Parker looks ahead

The Boston Hockey Blog’s Scott McLaughlin did some looking forward with BU Coach Jack Parker -- a comprehensive discussion covering such topics as Kevin Shattenkirk’s impending departure for the pros, Colby Cohen’s status, recruit Yasin Cissè’s injury and the next Terrier captain.

2010 recuit Charlie Coyle’s South Shore Kings lost to the St. Louis Jr. Blues 4-3 in the championship game of the Tier III Junior A Nationals. Coyle, who finished the tournament second in scoring with nine points, has been invited to the NHL Combine in Toronto in late May.

2010 recruits Matt Nieto and Adam Clendening will be heading to Minsk, Belarus, in April along with their NTDP teammates for the World U18 Championships. For both future Terriers, it will be their second appearance in this tournament. Last year as members of the U17s, there were called up to the U18s and help the USA win gold in Fargo. Clendening picked up two assists while Nieto registered four goals and finished the tournament with a plus-5 rating in seven games.

After scoring his first NHL goal, Nick Bonino talked with Matt Vervota of AnaheimDucks.com about his transition to the pro ranks. The article includes an assessment by Ducks GM Bob Murray of Bonino’s potential.

“What you have to understand is we think we got one of the top young prospects in hockey in Nick Bonino,” said [Ducks GM Bob] Murray on the day of the trade last season. “There is no way I’m dealing with (Sharks GM) Doug Wilson unless I get this guy. I can’t emphasize enough how good we think this player is.”

The Binghamton PressConnect talked with new Senator Eric Gryba after his first pro practice.

Gryba signs, Bonino scores

Senior assistant captain Eric Gryba has signed a three-year contract with Ottawa and joined the Senators’ AHL affiliate in Binghamton. A third-round round draft choice in 2006, Gryba’s first pro game is likely to come this Friday against two former Terrier teammates, Brian Strait and John Curry of Wilkes Barre/Scranton. The Sens and Baby Pens will play three times in April.

Nick Bonino registered his first NHL goal last night in Anaheim’s 3-1 win against Dallas. His power play marker (video) earned him first star of the game honors. Teemu Selanne, who assisted on the goal, retrieved the milestone puck for Bonino, who skated on the Ducks’ top line.

►Ducks' podcast interview with Bonino.

Post-game comments from Bonino:


The Daily Free Press profiled senior center Luke Popko, the Terriers' top defensive specialist and team prankster.

Looking back
Former Terrier Keith Tkachuk celebrated his 38th birthday Sunday by scoring the game-winner in St. Louis’ 2-1 win over Anaheim. It was the 72nd career GWG (video) for the Blues’ forward who is reportedly considering retirement.

This Date in Terrier Hockey History 1990, 1995

Looking ahead
The South Shore Kings will face the St. Louis Jr. Blues today in the championship game of USA Hockey's Tier III Junior A Nationals in Marlboro, Mass. 2010 recruit Charlie Coyle is the tournament's top scorer with a 2-7-9 line in four games

Coyle sparks Kings in Junior Nationals

2010 recruit Charlie Coyle’s two-goal, two-assist effort led the South Shore Kings past the Walpole Express, 9-2, in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior Nationals being played in Marlborough, Mass. Coyle has five points in two games. Kings have clinched a spot in the semifinals on Monday and play today for a shot at the #1 seeding.

2011 recruit Alexx Privitera scored his fourth goal of the season in the NTDP U17s 6-2 win over Youngstown. The blueliner has 14 points.

The Boston Globe looks at the surprising emergence of Ross Gaudet as a force on offense for the Terriers.

Looking back
One day after scoring his first AHL point, Zach Cohen recorded his first pro goal and added an assist in Lake Erie’s 5-4 win against San Antonio.

The Bleacher Report offers its opinion of the top 10 NHL players to emerge from college hockey. Former Terrier Keith Tkachuk, with more than 1,000 career points, is on the list.

Looking Back Linkorama

Nick Bonino made his first NHL start for Anaheim last night in the Ducks 3-2 win against Ryan Whitney’s Edmonton Oilers. Bonino, who had 1 shot and 1 penalty in 13+ minutes, is the fifth member of the Terrier’s 2008-09 team to play in the NHL this season, joining Matt Gilroy, Colin Wilson, Brandon Yip and John McCarthy.

Zach Cohen picked up his first pro point, an assist, in Lake Erie's 3-2 OT loss to Houston.

Injured Colorado Avs forward Yip (shoulder) has resumed skating, but is wearing a non-contact jersey.

McCarthy, now back in the AHL, scored his 13th goal for Worcester in a 7-2 loss to Hershey in which Chris Bourque recorded a pair of assists.

Pete MacArthur picked up his 8 goal of the season and an assist in Rocklford’s 4-3 win against Peoria.

Brian Strait is +17 for the Wilkes Barre Penguins, best among the Baby Pens defensemen. He has 2-10-12 in 70 games.



