2015-16 schedule unveiled; Eichel's odyssey reaches Miami

BU has announced its 2015-16 men’s hockey schedule featuring 16 home contests, another renewal of the Red Hot Hockey rivalry with Cornell at Madison Square Garden, and an exhibition game against the NTDP U18s featuring several future Terriers. Among the non-conference home games are match-ups with Wisconsin, Denver and Michigan (2). The Terriers open the season on the road at Union and conclude first-semester play with a weekend in Connecticut for games at Yale and Quinnipiac.   
● GoTerriers.com report  and full schedule  

►It’s been an eventful few weeks for freshman Jack Eichel following his return from the IIHF World Championships where he helped Team USA win a bronze medal.  On May 28, he was formally presented with the 2015 Hobey Baker Memorial Award at a banquet in St. Paul. Eichel was in Buffalo early in June for the NHL Scouting Combine where he scored high on many of the fitness tests (video)

Next he became a nominee for the ESPY Award for Best Male College Player (competing with Wisconsin hoops star Frank Kaminsky and Oregon QB Marcus Mariotta, among others). You can cast a vote here.

Congrats to @TerrierHockey's Jack Eichel on being nominated for an ESPY! You can vote for him here: http://t.co/udYjxmJexs #ProudToBU

— BU Athletics (@BUAthletics) June 24, 2015

Then it was on to Chicago for the Stanley Cup Finals (video) and to meet some of the Blackhawks.And he made headline when he presented a USA Hockey shirt to "Coach's Corner" host Don Cherry.

Now he’s in Miami, awaiting the NHL Entry Draft on Friday evening when he almost certainly will be taken #2 overall by the Buffalo Sabres. On Wednesday, he took batting practice with the Miami Marlins. (video) and later threw out a ceremonial first pitch before the Marlins-Cardinals game.
● NHL.com: BU Coach David Quinn on Eichel’s much anticipated decision
● Sabres Buzz: “If I sign, it’s to play in the NHL the whole year.”
● NBC Sports: First American generational hockey talent?
● USA Today: Childhood dream about to come true for Eichel

► Brandon Hickey, who scored 17 points in his freshman season, has been named to the 40-man Hockey Canada roster for a summer Showcase camp to determine the squad that will represent Team Canada in the 2016 World Junior Championships. 

Last week, Hickey’s partner on the BU blueline, Brandon Fortunato, along with John MacLeod, Eichel and incoming freshman d-man Charlie McAvoy were invited to the Team USA Junior National Team evaluation camp that begins in Lake Placid on August 1.

►SB Nation offers draft profiles of AJ Greer, who was ranked #69 among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, and Brien Diffley (photo), who was ranked #136. SBN projects that Greer will be selected either late in the second round or early in the third. Diffley, who was the least touted of BU’s four freshmen blueliners last season, emerging as a strong puck-mover and dependable, physical defender, pair with Doyle Somberby.
● Greer draft profile
● Diffley draft profile
● Greer’s one-time goal in the Frozen Four semifinal win against North Dakota is at the 4:50 mark of this video.
● OverTheBoards has profiled current Hockey East players eligible for the NHL Entry Draft, including Eichel, Greer and Diffley.

►College Hockey Inc.’s 2015 NHL Draft Guide  offers a bevy of stats and draft information, including the fact that the last time a current NCAA player was taken in the top 10 was in 2008 when BU’s Colin Wilson was tabbed seventh overall. This year’s draft could have as many as three current college players taken in the top 10 led by Eichel.

►USHL Draft Hub

Looking ahead
► 2017 recruits Patrick Harper and Hank Crone will be in Williamsville, N.Y., beginning tomorrow for the USA Hockey Select 17 development camp. Harper, a sophomore at Avon Old Farms, recorded a team leading 47 points (20G, 27A) in 22 games in his first season with the Winged Beavers. Crone, who was a teammate of 2015 recruit Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson with Omaha, scored 11 points in his first USHL season. Crone will skate for the Red squad and Harper is on the Kelly team.

Looking back

Following last night's NHL season awards, former BU All-American Chris Drury remains the only player to win both the Hobey Baker Award (1998) and the Calder Trophy (1999). Will Jack Eichel join him in a Terriers-only club next June?