Friday, April 15, 2022

Head coach search continues; 2 juniors enter transfer portal

Two weeks after BU announced it would not retain Albie O'Connell as Terrier head coach, no decision on a successor has been revealed. However two other high-profile coaching positions have opened up. BC's Jerry York is stepping down after 28 years leading the Eagles and 50 seasons coaching D1 hockey. Next year will mark the first time in 49 seasons that neither Jack Parker nor York will be behind the bench for a BU-BC game. The other new vacancy is a Michigan State where Danton Cole was fired.

While we try to avoid reporting on speculation, we'll make an exception this time. Two college hockey insiders, New England Hockey Journal's Jeff Cox and Mike McMahon, who writes for both College Hockey News and College Hockey Insider, have opined that current associate head coach Jay Pandolfo has the inside track to become the next Terrier head coach. The BU athletic department had expressed a desire to have a new coach in place in time for the ACHA meetings in Florida later this month.



►Former Terrier head coach David Quinn, whose name appeared in some early speculation, is not interested in returning to Commonwealth Ave. In an candid interview on NEHJ’s RinkWise Podcast, he expressed his desire to return to an NHL position.

"I love the NHL game. I learned an awful lot in my time in New York, especially my last year there, and that's where I want to be,” Quinn told Kirk Luedeke. “I want to take what I learned over my three years in New York and apply it hopefully in my next job in the National Hockey League.”

Quinn also discussed his experience coaching Team USA in the Beijing Olympics and his career path.

►Juniors Robert Mastrosimone and Ashton Abel have entered the transfer portal. Mastrosimone, a top-six forward for the Terriers, was third in scoring this past season.  with an 11-14-25 scoring line.  His three-season totals were 21-29-50.

Abel saw no action this past season, backing upsophomore netminders Drew Commesso and Vinny Duplessis. His BU career highlight was a season-high 35-save 5-4 double-overtime triumph over Boston College in the 2020 Beanpot semifinal.

►While the identity of the next BU head coach is not yet known, next season’s out of conference schedule is beginning to take shape. BU will participate in the Desert Hockey Classic (Jan. 6 & 7) in Tempe, hosted by Arizona State and also featuring Air Force and Michigan Tech. There also will be a pair of games against Michigan in Ann Arbor in October as well as a visit from Notre Dame.

 

Looking ahead

With a four-point effort (1G,3A) in a Tri-City win against Sioux City, 2022 recruit Jeremy Wilmer has vaulted to the USHL points leads with 87 points (22G,56A) in 56 games. Wilmer has established new Storm team records for points and power play assists (26) in a season.


The NTDP U18s, including future Terriers Lane Hutson and Devin Kaplan, are headed across the pond for the IIHF World U18 Championships.  The tournament will be played in Kaufbeuren and Landshut, Germany with preliminary round games starting April 23. Team USA will face Sweden this Monday and Finland the next day in pre-tournament exhibitions.

● USA Hockey: Game and TV schedule

Looking back

Brady Tkachuk scored his 27th goal and added his 31st assist in Ottawa’s 3-2 win against the Bruins. Matt Grzelcyk had a helper for Boston.

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