Chris Higgins has 15 points in 18 games since joining ECHL Gwinnett, while Jason Lawrence has 23 points for the Gladiators

Looking back--BU's 3rd NCAA title

Thirty-two years ago today, in 1978, Boston University won its third national championship in the first all-East final since BU's 4-0 shutout of Cornell in 1972. The Terriers defeated arch-rival Boston College, 5-3, in the first ever NCAA tournament meeting between the schools.

BU was led by freshman Mark Fidler, who registered a 30-goal season, and three future Olympic gold medalists, Dave Silk, Jack O'Callahan (photo) and Jim Craig. After Fidler scored 38 seconds into the game, BC's Joe Mullen and Bobby Hehir put the Eagles on top. Goals by Silk and Tony Meagher restored BU's lead. Meagher's second and Fidler's second extended the lead to 5-2 before BC added a final tally. Craig stopped 28 shots while BC's Paul Skidmore had 31 saves.
The win capped a 30-2 season for BU, which was captained by O'Callahan and current women's team head coach Brian Durocher and had won its first 21 games before falling to Yale.


Sports Illustrated recap of the championship game by E.M.Swift, who later co-authored Travis Roy's autobiography, "Eleven Seconds." SI had also featured the Terriers in an article three weeks earlier.




Captain Clutch...again
New York Rangers, desperately trying to stay in the playoff race, trailed New Jersey 3-2 with less than half a minute left in regulation, when former Terrier Chris Drury banged in the equalizer (video). Following a scoreless overtime, the Rangers won in a shootout, 4-3 and remain alive. Drury's goal was his 12th of the season, earning him first star honors.



Gryba receives offer
Senior defenseman and assistant captain Eric Gryba has been offered a contract by the Ottawa Senators who had drafted him in the third round in 2006. The Press & Sun of Binghamton reports that Gryba may soon join the Senators' AHL affiliate in Binghamton as the offer includes an amateur tryout agreement that would bring Gryba to the AHL for the end of this season.

Nick Bonino and Zach Cohen had previously signed pro contracts with Anaheim and Colorado respectively.

Zach Cohen heads West, too

Senior forward Zach Cohen has signed an entry-level contract with Colorado and will report to Lake Erie in the AHL, where he’ll be reunited with former BU associate head coach David Quinn. Cohen was undrafted, but attended several NHL development camps last summer.

Cohen, who scored just three goals in his first two Terrier seasons, emerged as a key member of the offense during BU’s championship run in 2008-09, ringing up 13 goals, and then adding 15 more this season. He scored the first of BU’s two last-minute goals in the NCAA final vs. Miami and had a pair vs. Ohio State earlier in the tournament. He was recognized with BU’s Most Improved Player award last spring.

The Av-BU-lanche?
BU captain Kevin Shattenkirk, the Avs’ #1 draft choice in 2007 is expected to sign very soon with Colorado and Colby Cohen, the Av’s #2 choice that year, could be the next to follow. Former Terrier Brandon Yip is currently on the Colorado roster, although injured. Kieran Millan was drafted last June by Colorado, whose head coach is former BU standout Joe Sacco.

He’s a Duck
Nick Bonino officially signed a two-year deal with Anaheim and has joined the team on its current road trip. He’s hoping to make a few starts prior to the end of the regular season. Bonino talked with a Duck’s blog about the next step in his career, noting that he’d talked with former Terriers Colin Wilson and Matt Gilroy about the adjustment to the NHL.

If Bonino doesn’t make the Ducks next season, he may find himself back East, as it has been rumored that Anaheim’s new AHL affiliate will be the Syracuse Crunch.

Looking ahead
2010 recruit Charlie Coyle was interviewed by Hockey Prospect.com. Coyle and his South Shore Kings teammates begin play in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior A tournament in Marlborough, Mass., this Friday.

Bonino expected to sign with Anaheim

Scott McLaughlin of The Boston Hockey Blog reports that junior forward and assistant captain Nick Bonino has traveled to the West Coast where he is expected to sign a contract with the Anaheim Ducks, ending his college eligibility. A sixth round draft choice of the San Jose Sharks in 2007, his rights were traded to the Ducks a year ago.

Bonino led this year’s squad in points with 38 (11-27) and in plus/minus with a plus 18. His career total of 117 points (45-72) tie him with Carl Corazzini and Steve Dolloff on the all-time BU scoring list.

During the 2008-09 season championship run, Bonino scored 50 points and the Terriers never lost a game in which he scored at least one point. His 50th point—and perhaps the most memorable of his career—was his “unbelievable“ game-tying goal in the national title game with 15.4 seconds off a Matt Gilroy feed that set up a delirious eruption of joy on the BU bench and throughout Terrier Nation. (at 4:00 of this video)

Looking ahead

2010 recruit Matt Nieto scored four points in a pair of NTDP U18 wins against USHL teams this weekend. He scored twice and set up a third in a 5-3 win against Chicago and then added a goal in a 10-2 rout of Indiana. Nieto's total of 26-22-48 ties him for the team scoring lead, despite missing 8 games. Fellow recruit Adam Clendening tallied his 10th goal of the season against Indiana. His 35 points are tops for U18 defensemen.

