals all season.

Clendening To Play Against Merrimack

2012-01-04T16:06:00.000-05:00

Adam Clendening
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Prior to the World Junior Championships, there were rumors that Adam Clendening would leave the team and join a Canadian Major Junior squad in the Ontario Hockey League, much like Charlie Coyle did. A week ago, Clendening said he was coming back, but did not know if he would be back in time for Friday's game against Merrimack. If Team USA had made the medal round, Clendening would not have been back in Boston in time to play Friday night.

Instead, Team USA is in the regulation round or the qualifying round for next year's WJC. Yesterday, Clendening picked up his first goal of the tournament in USA's 12-2 win over Latvia. Last night I asked Adam if he would be back for the MC game, even though the US have a game today (January 4th) against Switzerland. He said quote: "Yes I will. Time to get back on track. Just win baby".

With Clendening back, BU will have its entire defense back to normal and Ryan Ruikka will likely sit out. BU’s defense was just plain awful against Notre Dame. With Adam coming back, that will at least give some stability to a depleted BU roster.

Weekend Review: This Could Be Bad

2012-01-02T21:35:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week:
Nonexistent

Wade Megan is pictured

because he scored and I

had to put someone's

photo up.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Saturday night BU was trampled like a piece of confetti that had fallen from the sky and landed in Times Square on New Years Eve. Notre Dame had their way with the Terriers in both teams's last game of 2011 and BU's first game without Charlie Coyle and Corey Trivino. In addition, to those two no longer being on the team, BU was also without defenseman Adam Clendening, who was in Alberta at the World Junior Hockey Championships. That made the D pairings very mixed up and it showed.

BU actually took a 1-0 lead into the dressing room, headed to the second period, as Justin Courtnall put home a rebound from Cason Hohmann's shot off a face off late in the first. In the second, BU's D showed a huge hole by Clendening not being there, as they allowed three second period goals. One was a power play strike, but the others were all results of bad turnovers and/or poor defensive coverage.

Wade Megan showed a little fight for the Terrier when he scored BU's nation leading eight shorthanded goal late in the third, but it was way to little way too late and Notre Dame claimed a 5-2 victory at the final buzzer.

The result was rather depressing, seeing how BU was completely dominated from start to finish on national television. That's besides the fact though, and the team needs to focus on Friday's game against Merrimack, where two critical points in the Hockey East standings are at stake. How BU beats MC is a major question mark. Somehow, someway, someone will have to step up and lead this team, or the remainder of this year will be a huge struggle.

At The Polls
BU dropped from 9th to 10th in the USCHO rankings. USA Today has BU slotted 11th, two places down from 9th. In the ever-changing Pairwise, BU fell from 4th to 7th after losing.

Around Hockey East
Thursday: Lowell ran circles around RPI at the UConn Hockey Classic winning 7-2... Maine dumped Clarkson 6-1 in the semi finals of the Florida Hockey Classic... Vermont was upended by Lake State 5-3 in the opening round of the Catamount Cup... UMass skated by Cornell 5-2, also in the Florida Hockey Classic... Michigan topped Boston College 4-2 in the first round of the Grate Lakes Invitational.

Friday: BC escaped with a 2-1 win over Michigan Tech in the GLI consolation game... Merrimack came back to tie St. Lawrence 6-6 in the opening round of the Ledyard National Bank Classic, SLU won the shootout for tournament purposes only... Northeastern tied Princeton 3-3 in the semis of the Mariucci Classic, but won the shootout in 8 rounds to advance to the Championship game... Brown topped New Hampshire 5-2... Vermont salvaged third place in the Catamount Cup by beating Ferris State 4-2 in the Consolation game... Lowell won the UConn Hockey Classic after defeating tournament host UConn 4-3 in overtime... Maine rolled past UMass in an all Hockey East final at the Florida Hockey Classic.

Saturday: Merrimack blanked Holy Cross 3-0 in the consolation game of the Ledyard National Bank Classic... Northeastern was crowed the champions of the Mariucci Classic after beating tournament host Minnesota 3-2... BU lost at Notre Dame 5-2.

Sunday: Brown defeated Providence 5-2 to claim the Mayor's Cup.

BU Falls To Notre Dame 5-2

2012-01-01T00:39:00.001-05:00

Justin Cournall gave BU the lead in the
firs period.
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

In BU's first game back from the holiday break it is clear they they will need a few weeks to get used to the new line combinations, as they were dominated by Notre Dame on national television, last night.

Justin Courtnall scored the game's first goal, and put the Terriers on the board with just 1:34 to go in the first. BU could not hold the lead as Notre Dame scored three second period goals. Anders Lee scored his first of two on the power play, less then two minutes into the frame. Garrett Peterson tacked on another minutes later and Jeff Costello potted a goal on a two on one seven minutes into the second.

Lee added another tally in the third and Billy Maday scored on the power play to make it 5-1 before Wade Megan converted on a shorthanded break a way, late in the third. It was BU's eight shorthanded strike of the year, good for the Nation's number one spot in SH column.

Millan made 29 save including 17 in the third period in a losing effort.

Photos of the Year

2011-12-31T17:44:00.000-05:00

Back In Action: BU Heads West To Take On Notre Dame

2011-12-30T13:32:00.000-05:00

Finally, the strangest most unexpected Holiday break is over. In the course of five days, BU lost 22% of their total offense when Charlie Coyle and Corey Trivino departed the team for various reasons. Coyle is now absolutely lighting it up in the World Junior Championships, but remember, BU would have been without Coyle for this game no matter if he left for the Q or not. Trivino is gone, which means people have to step up. Now we all get to see what the new look Terriers are all about as the make the trip to South Bend Indiana to take on the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Adam Clendening will also not be with the team in South Bend, as he is in the WJC, as well. Notre Dame also has two players in Alberta at the WJC. Leading scorer T.J. Tynan and a defenseman Stephen Johns are both representing they're country in the WJC.

From The Vault: Alex Chiasson (9) cuts to the front of the net

in a game against Notre Dame at Agganis on October 20th, 2009.

(Photo By Matt Dresens)

Notes On The Irish
Before beating Ferris State on December 10th, ND lost four in a row, including two at home against Northeastern. The Huskies actually ran Notre Dame out of their own building, defeating the Irish 9-2 in front of a sell out crowd, at the new Family Center Arena. Notable wins for the Irish include a 5-3 win at current number one, Minnesota Duluth... A 5-2 win over PairWise number one Ohio State and a 3-2 overtime victory over Boston College at home.

Scoring Leaders
Without Tynan in the lineup, ND's leading scorer coming into this game is Anders Lee. In 20 games, Lee has 12 goals, 8 assists for a total of 20 points. Riley Sheahan, a Junior from St. Catharine's Ontario, comes in as the team's second leading scorer with 5 goals, 13 assists for 20 points in 18 games.

Between The Pipes
Notre Dame has two pretty solid goalies. Mike Johnson has played the bulk of the games thus far and has a 7-5-3 record with a .889 save percentage. He has allowed 38 goals on 303 shots. Steven Summerhays is the back up, but has seen action in 7 games. He has a .878 save percentage and has a record of 4-1-0. BU will likely see Johnson in goal on Saturday night.

The Last Time They Met...
was October 10th of 2010 in St. Louis in the Icebreaker Invitational Championship Game. BU's Sean Escobedo found twine past Summerhays with just a minute and seven seconds left in the third period to put BU past Notre Dame 5-4.

Team USA Rolls Past Denmark

2011-12-26T23:23:00.000-05:00

Coyle's three goals equals his goal
tally for the his entire first semester
at BU. Of course Coyle is not
coming back to BU following the
conciliation of the tournament as
he left for Juniors a week earlier,
but it's still nice to see the guy
succeed.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Tonight, after a surprisingly close first period, Team USA routed the Danish 11-3 in their first game of the 2012 IIHF World Junior Hockey Championships (WJC). Former Terrier, Charlie Coyle lead the US attack with a hat trick, scoring his first goal just 24 seconds into the first period. Terrier defenseman, Adam Clendening picked up two assists in the win. Clendening also had some considerable time on the US power play.

Scoring:
First Period:
1. USA .24 Coyle
1. DEN 3:12 Bau-Hansen [pp]
2. USA 4:41 Jason Zucker (Denver)
3. USA 8:26 Jarred Tinordi
2. DEN 9:04 Bau-Hansen
Second Period
4. USA 1:25 Bjugstad (Minnesota)
5. USA 7:12 Coyle [pp]
6. USA 9:07 Rau (Minnesota)
7. USA 10:21 Arnold (Boston College)
8. USA 10:51 Miller
9. USA 16:01 Rau [pp] (Minnesota)
Third Period
3. DEN 4:05 Spelling [pp]
10. USA 10:04 Coyle
11. USA 15:56 Johns (Notre Dame)

Final USA 11, Denmark 3

Around The WJC (Day One)
Canada trounced Finland 8-1... Sweden rocked Latvia 9-4... The USA steamrolled Denmark 11-3... Russia is currently up 1-0 on Switzerland.

Clendening Named To USA Junior Team

2011-12-22T19:47:00.001-05:00

In 16 games played at BU, Clendening
has one goal and eleven assists. His
lone goal came against Cornell on a
five on three power play at Madison
Square Garden.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Today, USA Hockey released it's 2012 World Junior Championship (WJC) Final Roster, and BU Defenseman Adam Clendening will be the only current Terrier making the trip to Alberta, host region* of the WJC. Former Terrier, Charlie Coyle also was named to the team. Coyle scored a goal in the American's 7-3 win over Sweden in an exhibition game last night.

Clendening was one of the final cuts from last year's roster and after a strong Junior Camp was selected to help lead the USA back to the gold medal. Last season, the US claimed the Bronze Medal after defeating Sweden in the third place game in Buffalo, New York. Two years ago, former Terrier Dave Warsofsky and the rest of Team USA defeated team Canada in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan in the Gold Medal game. It was only the second time ever the United States has won Gold. The other was in 2004, in Helsinki, Finland.

All of Team USA's games will be televised on NHL Network. The US's first game is December, 26th against Denmark, starting at 8:00ET.

*Games are being played in both Edmonton and Calgary. Calgary being the city in which the championship game will be held.

In Other News
BU picked up a walk-on player for the second semester. Jake Moscatel will now be a member of the Boston University Hockey Team. Moscatel played the first semester on the BU Club Team and spent the '09-'10 season with the University of New England, a Division Three school in Western Mass. Prior to attending UNE, he played at the Bellmont Hill School, where he was named a two time all league selection in the Independent School League, commonly known as the ISL. After Bell Hill, Jake played with the Boston Junior Bruins of the Eastern Junior Hockey League (EJHL). In 25 games with U of NE, Moscatel had seven goals and six assists.

(Below the page break is the entire Team USA Roster)

Pos.		Name	Ht	Wt	Birthdate	Hometown	Current Team
G	1	Jack Campbell*^	6-2	182	1/9/92	Port Huron, Mich.	Soo Greyhounds (OHL)
G	35	John Gibson	6-3	200	7/14/93	Pittsburgh, Pa.	Kitchener Rangers (OHL)
G	29	Andy Iles*%	5-9	180	1/30/92	Ithaca, N.Y.	Cornell Univ.
D	5	Adam Clendening	5-11	190	10/26/92	Niagara Falls, N.Y.	Boston Univ.
D	4	Derek Forbort*	6-5	200	3/4/92	Duluth, Minn.	Univ. of North Dakota
D	12	Kevin Gravel	6-4	190	3/6/92	Kingsford, Mich.	St. Cloud State Univ.
D	28	Stephen Johns	6-4	221	4/18/92	Wampum, Pa.	Univ. of Notre Dame
D	15	Jon Merrill*	6-3	209	2/3/92	Brighton, Mich.	Univ. of Michigan
D	24	Jarred Tinordi	6-7	215	2/20/92	Millersville, Md.	London Knights (OHL)
D	8	Jacob Trouba	6-2	191	2/26/94	Rochester, Minn.	U.S. NTDP U-18 (USHL)
F	21	Josh Archibald	5-10	170	10/6/92	Brainerd, Minn.	Univ. of Nebraska Omaha
F	14	Bill Arnold	6-0	215	5/13/92	Needham, Mass.	Boston College
F	27	Nick Bjugstad*	6-4	204	7/17/92	Blaine, Minn.	Univ. of Minnesota
F	23	Connor Brickley	6-1	195	2/25/92	Everett, Mass.	Univ. of Vermont
F	3	Charlie Coyle*	6-2	207	3/2/92	East Weymouth, Ma	St. John Sea Dogs (QMJHL)
F	2	Austin Czarnik	5-8	152	12/12/92	Washington, Mich.	Miami Univ.
F	10	Emerson Etem*	6-1	197	6/16/92	Long Beach, Calif.	Medicine Hat Tigers (WHL)
F	11	J.T. Miller	6-1	195	3/14/93	East Palestine, Ohio	Plymouth Whalers (OHL)
F	20	Kyle Rau	5-8	172	10/24/92	Eden Prairie, Minn.	Univ. of Minnesota
F	22	Brandon Saad	6-2	206	10/27/92	Gibsonia, Pa.	Saginaw Spirit (OHL)
F	19	T.J. Tynan	5-8	170	2/25/92	Orland Park, Ill.	Univ. of Notre Dame
F	26	Austin Watson	6-3	195	1/13/92	Ann Arbor, Mich.	Peterborough Petes (OHL)
F	16	Jason Zucker*^	5-11	180	1/16/92	Las Vegas, Nev.	Univ. of Denver

Midseason report Part One: Red Light District

2011-12-21T16:56:00.001-05:00

Sahir Gill plays the puck during a game
in October against UNH.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

With Charlie Coyle and Corey Trivino no longer on the team, BU has lost 22% of its total offense. Who will make up for that gap remains to be seen, but here is a review of players who have been lighting the lamp for BU all season long.

Matt Nieto
Nieto leads the team in goals with 8, and has 8 assists. Many of his goals came in the first few games of the season where he had a five plus goal scoring streak in October. Nieto was recently denied the chance to participate in the USA World Junior Camp, so he will have something to prove. Look a Tyler Seguin of the boston Bruins. He did not make Canada's WJC team. After that, the kid exploded and look what he's doing now. If Nieto can do half of what Seguin did, he will surely put BU in good hands and that will help to close the gap with the loss of Coyle and Trivino.

