With a three-goal effort in the weekend sweep of Vermont, freshman Macklin Celebrini has repeated as Hockey East Rookie of the Week. He shares the recognition with BC's Will Smith, with whom he'll go head-to-head this coming weekend.
Celebrini, who extended his point streak to six games, leads all NCAA rookies with 16 goals while his 32 points is tied for second among first-year skaters. The Vancouver native, who also earned R-O-W honors on Oct. 30, scored twice in Friday's 5-1win and then added this quick-strike gem in Saturday's 5-2 victory.tw-align-centerjust macklin being macklin
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) January 21, 2024
Watch on ESPN+: https://t.co/wPKIRUKLHV @hockey_east | @espn pic.twitter.com/e5HyHOiHn1
● GoTerriers.com report
Poll Story
Terriers maintained their #1 spot on both national polls and the BC Eagles stayed right behind them with next weekend's home-and-home series between the two front-runners approach. The Comm. Ave. rivals remain at the top of the Pairwise rankings, in the same order as well.
In the USCHO Division 1 Men's Hockey Poll (above), top-ranked BU increased its first-place votes from 32 to 40 (out of 50 total votes), while #2 BC went from 12 to six.
The USA Hockey/The Rink Live D1 poll saw BU's first-place vote total drop a bit still remains well ahead of # BC, 25-7. Like the USCHO, it has five Hockey East schools in the top 11, the others being Maine, UMass and Providence.
ESPN’s John Buccigross’ CawlidgeHawkeyTop16 has as its top 7 the Terriers followed by the Eagles, Spartans, Badgers, Black Bears, Fighting Hawks and Pioneers. Everything College Hockey's ranking begins with BU, BC, DU,Mich. St. and Wisconsin.
tw-align-centerFor the first time ever, the Battle of Comm. Ave will be #1 🆚 #2. pic.twitter.com/yeIk2XWI5t
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) January 22, 2024
►USCHO: Monday 10: BU, BC win big, setting up #1 vs. #2 weekend series
►Prior to Saturday’s BU-BC game, there will be a pre-game dinner for Alumni and friends at the BU Fitness & Recreation Center (next to Agganis Arena). The event begins at 5:30 p.m. Tickets are ($20 for adults, $10 for kids 6-12) and must be purchased separately from game tickets. Register at this link.
SNL (Saturday Night Leftovers)
►BU Oldtimer's Terrier Takeaway
1. Last night's game was a clear example of a contest in which a team possesses high caliber talent and its opponent doesn't. During the first ten minutes, essentially before BU scored its first goal, UVM had decent o zone time, but couldn't generate a high quality scoring opportunity. During the same time frame, BU had 2 or 3 legitimate scoring chances. One team made plays, the other didn't.
2. Devin Kaplan hit the scoresheet with a goal and an assist, but he was the driving force behind the first BU goal on which he didn't receive an assist. He drove to the UVM net from the left wing and tried to score short side but was denied by Gabe Carriere. A few seconds later, he challenged the UVM defenseman behind the net and knocked the puck off of his stick. The loose puck was gathered in by Ryan Greene, and the sequence resulting in Lane Hutson's goal commenced. Full credit to Luke Tuch on this goal, also. His body check at center ice enabled Kaplan to drive to the UVM net as described above.
3. By and large, BU did a solid job of "ending plays", at center ice and in the BU d-zone. Consequently, BU had its best "initial rush" game in a few weeks.
4. Setting aside his two assists, Tom Willander had his best defensive game since returning from the WJC.
5. It's become common practice to praise BU's "bottom six". Again, last night there were goals from the 3rd (Jack Hughes) and 4th (Sam Stevens) lines. Whenever BU teams have had postseason success, the bottom six have made legitimate contributions to the team. They've been more than "energy" lines.
6. There's definite separation in the Hockey East standings between the top three (BU, BC, Maine) and the rest of the league.
7. Well, BU is 16-4-1. It's fun to heap praise on a team with a nice record. Let's see how we feel about the team after they face the "varsity" this coming weekend.
► With his goal Friday and an assist Saturday, Tuch, a senior and a Montreal draft pick, has already matched his career high in points (20). Tuch also has set a a career-best 14 assists
► Jeremy Wilmer has 19 assists, three shy of last season’s 22 and his 22 points are nine shy of the 31 he had in 2022-23.
► Goalie Mathieu Caron’s .786 winning percentage is fourth best among D1 goalies, just ahead of BC’s Jacob Fowler's .775. They’ll oppose one another in next weekend’s critical home-and-home series.