Sahir Gill, also a 2010 recruit, scored a goal and an assist in Vernon's 3-2 OT win over Penticton, giving the Vipers a 2-0 in the conference final of the BCHL playoffs. Gill has a 4-4-8 line in 8 post-season games.

Looking back
Former BU All-American Mike Grier scored his 10th goal of the season in Buffalo's 3-1 win against Florida.

Former Terrier standout Keith Tkachuk is considering retirement at the end of his 18th NHL season. The Medford, Mass., native has scored 1,061 points during his career and in 1996-97 became the first American-born player to lead the league in goals scored with 52.

Terriers fall in semis, 5-2

The Terriers up and down season came to an end last night with a 5-2 loss to Maine in the Hockey East semifinal. The Black Bears scored twice in the first period and extended their lead to 3-0 seven minutes into the second. Captain Kevin Shattenkirk got BU on the board early in the third and Vinny Saponari's shorthander drew the Terriers within one with 3:37 left.

But there would be no repeat of last Spring's miracle comeback in the NCAA final. Ross Gaudet's breakaway opportunity was stopped by goalie Dave Wilson and moments later, a Maine power play goal restored the two-goal lead. An empty netter closed out the scoring.

Nick Bonino assisted on both BU goals, giving him a team-leading 38 points for the year. Saponari's goal and assist brought him to 30 points. Shattenkirk, also with a goal and an assist, has 27.

With the loss, BU finishes the season at 18-17-3. Maine advances to the final against BC tonight.

• GoTerriers.com recap, box score , post-game comments
• Post-game comments (video)
• HockeyEastOnline recap and video highlights
• The Boston Hockey Blog recap
• WTBU recap
• Boston Globe recap
• Boston Herald recap
• College Hockey News recap
• USCHO recap

Game day—Terriers meet Black Bears in HE semifinal

BU returns to TD Garden for its ninth consecutive Hockey East semifinal, but unlike last season, the Terriers must win to have their season continue. On paper, the matchup with Maine looks extremely close. The teams finished the regular tied for third place in the conference—both at 13-12-2— with BU earning the tiebreaker due to a 2-1 head-to-head record. Overall records also are identical at 18-16-3. Maine has a small edge in goals scored, 132-121, while BU has given up two fewer goals.

One potentially critical difference, however, is experience at the Garden. While Maine has won all three previous semifinal match-ups with BU in the semis, the Terriers’ current roster has a combined 110 games of experience at the Garden, all of Maine's players will be making their Garden debuts.

Senior Luke Popko, the subject of a College Hockey News feature article, will tie the league record for most Hockey East tournament games played at 17. BU's top defensive foward, Popko (photo) will break the record if BU advances to the final on Saturday night.

Both semifinal games and the championship game are being televised only on NESN. There is no Internet telecast . The BC-Vermont game begins at 5 p.m. with BU-Maine scheduled to start at 8 p.m.

• GoTerriers.com links to game notes, gametracker, WZZN Radio Webcast
• Boston Globe preview
• Boston Herald preview and scouting report
• College Hockey News: preview and tale of the tape
• Inside College Hockey semi-final capsules
• WTBU Sports preview and live blog

• Boston Hockey Blog live blog
• NESN preview and live blog
• Bangor Daily News preview

CHECK BACK FOR MORE NEWS/LINKS

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Cohen, Nicastro earn Hockey East honors

Defenseman Colby Cohen earned first team Hockey East Honors while his defensive sidekick for much of the season, Max Nicastro, was named to Hockey East's All Rookie team. Nick Bonino, the Terriers' leading scorer, picked up honorable mention All Star recognition. Cohen (photo) is tied for second nationally in goals by defensemen with 14. He also has five game-winning goals. Nicastro, who will be a game-time decision tomorrow due to the deep forearm gash suffered last weekend, has a 3-12-15 line in 36 games..

The Daily Free Press reports on the Terriers' preparations for its matchup with Maine on Friday night at 8 p.m., knowing that a win would allow them to defend their 2009 Hockey East title, but a loss would end BU's season.

Jim Connelly previews Friday night's conference tournament semifinal games in USCHO's weekly Hockey East column.

Looking back
Former BU captain Pete MacArthur's second pro season (7-30-37) with the AHL Rockford Icehogs is featured on the Blackhawks' Web site.


Looking ahead
2010 recruit Charlie Coyle was interviewed on The Pipeline Show by hosts Dean Millard and Guy Flamming. Both Millan and Wilson made appearances on the show last year. Coyle talks about his game, his choice of BU and his hopes to wear #3 next season at BU. ISS announced its March draft rankings with Coyle at #27.

Linkorama

Coach Jack Parker and the coaches of the other three Hockey East tournament semifinalists participated in a teleconference with the media yesterday. His remarks are here. Other coaches comments.