Stats:
Games Played: 14... Goals: 8... Assists: 8... Points: 16

Sahir Gill
Gill will be one of the guys who Parker will look at to really step up in the absence of Coyle and Trivino. Gill has had a decent year so far and I think after scoring against UMass in late October, he has played very well. Last weekend he tipped in the game winning goal against Maine, on a shot from the point.

Stats:
Games Played: 16... Goals: 5... Assists: 9... Points: 14

Alex Chiasson
The junior forward only trails Nieto by two points, but has three less goals. Alex has had a solid year so far, but will need to step up and find the scoring touch down the stretch, which is what got him drafted in the second round by the Dallas Stars back in 2009.

Stats:
Games Played: 15... Goals: 5... Assists: 9... Points: 14

Wade Megan
A great second half by Wade will be huge for the teams success. He is having his most productive year as a Terrier by far, and it all started in the team's exhibition game back in October. Megan had two goals in a 6-4 loss to St. Francis Xavier. He also had a goal disallowed in the same game. Megan has had a very constant start to the season.

Stats:
Games Played: 16... Goals: 7... Assists: 1... Points: 8.

Midseason part two will be up sometime tomorrow. It will be all about the defense.

My, How Things Have Changed

2011-12-19T21:02:00.000-05:00

Yasin Cisse has played 10 games
this year. He has just one goal, his
lone point on the season. Don't let
the numbers fool you, this kid can
really play, and will be vital for BU
down the stretch.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

One week ago, BU throttled Maine at the Alfond and nothing could have been better in Terrier Nation. A week later, BU is without their two best offensive weapons. Clearly by now everyone should know that Corey Trivino and Charlie Coyle are no longer on the Boston University Hockey Team and that means there is a huge gap to fill.

Does anyone remember the 2006 season?

You might ask, why is he going back to 2006? That season happened 6 years ago. Well, there is a potential huge comparison to that magical year and this season's Terriers. Prior to the '06 season, Captain David Van Der Gulik was sidelined for the entire first half of the year. BU was 6-7-2 at the break. Vandy came back and the team lost just three more games all year, en route to the Hockey East Championship in which Van Dur Gulik was named tournament MVP. BU lost the NorthEast Regional Final to Boston College 5-0 and that is where the season ended. Van der Gulik closed out the season with 11 goals and 11 assists in just 25 games. Now your probably thinking, where is he going with this?

Well, this year BU has a guy named Yasin Cisse. Since coming back from a severed tendon, BU has lost just three games. If BU can salvage this season, they're going to need a lot of guys to step up and play really well. Cisse, I think has the capability to explode in the second half and make up for a lot of what BU lost in Trivino. Cisse could be this year David Van der Gulik and really cary this team.

Now who makes up for Coyle is an entire different story. Sahir Gill and Alex Chiasson, along with Cisse could more than likely be the new first line. The second line could be Matt Netio, Chris Connolly and Freshman center Cason Hohmann. Third line may shake out to be Wade Megan and Evan Rodrigues, centered by Ben Rosen. What's left over is Ross Gaudet in between Justin Courtnall and either Kevin Gilroy or Ryan Santana, who is expected to rejoin the team after missing the first half of the year with a shoulder injury.

This was BU's line up against New Hampshire in last Thursday night's game:

Connolly-Trivino-Gill
Megan-Coyle-Chiasson
Courtnall-Hohmann-Rodrigues
Gaudet-Rosen-Cissé

The lines I just drew up could look a whole hell of a lot different, as Parker may want to put more experienced players on the top two line, which may look something like this:

Connolly-Gill-Chiasson

Cisse-Nieto-Megan

Hohmann-Gaudet-Rodrigues

Courtnall-Rosen-Gillroy/Santana

REPORT: Coyle Gone, Will Sign With St. John

2011-12-16T15:18:00.001-05:00

This is the first picture I ever took of
Charlie Coyle in a BU uniform. That
night, Charlie netted a hat trick
against the University of Toronto
in an exhibition game, the first
game of the 2011 season.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Yesterday, there was a huge rumor swirling around that Charlie Coyle would leave BU in favor of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.

Today, according to multiple sources, Coyle will leave BU and join the St. John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. Last season, St. John won the Memorial cup, the Canadian Hockey League's championship. The Q (as the QMJHL is most commonly referred to as) is one of three divisions (the OHL and WHL being the other two) that make up the CHL.

-------------------
The Boston Hockey Blog reports that Coyle has left School: From The Boston Hockey Blog: "Yes, I have made my decision to leave BU becasue I'm done with being a student-athlete and I want to focus on just hockey," Coyle said via text. "I was not failing out.

-------------------

NHL.com report

College Hockey News report

My Thoughts

Well what else is there really to say? BU has lost arguably their two best scorers in one week. Charlie, though not putting up the number of goals we all though he would, has still been a major factor in the team's success this year. There is a reason that he is on a plane to Edmonton today, and it's not to sign with the Sea Dogs. It's to represent his country in the WJC.

It's Coyle's play away from the puck and what he does when he does not have possession of the black rubber disk, that make him and the guys around him so good. BU is royally screwed now. I thought they could get by when Trivino was dismissed, but without Coyle this season could be completely lost.

Coyle was the 28th pick in the 2010 NHL by the San Jose Sharks. Coyle was then traded to the Minnesota Wild over this past summer. In 16 games played, Charlie has 3 goals, 11 assists that make 14 points, good for 3rd on BU.

The thing that baffles me the most is that Coyle is a "BU Boy". His uncle, Tony Amonte, is a BU legend. Charlie dreamed of playing at BU his whole life and now it really seams he just pissed that away. Good Luck Charlie, the Wild will someday need you.

With both the Trivino and Coyle incidence occurring in the same week, it has really been a tough week to be a BU Hockey fan. He is something that hopefully cheers everyone up, at least for a little while I hope:

Rumor: Coyle To The Q?

2011-12-15T18:43:00.001-05:00

Charlie Coyle from Red Hot Hockey
at Madison Square Garden
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

Today, there is s huge rumor circling around saying Charlie Coyle has flunked out of school. Reports say that he is headed to St. Johns Newfoundland and could skate for the Memorial Cup Champion St. John SeaDogs of the QMJHM. Remember this is just a rumor, but expect much more in the coming days. I'm personally not really buying into it, but it's worth noting incase it is the truth.

Note: Coyle is headed to Canada for the World Junior Championships,the tournament begans in the coming days.

UPDATE
The Boston Hockey Blog has said that they have talked with Charlie and he said that he is still at BU and he is still on the team.

The Globe's Article About Trivino

2011-12-14T18:41:00.000-05:00

BU star arrested for assault
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell

Corey Trivino
(Photo By Matt Dresens)

Boston University center Corey Trivino, the team’s leading scorer, was arrested by campus police Sunday night and charged with forcing his way into a female student’s dormitory room and forcibly kissing and groping her. Coach Jack Parker dismissed Trivino from the team and revoked the senior’s scholarship.

Trivino was arraigned yesterday morning in Brighton District Court and released on his own recognizance, but was ordered to stay away from the alleged victim and the BU dorms. Trivino, a Canadian citizen, was ordered to surrender his passport.

An administrative hearing is scheduled for Jan. 18.

According to the police report, obtained by the Globe, Trivino was described as “very intoxicated.’’

Parker said it isn’t the first time Trivino has been involved in alcohol-related incidents.

“I had to get rid of Corey Trivino from our hockey team because I’d given him a warning in September that if he had another alcohol-related incident on or off campus, I would remove him from the team and take away his scholarship,’’ said Parker.

Parker said he tried on more than one occasion to get Trivino to agree to alcohol counseling, but Trivino refused.

“I tried to get him to get some help,’’ said Parker. “I tried to get him to talk to some people regarding an alcohol problem. He wouldn’t do it, he didn’t think he had an alcohol problem.’’

Parker said he told Trivino he had a problem but Trivino disagreed.

“[I said] One of us is going to be right,’’’ said Parker. “I’m betting you’re going to be sitting in front of me before the semester is over and I’m going to be telling you, ‘You’re out of here.’ ’’

Parker said the situation is painful.

“He’s a terrific kid,’’ said Parker. “I can guarantee you, he has no recollection what he did that night. He knew what the consequences were if he got into an alcohol-related problem again. Unfortunately, he got into a problem that is way bigger than I ever thought he could get himself into. I got the call at 1 o’clock on Monday morning that he was arrested and at the BU police station, drunk, and was arrested for sexual assault.’’

Parker said he elected to take swift action.

“I don’t have to stick around and see how the court case comes out, I don’t have to see if that is true or false, all I have to know is that he had an alcohol-related incident on campus, he’s gone,’’ said Parker. “I feel bad for him, I feel bad for the woman involved, she must have been terrorized and felt bad about it and will not forget it. Corey, I hope, will never forget this. Maybe he’ll learn from it. I know he’s a good kid and that’s not Corey’s M.O. except when he’s drinking. Some people can’t drink, he’s one of them.’’

“My team is very upset,’’ said Parker. “He’s a real good teammate, he’s friends with an awful lot of these guys. He’s well liked. He’s so important to the team from a winning and losing point of view. He’s been our leading goal scorer, he’s been our first-line center, our best penalty killer, a power-play guy, he gets all kinds of ice time.

“All that pales in comparison to the other stuff that’s going on. The way he is gone makes it even worse because now it’s a big hole in the soul of the team, so to speak. We might not recover from that. That type of stuff is all trivial compared to the stuff he’s going to have to recover from and the girl’s going to have to recover from.’’

Trivino, who was a second-round draft pick (36th overall) of the New York Islanders in 2008, scored two goals in BU’s 5-1 victory at Maine Saturday night.

Dean of students Kenneth Elmore said the administration is investigating the incident. Parker said Trivino won’t return to the school because his scholarship has been revoked.

“This has nothing to do with BU, this has to do with me,’’ said Parker. “He’s kicked out of school because I took his scholarship away. He can’t come back because he doesn’t have any money. BU hasn’t done a thing to him yet. They’ll talk to the girl and they’ll talk to Corey and they’ll make a decision on what his punishment will be, if any.

“My actions have taken BU’s actions out of the picture. They can’t do anything more to him than I’ve already done to him. They can’t kick him out of school, he’s not going to be here. I don’t mean that as good or bad, it’s just a fact.

“This is a good kid with a bad problem. Maybe this will get him to do something about that problem, because if he doesn’t, this will be just the tip of the iceberg to his problems.’’

Elmore said it’s a difficult and sad couple of days for the school.

“Certainly from our standpoint, this is a terrible and tragic situation,’’ he said. “Our primary concern is with the woman who is the alleged victim here. We want to make sure we take care of her and her friends and family. Certainly we have to be mindful that there are other members of the community who know Corey as well who are also affected by this.

“We want to make sure we let people know we acknowledge and appreciate that Jack Parker took such swift and decisive action. This is a university matter and I appreciate him being engaged enough to make the decision that he did.

“We will certainly follow up and investigate this on behalf of the university, too, and make the ultimate decision that may have further effects. We have to hold students accountable for their behavior.’’

Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.

More on the Trivino Situation

2011-12-13T18:58:00.001-05:00

Since I don't really want to get into the legalities of this issue, here is a link to the Boston Hockey Blog, which fully explains what Corey was charged with: link

With that being said, here is my reaction to it all. Corey had a drinking problem and this was not the first time he has been suspended. Prior to the start of last season, Trivino and Alex Chiasson were both suspended for skipping a mandatory team bike ride, the punishment for the Beer Bash before the 2010 Hockey East semi finals against Maine.

Trivino and Chiasson were suspended for the Icebreaker Invitational in St. Louis, but both still made the trip.

Corey is now the fourth player in three seasons to be booted from the program. Both Vinny and Victor Saponari were dismissed following the Beer Bash of 2010. Last year, Andrew Glass was shown the gate after missing a team practice following a tough loss to RPI. Now Trivino is gone and along with him, the team's leading scorer.

Reaction throughout the day has been much the same: BU is screwed and the season is over. I think the Fake Jack Parker from Twitter put it best by simply say (and I quote)"Uh Oh". In a more serious note, the real Jack Parker had this to say about it all:"This will be a big hole to fill and there's also an emotional hole to fill."

I agree with Parker that it will be a big hole to fill, but it might not be as big as some may think. Yes, Trivino is the leading goal scorer in Hockey East. I get that. But coming into last weekend Matt Nieto was the team's leading scorer. Nieto did not play in either of the team's two games, while Corey racked up three goals including the game winner against New Hampshire.

The point I'm trying to make here is that the team can play without one of it's best players. Yes, it will be very tough to overcome the fact that Trivino is not on the team any longer because of an alleged sex crime and not just a shoulder injury like in Nieto's case. Also, BU has time to regroup over the Holiday Break and try and overcome all of this.

Since the incident, The Islanders second round pick has been kicked out of to his dorm. Parker also openly said that Corey had a drinking problem and that this was the last draw in a long line of drinking related incidents over Trivino's career and time as a Boston University student. Thats what led to his decision to boot the Senior forward.

More Trivino Links:

College Hockey News: BU's Trivino Arrested, Removed From Team
USCHO: Boston University’s Trivino arrested, booted permanently from team

Daily Free Press: Dismissal of hockey star Trivino right move, students say
Boston Hockey Blog: BREAKING: Corey Trivino kicked off BU hockey team

Boston Hockey Blog: Parker: Trivino's actions leave 'no question in my mind it's an alcohol problem'

Trivino Kicked Off Team

2011-12-13T12:11:00.000-05:00

(photo by Matt Dresens)

Late sunday night Corey Trivino was arrested for sexual assault and has since been kicked off the team. According to reports, the intoxicated senior forward "pushed his way into the room of a female student at 10 Buick St. and started kissing her and fondling her against her will.”

In 15 games played this year, Trivino lead the team in goal with 13 and had 4 assist. It was his best season at BU at the break.

Much, much more to come in the following hours.

Story from USCHO:

Boston University senior and Hockey East leading goal scorer Corey Trivino was arrested Sunday night (Dec. 11) and charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery after he allegedly entered the room of a female student and attempted to kiss and grope her, according to a report in BU Today.

