Game Day: BU vs. Notre Dame' Q&A with Jacques Joubert

#2/3 Terriers are back home at Agganis for a two-game homes series against Notre Dame. Puck drop tonight is at 7:30 p.m. with the 20th anniversary of BU’s 1995 national championship team being celebrated during the first intermission (more below).

Winners of seven of their last eight games, the Terriers can clinch a tie for the Hockey East regular-season title with a win tonight.

The Irish are led by forwards Vince Hinostroza (33 points) and Mario Lucia (25) and by defenseman Robbie Russo, who is fourth in the nation among blueliners with 27 points and tops in goals with 12. In goal freshman Cal Peterson earned back-to-back Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honors, stopping 113 of 117 shots in his last four games.

● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, GameTracker, Terrier Sports Radio Network webcast, TerrierTV webcast.

● Boston Hockey Blog live in-game blog

● Daily Free Press preview

● USCHO Predictions and Picks

● Hockey East Online weekend preview

● Notre Dame preview

● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape 


►Inside BU Hockey--Episode 19--David Quinn, Robbie Baillargeon, Chris O'Sullivan.

Celebrating the 1995 National Championship

Tonight, BU will honor its 1995 championship squad, the fourth of its five NCAA title teams and the second to achieve a trifecta of Beanpot, conference title and the national crown.  The third-highest scoring Terrier squad of all time (224 goals) was captained by Jacques Joubert, who played three seasons (66G, 65A)—reaching the Final Four each year—after transferring from Princeton.  As a senior, he co-led the team in goals with 29, including the game-winner in BU’s 6-2 win over Maine in the NCAA title game in Providence (video).

Joubert, who will be joined by 18 of his teammates during tonight’s game against Notre Dame, talked with THFB about that championship season.

Q—How much of a motivator was losing to Lake Superior in the 1994 national championship game to the ‘94-‘95 team?

A—The ‘94 loss was a huge motivator for the returning players.  Frankly, we were embarrassed by our performance and we vowed to get back that very night.  We worked so hard that off-season and everyone had just one goal.

Q—BU went into the season as the favorite for both Hockey East and the NCAA. Was that designation viewed as a burden or a challenge by the team? As captain, what challenges did you face?

A— To be honest, we knew we had an even better team coming into the ‘95 season so we put the expectations on ourselves and didn’t feel any outside influence or expectations.  As captain, the biggest issue was making sure we stayed focused on every game throughout the season and not get too caught up in the end result or end of the season when it was still November or December. 

Q--Both Mike Grier and you scored 29 goals while Chris O’Sullivan led the team with 56 points. Yet center Steve Thornton was voted Team MVP. What made him a special player who earned that award?

A— We were such a deep team, but Steve was Mr. Consistency.  He played great all year and in every situation, whether it was short-handed, power play or even-strength.  He also scored the first goal of the championship game, which to me was still the most important goal. Continue reading

Looking ahead

20th of the year: @StLouisBlues prospect Maxim Letunov buries a pass from Kyle Connor for a @YtownPhantoms goal #USHL pic.twitter.com/UDFClCmzL3
— USHL (@USHL) February 20, 2015

2015 recruit Maxim Letunov scored the game’s only goal as Youngstown blanked Bloomington, 1-0. With his 20^th goal of the season—tied with Kole Sherwood’s brother, Kieffer, for team-high—Letunov is now third in the USHL scoring race with 47 points, one better than fellow 2015 recruits Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson and Robert Carpenter.

2017 recruit Sherwood and the U18 AAA Ohio Blue Jackets, ranked third in the nation, take on second-ranked Culver Prep this weekend in Columbus.  The Blue Jackets won the Tier 1 Elite Championships last week. Sherwood leads the league in goals with 25.

Looking back

Former Terrier blueliner Brian Strait scored his second goal of the season as the Islanders defeated Nashville in a battle of first-place teams. New York goalie Jaroslav Halak tied a record for most wins (32) for a first-year Isles goalie, co-held by Rick DiPietro, who last night served as a between-the-periods analyst for MSG's telecast of the game.

● Recap and video

Women’s Team

#6 Terriers found their visit to Conte Forum to be an unpleasant one as BU was blanked, 5-0 by the #1-ranked Eagles. The two teams conclude the regular season on Saturday afternoon at 3:00 at Walter Brown Arena. It will be Senior Day for BU. 
● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score