Parker and BC's Jerry York appeared on NESN last night and discussed their upcoming tournament games.

The Hockey East Championship Press Kit is here. All decade teams for each HE member school on page 11.The Hockey East All Decade team will be recognized during third period of the BC-Vermont game on Friday. Hockey East awards will be announced on Thursday night.

Maine ranks fourth nationally in scoring with a 3.57 gpg average. BU is 14th with 3.27. In games against Conference opponents (including last weekend’s quarterfinal round), both teams have 101 goals in 30 games.

Sophomore Dave Warsofsky is the national co-leader in shorthanded goals with four.

The Terriers returned to the national rankings, in 20th place in the current USCHO/CBS Sports poll.

Captain Kevin Shattenkirk was named to INCH's All Hockey East team for 2009.

Looking back
John McCarthy scored his 10th goal of the season in Worcester's 6-2 win against Hershey. Chris Bourque registered his 20th for the Bears.

Pete MacArthur scored his seventh goal of the season in Rockford's 3-2 shootout win over Houston. Mac has 37 points for the Icehogs.

Sean Sullivan picked up his 11th goal in San Antonio's 5-2 win against Peoria. With 43 points, he's among the top scoring defensemen in the AHL.

MaxPrep Sports profiled the career of former Terrier Kevin Schaeffer, who is now skating for Charlotte in the ECHL .

Looking ahead
2010 recruit Sahir Gill scored a goal and an assist as Vernon eliminated Quesnel in the second round of BCHL playoffs with a 5-0 win. Gill, a left wing who rejoined the Vipers in January after spending half a season in the USHL, rejoined the Jones brothers on Vernon's first line, where he'd played during the Vipers' 2008-2009 RBC Cup championship season. He's now third in playoff scoring for Vernon with 3-3-6.

2010 recruit Charlie Coyle of the South Shore Kings was named the EJHL Rookie of the Year. A 66-point scorer for the Kings, Coyle, who will join former high-scoring Kings Kevin Gilroy and Ben Rosen at BU next season, received strong support from Coach Scott Harlow in an article on the USA Junior Hockey Web site:

"We were fortunate to get Coyle on the team this year,"said
Harlow, who says Coyle’s only weakness is his unselfishness.
“He’s the complete package with his skill and work ethic and
makes everyone around him better. He may not be the
perfect hockey player, but he’s pretty close.”

Coyle, a right-shot center, also plays the point on Kings' power plays. One of his two goals in the EJHL championship game came on a shot from the blueline. The Kings, who lost to the Monarchs in the EJHL final, will next play in the USA Hockey Tier III Junior Nationals in Marlborough, Mass., beginning March 25.

Terriers blank the ‘Mack and advance to semis

BU shut out an opponent for the first time this season, beating Merrimack, 3-0, to win the quarterfinal series, 2-1. The Terriers advance to the Hockey East semifinals at Boston Garden where they’ll meet Maine. In the other semi, Boston College takes on Vermont, which eliminated top-seed New Hampshire with a 1-0 overtime win.

Terriers received a third consecutive outstanding effort in goal by sophomore Kieran Millan, who stopped all 34 Warrior shots. For the series, he saved 92 of 97 shots for a .948 percentage.

Captain Kevin Shattenkirk gave BU an early lead midway through the first period on wrister, assisted by Nick Bonino, who upped the lead to 2-0 with just 39 seconds left in the period. The next 37 minutes were scoreless, but then Chris Connolly capped the win with a power play with three minutes to go. Shattenkirk assisted on the Bonino and Connolly goals.

As has happened in a number of recent BU-MC games, things got ugly in the final minutes with a bunch of roughing and game misconduct penalties. Freshman Ben Rosen made his first post-season appearance filling in for Max Nicastro who was cut in Saturday’s game.

BU advances to the Hockey East semi for the ninth consecutive season and the 19th time in 26 Hockey East tournaments.

• GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
• All-Access video highlights
• WTBU Sports recap, notebook, analysis
• ESPN recap
• Boston Herald recap
• USCHO recap
• Boston Globe recap
• Daily Free Press recap and Millan feature

Post-game comments: Shattenkirk, Bonino, Millan



Post-game comments: Jack Parker


Looking back
Former Terrier captain Sean Sullivan’s standout season with the Coyotes’ AHL affiliate in San Antonio is profiled in New England Hockey Journal. Sullivan discusses the role of former Terrier assistant head coach David Quinn in his development as a blueliner.

Colin Wilson scored his sixth goal in Nashville's 3-2 win against Los Angeles

Chris Drury had two assists in the Rangers' 3-1 victory over the Flyers

Adrian Aucoin scored the winner in a shootout as the Coyotes beat Atlanta.

Looking ahead
In the EJHL championship game, 2010 recruit Charlie Coyle scored twice for South Shore, but the Kings fell, 4-3 to the New Hampshire Jr. Monarch, reversing last season’s championship outcome when current Terrier Rosen led the Kings in scoring. Coyle’s tallies give him a 23-43-66 line for the season.