Trivino, also charged with two counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime and one count of assault with attempt to rape, is no longer a member of the hockey team, head coach Jack Parker said in the article.

Trivino, a Toronto native, pleaded not guilty to all charges at his arraignment Monday in Brighton District Court. Judge David T. Donnelly set bail at $25,000 or surrender of Trivino’s Canadian passport and ordered Trivino to leave his dorm room by 3 p.m. Monday.

“This will be a big hole to fill,” said Parker in the report. “And there’s an emotional hole, also.”

The article further stated Trivino may attend classes until he is officially suspended or expelled.

Back in May 2010, Trivino was suspended for an alcohol-related incident before the Hockey East semifinals and missed time at the start of the 2010-11 season.

Trivino had 13 goals and 17 points in 15 games this season and ends his Terriers’ career with 73 points in 112 games. He was also drafted by the New York Islanders in 2008.

Weekend In Review

2011-12-12T17:36:00.000-05:00

Player of the Week
Corey Trivino scored three goals
in two games over the weekend.
Against UNH, his tally was good
for the game winner and he put
BU on the board in Orono, scoring
the teams first goal of the game. He
added his second of the game in
the third period, putting distance
between BU and Maine.

(photo by Matt Dresens)

This past week, BU won two games against UNH and Maine, respectively. It may have been the best two games the Terriers have played all year. They pretty much dominated UNH from start to finish, despite only scoring two goals. That may have been in large part to UNH being on the power play for basically the entire second period and BU hitting two or three pipes on shots that cleanly beat UNH goalie Chris De Smith. BU killed all five New Hampshire power plays.

Up in Maine, the two teams fought a hard battle in the first period. Maine took a 1-0 lead on the power play, before BU proceeded to score five unanswered goals in a 5-1 thrashing of the Black Bears. The game was not only important because league points were at stake, it was also significant in terms of the PairWise. Maine was (and still is) a Team Under Consideration(TUC) and the game was in their barn.

Some history was also made up in Orono. Kieran Millan set the program record for saves in a career with 3,057 over his three and a half seasons at Boston University. After picking up the win at Alfond, Millan has now won 8 games against Maine, also a team record. He only has lost twice to the Black Bears; twice in the Hockey East tournament, the quarterfinals in 2009 and the semis in 2010. He has never lost to Maine in a regular season league game or in Orono.

At The Polls
I don't really know why I always start with the meaningless polls in this segment. Both the USCHO and USA Today polls are cool to look at, but have no bearing whatsoever on the NCAA tournament like the PairWise does.

So here's a look at the PWR:

BU is currently in 5th, one place out of a number one seed in the Tournament. This ranking, (it's not a poll) unlike the other two, changes after every game is played and not just on the Monday after. Anyway, Ohio State is currently in first with an RPI of .5985, with Minnesota Duluth, Boston College, and Merrimack closely behind. BU is a bit further back, but still well in the mix at 5 with an RPI of .5664.

Hockey East is very well represented in the PWR. Along with BU and BC, Lowell (10), Northeastern (18), Providence (20), Maine (27), and UMass (30) all have an RPI above .5000, the criteria for being in the PWR. FYI, 70% of the league is considered a TUC at the moment. So, not only are league games important in terms of points, but also in the national picture in terms of the NCAA tournament.

On to the meaningless polls.

USCHO has BU ranked 9th, three spots up from last week. Duluth is still the overwhelming number one, despite tying unranked Wisconsin. The Bulldogs took 49 of the possible 50 first place votes. Ohio State had the other. Minnesota was second with BC, OSU, and Merrimack rounding out the top five. The only other Hockey East team in the poll was Lowell, who came in at 17th.

In the USA Today rankings, BU is also 9th, with the top five looking identical.

Around Hockey East
Tuesday Night: BC trumped Providence 4-1 at home.

Wednesday Night: Merrimack slipped by Vermont 5-3 at Lawler Rink... UMass upended overrated Yale 3-1 at home.

Thursday Night: BU beat UNH at the Whitt 2-1.

Friday Night: Lowell stayed hot by knocking off Boston College 3-2 at Tsongas Arena.

Saturday Night: BU rocked Maine 5-1 at Alfond... Northeastern defeated Lowell 3-2 at Matthews Arena.. Colgate and Merrimack skated to a 1-1 draw in a non conference matchup.

Honored
Kieran Millan was named Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. He stopped 58 of 60 shots he faced in the two games played. The Terriers were named HE's team of the week for sweeping their two game slate over the weekend.

BU Rolls Past Maine

2011-12-10T23:59:00.004-05:00

Alexx Privitera scored his first collegiate
goal in the third period of last night's
5-1 win. It was one of four third period
goals for the Terriers.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

In their final game before the Holiday break, BU went up to Maine and did exactly what they needed to do: take two points from the Black Bears.

Before BU tacked on five unanswered goals, Maine struck first on the power play. Justin Courtnall was tossed from the game after he (apparently) hit a Maine player in the back of the head. Upon further examination, it really looked like it was a solid shoulder on shoulder hit by Cournall, but the refs did not see it that way and showed the Assistant Captain the gate. Maine, then went on a five minute power play. Mark Anthoine gave UMaine the lead with about three and a half minutes left on the man advantage. He took a pass from Kyle Beattie in the slot, where he was wide open. He used a BU defenseman as a screen and wristed one over Millan's shoulder and into the back of the net.

Brian Flynn was the culprit of a five minute major for Maine, while the Black Bears still were up a man. Off the face off following Anthoine's goal, Flynn dumped Wade Megan into the side-boards next to the BU bench from behind. Flynn was also kicked out, but BU did not score on the power play.

After carrying the five on five play throughout the first and most of the second period, BU finally got on the board in the closing minutes of the second on a 4 on 3 power play. With the puck bouncing around in the crease, many Terriers took their whacks at it, but it was Corey Trivino who got the final touch on the puck before it crossed the line, good for his 11 goal of the season.

Maine held an early advantage in chances in period three, but it was BU who erupted for four third period goals, which led to the lopsided score in an otherwise closely fought game.

BU took a 2-1 lead after Sahir Gill put his backhand on Adam Clendeing's point shot, tipping it past Maine goalie Dan Sullivan, who made 27 saves in a losing effort. BU started pouring it on towards the middle of the stanza. Clendening took a shot from the blue-line, it was deflected, and hit Sullivan, who could not control the knuckling puck. Trivino was denied on his first attempt to put home the loose puck, but his second effort forced it over the line, upping the BU lead to 3-1.

Freshman Defenseman, Alexx Privitera essentially put the game out of reach when he scored at the 14:08 mark of period three. He made a great move to get around a Maine defender and then tossed a backhander past Sullivan's blocker. It was Privitera's first career goal as a Terrier.

For good measure, Sahir Gill slid in an empty netter with about three and half minutes left. It was technically a shorthanded goal, BU's nation leading seventh shortie of the season.

With the holiday break ahead of us, BU will be off until December 31st, when they travel out to South Bend, Indiana to take on Notre Dame in a huge non-conference showdown.

BU Heads to Maine Before The Break

2011-12-10T13:07:00.001-05:00

Before the Terriers head offfor their holiday break, they will first have to go up to Orono and take on ascrappy Maine team. BU comes into this game winners of six of their last sevengames. Maine, on the other hand, is riding a hot streak. After a five game winless skid that ended on November 26, the Black Bears have yet to lose agame.

Maine has won threestraight coming into tonight's game with victories against Clarkson and a sweepat Vermont last weekend. Maine is currently four points behind BU in the HockeyEast standings with 11. The Black Bears have won enough games against notable opponentsand find themselves in 25^th in the PairWise rankings. BU actually isin a tie with Notre Dame for 6th in the PWR.

Scouting the Black Bears

Seniors Spencer Abbott andBrian Flynn are both having monster years for the Black Bears. Abbott has 10goals, 14 assists, and 23 points in 14 games this year. Not to be over-looked,Flynn has 21 points, but has considerably less goals than Abbott with only 6. Possiblythe leagues most hated player, Joey Diamond has 9 goals and 7 assists, good for16 points and third on the team in scoring.

In net, Maine has twogoalies that have both played considerable time in the cage this year. DanSullivan has played ten games, with a 5-3-2 record. He has given up 28 goals,holds an .896 save percentage, and has a 3.01 goals against average. Fellow SophomoreMartin Ouellette has just one win in 7 games.Ouellette has only started four games and that's where he picked up his lonewin, a 5-4 overtime victory over Providence. My guess is that Sullivan will getthe start, but it would not surprise me if Ouellette were the starter, either.

The Last Time They Met...

was in a two game series atMaine towards the end of January. BU won the first game 4-3 and then hung onfor dear life and salvaged a 1-1 tie in game two, despite being vastly out-played.

Blog Note: There will be notwitter updates tonight and the recap will be up late because I have a family commitment.I’ve taped the game so I will watch it, but just not live, please no one tellme what’s going on. Sorry for the inconvenience... Go Terriers!

College Hockey Picks Week 10

2011-12-09T14:39:00.002-05:00

BU Skates Past UNH, Sweep Season Series

2011-12-08T19:13:00.038-05:00

Chris Connolly captured his 100

career points as a Terrier tonight.

He is the 78th play in BU hockey

history to accomplish the feat, the

frist since Nick Bonino did it in

2010.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The Wildcats pulled ahead minutes into the first period. A BU skater tried to force a cross ice pass to Wade Megan, the pass was intercepted, taken into the BU zone and Greg Burk roofed a loose rebound, up over the shoulder of BU goalie Kieran Millan.

BU generated great pressure following a beautiful penalty kill in which they never allowed UNH to set up and cleared the puck at every opportunity. After the kill, BU controlled the play for the remainder of the first stanza and Alex Chiasson nicked the post in the closing seconds of the period. But, New Hampshire took the 1-0 lead to the dressing-room.

Less than five minutes into the second, BU finally got on the board. BU wiped out a shorthanded UNH rush and turned it into a quick two on one. Chiasson found Wade Megan and the two broke away from the pack, two on one into the Wildcat zone. Megan dished to Chiasson, who tried to deek De Smith and did, sneaking the puck through the Freshman goalie's legs. Before the puck crossed the line, Megan put the final touches on the goal by chipping it into the net. It was Megan’s 7^th goal of the year.

BU continued to dominate the period and about three minutes later took the lead on a great passing play. Sahir Gill found Corey Trivino wide open in the top of slot. Trivino had virtually the entire goal to shoot at, as the pass seemed to confuse De Smith, who never went into the butterfly to attempt to stop the shot. Instead, he stayed standing the whole time and Trivino fired a shot into the center of the net. On the play, Chris Connolly picked up his 100th point as a Terrier.

BU carried the play for the whole period and had many chances to extend their lead, but De Smith made some nice saves. Also in the period, Charlie Coyle drilled the post while on the power play.

The Wildcats had the upper hand in shots in the third, but it was BU's "defense first" mentality that held UNH scoreless in the final two frames. Millan did make one very impressive save while UNH was on the power play. BU's penalty kill was the story of this game, though. The Terriers blanked the UNH power play, which went 0-5 on the man advantage. BU was one for two on the PP.

Milan was a tad shaky in the first. He was giving up large rebounds and that’s exactly how UNH took the 1-0 lead. In the final two period though, he was simply stellar in shutting down the Wildcat attack in the final 40:00 minutes.

This marks the first time since the 1997 season in which BU has swept the season series with New Hampshire.

BU will have Friday off before heading up to Maine to take on the Black Bears in Orono on Saturday night.

Knowing The Enemy: New Hampshire

2011-12-07T20:03:00.000-05:00

Photo from the last time the two teams
played, back on November 19th.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Tomorrow night BU will head up to Durham and play a mid-week game against the University of New Hampshire. This will be the third and final meeting of the regular season between the two teams and that to me is a little bit strange. After Thursday's game, BU will have already wrapped up the season series with both Boston College and New Hampshire before the Holiday break. That’s odd because if you take in to consideration that BU has yet to even play Northeastern, another Hockey East foe.

In the two games played earlier, BU has had the upper hand against the Wildcats, winning both tilts 5-0 and 4-1, respectively. Seventh place UNH comes into this game four points behind second place BU in the Hockey East standings with 9 points. BU has 13 points.

After BU ended their seven game unbeaten streak, UNH has won just one game in their last five tries. That lone victory came against dreadful Alabama Huntsville, 9-1 at home. The Wildcats should have beaten Harvard two days after playing BU when they were up 4-0 in the first, only to have the Crimson storm back and win 7-6 at home. Last weekend, New Hampshire was swept by Lowell in a home and home series.

Scouting the Wildcats

Stevie Mosses still leads the team in total goals -11- and total points -19- in 16 games played. Sophomore, Nick Storkin also has 19 points with a 5-14-19 line.

Matt Di Girolamo has an .885 save percentage, 48 goals allowed, one shutout, a 3.36 goals against average in 15 games played.

BU Injury Report

According to the Boston Hockey Blog, Matt Nieto is out Thursday night with a shoulder injury, suffered in practice earlier this week. It is still uncertain if he will play Saturday at Maine.

Stat of The Day

The top 10 scorers in the AHL all come from college backgrounds. Number two on that list, former Terrier Chris Bourque. In 26 games played with the Hershey Bears, Bourque has 11 goals, 21 assists for a total of 32 points, four behind AHL leading Keith Aucoin, from Norwich Academy (DIII). Aucoin also plays for the Bears.

A Closer Look: The BC Weekend

2011-12-05T17:24:00.001-05:00

Cason Hohmann is my player of

the week. In Friday's 5-3 win over

arch rival BC, Cason picked up
the game winning goal on the
power play. It was Hohmann's
first career goal as a Terrier. No

better time to accomplish that

feat than against BC. Yasin Cisse

is my runner up, as he also

scored his first collegiate

goal Friday night.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

By now you should know that BU and BC split their series over the past weekend, with BU coming away with a 5-3 win on Friday night and BC rebounding on Saturday, posting a 6-1 victory at Agganis.

This was a very strange series, to say the least. Both nights the team with more shot attempts lost. BC out shot the Terriers 45-15 at Conte Forum on Friday. BU picked up two goals on eight shots in the first period and converted on their lone shot of the second period. In fact, BU had more penalties -17- than shots in the game.

