Saturday, March 31, 2018

Linkorama


Junior Bobo Carpenter and sophomore Dante Fabbro have been named to the New England Hockey Writers Division 1 All-Star team. Carpenter was tied for the team lead in points with 35 and was the top goal-scorer with 20. Fabbro was second among Hockey East defensemen with 29 points. Both were named to the Hockey East 2nd All-Star Team.
● GoTerriers.com report

WTBU Sports End of Year Prospectus

Looking ahead
2019 recruit Robert Mastrosimone scored his 15th goal and added an assist in the Chicago Steel’s 4-3 overtime loss to Central Illinois.
● USHL.com box score

► Following the conclusion of the USA Hockey NTDP Evaluation Camp earlier this week, three 2020 Terrier recruits and a prospect BU is recruiting are among the first players confirmed to have received roster invitations for the 2018-19 NTDP U17s. The committed prospects are St. Sebastian’s goalie Drew Commesso, Junior Sabres 16U left wing Luke Tuch and Canadian International Hockey Academy White right wing Dylan Peterson, a dual (US/Canadian) citizen. The prospect is Milton Academy freshman center Matt Beniers who reportedly is being recruited by BU, BC, Northeastern, Providence and Harvard.
● New England Hockey Journal report
● New York Hockey Journal report


Tuch and 2018 recruit Domenic Vidoli will be participating in this year’s USA Hockey Youth Nationals. Vidoli and Culver Prep, the top ranked 18U team, will play in the Tier 1 competition in West Chester, Pennsylvania. Tuch and the Jr. Sabres 16Us will compete in the Tier 1 16U tournament in Philadelphia.

Another 2020 recruit, center Josh Lawrence of Select Academy 16U, is HockeyProspect.com’s top ranked player for the 2018 QMJHL draft. The Moncton, New Brunswick native scored 83 points in 49 games.

Recruiting

BU has received a commitment for 2019 from 6' 6" Belmont Hill forward/defenseman John Copeland.  A right-shot who played forward for his first three  seasons at Belmont Hill, Copeland moved to defense this season and led the team in goals with 10, adding 11 assists for 21 points and serving as team captain.  He also skated for the Little Bruins in the Fall Prep League, recording seven points in seven games.

Copeland will be a third generation college hockey player as his father, Todd, played for Michigan in the late 1980s and his grandfather—and namesake—skated for Harvard in the 1950s with the Cleary Brothers.


Looking back



Jack Eichel scored his 25th goal and Evan Rodrigues tallied his 7th in Buffalo's 6-3 loss to Detroit.

Women’s Team
Seniors Victoria Bach and Rebecca Leslie, along with sophomore Abby Cook, have been named New England Division 1 All-Stars. Bach, who scored a program record 39 goals, was a first-team All American and a Patty Kazmaier Award finalist. Leslie, a second team Hockey East All-Star, is BU’s career assist leader with102. Defenseman Cook, with 24 assists, was a Hockey East First-Team All-Star.
● GoTerriers.com report

Tuesday, March 27, 2018

Greenway makes NHL debut tonight; Rookie honors for Tkachuk


Two days after the final game of his three-year BU career, Jordan Greenway is poised to take the ice tonight for the Minnesota Wild and become the 82nd Terrier to reach the NHL.
Greenway, who signed a 3-year entry level contract with the Wild on Monday, is in Nashville for Minnesota’s game against the Western Conference-leading Predators.

He is expected to be at left wing on a line with 41-year old center Matt Cullen and former Terrier Charlie Coyle.

● Last Word on Hockey Greenway signs with Minnesota Wild

Freshman Brady Tkachuk, with assists in both NCAA Regional games, earned Hockey East Rookie of the Week honors. Greenway, Drew Melanson and Bobo Carpenter all were named to the weekly Top Performers list.
● HockeyEastOnline report   

BU moved up two spots to #11 in the USA Today/USA Hockey Magazine weekly poll.



Looking ahead
2019 recruit Trevor Zegras scored a goal and assisted on three more scores as the NTDP U17s dropped a 9-6 decision to Chicago.  Zegras is third on the U17s with 51 points (17G, 34A).  Defenseman Alex Vlasic scored his eighth goal for the U17s, while fellow recruit Robert Mastrosimone had a goal and an assist for the Steel and now has 38 points (14G, 24A).
● USA Hockey recap and box score.

Looking back
Jack Eichel scored a pair of goals, including the third-period game-winner, as Buffalo edged Toronto, 3-2.