Warriors' OT win ties series

Joe Cucci's overtime goal gave Merrimack a 3-2 win, evening its best-of-three series with the Terriers at one apiece and forcing a third game tonight at Agganis Arena. The win was Merrimack's first ever at Agganis Arena following ten losses.

Kieran Millan, with 32 saves, kept the Terriers in the game, but the overall effort paled in comparison with BU's win on Friday night. Terrier goals came from Eric Gryba in the first period and Wade Megan in the third to knot the game a 2-2.

Said BU coach Jack Parker: "“There was no zip to our game. Pucks weren’t getting to the net and you can’t get rebounds if you’re not shooting the puck. " Merrimack outshot BU by a 35-26 margin.

Freshman defenseman Max Nicastro was injured during the second period, suffering a deep cut to his forearm that required 26 stitches. He won't play tonight, but is expected to return next week, if the Terriers advance to the conference semifinals.

• GoTerriers.com recap and box score
• Video highlights
• USCHO recap
• Boston Hockey Blog recap 2nd recap
• WTBU recap and quarterfinal round review
• Boston Globe recap
• Jack Parker post-game comments

Looking ahead

2010 recruit Sahir Gill (photo) scored a pair of goals in the Vernon Vipers' 8-4 win over Quesnel. The Vipers, defending RBC Cup champions take a 2-1 lead in the best-of-seven BCHL Interior Conference seminfinals.

2010 recruit Matt Nieto’s team-leading 24th goal of the season was the only score for the NTDP U18s in a 4-1 loss to Cedar Rapids. Subscription site CollegeHockey247.com has video highlights of Nieto’s recent two-goal effort against Des Moines and an interview here.

2013 recruit Matt Grzelcyk has been invited to the NTDP tryout camp in Ann Arbor March 27-30.

Game one to the Terriers, 3-2 UPDATED

The Terriers roared back from a 2-0 deficit, behind Vinny Saponari’s first two-goal game, to edge Merrimack, 3-2, in the opener of the best-of-three quarterfinal playoff series.

Midway into the second period Dave Warsofsky blistered a shot past the Warriors’ Joe Cannata to get the Terriers on the board. Two minutes later, Saponari converted a Nick Bonino feed from behind the net. The sophomore from Georgia scored the game-winner unassisted four minutes into the final period. Merrimack, held to 16 shots in the first two periods, poured 13 more on goal in the third, but Kieran Millan barred the door to seal the win.



Game 2 on Saturday begins at 7 p.m. and will air on the subscription B2B Network.

• GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
• Hockey East Online recap with video highlights

• USCHO recap
• Boston Hockey Blog recap and notebook
• WTBU recap and notebook

• Boston Herald recap

• Boston Globe recap
• Coach Jack Parker’s post-game comments (video).
• Dave Warsofsky and Vinny Saponari’s post-game comments

..

Game day--Terriers & Warriors in HE Quarters

The second season begins tonight for the third-seeded Terriers who take on a surging Merrimack team at Agganis Arena. The game is a 7:30 p.m. start that will air only on NESN. A half-hour Hockey East playoff preview show begins at 7 p.m.

BU's offense is led by junior Nick Bonino who a 10-22-32 line. Top goal scorer is senior Zach Cohen who has scored a goal in seven of the past 10 games and now leads the team in tallies with 15 - a new career high after potting 13 as a junior. His goal on Saturday at Matthews Arena was the 50th point of his career (31-19).


Junior defenseman Colby Cohen is second on the team in goals with 14, which ranks second nationally amongst blueliners behind Wisconsin's Brendan Smith (15). The last BU blueliner to score 14 goals in a season was Dick Lamby, who put up 15 as a senior in 1977-78, when BU won its third national championship.

The Terriers have qualified for all 26 of the Hockey East tournaments since the league's inception in 1984. Overall, BU 36-17-1 (.676) in quarterfinal action, including a 30-11-1 (.726) record at home (10-4-0 at Agganis, 20-7-1 at Walter Brown). The team has won its quarterfinal series in each of the past eight years, with a 16-5 (.762) record.

Check back for tonight's lineup.

• GoTerriers.com game notes, gametracker, WWZN Radio Webcast
• Hockey East Online playoff preview
• USCHO Hockey East playoff preview
• Boston Globe playoff capsules and preview
• Boston Herald preview
• Boston Hockey Blog preview
• WTBU Sports preview
• College Hockey News preview and tale of the tape
• Live In-game Blogs : Boston Hockey Blog WTBU
• INCH preview

Playoff season begins in Hockey East

The Terriers up and down season continues this weekend as they host surprising Merrimack in the quarterfinal round of the Hockey East playoffs at Agganis Arena. The Warriors, making their first post-season appearance in six years, finished the regular season with a 6-2-2 record in the final ten games, including two shutout wins. Merrimack is led by its shoo-in for Rookie of the Year, Stephane DaCosta, who has scored 44 points, and its goaltending tandem of Joe Canata and Andrew Braithwaite.