Now, to win a game, score five goals, only have 15 shots and take 17 penalties, one of two things has to happen. Either the victor gets great goaltending and an opportunistic offense, or the other team's goalie and defense absolutely don't show up. In BU's case, both took place. Kieran Millan made 43 saves and BU scored two power play goals. Boston College also had an anemic power play, going a dismal 2 for 11. BC goalie Parker Milner also continued to prove how he can't beat BU, as he lost his third straight home game to the Terriers. In three games played against BU, Milner has a .773 save%, a 4.97 Goals Against Average and 15 goals allowed... All three games were BC home games.

Saturday night was a completely different story for the Terriers. Despite out shooting the Eagles by a 41-31 margin, BU came out on the short end of a 6-1 shellacking. After Corey Trivino tied the game at one at the tail end of the first, BC scored five unanswered goals, including four goals in the second stanza on just eight shots. Millan, unlike the night before, was way off his game. One goal in particular stands out as being an incredibly weak goal. That would be Bill Arnold's slap-shot from the the top of the far hashmarks. The shot was no more than a foot-foot and a half off the ice and (as I recall) the puck went right by the senior netminder and into the center of the net.

I now bring up the question of what was more impressive: Kiran Millan's 42 save performance at Boston College or Brian Billett's 30 save performance at BU in his second career start as an Eagle?

At The Polls
After splitting the weekend series with the the Eagles, BU jumped up two slots from 13th to 11th in the USCHO ranking. With previous number one Merrimack being swept by Providence, it was time for the defending National Champion Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs to become the sixth team to climb to the summit of this poll. If six teams have been ranked number one so far this year, that proves no one really knows who the best team out there really is. Anyway, coming in at number two this week was Minnesota, followed by Boston College, Ohio State and Merrimack rounding out the top five. Hockey East now has five teams in the top 20, as Lowell (18) and Providence (20) join BU (11), BC (3), and Merrimack (5) in the poll.

In the USA Today Poll, BU finds themselves one place up at 12th. The top five is identical.

PairWise: Some may say it's still to early to look at this, but I'm not one of them. BU gained some major ground this weekend, moving up from 16th to 11th. Now that is only four slots, but four spots is the difference between watching the NCAA tournament from a dorm room or being part of it. BU actually moved up to 11th after Friday's win and stayed there despite the loss on Saturday. It was more important to beat BC at Conte then it was to win at home. Why? Because a team gets more PWR points for road wins against "Teams Under Consideration" than it does if the game is at home.

Currently, Hockey East has six teams in the PairWise rankings. BC and Merrimack are tied at second. Lowell is tied with Northern Michigan for the ninth position, BU is 11th, while Providence comes in at 19th. Maine is sitting in 26th. Remember though, the NCAA tournament is only a 16 team field.

Around Hockey East
Friday night: Maine topped Vermont 6-4 in the Green Mountain State... Providence handed Merrimack their first loss of the year 2-1 in overtime... Lowell snuck by New Hampshire 3-2 at home... BU upended BC 5-3... Northeastern steam rolled over and kicked Notre Dame square in the crotch, defeating UND 9-2 in South Bend... Harvard and UMass tied 4-4 at the Mulins Center.

Saturday Night: Maine completed the sweep against Vermont, winning 5-2 at the Gut... Providence waxed Merrimack 6-1 in MC's barn... Lowell capped off the sweep of UNH, winning 5-3 on the road... BC dominated BU 6-1... Northeastern again beat Notre Dame, this time by a score of 2-1.

BC Destroys BU, Ends Terrier Win Streak

2011-12-03T23:23:00.000-05:00

BC goalie Brian Billett was the game'
Number One Star

One night after BU escaped with a 5-3 win at Boston College, the Eagles turned the tables and routed BU at Agganis. Last Night, BC's goaltending was quite shaky, but tonight, it was solid. It was the other way around for BU. BC starter, Brian Billet, made 40 saves and was named number one star, Kiran Millan was off his game to say the least.

BC jumped out to a 1-0 lead on Danny Linell's first collegiate goal. Kieran Millan made the initial save and the puck kicked around the crease before Linell put home the rebound at 5:51.

BU evened the score with little over a minute to go in the first. The puck deflected into the corner after BC goalie Brian Billett stopped Ryan Ruikka's shot from the point. There, Corey Trivino attempted to make a pass to the front of the net. The puck hit off a sliding BC defender and banked into the goal behind Billett.

BU had a load of chances in the second stanza, but could not convert and it was BC extending their lead just a minute and fifty seconds into the frame. Tommy Cross skated through (what seemed like) the entire BU defense and cut right to the front of the net where he shoveled a back-hander past Millan, off the cross bar, and in. Prior to the goal, Chris Connolly appeared to have put BU on top, but his shot hit the post (?). The BU crowd (my self included) all thought it was in. Cross scored before the refs could review the play. After Cross’s goal, the refs did look at it and said that it was not a goal.

BC broke the game wide open in the latter stages of the period. Chris Kreider picked off a BU pass and used Terrier defensemen, Patrick MacGergor as a screen. Kreider reeled off a shot from the top of the dot, past Millan, off the post, and into the goal. Little over two minutes later, Johnny Gaudreau potted a rebound making it 4-1. At the 18:24 mark, Bill Arnold blasted a slapper from the far-side hash marks by Millan, upping the lead to 5-1. The shot completely beat the BU goalie as the puck hit the center support beam inside the goal.

Paul Carey added another goal about four minutes into the third period, beating Grant Rollhieser, who came in relief of Millan at the start of the period.

This loss ended BU's five game win streak and it was also the first time BU lost to BC this year. The Terriers have not beaten Boston College at home since 2009.

More reaction coming on Monday, as usual.

Next up for BU: a road trip up to Durham to face off with New Hampshire, then Saturday at Maine.

Goaltending; It's Why BU Won

2011-12-03T12:30:00.000-05:00

Last night, BU came away with a 5-3 win despite being out shot 45-15. That was in large part because Boston College was on the power play for practically the entire second and third periods. To prevent goals of any kind the goaltending had to be superb and that’s exactly what Kieran Millan was for BU.

Kieran Millan kicks out a shot on a BC power play in the
second period.
(Photo by Matt Dreens)

The senior netminder stopped 42 of 45 shots he faced. Two of the three goals he allowed were tipped past him by Eagles out in front of the net. Millan pulled out all the stops when he needed to, especially in the second period, when BU was out shot 23-1. Fortunately for the Terriers, that one shot found twine making it 3-0. Millan made big save after big save and his usually shaky glove was excellent in denying the Eagles all night long.

Parker Milner, BC's starting goalie, was terrible to put things nicely. Milner gave up two goals on eight shots in the first period, and to be honest it could have been worse. The one bright spot for the junior netminder was a sensational stop on Ben Rosen, seconds after Charlie Coyle's power play goal. Milner's second period save percentage was 0%, as he let in the lone BU shot of the period by Garrett Noonan. This was Milner’s third loss against BU in as many tries.

Because of Millers less than sub-par effort, The Boston College Hockey Blog is reporting that back-up goalie Brian Billett will start in goal, tonight for the Eagles. Billett won his only start of the season, when BC defeated Yale 3-2 last weekend. He stopped 31 of 33 shots he faced.

In Other News

The Boston Hockey Blog is saying that Captain Chris Connolly could very well be back in the Lineup for BU.

BU Gets Badly Out Shot, But Still Wins

2011-12-03T00:56:00.000-05:00

BU defeats BC 5-3 despite being out shot 45-15

Tonight, was a strange game to say the least. BC, a team that usually dominant on the power play, went 2 for 11, and one goal came in the final minutes on a six on four man advantage when BC pulled goalie Parker Milner for the extra attacker.

Towards the end of the game there was some good old nastiness
between the long time rivals. Here, Bu's Charlie Coyle and BC's
Tommy Cross have to be separated by the refs.
(Photo BY Matt Dresens)

Usually when a team generates only 8 shots on goal in a period, they tend not to score very often. Well that was not the case here as BU scored twice in the first. BU got on the board with first of two power plays goals. Charlie Coyle picked the top corner on Milner from about ten feet out in the slot. The shot was a classic goal scorer’s goal, a shot that just nips the red goal post and banks into the net. It was Coyle's third goal of the year from Matt Nieto and Max Nicastro at 10:15 of the first.

In the closing minutes of the period, BU doubled their lead. Alexx Privitera sprang Yasin Cisse in on a break a way. The red shirt freshman sniped on Milner high glove side, beating the goaltender clean. Tonight, Cisse was playing on the second line with Nieto and Coyle and also got some hefty power play time. I don't know if that was all because Chris Connolly was out of the line up, but I really like the way that line played tonight, and I think it much better suites Cisse. That goal was Cisse's first career goal as a Terrier and it was also Privitera's first point in a BU uniform.

The second period was dominated by failed BC power plays, but the Eagles carried the play and dominated the time of possession. But, it was BU’s lone shot of the Period that put the Terriers up 3-0. Garrett Noonan picked up a bouncing puck and the point and teed up a drive. The puck knuckle-balled into the net behind Milner, who looked to have gotten crossed up on the play. The goal went in the books as and unassisted mark at 13:21.

Finally, with three minutes to go in the second, BC converted on the power play and finally solved Kieran Millan who played arguably his best game of the year tonight. Bill Arnold put one past Millan in a scrum in front. Originally, I though Chris Kreider had scored, but the goal was awarded to Arnold, instead. Literally seconds later, BC nearly made it a one goal game, but BU was again fortunate for getting quick whistle before the puck crossed the line.

Cason Hohmann (23) celebrates after
his goal that would prove to be the
eventual game winner.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BC once again controled the time of position and shots in the third, but like in the second, it was BU picking up the period's first strike. Cason Hohmann grabbed the game-winning goal on the power play exactly 8:00 into the stanza. Hohmann took a slap-pass from Sean Escobedo that was wide of the net and corralled it before sliding it into the goal behind Milner oh his back hand. This was Hohmann's first collegiate goal.

Now we get to the garbage goals. The game's ending seemed to be more dragged out then the final minutes of an NBA basketball game. Penalty after Terrier penalty prevented the clock from running down and BC made things (at least for me) very tense in the closing minutes. Kreider made an excellent tip on Edwin Shea's shot from the point and re-directed the puck past Millan, cutting he BU lead to 4-2 with about five minutes to play.

Corey Trivino eased most of the tension I, and the other hundreds of BU fans that made the trip over, when he converted on an empty net short handed goal from about 130 feat out, making it 5-2 with there minutes to play. All was clam for 16 seconds, that is when Barry Almedia scored on the power play at the 17:16 mark of the third for BC. BU hung on though, despite being way out shot and taking way, way to many penalties down the stretch. The 5-3 victory was BU's 5th win in a row and it clinched the Hockey East season series against Boston College for the Terriers.

Parker had this to say about the game and some of the actions that both team’s players were taking: “They were diving all over the place. It’s pathetic that stuff that’s going on out there".

The two teams go at it again tomorrow night at Agganis Arena starting at seven.

**PairWise update: with that win, BU jumped all the way from 16th to 11th in the PWR**

BC Weekend, Enough Said Updated

2011-12-01T14:22:00.002-05:00

Tomorrow, BU and BC will face off for the first of two games over the weekend. BU blanked the Eagles 5-0 back on the 13th on November. This weekend's games are not only huge because they're against the team's biggest rival, but potential PairWise points and Hockey East points are at stake. BU currently trails the Eagles by three points in the league standings.

BC is coming off a 3-2 comeback win over Yale in New Haven. Prior to that though, BC had been on a slight skid. Losers of two straight, one at Notre Dame 3-2 in overtime and to BU 5-0.

Chris Connolly is out tonight with a shoulder injury that he suffered in the first period of the Cornell game. In his place, Freshman Evan Rodrigues will make his return to the line up. One other lineup change it Alexx Privitera will be Max Nicastro's partner at defense, in place of Ryan Ruikka.

Scouting the Eagles
No shock that Chis Kreider is leading the charge for BC. The World Junior sensation has 10 goals and 8 assists in 14 games played. Kreider also leads the team in total points with 18. Bill Arnold is in sole possession of the second place point leader with 15, seven goals and eight assists.

Goaltending? More like an empty net, BC has some real troubles in net. This would be one of those times where the numbers don't tell the whole story. Starter Parker Milner has a .909 save percentage with a 9-4-0 record. OK, well his numbers look solid, but Milner gives up a ton of rebounds, and oh by the way, he is a career 0-2 against BU with 10 goals allowed, stopping only 42 of 52 shots faced against the Terriers.

Why I Think BU Wins At Least One Game
BU is on a roll and has all the momentum. The other reason is now we have Garrett Noonan who did not play against BC earlier this year. Also, Corey Trivino is fully healthy and not playing his first game back from and ankle injury, like he did in November's game.

Looking Ahead

2011-11-30T21:47:00.000-05:00

BU will continue on their toughest stretch of the season as they get set to rap up the Hockey East season series with Boston College. This tough stretch started way back on 11/11/11, when BU lost 3-2 in overtime to unbeaten Merrimack. Since then BU has not lost, beating BC 5-0 two days later and then rolling past both UNH and Vermont the weekend before Thanksgiving. Then there was the Cornell game at Madison Square Garden. Yeah. By now you should know that BU won 2-1 in overtime.

The road does not get any easier after this upcoming weekend, either. Thursday the 8th, BU will bus up to Durham and finish up the season series with New Hampshire and that Sunday, BU will play their final game before the holiday break at Maine. And, oh yeah, the Terriers first game back is in South Bend Indiana, home to the Notre Dame Fighting Irish.

Right now BU is 4-1-0 over the unyielding grind of games and two more W's this weekend would look mighty nice on the schedule card.

Full weekend preview coming sometime tomorrow.

A Closer Look: The Cornell Game

2011-11-28T22:22:00.000-05:00

Ross Gaudet is my player of the
week for obvious reasons. Gaudet
scored his first goal of the year in
overtime of Red Hot Hockey take
three, giving BU the win 2-1.

