Monday, September 30, 2024

Five days until the puck drops on the 2024-25 season.

 

The USA Hockey/The Rink Live's Preseason Poll, like the USCHO posted last week, finds the Terriers in the #3 slot, behind defending champion Denver and BC.  DU collected 27 first-place votes, while the Eagles received 4. Three other Hockey rivals are ranked in the top 20: #11 Maine, #13 Providence and #14 UMass.

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 College Hockey News (@chnews) / X

College Hockey News’ 2024-25 Preseason Top 10 projection has the Terriers in the #8 spot. Mike McMahon’ top five are BC, Denver, Minnesota, Michigan and North Dakota. The last two will be BU opponents the weekends of Oct. 25-26 (@UND) and Nov. 1-2 (vs. Michigan).  #6 Michigan State, #7 Wisconsin, #9 Cornell and #10 Colorado College round out CHN’s top 10.

8. Boston University

The Terriers might not have as high-powered an offense as they did last season with Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson, but BU is still one of the top teams in the country. 

And that's not to suggest BU will struggle to score goals — they won't.

But I think goaltender Mathieu Caron will be the MVP of this year's BU group. After a rocky start, he found his groove in the second half of last season. There are a lot of new faces, which could result in some disjointed play early in the year, but Caron is the backbone. Another talented freshman class comes in, led by Cole Eiserman and Cole Hutson.

Editor’s note: While both national polls slotted BU at #3, the CHN ranking seems realistic and fair for preseason when replacing the points from Macklin Celebrini and Lane Hutson, and the defense from Cade Webber and Case McCarthy have yet to be demonstrated.

CHN had ranked BU's recruit class as third best in Division 1.

 

Looking ahead

2025 recruit Callum Hughes scored his second goal in West Kelowna’s 3-2 overtime win against Vernon. With four points in four games, he’s the Warriors’ top scorer.

All in the Family

Hughes, who earned BCHL All-Rookie honors last season with 46 points (25G,21A) in 54 games, is a cousin a Terrier senior forward Jack Hughes. His father, Ryan Hughes, was a two-year captain at Cornell, and his uncle—and Jack’s dad--, Kent Hughes, is general manager of the Montreal Canadians.

The 6’1”, 186, left-shot center also has a connection to fellow 2025 recruit John McNelis (Sioux Falls), who was his teammate on the NJ Colonials 14U AAA when Hughes was growing up in New Jersey. Both committed to BU two years ago.

Despite being ranked at #99 among North American skaters for the 2024 draft, Hughes didn’t hear his name called in Las Vegas. However, he was invited to the Vancouver Canucks development camp, joining future teammates Tom Willander and Aiden Celebrini. His Elite Prospects draft profile:

Hughes is a lightning bolt on the ice. A straight-line advantage creator, his motor separates him from others at this level. He backs off defenders, draws penalties by tactically skating through their checks, and he’s always looking for breaks to exploit his speed advantages.

Just prior to the draft, Hughes, who checks the boxes for size and speed, spoke with New York Hockey Journal about joining the “family business” and his hockey path from New Jersey to Rhode Island to British Columbia and next year to Comm. Ave.

“Boston University has always been my dream school, so to get that was surreal. I went to the Beanpot tournament a couple years ago and it blew my mind. This is the best atmosphere. I went on a tour there in July (2022) before I committed in August (2022) and from the second that I stepped foot on campus, I was like, ‘Wow, this is unbelievable.’ I was blown away by their facilities. They had all their coaching staff with me along the way showing me what BU is all about. They asked me what classes I would take and I said maybe business, and they showed me the business building. I thought it was cool that they gave a tour based on me and not what they do for every kid.”

● New York Hockey Journal Callum Hughes hopeful for NHL call while working in BCHL

● BCHL.ca Hughes draft profile

 

►2025 or 2026 recruit Carter Amico, a 6’5”, 217 lb. defenseman, picked up his first point, an assist, in the NTDP U18s’ 5-2 win over Fargo.

►2025 recruit Aidan Souligny, a left-shot defense, recorded his second assist as Prince George lost to Coquitlam, 6-2. The 6’2”, 207 Ontario native has three points in five games this season.

► 2026 recruit Haoxi (Simon) Wang, a 6’6” 212 lb., defenseman scored his third goal and assisted on three others—2 on power plays—to lead OJHL King Rebellion to a 5-2 win against Georgetown. The Beijing native, who had seven points in 28 games a year ago, has a 3-6-9 line in eight games.

►EP Rinkside scout Sebastian High opines 2025 recruit Jack Murtagh is a potential first round pick in the NHL Entry Draft.

 

Looking back

Wilmer Skoog scored on a redirection in Florida’s 5-4 overtime win against Carolina. His 31 points (22G,9A) in 49 games with AHL Charlotte last season, earned him an invitation to the Panthers’ main camp.

Clayton Keller scored a goal and assisted on two others in Utah's 6-3 win over Colorado.

 

Women’s Team 

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Terriers open their season tonight hosting Merrimack at Agganis Arena which will be their home during first semester while Walter Brown’s enhancements are completed. Puck drop is set for 6 p.m.

Junior Clara Yuhn, with 22 points, is the top returning scorer, while captain and grad student Tamara Giaquinto had 15 points.

● GoTerriers.com preview, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Women’s Hockey Twitter

● Live Stream: ESPN+, International Stream

● Boston Hockey Blog preview

● BU Hockey Stats Week 1 preview

 

 

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