During the regular season, BU took two out of three games from Merrimack, all high-scoring contests with a total of 29 goals scored.

BU has met Merrimack in three previous quarter-final rounds--wining single-game series in 1991 and 1995 and being upset in 1998 in three games.

The Hockey East Quarterfinals Press Kit has a full wrap-up of the regular season--including team and individual stats--along with a listing of each team's Hockey East playoff history. In 54 quarterfinal games, BU has a 36-17-1 record. The guide also list the on-ice officials for each of the quarterfinal series games.

We have Hockey East playoff previews from The Boston Hockey Blog and WTBU. Check back tomorrow for BU game notes and USCHO previews.

The Western Hockey Blog offers previews of the WCHA and CCHA playoffs.

Looking back
If you check our "This Date in Terrier Hockey" site, you'll see a number of milestone dates in BU history came this week. Yesterday, March 10, marked the anniversary of BU's overtime victory in the 1991 Hockey East championship over Maine, with a video link to see Shawn McEachern's game-winner.

Today, March 11, marks the anniversary of BU's first-ever ECAC title, a 4-1 win against Cornell. The two teams met again a week later in the NCAA final with the Terriers' goalie Tim Regan shutting out the Big Red, 4-0.

Linkorama

Freshman Alex Chiasson, who scored a goal and two assists in BU's two-game sweep of Northeastern, earned his second Hockey East Rookie-of-the-Week. The freshman from Quebec had also earned rookie honors during the season's first week for a two-goal game against UMass.

Coach Jack Parker and the coaches of the other seven Hockey East coaches whose teams are in the playoffs participated in a media conference call today. Parker stated that Saturday's 4-3 win over Northeastern was the Terrier's "best game of the year" and that defensemen Colby Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk, reunited on the blueline, had a strong weekend.
Parker comments: PDF, audio

Friday's quarterfinal game against Merrimack will air on NESN, beginning at 7:30 p.m. Saturday's game at 7 p.m. (and Sunday's third game, if necessary) is available online through B2B Networks. Single games Webcasts are available for $8. Details.

Looking ahead
2010 recruit Charlie Coyle is a finalist for three EJHL post-season awards: Rookie of the Year, Offensive Player of the Year and Most Valuable Player. The South Shore Kings’ forward recorded a 21-42-63 line in 42 games this season. He also joined the NTDP U18s for four games in an international tournament.

The Kings will meet the Jersey Hitmen in the EJHL tournament semifinals on Friday evening at Holy Cross.

Looking back
Colin Wilson's fourth goal of the season was the game-winner in Nashville's 2-1 victory over Atlanta. It was Wilson's second game-winning goal of the year.

A top '94 verbals to BU

BU has received a 2013 commitment from Belmont Hill freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk, according to USHR. In 31 games at Belmont Hill, Grzelcyk has a 2-18-20 line. A 5-9 left shot defenseman from Charlestown and an early 1994 birthdate, he also plays for the Jr. Bruins’ Little Bruins Midget Team.

In ProAm Hockey’s 2009 Midget Fall Classic, he was named top defenseman in the U16 division. Last summer, he was a member of the Massachusetts contingent for last summer’s USA Hockey Select 15 team earning kudos from USHR: "Agile, mobile, quick, highly-skilled defenseman from Belmont Hill. An inch or two short of being on the “A” list. Might get there anyway."

Grzelcyk has been invited to the U.S. NTDP tryout camp in Ann Arbor, later this month.

Looking ahead
2010 recruit Matt Nieto's overtime goal lifted the NTDP U18s past Des Moines, 4-3 tonight. Nieto, who now has four game-winners this season, was assisted by fellow 2010 recruit Adam Clendening who had helpers on three of the four U18 goals. Nieto now has a 22-19-41 line, while Clendening stands at 9-24-33.

Women's team takes Hockey East title in OT thriller

(photo credit Tom Maguire)

The Terrier Women’s Hockey Team, in just its fifth varsity season, made its first trip to the conference title game a winning one, edging Connecticut in overtime, 2-1. Sophomore Tara Watchorn’s one-time blast proved the difference for the Terriers who became Hockey East champions and earned the Terriers' first-ever berth in the NCAA tournament. Senior goalie Melissa Haber, who was voted the tournament’s MVP, stopped 25 shots. Watchorn, Haber and senior Melissa Anderson, who scored a pair in the semifinal win yesterday, on the All-tournament team.

With men’s team coach Jack Parker and Nick Bonino in the crowd at Schneider Arena in Providence, Coach Brian Durocher's squad took a first-period lead on freshman Kathryn Miller’s goal, before UConn knotted the score at one apiece in the second period. Watchorn’s winner was unassisted at 9:52 of overtime. The game marked BU’s NCAA record 15th overtime game of the season.

Durocher, voted Hockey East Coach of the Year in 2008, is a former assistant head coach of the BU men's team and was a goalie and co-captain of the Terriers' 1978 National Champions.