Runner Up goes to Cason
Hohmann, who I thought played
his best game of the year, and he
nearly won the game in OT,
before Ross beat him to it.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU's lone game of this past weekend will go down as one of the most exciting and controversial games played. BU defeated Cornell 2-1 in front of a sellout crowd of 18,200 at Madison Square Garden in New York City.

BU's Adam Clendening scored the contest's first goal on a five on three power play about half way through the first period. BU carried the play for most of the first frame, but that completely changed in the second.

Cornell did not score in period number two, but it was BU's bend but don't break defense that held CU off the board. The Big Red had 11 shots on goal in that stanza, but none could find their way past Kieran Millan who made 23 saves in the 2-1 victory.

Cornell finally tied the game in the third, as Locke Jillson scored his first goal of the season on a rebound. For Cornell, it looked like they took the lead with exactly four minutes to go as a shot deflected off the end board, bounced up towards the MSG roof, and fell in the net. The only thing that prevented this goal was the fact that everyone in the rink (including the refs) lost sight of the puck before it descended from the sky. The whistle clearly blew before the black rubber disk plopped into the net.

The end of regulation saw the longtime rivals knotted at one. Something had to give. With 2:12 left in the overtime session, Ross Gaudet redirected Max Nicastro's shot from the point into the baggy MSG net. The net exploded and so did the BU fans, who made the trip down.

All in all, it was probably the most exciting and intense game I've been to since the 2009 National Championship game. More on that later in the week as I will post the top ten most memorable BU games I've been to.

At The Polls
BU moved up two spots from 15th to 13th in the USCHO rankings. Merrimack remained the Nation's lone undefeated team and stayed number one in the land. Boston College jumped up three places from number five to second. Notre Dame fell one place from second to third and Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota rounded out the top five. In two years, the top three will all belong to Hockey East.

BU also was slotted at 13th in the USA Today poll. The top five looked exactly the same, except Duluth and the Gophers were flip-flopped.

PairWise. Finally, we can actually start to look at this and get some kind of idea of who will be headed to the NCAA tournament come March. Following BU's win over Cornell, the Terriers jumped all the way from 22nd to 16th. Now there is some rhyme and reason for that. Neutral sight games and non conference wins play a huge roll in the PWR.

The PairWise Ranking is a system which attempts to mimic the method used by the NCAA Selection Committee to determine participants for the NCAA Division I men's hockey tournament. The PWR compares Teams Under Consideration (TUC), those with a Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) of .500 or more, judging them by four criteria: record against common opponents, head-to-head competition, record against other TUC if a team has played 10 or more games against TUC, and the RPI. -From USCHO.Com

Take for instance, Miami. They are ranked 18th in the National Polls, but are currently in a tie with Western Michigan for 10th in the PWR. They have notable wins at Colgate (PWR 14), Michigan (PWR 20) and won the Denver Cup in Denver, dropping Providence and Denver (PWR 17). Tournament wins are also important and can really gain a team a ton of PairWise points, especially if the tournament is in a neutral sight or better yet, away.

Not to keep making examples, but BU's 2009 final PairWise was so high because they won three in-season tournaments, including that Denver Cup I just spoke of. The Terriers also went 9-0-0 in non conference play including all the wins in those three tournaments.

Around Hockey East
Tuesday Night: Vermont picked up their first league win, dropping UMass 2-1 at home... UNH lost a crazy game to Harvard 7-6 at the Crimson's barn.

Wednesday Night: Merrimack blanked Alabama Huntsville 6-0 at Lawler Rink.... Maine got by the USA U18 team 6-4 in an exhibition game in Orono.

Friday Night: Northeastern nipped Michigan 4-1 in Michigan... Miami drubbed Providence 6-2 in the first round of the Denver Cup... Colgate got the best of Vermont at Gutterson Field House, 4-1... Lowell blanked Alabama Huntsville 3-0 at home.

Saturday Night: BU snuck by Cornell 2-1 in overtime... BC came back and beat Yale at the Whale 3-2... Quinnipiac defeated UMass 4-2 at home... Princeton got the best Providence, 3-1 in the Denver Cup Consolation game... Maine was victorious against Clarkson 4-3 at home... New Hampshire slaughtered Alabama Huntsville 9-1 at home.

Cornell's Goal That Wasn't

2011-11-27T21:15:00.000-05:00

Gaudet Grabs OT Winner

2011-11-27T00:32:00.002-05:00

Wow! What a game!

2:48 into overtime at Madison Square Garden, Ross Gaudet tipped Max Nicastro's shot into the goal past Cornell's goalie Andy Iles. It was Gaudet's first tally of the season. The goal sent the BU half of MSG into a frenzy (myself included) while Cornell's rowdy crown sulked their way to the exits.

Before Gaudet's overtime heroics, there was a ton of other action to cover.

BU celebrates after Ross Gaudet's (22) overtime goal.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU took a 1-0 lead on a five on three power play in the first. The puck was deflected on net and the rebound was kicked out by Iles right on to the tape of defenseman, Adam Clendening's stick. Clendening buried the the loose puck. It was was the Niagara natives first goal of the season. The assists went to Garrett Noonan and Alex Chiasson.

BU and CU battled through a scoreless second frame. Cornell had the bulk of the chances and many would say that BU was lucky to head the third still owners of the lead. Cornell's had a disallowed goal after the puck crossed the line after the whistle blew.

Alex Chiasson is stop by CU goalie
Andy Iles on a break a way in the
first period.
(Photo by matt Dresens)

CU carried all the momentum they gained from the second right into the third period. Locke Jillson, the games second star, tied the game at the 11:06 mark of stanza three. Jillson was able to slam home a rebound after BU failed to clear the zone. Essentially, Jillson scored an empty net goal as Millan (23 saves) was well out of position.

Cornell nearly took the lead with four minutes to play. A shot by John Esposito took a very strange deflection of the dasher of the boards. The puck popped up toward the MSG roof. The puck was in the air so long that the refs blew the whistle because they lost sight of the puck. As the puck descended from the MSG rafters it hit Millan in the back and ended up in the net. After a lengthy review, the call stood, no goal.

After Gaudet scored in overtime, winning the game for BU, the Terriers move to 7-4-1 on the year and extend their win streak to four games.

Next weekend, BU faces BC in a home and home series starting Friday night at Conte Forum.

More coverage, plus pictures coming tomorrow. Sorry about that, the wifi at my hotel sucks, so I had to write the entire recap on my phone.

BU-CU Preview

2011-11-25T09:45:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, BU and Cornell will face off in the 43rd time and third installment of Red Hot Hockey. This season Cornell is 6-2-0 and winners of their last five games. Their last loss was at Brown, 5-4. They may have a five game win streak, but those wins have not exactly been against the cream of the crop in the NCAA. Wins include a 3-2 victory at Dartmouth and a 4-0 shutout of Qunnipiac at home. Cornell has shut out their opponents in the last three straight games. Earlier this year, the Big Red waxed Yale at the Whale 6-2, but Yale just lost to Sacred Heart so I really don't know how good the Yaleys are this year. Cornell currently sits atop the ECAC standings, two points ahead of second place Colgate.

Scouting the Big Red
Cornell currently has the sixth best defense in the NCAA and goaltender Andy Iles has a three game shutout streak coming into Saturday's tilt.

Cornell is lead by Nick D'Agostino, a junior defenseman from Bolton, Ontario, who has six goals and six assists in eight games played. Brian Ferlin is a close second in points with 11, five goals and six assists.

In net, Iles has a 2.34 goals against average to go along with a .915 save percentage in eight games played.

The Last Time They Met...
was on November 28th, 2009 at Madison Square Garden. BU made an impressive comeback, tying the game 3-3 in the final minute and that's the way the score stood at the conclusion of the five minute overtime period.

College Hockey Picks Week 8

2011-11-24T00:04:00.000-05:00

Last week was my best week yet. I when 10 for 15 including a tie which counts as a loss for some dumb reason.

From Inside College Hockey's Pick 'em

It's Getting Red Hot In Here

2011-11-23T14:51:00.000-05:00

Top: Cornell's Ken
Dryden. Bottom:BU's
Mike Eruzione. Both
program's most
famous alumni.

Saturday, BU and Cornell will renew their longtime rivalry in the third edition of Red Hot Hockey in New York City at Madison Square Garden. BU won convincingly at the first RHH, 6-3 on November 24th, 2007. That game marked the first time MSG was sold out for a college hockey game, as the arena saw all 18,000 seats filled with college hockey fans.

Cornell looked as if they we going to blow out BU on November 28th 2010, again at The World's Most Famous Arena after they took an early 2-0 first period lead. A Dave Warsofsky shorthanded goal cut the lead to 2-1 before Cornell regained a two goal lead just a minute and a half later. Nick Bonino made it 3-2 minutes into the third and Chris Connolly buried a rebound with one minute left in the game to tie it at three. BU dominated the overtime, but could not get the game winner.

Scorebord from Red Hot Hockey
take 2.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Rivalry
Yes, this is not BU-BC, but this used to be almost, if not a bigger rivalry than BU-BC. The Terriers and Big Red have been battling it out for decades. BU lost the 1967 National Championship game to Cornell, but five years later the Terriers got their revenge, dropping the Big Red 4-1 in the ECAC Championship game and seven days later in the National Championship Game. The rivalry was so intense that Cornell even had "beat BU" in their fight song. The first ever BU-CU game took place in 1925, BU won 7-2 in Ithaca.

Since BU seceded from the ECAC in 1983, the rivalry has died down a bit, but the first game at MSG definitely gave the fire a huge stoke.

For more coverage on the BU-Cornell rivalry, check out the Terrier Hockey Fan Blog's Red Hot Hockey Since 1925.

Game preview wil be up on Friday morning.

Laughing at Yale Who Play At The Whale

2011-11-22T23:03:00.000-05:00

No, this has not become a poetry blog and no, this has nothing to do with BU, but I thought I would draw up something for you all to read on an otherwise news-less Tuesday.

Tonight, overrated number 9 Yale lost to arguably the worst team in college hockey, Sacred Heart. The Bulldogs fell 7-6 on the road, despite out shooting the sisters of the poor 53-19. Not that I really should be laughing to hard because BU did lose to Holy Cross who is equally as abysmal, but who cares. Oh, did I mention it was Sacred Heart's first win of the year? They are now 1-11-0 on the year.

Craziness at Harvard
UNH was up 4-0 on Harvard in the first period. UNH squandered that four goal lead and then a three goal lead and the Crimson ended up winning 7-6 at home. The only reason I report this game is because I was supposed to go, but something came up and I ended up listing to it on Harvard's radio station.

... Four Points Later

2011-11-21T16:00:00.001-05:00

Corey Trivino is my player of the

week. He had two goals in two games

to go along with first star honors in

Friday's game against Vermont. Trivino

now has 8 goals and four assists on

the year. Corey has already matched

his goal total for last season in just 10

games. He played 37 games last year.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU did exactly what they needed to do this weekend. They picked up a pair of wins and gained four valuable points in the Hockey East standings. It was especially important to win both games because both Merrimack and Boston College, the two teams in front of BU, did not play a league game all weekend.

Friday night, BU again played down to their competition's level. They let one win Vermont hang around the whole game and never really put them away. To be honest, BU was a little bit lucky to come away with a win. Following Garrett Noonan's power play goal late in the second period, the Terriers relaxed and Vermont carried the play for most of the third period. The Catamounts pulled within one goal with about four minutes to play, but BU hung on and weathered a fierce UVM barrage at the conclusion of the game.

Saturday was a completely different game. New Hampshire and BU slogged through a o-o first period. Both teams created relatively few chances and I really got the feeling that whichever team scored first would eventually win. Low and behold, BU's Wade Megan broke the deadlock in the second and the Terriers won. Although it was not the winning goal, it added some much needed action to an otherwise slow game.

Saturday's games took a sharp turn from a rather boring game to a very intense third period when UNH's Trevor Van Riemsdyk tied it 1-1 five minutes into the period. Two and half minutes latter, BU exploded for two goals in 36 seconds. First, Max Nicastro unloaded a wicked slapper that found the back of the net. Little over half a minute later, Corey Trivino put home a Chris Connolly pass on a two on one.

Instead of holding on for dear life in the final minutes, BU allowed very few grade A scoring chances and Matt Nieto sealed the game with an empty net goal in the final minute.

At The Polls
BU moved up one place in the USCHO poll from 16th to 15th. Merrimack became the new Number One by default. Previous Number One Minnesota lost and dropped to third. Notre Dame was second, while Colorado College and Boston College rounded out the top five. It is the first time in program history MC has been ranked #1.

Again, BU was left out of the USA Today ranking.

I have BU at 12th in my poll.

PairWise... It's still to early.

Around Hockey East
Friday Night: Northeastern skated past Providence 5-2 at Schneider Rink... Maine and UMass skated to a 2-2 tie at the Mullins Center... New Hampshire shut out Lowell 5-0 on the road... BU slipped by Vermont 4-3... Notre Dame topped Boston College 3-2 with 2.1 seconds left in overtime in South Bend.

Saturday Night: Lowell blanked UMass 4-0 at home... Northeastern got past Vermont 4-1... BU beat New Hampshire 4-1 at home.

Honored
Kieran Millan was named Hockey East defensive player of the week for his efforts in BU's 4-1 victory over UNH. Millan stopped 33 of 34 shots he faced. BU was also named Hockey East's team of the week.

Statement Game

2011-11-19T23:42:00.000-05:00

BU takes season series with 4-1 win.

The Terriers are now looking like they have started to click. They've reeled off three straight wins and have scored 13 goals in 3 games, including 8 this weekend.

After a sluggish first period which saw no scoring and no real good chances, BU grabbed the lead in the second. Wade Megan was attempting to rush into the UNH zone but the puck deflected up in the air, Megan jumped up, grabbed the puck, and skated into the Wildcat zone. From the bottom of the far circle, he let a shot go with basically no angle. Somehow, the puck found it's way into the goal behind UNH goalie Matt DiGirolamo's legs.

BU's Patrick MacGregor fights though a sandwitch check
from UNH's Nick Sorkin (21) and Kevin Goumas (27)

The rest of the period, like period one, was a hard fought struggle.

UNH tied the game five minutes into the third. Trevor Van Riemsdyk buried a loose rebound past BU goalie Kieran Millan (33 saves) low glove side. It was Van Riemsdyk's first career goal as a Wildcat.