Clayton Keller scored his 23rd goal and added an assist in Arizona’s 4-1 win over Tampa Bay. Keller extended his scoring streak to nine games

Former Terrier captain Doug Friedman has been named head coach of the new USPHL Twin City Thunder franchise in Auburn, Maine.  He had been head coach and athletic director at the Kents Hill School since the 2014-15 season.  Friedman also spent a season at the helm of the Portland Junior Pirates.

A walk-on who, as a freshman, played 36 games for BU’s 1990-91 NCAA finalist squad, Friedman scored 105 points (43G,62A) in his four year Terrier career and played in three Frozen Fours (’91, ’93, ’94).  Drafted by the Quebec Nordiques, his seven-year professional career included stints with the Edmonton Oilers and Nashville Predators.
● NewsCenterMaine.com report
● Sun Journal report

Monday, March 26, 2018

Michigan ends Terriers playoff run; Greenway signs 3 year deal with Wild--UPDATED


#13 Terriers’ post-season run came to an end in Worcester as #10 Michigan broke a 3-3 tie in the third period and went on to a 6-3 win to claim the NCAA Northeast Regional title. BU had rallied from a 3-1 deficit to knot the score on goals by Patrick Curry and Drew Melanson, before Jake Slaker capitalized on a turnover with his shot deflecting off Cam Crotty and past Jake Oettinger for the eventual game-winner.  Jordan Greenway had scored for BU in the first period.


Today, Greenway signed a three-year entry level contract with the Minnesota Wild.


BU finished its season with a 22-14-4 record, its first Hockey East Championship since 2015 and its ninth conference title overall.  Michigan moves on to the Frozen Four and could meet its arch-rival, Ohio State, in the final.


“The bottom line is that you have to win a hockey game, you have to overcome that stuff, and if we had played better early on, we wouldn’t have been in that position, so it would be nice to get those bounces,” Boston University coach David Quinn said. “But if I’m focusing on the fact that we were nervous early and we didn’t play well, that’s why we lost the game."


The Wolverines took the lead five minutes into the game on their first shot, a blueline blast by Quinn Hughes that beat Oettinger five-hole. Seven minutes later, after Brady Tkachuk separated Hughes from the puck in the neutral zone, Greenway skated down the left side and rifled a shot past Hayden Lavigne’s left shoulder for a 1-1 tie.  Michigan regained the lead at 15:21 on a power play as an unmarked Tony Calderone beat Oettinger from the high slot.



Later in the period a head-scratcher penalty call on Logan Cockerill—when it was clearly the Michigan skater who was guilty—put the Wolverines back on the man-advantage.  BU effectively killed the penalty and Greenway nearly scored on a breakaway.


Just two minutes into the middle period, a potentially crushing fluke goal extended the Michigan lead. A hard dump-in by Josh Norris came off the end boards, caught Oettinger’s pads and skittered to his right for an easy tap-in for Brendan Warren.

Deflated at first, the Terriers began to go back on the attack.  At 11:08, Curry picked up a rebound of Crotty’s shot, circled the net and stuffed the puck home before Lavigne could cover the post. Chad Krys also assisted. BU pressed the attack, but the period ended with Michigan on top, 3-2.

Early in the third period, BU’s forecheck paid off. Greenway deflected Joe Cecconi’s attempted pass to Melanson who quickly deked and slid the puck past Lavigne’s glove.


BU continued to press Michigan with Ty Amonte having a good scoring opportunity, but the momentum disappeared in an instant when Hickey whiffed on a pass just inside the BU blueline. Slaker picked up the puck, skated to the left circle and fired a shot that went off Crotty’s shin pad and into the net for a 4-3 lead with 13:33 left.

For the next 10 minutes BU tried to generate an equalizer but to Michigan’s credit, they kept the Terriers from sustaining an offensive zone attack. A two-on-one Wolverine break resulted in Nick Boka beating Oettinger for the crusher and an empty-netter closed out the scoring.  

A gracious Michigan Coach Mel Pearson summed up the win:


“We got lucky, we got lucky,” Pearson said. “Sometimes it’s better to be lucky than good, but we were good and lucky. We were fortunate, but we’ll take it.”



● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
● Post-game comments: Coach David Quinn, Hickey, Greenway
● Special to GoTerriers.com Postseason Run No Cinderella Story
● USCHO recap and photos
College Hockey News recap; BU's Luck Runs Out in Regional Final 
● Daily Free Press recap
● WTBU Sports recap
● Boston Herald recap

A pair of college hockey coaching legends took in the action at the DCU Center.
Site Meter