► Coincident with the Terriers winning 12 of the last
14 games since November 1, Caron’s goals against average has been steadily decreasing, while his save percentage continues to climb. After 21 games, his
GAA stands at 2.33, while he has a .918 SV%. Fowler's is .922 %.
► Following the series with Vermont, BU’s power-play success sits at 26% overall, but in conference games only, it’s at a lofty 31.7% (19 goals on 60 chances).
► BU’s penalty kill streak has reached 19 after
Saturday's 3-for-3 performance.
► The 10 goals scored against Vermont brings the team’s scoring average up to 4.00 GPG –84 goals in 21 games—which is sixth among D1 schools.
►The Terriers extended their winning streak at Gutterson Fieldhouse to eight games, a streak that started on Dec. 10, 2016. Going back to 2011, BU is 14-1-0 on the Catamounts’ home ice.
►Kaplan’s goal and assist Saturday was his third multi-point game. He now has 15 points in 21 games.
2024 NHL Entry Draft
TSN’s Midseason Draft ranking revealed that Macklin Celebrini is the unanimous pick of ten NHL scouts to be the first player selected in June. The narrative goes on to offer some comparison to prior top picks and also hints at the possibility of the #1 pick return to a second NCAA year, as Michigan’s Owen Power did in 2021.
Terriers in Bob McKenzie's ranking: #1 Celebrini, #4 Cole Eiserman, #41 Cole Hutson, #54 Kamil Bednarik and Honorable Mention Jack Pridham.
● TSN.ca Discussion of Celebrini, Eiserman and other top prospects (video)
Looking ahead
A pair of 2025 recruits led Youngstown to a 6-4 win over Green Bay. Forward Zach Morin scored the game-winner late in the third period and also had an assist. Defenseman Sascha Boumedienne set up the Phantom's second goal with a pretty feed. He leads all USHL rookie defensemen in points with 18.
tw-align-centerZach Morin (2025) pots the go-ahead goal and game-winner. @YtownPhantoms' seven-game losing streak is over. pic.twitter.com/hNQNTYUoLb
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) January 21, 2024
tw-align-centerYoungstown quickly ties it up. Great centering feed by Sascha Boumedienne (2025) and Ryan Rucinski (2024) lets it rip @YtownPhantoms pic.twitter.com/dkbCCkYbdo
— Ryan Sikes (@ryan_sikes10) January 21, 2024
Looking back
Kieffer Bellows scored his 16th goal and added an assist for the Toronto Marlies in their 4-1 win over Charlotte. Wilmer Skoog scored the Checkers’ lone goal—his fourth of the season—assisted by Jake Wise.
Photo credit Chicago Sun Times
Defenseman Alex Vlasic continues to have a solid first full season on the Blackhawks' blueline. Among Chicago defensemen, his second in points with 10 (G,9A) and first in plus/minus with +6.
● Chicago Sun-Times: Breaking Down Vlasic's Impressive Season So Far
Happy 74th birthday (yesterday) to former Terrier standout, Merrimack head coach, and Chicago Blackhawks scout Ron Anderson. Playing for BU's back-to-back national champions (1971 & 1972), he had a 39-48-87 scoring line in 62 games and scored twice in the 4-0 shutout of Cornell in the '72 title game.
The Four Seasons Club
Have you ever heard of Hockey East’s "Four Seasons Club"? We stumbled across this under-the-radar cohort of conference alums with these qualifications: played four seasons in Hockey East and went on to play four full seasons in the NHL. Right now, there are 31 members of the club with BU and BC each having the most members—seven.
The Terrier contingent includes: an NHL team president, Chris Drury; an NHL head coach, Mike Sullivan; two active NHLers, Matt Grzelcyk and Evan Rodrigues; now retired Freddy Meyer and Shawn Bates; and Terrier head coach Jay Pandolfo.
Women's Team
Senior Lacey Martin and graduate student Nadia Mattivi were named the Hockey East Player and Army ROTC Defender of the Week, respectively. Martin scored in all three BU wins last week, the shootout win in the Beanpot semifinal against BC and both victories against Vermont. Mattivi assisted on a pair of goals in Friday's win over the Catamounts and sealed Saturday's victory with an empty-net tally.
● GoTerriers.com Martin, Mattivi Earn Hockey East Weekly Awards
CHECK BACK TUESDAY FOR GAME DAY INFORMATION FOR
THE BEANPOT CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
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