Two and half minutes later, the game changed completely. Max Nicastro took a pass from Chris Connolly at the point. The junior defenseman reared back and let go an absolute bomb of a slap shot that DiGirolamo simply never saw. The net exploded when the puck hit the twine and all 4,994 in attendance went nuts.

36 seconds later, Corey Trivino potted his eight goal of the year on a two on one. Connolly and Trivino broke in 2 on 1 after picking up a misplayed puck at the blue line. Connolly dished to Trivino and the puck wound up in the top corner of the UNH goal. The play was reviewed because it looked like the puck went off Trivino's skate and in, but there was no "distinct kicking motion" to over-turn the play and the goal stood.

After BU killed off Evan Rodrigues' two minute hitting from behind penalty, Matt Nieto scored on an empty net from about 70 feet out. He was lucky it dribbled in because if it had gone wide, it would have been icing, allowing UNH a chance to set something up off the face off.

Following the win, BU moves into sole possession of third place in Hokey East with 11 points, two points behind second place Merrimack and 3 points behind first place Boston College. Both BC and MC did not pick up a single point in the league this weekend. The Mack was idle and BC lost it's lone game of the weekend to Notre Dame with 2.1 seconds left in overtime out in South Bend.

UNH Preview

2011-11-19T16:22:00.000-05:00

BU goes for three straight wins tonight, as the University of New Hampshire Wildcats come to Agganis Arena for the second time this season.

Last night BU defeated Vermont 4-3. UNH blanked Lowell 5-0 at home. A lot of things have changed since BU and UNH last played on opening night. UNH lost four games in a row (including the loss to BU) and did not even score a goal until the third game of the year. The Wildcats did some serious soul searching on a road trip to St. Cloud Minnesota. UNH got smoked in game one of the two game series. Saturday night, in game two, New Hampshire managed a tie and they haven't lost since then. That game was on October 22. The next weekend the team picked up their first win of the year, 2-1 in overtime at Union College. The Union win was the first of four W's in a row. Victories included a 5-2 drubbing of Northeastern and a 7-3 shellacking of UMass as well as last night's 5-0 shut-out of Lowell.

UNH is currently tied with BU for third in Hockey East.

Scouting the Wildcats
Sophomore Nick Sorkin and Senior Captain Stevie Moses lead the team in scoring with five goals and seven assists each. Each have 12 points in 11 games played.

UNH will be without their their leading point scorer, Dalton Speelman for tonight's game. Last night the forward suffered both a separated shoulder and a broken wrist in last night's game against NU.

After struggling out of the gate, Matt DiGirolamo is starting to look like the goalie that USCHO said was the best netminder in the Nation. In 10 games played DiGirolamo has an .894 save percentage with a 3.14 goals against average.

The Great Debate
Last night Grant Rollhieser played a solid game in net for the Terriers. Kieran Millan was benched for skipping class and now tonight, Parker has a decision to make on who will start in goal. Parker said earlier in the week that the starter would be a game time decision, so we will all have to wait to see who will start tonight. If it were up to me, I would go with the hot hand and put Rollie back out there. Anyway, check back later for the official starter.

BU Beats Vermont 4-3

2011-11-19T12:49:00.000-05:00

A more in-depth recap from last nigh's game.

After a slow start that saw both teams acting like it was a boxing match and basically feeling each other out, Vermont broke the the ice and picked up the game's first goal. A shot came from about the top of the circle and Grant Rollhieser fumbled it, allowing Blake Doerring to tap in a looses rebound that was just sitting in the crease. It was Doerring's first collegiate goal.

The aftermath from a collision between BU's Max Nicastro
and Tobias Nilsson-Roos.

BU answered minutes later. Sahir Gill coraled a dribbling puck behind the Vermont goal and sent a back hand pass intended for Justin Courtnall. The pass defected and bounced right on the tape of Corey Trivino, who was wide open in the slot. Trivino beat UVM netminder Rob Madore five hole for his seventh goal of the year to tie the game at one.

1:18 later BU took the lead on their first of two power play goals on the night. Vermont's Anders Franzon attempted to clear the puck on his back hand. The Junior defenseman badly miss played the puck and turned it over, right in front of Madore. Charlie Coyle swooped in and wristed a shot top shelf making it 2-1 BU. Matt Nieto was credited with an assist, but I'm not sure he ever touched the puck.

The Catamounts grabbed the first goal of the second stanza. Kyle Reynolds made a nifty move to allude Terrier denseman Patrick MacGregor. Reynolds then tossed what seemed to be a very weak back hand shot on goal. Rollhieser just missed it and the puck wound up in the back of the BU net.

Wade Megan would regain the lead for the Scarlet and White at the 6:47 mark of the second. While on the power play, Sean Escobedo threw a low wrist shot on Madore and the goaltender kicked out the rebound right into the slot where Megan was camped. Megan wasted no time and slammed home the rebound just inside the right goal post. The goal was technically an even strength goal, but Megan scored before the Vermont convict could even step on the ice.

BU's fourth goal was a power play goal. Matt Nieto found Garrett Noonan at the top of the far circle. Noonan walked in and let a snap shot fly from the face off dot. Madore never saw the shot through a screen and the puck found it's way into the Vermont goal.

After that goal, BU started to play a bit more relaxed and to Vermont's credit, the Catamounts made things very interesting in the final minuets. BU was called for too many men on the ice with about five minutes to go. Sebastian Stalberg put a loose puck by Rollhieser with 3:58 left to play.

Vermont had a few good looks after they pulled Madore, but could not get the equalizer. Trivino hit the side of the empty net with about 30 seconds left. In the final seconds BU looked to have iced the puck, which would have given UVM one last chance to set something up off the face off. The ref, for some reason, never blew the whistle and the game ended right there.

One funny note out of this game was that I ran into Alex Chiasson's dad at one of the concession stands. He came up to me and because I was wearing his son's jersey (photo) he wanted to take a picture.

BU has now won back to back games for the first time since March of last season. BU goes for three straight tonight against New Hampshire.

BU One Better Then Vermont

2011-11-19T00:30:00.000-05:00

Tonight, BU did not play their best game, not by a long shot, but did still manage to come away with 2 points and a W.

Vermont jumped out to and early 1-0 lead on Blake Doerring's first collegiate goal. Corey Trivino evened the game at one, minutes later. Charlie Coyle gave BU the lead on the first of two Terrier power play goals. BU took a 2-1 lead in to the dressing room after period one.

Vermont tied it at two on Kyle Reynlods first career goal as a Catamount. Wade Megan put home a loose rebound, gaining the lead back for the Terriers. Garrett Noonan picked up the team's second power play goal of the night, making it 4-2 BU.

Vermont was able to cut the lead to 4-3 in the final minutes of the game on the power play.
BU has now won two games for the first time all year. Tomorrow they will go for three straight against New Hampshire.

Check back tomorrow for a more in-depth recap. Sorry thus was so brief, the T was having some issues and so I got home very late.

A Visit From Vermont Updated

2011-11-17T14:51:00.001-05:00

Vermont's Dean Strong and BU's
Nick Bonino take the opening
face off of 2009 the Frozen Four.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Tomorrow, BU will welcome the University of Vermont Catamounts to Agganis Arena. This season, Vermont has struggled in all phases of the game. They rank dead last in Hockey East in total offense (2 goals a game), penalty kill (62.5%), and are in last place in the league standings with one point in six games.

The Catamount's have just one win all year, handing number one ranked Minnesota their first lost of the year in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. Last weekend, Vermont tied New Hampshire (BU's opponent on Saturday night) 4-4 at home. So far this year, the Terriers have a history of playing down to their competition's level. If I was Parker, I would have been drilling it in to my team's head that "hey they beat the best team in the Nation in their building".

Vermont plays BU very tough at home. In 2009, BU was swept in a weekend series with the Catamounts at Agganis. It was the only time all season the the Terriers lost two games in a row. BU ultimately got their revenge in the Frozen Four as they ended Vermont's season in the National Semi Final in Washington D.C.

Updated: Millan will be benched Rollie to start.
Senior goalie Kieran Millan will be benched for the Vermont game for skipping class. In his place, fellow senior, Grant Rollhieser will make his second start of the year.

Scouting the Catamounts
Vermont is lead by junior forward Sebastian Stalber, brother of Victor Stalbeg who is currently playing for the Chicago Blackhawks. Victor was a Hoby Baker finalist in 2009. Anyway, Sebastian has three goals and three assists in seven games, he leads the team in points. Connor Brickley is the team's leading goal scorer with four in seven games, but has yet to register an assist.

Vermont is very solid in goal. Four year starter Rob Madore is 33 saves away from moving into third all time at Vermont for saves in a career. If your wondering, Tim Thomas leads the school in total career saves. This season, Madore has a .854 save percentage, 22 goals against and a 1-3-1 record in five games played.

The Last Time They Met...
was last year in a weekend series at BU. The two teams tied on Friday night 3-3, after BU jumped out to a 3-0 lead. Saturday, BU won 3-1 behind a solid goaltending showing from Keiran Millan.

Back To Back?
BU has not won consecutive games since March 4th. That 3-1 win over Vermont was the first leg and the next weekend, BU defeated Northeastern 3-2 making it back to back wins. Since then, BU has not won two games in a row, but the Terriers have a chance to end that streak tomorrow night.

College Hockey Picks Week 7

2011-11-17T14:39:00.000-05:00

Team with blue dot next two school logo is the team I picked.

From Inside College Hockey's Pick 'em

Still Confused

2011-11-16T21:34:00.027-05:00

Here's something to ponder on your rainy Wednesday evening: BU is 3-1-0 against ranked teams they are 1-3-1 against unranked teams.

BU beat UNH, who at the time was ranked in the top 20. BU then went on to lose to Providence, beat number three Denver and lose to Holy Cross. BU then picked up their lone win against an unranked team, UMass, in a home and home series. Then there was the fiasco in Lowell, and finally BU lost their only game to a ranked team, so far against Merrimack. They then followed that up with a five nothing shut out of Boston College (that always fun to say).

Confused on why BU can only beat good teams? Yeah so am I.

BU faces two unranked opponents this weekend as Vermont and New Hampshire visit Agganis on Friday and Saturday respectively. Hopefully BU takes both teams seriously and comes away with four points. Vermont and UNH actually played each other last weekend and skated to a 4-4 draw. To state the obvious, both schools are pretty equal. BU clearly has the ability to play with any team in the country, but to be able to do that in March in the NCAA's, the Terriers need to buckle down and start rolling off some wins in a row. Theres no better time to do that than this weekend with two league opponets coming to town.

In Other News
BU reseved a verbal commitment from The USA U18's Matt Lane. According to the Terrier Hockey Fan Blog, Lane will be on campus next fall. He is listed as 5-9, 178 pound forward who calls Rochester New York home.

Lane's stats for the NTDP:

A Promising Weekend

2011-11-14T17:23:00.000-05:00

Luke Popko, BU's best faceoff man in
team history.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

This past weekend had a few firsts for the Terriers. BU lost their first overtime Hockey East league game since 2003 when Merrimack came back and defeated BU 3-2 in OT at Agganis on Friday night.

BU's 5-0 shut out of Boston College was the Terrier's first blanking of BC since 1983. It was also BU's first win against BC since 2010. In my eyes, it was BU's best performance against the Eagles since 2006. The game that comes to mind is BU's 6-2 shellacking of BC at the start of December 2006. BC has had their share of lopsided wins against the Terriers as well, including a 5-0 beating that same season in the NCAA Regional Final in Worcester.

Springboard
BU's rout against BC could be just what the team needs to spark them. Look at the Bruins, for example. The B's have won five straight games after destroying the Toronto Maple Leafs in Air Canada Center. Before that win, Boston had won just four games.

Now look at BU, a team that has been up and down all year. Now, with this eerily similar beating of an arch rival in their barn, BU could have finally figured out how to put everything together and play a full 60 minutes.

It would not surprise me if BU took off after last night's win. Next up on the schedule is a struggling Vermont team coming to Agganis on Friday night. Saturday, the University of New Hampshire will try to even the season series. BU's two home league games this upcoming weekend are very big games. BU is currently tied for fourth in Hockey East with those UNH Wild Cats. A weekend sweep would go along way into getting back into the top of the Hockey East standings, where most people predicted them to be at the start of the year.

Struggling: The Face-off
BU's faceoffs have been less of a draw and more of an automatic loss. The Terrier's inability to win any important faceoffs in the Merrimack game was a clear reason why they lost the game. BU was burned several times down the stretch in the faceoff circle and it led to MC's tying goal. The problem has left me wondering if we can get Luke Popko (photo) back. Popko graduated in '10, so of course he can't come back, but the pesky fourth line center seemed to win about 90% of the draws he took.

At The Polls
After going 1-1 over the weekend, BU remained at number 16 in the USCHO poll. Minnesota is still the number one ranked team in the Nation despite Merrimack, ranked second, picking up more first place votes with 25. Minnesota had 20 first place votes. Boston College slipped to number three with Notre Dame and Colorado College rounding out the top five.

In the USA Today rankings, BU was two points away from cracking the 15 team poll. Ohio State and Michigan Tech tied for 14th with 52 points each. The top five is identical to USCHO's.

My rankings

PairWise: Who cares... its way to early.

Around Hockey East
Friday Night: Boston College slipped by Northeastern 2-1 on a goal scored with 2.8 seconds left in regulation... Lowell remained hot, defeating Maine in 5-3 at Alfond Arena... Providence shut out the nation's lone Independent school, Alabama Huntsville 3-0 at home... UMass waxed Holy Cross 7-2 at the Mulins Center... Merrimack upended BU 3-2 in overtime.

Saturday Night: Lowell completed the weekend sweep of Maine with a 4-3 road victory... UMass won it's second game of the weekend, defeating Northeastern 4-2 at home... New Hampshire and Vermont skated to a 4-4 draw at Gutterson Field House, home of the Catamounts... Providence again topped UAH, this time by a score of 4-2.

Sunday Afternoon: BU shut out BC for the first time since the schools joined Hockey East in 1984. BU won 5-0.