BU will meet top ranked Mercyhurst next in the first round of the NCAAs. The Terriers played Mercyhurst twice in 2008-09 and split the games.

• GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
• Hockey East Online recap
• Post-game comments (video)
• USCHO recap
• WTBU video recap and Haber feature

• New England Hockey Journal recap
• NCAA tournament draw

Gilroy goal nails down home ice

Kevin Gilroy's third-period goal off a faceoff pushed the Terriers past Northeastern, 4-3, propeling BU to a third-seed in the upcoming conference tournament and ending the Huskies' season. Assured of a playoff spot after Friday night's 5-4 win, BU needed help, however, to secure home ice, and they got it from Vermont, which tied Lowell, 1-1, and UMass, which completed a sweep of Maine in Orono. BU, Lowell and Maine all finished with 28 points, but since the Terriers owned tie-breakers over the River Hawks and Black Bears, BU gets the third seed and will host red-hot Merrimack in the quarterfinals next weekend. The Warriors are making their first post-season appearance in six years.

Saying the game-winner came from an unlikely source is certainly an understatement. Going into the game, Gilroy, younger brother of last year's Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy, hadn't scored a goal. And after a rib injury that sent him to the hospital during Friday's Terrier win, he wasn't expected back in the lineup. Ross Gaudet won an offensive-zone draw back to Gilroy and the sophomore wing wristed it pas Chris Rawlings with 6:28 remaining. BU killed a pair of penalties in the final minutes to nail down the win.

Terriers also received goals from Nick Bonino (10th), Alex Chiasson (7th) and Zach Cohen (team-leading 15th). Kieran Millan made 21 saves for the Terriers who outshot Northeastern, 42-24.

• GoTerriers.com recap, box score and post-season central

• USCHO recap

• Boston Globe recap

• Boston Hockey Blog recap and Gilroy feature

• College Hockey News recap

• Hockey East Online recap and playoff news release

Game day--BU visits NU

Terriers and Huskies get together again in their final regular season game with playoff berths and home ice at stake, this time at Matthews Arena. The Conference season series also is at stake as Northeastern won the early season matchup between the teams, 1-0.

BU's lineup will be same as in last night's 5-4 win.

Z.Cohen-Bonino-Saponari
Connolly-Megan-Chiasson
Pereira-Popko-Santana
Glass-Gaudet-Gilroy
C.Cohen-Shattenkirk
Warsofsky-Gryba
Escobedo-Nicastro
Millan

GoTerriers.com has links to game notes live stats, WZZN Radio Webcast and the pay-per view ($8.95) Webcast on GoNU TV.
Live blogs: The Boston Hockey Blog, GoTerriers.com

► During last night's game. the BU All-Decade Team was announced, with 12 players honored in addition to 13 honorable mentions. Junior Nick Bonino was the only current Terrier recognized on the team, while Colby Cohen, Kieran Millan and Kevin Shattenkirk earned honorable mention.

Forwards: Nick Bonino, Pete MacArthur, Mike Pandolfo, David Van der Gulik, Colin Wilson and Brandon Yip.
Defensemen: Matt Gilroy, Freddy Meyer, Dan Spang and Ryan Whitney

Goaltenders: John Curry and Sean Fields .

Honorable Mention: Tommi Degerman, Chris Higgins, Brian McConnell, Carl Corazzini, Bryan Ewing, Brad Zancanaro, Colby Cohen, Bryan Miller, Chris Dyment, Kevin Shattenkirk, Sean Sullivan, Rick DiPietro, Kieran Millan.

► Congratulations to Coach Brian Durocher's women's team, which upset fifth ranked New Hampshire, 4-0, today in the Hockey East tournament semifinals. They'll meet seventh-ranked UConn--which beat Providence in the other semi--tomorrow at 12:30 for the conference championship. Now in its fifth year of varsity competition, this is the team's first championship game.

Saponari goal edges Huskies, 5-4

The Terriers kept their chances for home ice in the Hockey East tournament alive with a 5-4 win against Northeastern on Senior Night at Agganis Arena. With one game left on the schedule, BU sits in fifth place, one point behind Lowell and two behind third-place Maine.

UNH clinched first place last night and BC will finish second, but everything else is up in the air, due to one of the closest conference races ever. BU can finish anywhere third to eighth depending on the outcome of today's games.

BU took a 3-2 lead after one on goals by Wade Megan, Zach Cohen and Chris Connolly and expanded it following a Dave Warsofsky score, but Northeastern took advantage of defensive miscues to scored twice in 29 seconds and tie the game at 4-4. Sophomore Vinny Saponari's (photo) ninth of the season, off a pretty feed from captain Kevin Shattenkirk midway through the final period was the game-winner.

Following the game, seniors Zach Cohen, Luke Popko and Eric Gryba--and their parents--were recognized at center ice. Also honored was Bernie Corbett who is completing his 25th season as the radio voice of Terrier Hockey. Corbett also has written numerous books, including a history of Boston University Hockey and The Beanpot: Fifty Years of Thrills, Spills and Chills.

