Looking ahead: adding skill and muscle for the blueline

BU has a commitment for 2015 from Kimball Union freshman John MacLeod, a 6-2, 165 right shot defenseman. In 16 games for KUA, MacLeod, a Dracut, Mass. native who previously played at the Cardigan Mountain school, has an 0-9-9 line for the Wildcats who are the third-ranked prep hockey team in the Northeast. A standout at last summer’s USA Hockey Select 15 camp, he skated earlier this season for the Cleveland Barons Midget Minor team, recording three goals and two assists in 10 games.

U.S.Hockey Report quotes Mike Levine, his coach at KUA, as saying MacLeod “is a special talent because at 6’2” he can really skate, shoot the puck, and think the game at a high level, plus he’s tough and the loves the physical aspect of the game at such a young age – and that’s unique. He’s actually the toughest kid I have ever coached – and that includes the college level.”

MacLeod, who also visited Michigan, is expected to receive an invitation to the NTDP 40-man camp next March. If selected for the U17s roster, he could accelerate and join BU’s 2014 class.

Another KUA blueliner, 6’5”, 220 lb. junior Doyle Somerby will visit BU this week. He already has offers from Maine, UNH, UMass, and St. Lawrence. A ’94 birthdate, he was ranked #127 in NHL Central Scouting’s Midterm rankings—four spots ahead of 2013 recruit Brendan Collier.

Speaking of Malden Catholic’s captain, Collier talked with the Boston Herald about playing with pressure.




In this past weekend’s 5-3 Malden Catholic win against St. John’s Prep, Collier went head-to-head with Prep’s co-captain and 2013 recruit Sam Kurker who scored his 11th goal of the season. Collier tallied the game’s final goal.

Last night, Kurker, who was ranked #41 among North American skaters in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings for the 2012 draft, was on the BU campus—at Walter Brown Arena—showing why he’s so highly regarded—and scored a hattrick to lead the Eagles to a 5-1 win against Catholic Memorial, the alma mater of his future Terrier coaches, Jack Parker, Buddy Powers and Mike Bavis and future teammates Garrett Noonan and Marc Hetnik, Jr.

► Please note that we've added a link to U.S.Hockey Report to our sidebar list of links. USHR is recognized as one of the most authoritative sources of information about college hockey recruiting and U.S. junior and prep hockey players. It has been a key source for many of our posts about Terrier recruits. USHR is a subscription site.

Working with the BU and Northeastern coaching staffs, USHR recently held its first International Hockey Showcase at Walter Brown Arena and Matthews Arena. Featured teams included the Boston Junior Bruins, Boston Advantage and Ontario midget AAA teams Vaughan Kings and Toronto Marlboros. Among the top players at the event were several reportedly high up on BU’s recruiting radar: High-scoring Junior Bruins forward Jack Eichel, regarded as the top ’96 U.S. forward, and Vaughan power forward Michael Dal Colle, who previously had visited BU and whose sister plays for Niagara.

In an article about top Canadian junior prospects this past fall, USHR wrote that the 6-2, 180 Dal Colle is a “big, strong goal scorer who has drawn comparisons to Rick Nash. Brings some intangibles to the table as he is the captain of the Vaughn Kings. Considers himself a hybrid power forward/sniper, but admits that his footwork needs improvement.”

Expected to be a high OHL draft choice, Dal Colle also has played a number of games this season with the OJHL St. Michael's Buzzers. Last summer he was one of 24 top Canadian bantam players chosen by the NHLPA to a take part in the Allstate All-Canadians Mentorship program. He also has played for the East Coast Selects tournament team, whose alumni include former Terriers Colby Cohen, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Corey Trivino, current Terriers Alex Chiasson and Matt Nieto and future Terriers Robert Polesello (2012) and Kevin Duane (2013). He was the ’96 East Coast Selects Player of the Year in 2009.

Polls, Pairwise and Honors
BU’s pair of comeback wins this past weekend—4-3 against Northeastern and 4-3 OT against Harvard—vaulted the Terriers to the #2 spot in the USCHO weekly poll and #3 in the USA Today poll. BU also moved into third place in the Pairwise Rankings.

HockeyEastOnline named the Terriers its Team of the Week and recognized four Terriers— Chiasson, Adam Clendening, Chris Connolly and Wade Megan—in its list of weekly top performers.

Sophomore blueliner Noonan who scored the overtime game-winner against Harvard and had a plus-4 rating on the weekend, raised his team-best rating to plus-13, which is tied for third in Hockey East.

●USCHO Hockey East blog
●Boston Herald feature on college hockey a s breeding ground for referees including former Terriers John Melanson, a member of BU's 1978 national championship team, and Dick DeCaprio, Hockey East's Supervisor of Officials.