Sunday Funday

2011-11-13T20:58:00.000-05:00

Wade Megan had two goals in BU's 5-0

win over arch rival BC.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

BU routs BC 5-0 at Conte

Anyone who says that they saw this coming before the game is a complete liar (you in the back with your hand up, liar). BU took it to BC from the very start of the game. The Terriers started the scoreing less than a minute into the game.

Chris Connolly rushed the puck up ice, carrying it into the BC zone before dropping a pass off to defenseman Sean Escobedo. Escobedo then made another drop pass this time to Corey Trivino. Trivino gathered the puck and ripped it past BC goalie Parker Milner, just 54 seconds into the game.

BU was called for six penalties before they scored again. The Terrier PK was stellar, unlike in the Merrimack game two nights earlier. BU shut down one of the nation's best power plays as BC went 0 for 8 tonight.

The Terriers second goal came ironically enough on the power play. Connolly gave chase to a loose puck in the far corner, picked it up and shoveled a pass over to Trivino. Trivino then dumped it off to Wade Megan who came in from behind the net. Once Megan had the puck, he was limited with options with the puck. The other Terrier forwards were behind the BC net, so Megan attempted a usually unadvised wrap-a-round attempt on the power play. The move paid off for the Florida Panthers draft pick as his shot creeped its was up Milner's arm and into the back of the net. The puck never got more than two inches over the goal line.

That closed the scoring in the first.

BU took over the game in period two. BC got themselves into some penalty trouble when Patrick Brown and Tommy Cross were called for tripping and boarding, respectively. The result was a BU five on three power play for an extended period of time. The Terriers made BC pay as Sahir Gill found Adam Clendening who then set up Alex Chiasson for a one timer that the junior forward blasted off the cross bar and into the net behind Milner.

Chiasson had a hand in BU's fourth goal, as well. He picked up the puck in the far corner and skated behind the net where he actually ran into Charlie Coyle. Coyle took the puck from Chiasson and found Matt Nieto wide open out in front. Nieto slammed it in past Milner through the goalie's five hole, upping the lead to 4-0 Terriers.

Minutes into the third period, BC found themselves again in some penalty trouble. BU did not score on any of those power plays, but did take over the game and did not allow BC to get any real chances to score.

Wade Megan iced the game while BC's power play struggles hit an all time game high. A BC defenseman had the puck at the point and lost control of it, allowing Megan to give presure. He knocked the puck forward and won the foot race for the loose puck at center ice. Megan then skated in alone on Milner and beat the helpless goaltender low blocker side. It was BU's 5th short handed goal of the year.

After the win, BU moves into fourth place in the Hockey East standings tied with UNH with 7 points. Kieran Millan made 21 saves good for his second shut out of the year. BU is now 4-4-1 on the year.

One Tough Weekend (Part Two)

2011-11-12T21:50:00.000-05:00

Tomorrow, BU will head over to Conte Forum to take on the Nation's second ranked team, Boston College. BC is 9-2-0 on the year and is coming off a win that they stoll from Northeastern. The Eagles scored with 2.8 seconds left in regulation to win 2-1. BC’s two loses are two Denver and UMass.

Strangely enough, BC's two losses have come against teams that BU has taken 5 out of possible 6 points from. BU upended Denver 4-3 at home and beat and tied UMass in a home and home series.

Scouting the Eagles
BC lost it’s fare share of players to graduation and the NHL, but this teams still brings a ton of talent to the table. World Junior standout, Chis Kreider is the team's leading goal scorer with 8. He also leads the Eagles in points with 16. Calgary Flames draft pick, Bill Arnold is second in points and goals with 14 and 7 respectively in each category.

BC's biggest question coming into the year was goaltending. Four year starter and two time National Champion, John Muses graduated at the end of last year, leaving a huge hole in net for BC. So far, junior Parker Milner has carried the load nicely. He has played every minute (except 1:47 when BC pulled him four and extra attacker) and has a .920 save percentage with a 2.08 goals against average. In 11 games Milner has stopped 263 of 286 shots.

The Last Time They Met...
was the first Monday in February in the first round of the Beanpot. BC won their fourth game against BU last year in overtime by a score of 3-2. The last time BU beat BC was in the in the 2010 season at Conte Forum. Colby Cohen won the game in overtime for the Terriers on a deflected one-time slapper.

Injury Report
Last night I ran into Corey Trivino during the second intermission and he said quote: "I think I can play against BC." That decision will be up the medical staff seeing as he missed the Merrimack game with a swollen ankle.

Merrimack Comback Upends BU

2011-11-11T22:39:00.001-05:00

BU's Ben Rosen stops in
the corner after rushing
the puck up ice. MC's Jordan
Heywood plays defense.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Toomey pots OT winner for Mack', BU looses 2nd straight

Tonight, Merrimack accomplished something that has not been done since 2003 and that was beat BU in a Hockey East league game in overtime. Providence was the last team to do it back on February 21st 2003.

Before we get to the overtime goal, there was other scoring to cover. MC got on the board first a little over six minutes into period one. Justin Mansfield put home a loose rebound past BU goalie Kieran Millan who was stuck in an un-athletic position. The play seemed like it was in slow motion as the puck creped its way past Millan before Mansfield was able to score.

Following that goal, Merrimack got themselves into a world of penalty trouble. Karle Stollery was called for interference and seconds later Jordon Heywood was also flagged for interference. While BU was already on a five on three advantage, Merrimack goon, Kyle Bigos cross-checked a BU player out in front (More on Bigos later). Unfortunately, BU was only able to grab one goal out of the two man advantage. Alex Chiasson and Matt Nieto both had chances to score, but it was Garrett Noonan who slammed in a rebound on the near side, past Warrior goalie Joe Cannata.

Garrett Noonan scores BU second goal.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Later in the period BU's fourth line combined to score a nifty goal. Ben Rosen hit freshman Cason Hohmann with a break out pass from deep in the BU zone. Hohmann made a mad rush up the ice and found Assistant Captain Justin Courtnall on the fare side. Courtnall corralled the puck and put a back hander on net which found it’s way past Cannata.

The second period saw no scoring, but both teams did have some chances. BU had a few nice looks on the power play, while MC finally actually put some shots on Millan, who only faced six in the first. Oh yeah, then there was the Bigos incident.

Wade Megan had the puck along the boards facing the glass in the attacking zone. Merrimack punk Kyle Bigos thought it was a fine idea to drill Megan face first into the glass. The refs did not agree and the 6 foot 5 inch Eric Gyba-like defenseman was kicked out of the game.

The third period was one to forget for the Terriers. Not only was there no flow at all, but there were a tone of penalties. The teams combined for a total of 10 infractions in the third period alone. Out of all of those, one sticks out.

Charlie Coyle was trying to regain his balance and grazed an MC skater. Coyle was called for interference, setting up the Warrior's game tying goal with less than two minutes to go.

Brandon Brodhag ripped a slapper past Millan after Merrimack pulled Cannata giving the Warriors a six on four advantage. The assists went to Heywood and Stollery.

In overtime, Conner Toomey looked to have tipped Stollery's shot past Millan, who I don't thing ever saw the shot in the first place. After winning this game, Merrimack remained the Nation’s lone undefeated team. On the BU side of things, it drops the Terriers 3-4-1 on the year with an away game at Boston College on Sunday.

One Tough Weekend (Part One)

2011-11-10T20:10:00.000-05:00

I'll start with Friday's game against Merrimack. The Warriors are the only undefeated team in the nation at 7-0-1. MC battled Northeastern in a home and home series. Merrimack came away with three of four points with a tie and an overtime win.

Scouting the Warriors
Senior Ryan Flanigan is Merrimack's leading scorer with 10 points -five goals and five assists. Fellow Senior Jesse Todd is a close second with three goals and four assists for a total of seven points. In my eyes, MC's best skater is Senior Karl Stollery. I don't know why, but this guy seems to be all over the ice when BU plays the Warriors.

The Mack's best player by far is Senior goalie Joe Cannata. Cannata is 6-0-1 on the year with a .939 save percentage and a 1.046 goals against. In 427 minutes played, Cannata has only allowed 10 goals.

Stats are great, but Cannata's story does not end there. He has passed Providence's Alex Beaudry as my most feared goalie in Hockey East. Cannata is the type of goalie that only needs one goal from his team and MC is in really good shape to do that for him. In other words, he can steel games.

The Last Time They Met...
was back on January 18th. Merrimack came away with a 3-2 win at Lawler Rink. MC has not lost a game against BU since the 2010 Hockey East Quarterfinals, when BU blanked MC 3-0 in game three at Agganis.

To Be Continued
BU plays Boston College on Sunday at BC's barn. The preview will be up on saturday.

Injury Report

2011-11-10T19:47:00.000-05:00

The Boston Hockey Blog is reporting that Corey Trivino will miss both games this weekend with a swollen ankle. With that said, Yasin Cisse should stay in the lineup as well as Freshman forwards Even Rodrigues and Cason Hohmann.

Ryan Santana is still out with a shoulder injury. A rough time table for his return is the holiday break, but nothing is set in stone.

College Hockey Picks Week 6

2011-11-10T18:53:00.000-05:00

Team with blue dot next to their school logo is the team I picked

Last week I went 8 for 16. Needless to say, this is not going well.

Open Net

2011-11-08T20:50:00.000-05:00

The team, as a whole played terribly against Lowell. There's no questioning that. Even before the fiasco in the old mill town occurred, BU's goaltending has been about as stable as the stock market.

Kieran Millan played shaky at best in the exhibition game, giving up 5 goals in two periods. The next weekend he shut-out New Hampshire. Granted, the Wildcats have the league's third worst offense behind only Northeastern and Vermont, who could not score on a soccer net as of right now.

Millan, played ok against Providence, but did give up five goals. So, that's not great. The next night he looked very solid except for when Denver's John Lee scored from outside the blue line on a slap shot. Against Holy Cross, well I missed that game, he managed to give up five goals against an Atlantic Hockey team, so I can't say he played stellar. He played well out at UMass. He stopped a break a way that kept the score 2-0 and following that save, Matt Nieto scored on a 2 on 1, cutting the Minuteman lead in half.

And now we get to the Lowell game. To put it lightly, he sucked. Every save was an adventure, a huge rebound here, a misplayed puck there. It was all around terrible.

On to Grant Rollhieser, who has not exactly been the second coming of Patrick Roy, not by any stretch of the imagination. Rollie's first appearance of the year came in the exhibition game vs St. Francis Xavier. He faced seven shots and turned all of them away with ease. His first start of the year was an adventure. He gave up three goals in one period to UMass, but to his credit, only one was his fault. Ryan Ruikka tried to clear on the penalty kill and in the process the puck hit a stanchion and deflected right onto the stick of a UMass forward, who easily scored. Then, Charlie Coyle cut right in front of the BU goal and he had his pocket picked, giving Rollie no time to react and allowing UMass to score.

Rolhieser played ok in the third period of the Lowell game, allowing one goal on 14 shots.

The point is that neither of the two senior netminders have played all that well this year. Just like the team as a whole, the goaltending has been extremely inconsistent. That needs to change fast and one of the two, Rollie or Millan, have to step up and take the bull by the horns and start playing like they can.

For the near future, meaning this weekend and the next couple, I would not be surprised at all if Parker instituted a goalie rotation. Likely, Millan will prove that he is the full time starter, but until one of them pulls away there should be a rotation.

How Low-ell Will It Get?

2011-11-07T16:43:00.000-05:00

By now you have probably heard that BU got smoked 7-1 by UMass Lowell on Saturday night. Sometimes the score does not tell the whole story of a game and here it's no diferent. Lowell could have won this game 20-1.

Ross Guadet's (22) body language after the game says is all.
BU was beat up and battered around by Lowell.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

The Riverhawks dominated BU for 59 of the game's 60 minutes. Corey Trivino deflected Adam Clendening's shot from the point, past UML goalie Doug Carr, 16 seconds into the game. After that, BU got extremely complacent and Lowell took it to them in all phases of the game. UML won all the physical and mental battles and the score showed it. In fact, it was BU's most lopsided loss since 1999, when the Terriers were routed 8-2 by Providence in the Hockey East Quarterfinals. The next night though BU won by the same score, but ended up losing the series in game three by another rather lopsided 5-1 margin.

To make matters worse, Lowell lost arguably their best player and Captain, Riley Wetmore minutes into the game. So yes, BU did not even face all the Riverhaks could throw at them.

Instead of basically re-writing all the frustrating things that came out of the weekend (like I did after they lost to Holy Cross) I'm going to try and look ahead to a very tough weekend for BU. As BU tries to get back on track, they will first have to play the Nation's only un-beaten team, that being Merrimack. Two nights later, BU will travel a half a mile from Agganis to play BC, the number two ranked team in the country.

If this season has taught us anything, it is that BU can play with the best in the land. Hell, a night after loosing to Providence, the Terriers took down Denver, who at the time, were ranked third. It should be an interesting weekend to say the least.

Streak Snapped
Matt Nieto's 8 game scoring streak came to an end on Saturday. Nieto was a game away from tying Chris Drury's 9 gamer - the school record - from the 1996 season. Nieto's best chance to score was in the second period, but Carr made a ridicules glove save on the sophomore forward from point blank.

At The Polls
Who cares, they're not that good
USCHO
USA Today
My Top 20

Around Hockey East
Friday night saw Boston College continue to rip through the league, defeating Maine 5-1 at home... Northeastern and Merrimack skated to a 1-1 draw at Lawler rink... Providence skated past Vermont, who has yet to pick up a point in league play, 5-2 at Schneider Rink... UNH roasted UMass at home 7-3.

Saturday: UMass bounced back from the loss nicely and defeated the Nation's former number one, Boston College 4-2 at the Mullins Center... Providence completed the sweep against Vermont with a convincing 5-1 victory... New Hampshire defeated Maine 3-2 at home (don't look now, but UNH is not that bad)... Merrimack stayed unbeaten as Ryan Flanigan scored a short-handed goal in overtime to put MC past Northeastern 3-2 at Matthew's Arena... Lowell destroyed (thats putting it nicely) BU 7-1 at Tsongas.

Looking at Tomorrow's Post
Tomorrow, I will look at the, all of a sudden, un-stable goaltending situation and the leadership, or lack there of it.