The Hockey News has rated the Colorado Avalanche's propsects as third best in the NHL and the Denver Post cites Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen as two of the primary reasons for the high rating.




• GoTerriers. com recap and comprehensive box score
•All-Access video highlights

• Jack Parker post-game comments (video)
• USCHO recap
• Boston Globe recap
• Boston Hockey Blog recaps, notebook
• WTBU recap

Looking ahead

2011 Cason Hohmann scored his 8th goal of the season in Cedar Rapids' 7-2 win against Indiana, extending his scoring streak to five games. Hohmann, who has an 8-24-32 scoring line, has scored at least one point in 13 of the past 16 games. The youngest player on the Roughriders, he's now fifth on the team in scoring.

Game day-- BU vs. Northeastern

The final regular season weekend-- a home-and-home series with Northeastern--begins with Senior Night at Agganis Arena. Following the game, which begins at 7 p.m., BU will honor its three seniors, assistant captain Eric Gryba (photo) , Zach Cohen and Luke Popko. The Terriers will need a sweep plus some help from Vermont to guarantee home ice for the playoffs that begin next week.

Both the Terriers and the Huskies are looking to rebound from recent losses. BU has lost three of its past four games while the Huntingdon Hounds are winless in their past three. The teams last played a month ago in the opening round of the Beanpot with BU winning, 2-1, on a late Alex Chiasson goal. Earlier in the season, Northeastern shut out BU, 1-0, at Matthews Arena, despite 43 Terrier shots.

Tonight's BU lineup

Z.Cohen-Bonino-Saponari

Connolly-Megan-Chiasson

Pereira-Popko-Santana

Glass-Gaudet-Gilroy

C.Cohen-Shattenkirk

Warsofsky-Gryba

Escobedo-Nicastro

Millan

• Go Terriers.com has links to game notes, game tracker, the WWZN Radio Webcast and the All-Access Video Webcast.

• USCHO Weekly Hockey East column

• Boston Globe preview

• WTBU: What to Watch For

• The Boston Hockey Blog preview

• College Hockey News Tale of the Tape

• In-game blogs WTBU, The Boston Hockey Blog

Injury shelves Yip, Whitney traded

Brandon Yip’s standout rookie season in Colorado came to a screeching halt Monday when he suffered a separated shoulder in a game against Detroit. He’s expected to miss the next four to six weeks. Yip, began the season on the injured list, too, after suffering a hand injury during an exhibition game fight. Recalled to the Avs in December, Yip has an 11-7-18 line in 26 games.

Silver medal winner Ryan Whitney wasn’t from the Winter Olympics in Vancouver too long before he was head back to Canada. Whitney, whom the Duck acquired in a trade last season, was sent to Edmonton on the NHL’s trade deadline date. In 62 games this season, he has a 4-24-28 line.

Scott McLaughlin of the Daily Free Press summarizes the various Hockey East playoff scenarious facing the Terriers as the approach the final weekend of the season and a pair of games against Northeastern.

Lost weekend

Needing points to secure home ice for the Hockey East playoffs, the Terriers came back from Vermont empty-handed. Sunday's matinee with the Catamounts was a far better effort than Friday's but BU came out on the short end of a 3-2 score after leading 2-1. Luke Popko (photo) and Colby Cohen had goals for the Terriers who outshot Vermont, 27-20. The difference came on special teams as BU had nothing to show on four power plays, while the Cats scored on two of three man-advantage chances. Kieran Millan had 17 saves.

BU goes into the final weekend of conference play needing to sweep Northeastern and hope Lowell leaves at least one point on the table in its series with Vermont.

• GoTerriers. com recap and box score
• USCHO recap
• Daily Free Press recap and analysis
• Burlington Free Press recap


Looking back
Chris Drury and Ryan Whitney came home from the Olympics with silver medals as Canada edged the U.S., 3-2, in the tournament final. Drury, whose selection to the US team was subject to skepticism, excelled as a role player taking key draws, killing penalties and blocking shots throughout the tournament.

Colin Wilson, recalled by Nashville from the AHL, scored his third goal of the year in the Predators 4-3 win against Edmonton tonight.

Looking forward

2010 recruit Matt Nieto scored twice and added an assist in the NTDP U18s' 7-1 win against Lincoln. He tallied two assists in the team's 6-0 win against Sioux City, in which 2010 recruit Adam Clendening picked up an assist.

2010 recruit Charlie Coyle , who finished the EJHL regular season with 63 points, was profiled by Hockeysfuture.com. Coyle, 6-2, 207, played center and right wing and manned the point on power plays for the South Shore Kings, whose assistant coach Ken Frates said:

“He’s a powerful skater, a strong skater, and he can protect the puck real well along the boards. He sees the ice extremely well, better than most kids at this level and I think that that is going to bode well for him going forward.”