Connolly sparks special teams

Chris Connolly who scored a power play goal and a shorthander in the Terrier’s 5-2 win against Harvard and goalie Kieran Millan (saves) earned spots on the Hockey East top performers list. The Boston Hockey Blog looks at the improvement in Terrier special teams play since the junior co-captain from Duluth returned to the lineup.

Looking ahead
More details on BU’s newest recruit. Malden Catholic junior left wing Brendan Collier will enroll at BU in September 2013 following a year of junior hockey. USHR quoted MC Coach Chris Serino calling the 5-10, 170 lb., Collier “as intelligent a hockey player as I’ve ever coached at any level. He’s not the big flashy guy. He just does everything right. He’s just extremely intelligent.”

Collier also plays for the GBL Junior Bruins U18 in the Tier I Midget League and scored “a pair of great goals” in a 5-4 championship game win over the Cape Cod Whalers. Jr. Bruins will play in the U18 Midget Nationals beginning March 30 in Connecticut. Coach John Flaherty cites Collier’s vision and poising, noting that “the bigger the game, the better he plays.”

Collier joins follow Charlestown, Mass., native Matt Grzelcyk, now with the NTDP U17s, and Indiana Ice forward Adam Erne in BU’s class of 2013.

Robert Polleselo, who registered three assists for Vaughan on Saturday night, scored a goal and an assist in Sunday’s Vipers’ 7-4 win over Streetsville. The 2012 recruit now has a 13-23-36 line in 26 games.

Looking back
Two former Terriers now in the Nashville front office-- Assistant GM Paul Fenton and Chief Amateur Scout Jeff Kealty--talked about the growing impact of players developed in college--including Colin Wilson--for the Predators Web site.

Women’s team
24 hours after shutting out BC, 4-0, the Terriers thumped Maine, 5-2, for their 10th straight win. BU received goals from Jenn Wakefield (her 20th), Marie Philip-Poulin (17th), Jenelle Kohanchuk (7th), Taylor Holze (3rd) and Catherine Ward (2nd). Goalie Alissa Fromkin earned the win for BU.

Wakefield's 3 goals and 3 assists for the weekend earned her Hockey East's Player of the Week Award, while Poulin's 3+2 made her Rookie of the Week.

Freshman goalie Kerrin Sperry, who fashioned four shutouts during the current win streak, spent the last week of December with the 2010 USA Hockey women’s winter training camp in Blaine, Minn. Sperry previously attended the 2009 USA Hockey Women’s National Festival and was a member of the U.S. Women’s Under-18 Select Team for the 2009 Women’s Under-18 Series against Canada.