Lowell All Over Terriers

2011-11-05T23:38:00.002-04:00

Lowell players celebrate after
waxing BU 7-1 at Tsongas
Center
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Riverhawks run circles around BU

LOWELL- It was the worst game I can remember going to. The most lop-sided outcome that no one could have predicted. If I were to have told you before the game that the final score was going to be 7-1, most everyone would have said that BU had won. Well that was not the case. Lowell beat-up and kicked BU while they were down all night long.

The rout started in period one, but it was the Terriers who actually got on the board first. BU dominated the opening 16 seconds of the game and Corey Trivino scored at the 19:44 mark, on a deflection that beat UML goalie Doug Carr. I was actually sitting next to Doug's father at the game.

After that, it was all Lowell. Joe Pendenza tied the game minutes after Trivino's goal. It was the first of seven un-answered goals for Lowell. Pendenza beat Millan who had an all-around horrible night in net, to the glove side.

Less then a minute later, Derek Arnold put home a power play goal past Milan. BU got out of the period facing a 2-1 deficit, despite only mustering three shots (one of which went in) on Carr.

The floodgates opened wider then the Merrimack River -which runs adjacent to Tsongas Center- in the second period. Scott Wilson scored less then two minutes into the frame and 11 seconds later, Dan Furlong potted his first goal of the year.

Terrence Wallin picked up Lowell's third goal of the period before David Vallorani scored his first collegiate goal, beating Millian short side. Kieran, who was off his game all night, never recovered from a play on the other side of the net and could not get to the post fast enough, allowing Vallorani to pick his spot.

Derek Arnold scored his second of the night at 3:56 of the third, beating Grant Rollhieser, who came in relief of Millan after the second. That closed the scoring for the night and to be completely honest, it could have been 10-1. Lowell hit a post in the third and had a goal dis-allowed in the second. Rollie actually made a pretty decent save on one Lowell opportunity in the closing minutes, too. Also, Millan was lucky on one shot that bounced up in the air and fell on his right leg pad and just stayed there in period two.

The entire night, Lowell out worked, out hustled, out battled and just wanted it more then the Terriers. It goes back to a phrase that my hockey coach uses all the time: "hard work beats talent when talent doesn't work hard."

Jack Parker had this to say after the game: “The team in white worked like heck. They beat us to every loose puck. We made little dink plays at the blue line, turned the puck over and it went the other way. I thought it was a total breakdown from everyone on our team — from a discipline point of view taking stupid penalties and mouthing off to referees, from a stick your nose in there and compete point of view. Everybody. We just looked like a deer in headlights.”

Game Photos
College Hockey New's : The Take Away (its a recap)

More coverage in the coming days.

Looking At Lowell

2011-11-05T14:37:00.000-04:00

Tonight, BU will play their lone game of the weekend against 2-3-0 Lowell at the Tsongas Center. The Riverhawks swept their season opening series out in Minnesota against Mankato State. Since then, Lowell has yet to win a game. Two days after coming home from the Land of 10,000 Lakes, Lowell was tripped up by UConn in overtimes and last weekend was swept by Boston College. Although the Riverhawks were out scored 10-5 in the two loses to BC, Lowell was very competitive and even out shot BC 39-20 on friday night.

Under first year head coach Norm Bazin, Lowell has ditched their neutral zone trap, and switched to a shoot first mentality. That might have something to do with how they out shot BC,by almost 2 to 1. I don't know if Lowell just tossed every opportunity thay had on goal or if those were actually high scoring opportunities, but never the less the team is generating more offensive then before.

Scouting the Riverhawks
UML's leading scorer is Riley Wetmore, a junior from Swanton Vermont. In five games this year, Wetmore has racked up 3 goals and two assist for a total of five points. Joe Pendenza also has five points in five games and has a line of 2-3-5.

Goaltending is anything but a stable postion in the old mill town. All three goalies on the Riverhawks' roster have seen action, two have actually started games. Brian Robbins has a win and two losses in three games played with an .852 save percentage. Sophomore Doug Carr picked up the team's other win and has a .909 SV%. Robbins was pulled mid-way through one of the BC losses and Marc Boulanger was put in, in relief.

BU News
Kevin Gilroy and Max Nicastro will be benched for Saturday's games for skipping class... Alex Chiasson will be back in the line up... despite playing very well, Sahir Gill will be moved down to the second line... With Nicastro out, freshman Alexx Privitera will be back in the line up on defense... Kieran Millan will start in goal... Yasin Cissie could dress for his first game of the season... BU has won the last four meetings with Lowell.

Enough Is Enough

2011-11-03T20:37:00.000-04:00

Frozen Fenway from when BU beat
BC 3-2 in 2010.
(Photo from Sky Scraper City.com)

More outdoor hockey? Yes. A BC-Northeastern game has been added to Frozen Fenway take two. Maine and UNH will play January 14th. That same night, UMass will take on Vermont at Fenway Park. A week later, BC and NU will play. Oh, and I heard that Catholic Memorial and BC-High will play there, too.

So, when does playing a game outdoors become overdone? Umm... how 'bout right now. Something that used to be a special thing that a program did once -if that- has now turned into a regular occurrence. Only three teams (Merrimack, Providence, and Lowell) from Hockey East have not played a game at the Fens.

Outdoor hockey used to be something that was limited to ponds and backyard rinks. Now we have million dollar rinks being placed in the middle of giant sports stadiums without a roof. The sight lines suck. The ice is no better, and its freezing cold.

No, I'm not writing this because BU is not playing at Fenway. In fact, I'm actually happy they're not. If I want to freeze my ass off at a game I'll go up to Merrimack. I'm writing this because someone needs to put an end to outdoor hockey. Save it for the ponds.

It will be interesting to see what happens when a school pours tons of money into building a rink outdoors and 10,000 people show up for an event that was supposed to sell out a 45,000 seat professional baseball stadium.

Yes, Winter Classic games used to be very cool. In the early 2000's when Michigan and Michigan State played at Sparty's football stadium it looked really cool. Yes, the first Winter Classic was a spectacle at Ralph Wilson Stadium in Buffalo. The snow was falling and Sidney Crosby's shoot-out winning goal to put the Penguins past the Sabres was sweet to watch. Ever since then, the outdoor game has been so watered down that the NHL is now playing two of them a year and not just one.

If college teams want to draw big crowds and make money, there are other ways at going at it than the outdoor game. Take Red Hot Hockey for example. BU and Cornell have sold out Madison Square Garden in New York City twice (and it will be solid out again this year). The place is rocking, and oh by the way, its not 25 degrees in there. Another example is North Dakota's game against Clarkson this season. That game will be played indoors in the hockey crazed city of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Hell, you could probably sell out a mite tournament in Winnipeg right now.

All kidding aside, there are other ways to promote the game other than games outside. The Winter Classic is cool, don't get me wrong, but this year alone there are 10 outdoor games* scheduled in North America alone.

Enough is enough.

* the 10 games are made up of NCCA, NHL, AHL and CHL teams and this does not count the probably numerous high school or lower level outdoor games to be played.

College Hockey Picks Week 5

2011-11-03T20:08:00.001-04:00

Team with the blue dot next to school logo is the team I picked

Well, this has not gone as planned. Following up a brutal 8 for 17 week, I went an even more awful 7-18. To my credit, ties are counted as a lost so the recored looks worse the they actually are.

News, Notes, and Other Stuff

2011-11-01T20:58:00.000-04:00

While at BU, Bonino amassed
45 goals, 72 assists, for a total
of 117 points in 116 games
played in thee seasons. One of
those goals was the game tying
strike in the national
Championship game.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Yesterday, former Terrier star, Nick Bonino was called up from AHL Syracuse and will join the Anaheim Ducks of the NHL. Bonino played in 4 of the Ducks 6 playoff games last spring. Anaheim was ousted by Colin Wilson's, Nashville Predators in the first round of the Western Conference Quarterfinals.

In 35 NHL games, Bonino has scored one goal and registered 1 assist. While in the AHL last season, he played 50 games in which he racked up 12 goals and 33 assists for a total of 45 points. In 9 games with the Crush this season, Bonino has 2 goals and 9 assists.

His Ducks jersey has been added to the blog header as he makes his 2012 NHL debut tonight against Washington on Verses.

BU Gets a New Recruit For Next Fall
The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog is reporting that BU has picked up another recruit for next year. Wesley Myron of the BCHL's Vancouver Grizzles is a "a polished power forward" according to the post. For More info on Myron, click here.

Alternative Energy
BU is undefeated while wearing the alternative uniforms this season. BU dawned the throw-back sweaters over the weekend and came away with a win and a tie. Nick Bonino is wearing the alternate jersey in the picture at the top of the article.

BU, also won the National Championship in 2009 while wearing the alternate white uniforms. For an example of the red alternates, look at the Captaincy Photo of Chris Connolly on the left side of the side bar.

Weekend In Review

2011-10-31T21:01:00.000-04:00

Matt Nieto has now scored a goal in 8

straight games dating back to to last

season. It is thelongest such streak

since Chris Drury's 9 game

goal streak back in '96.

(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Yes, BU would have liked to sweep UMass, but three points will have to do and it better because they did not come easy. The Terriers had to dig themselves out of a grave (to use a Halloween term) not once, but twice over the weekend.

Out at UMass, anything that could go wrong, did go wrong. Until Matt Nieto, arguably the hottest player in college hockey right now, scored on a three on two, midway through the second frame. Sahir Gill scored the tying goal off a rebound, evening the game at two, where it would stay knotted through the overtime session.

On to Saturday. If anything else had gone wrong in this game, BU would have lost. The Terriers once again proved that they can come back and make games very interesting. They did it against Providence earlier in the year and against Holy Cross last weekend. The difference between those games and this past weekend's was that BU could not fully overcome the deficit and ended up losing both games. This past weekend though, BU came back not only to tie but to win.

Down three nothing after the worst period the team played all year, BU stormed back, scoing four straight goals before UMass re-tied the game on a power play goal by Mike Pereira.

Matt Nito had scored a goal in every game up to Saturday's contest and his streak was not about to end in this game. Nieto scored the biggest and most clutch goal of the year on the power play, 3:17 into overtime on a wrist shot, after he took a pass from Charlie Coyle.

Coyle picked up his first goal of the year, the game tying goal of Saturday's win. The assist came from none other that Matt Nieto, who seems to be doing everything for BU. Coyle leads Hockey East with a plus 9 rating and is second on the team in points with 9 behind, you guessed it, Nieto.

Athe The Polls

BU move up one place in the USCHO rankings from 13th to 12th. BC remained the Nation's number one ranked team, followed by Colorado College, Michigan, Western Michigan, and Minnesota rounding out the top five. The only other Hockey East school to make the poll is Merrimack, who came in at 7th.

In the USA Today ranking, BU stayed put at number 12. The top five looked like this: Boston College, Colorado College, Michigan, Notre Dame and Minnesota. Merrimack was also slotted at 7.

My team of the week goes to Lake State, who swept Miami and now have a 6-1-0 record. The Lakers have not started a season this well since the days when Jeff Jackson was their bench boss.

Around Hockey East

In other action around Hockey East, Maine swept their weekend series with Providence while BC and Merrimack also won both their two games over Lowell and Vermont respectively. Northeastern fell 5-2 at UNH. UNH also beat Union 2-1 in overtime Friday night.

Nieto's OT Strike Caps BU Comeback

2011-10-30T01:52:00.000-04:00

3:17 into the second overtime period period of the weekend, Matt Nieto scored his sixth goal of the season in as many games, lifting the Terriers to a 5-4 come from behind victory at Agganis.

The BU players and fans celebrate after
Nieto's overtime goal.
(Photo by Matt Dresens)

Before Netio's OT winner, it looked like UMass was going to run away with this one. The Minutemen jumped out to an early first period lead. Steven Guzzo picked up the first of UMass' three first period goals. Minutes later, Troy Power scored his first collegiate goal on the power play. The goal was an absolute gift. BU defenseman Ryan Ruikka attempted to clear the puck by wrapping it around the glass. In the process, the puck deflected off a medal stanchion and found it’s way right on the tape of Power, who beat Rollheiser with ease.

With 30 seconds left in the frame, Conor Sheary potted his second goal of the weekend. Sheary picked Charlie Coyle's pocket right in the middle of the BU slot, where he ripped a wrister past Rollie high glove side.

UMass continued to carry the play through the mid-way point of period two. BU gained some much needed momentum after the killed off a 5 on 3 that lasted for about a minute.

Following the PK, BU got on the board with a great passing play. Corey Triovino picked up a UMass turnover, allowing him to set up Garrett Noonan on the far side. Noonan took a one-time wrist-shot which hit the water bottle inside the UMass goal, past goaltender Jeff Teglia.

Grant Rollhieser made
29stops in his season
debut.Here he plays the
puck wellout of his
crease while BU is
on a power play.
(Photo by
Matt Dresens)

Less than a minute later, Sahir Gill banged home a loose puck on the far side past Teglia making it 3-2. BU dominated the remainder of the second frame and Garrett Noonan came within an inch of tying the game on a power play, but his shot hit the post and deflected into the corner.

A little over ten minutes into the third, BU tied the game with their Nation leading fourth shorthanded goal of the year. Matt Nieto and Charlie Coyle created a 2 on 1 with a UMass defender in the middle. Netio took the puck low, drawing the defender toward him, before slipping a pass to Coyle who slammed it into the net five-hole on Teglia.

Some good, hard, work led to the go-a-head goal for the Terriers. Chris Connolly won a battle in the far corner and then skated behind the UMass net, before whipping a pass over to Trivino who beat Teglia, while the UMass goaltender was well out of position.

To Umass' credit, they stayed in the game and came back to tie it themselves, while on a power play. With about five minutes left Mike Pereira put home a loose puck past Rollie's glove, knotting the game at 4-4.

2:49 into overtime, UMass’ Michael Marcue was called for cross checking as he dumped BU freshman Casson Hohmann on the near side boards.

The infraction ended up gravely costing UMass as Charlie Coyle set up Matt Nieto for an open shot. As said before, the sophomore forward won the game for BU on a shot that beat Teglia blocker side. This was BU's first overtime win since the Tuesday before Thanksgiving game at Harvard back in the 2009/10 season.

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