Monday, December 02, 2024

HE honors for Caron, Lachance; Terrier Trio Named to National Jr. Team Preliminary Roster; Poll Story; SNL; Terriers Power Bruins’ 100 Celebration Win & More

Hockey East weekly awards graphic featuring photo of Shane Lachance and Mathieu Caron high-diving each other. Lachance is player of the week and Caron is goaltender of the week 

Two standouts in BU’s 2024 Friendship Four championship, Mathieu Caron and co-captain Shane Lachance, earned Hockey East weekly honors for their heroics in Belfast.

Lachance was named Hockey East Co-Player of the Week after scoring twice—including the championship-winning goal—and assisting on two other tallies in the two wins. He was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

captains Ryan Greene ...

Caron stopped 31 shots in Friday’s 6-2 win over Merrimack and 28 in the title game against Notre Dame. Fourteen of those saves came in the third period when the Terriers rallied from a 3-1 deficit for a 4-3 victory. The senior netminder improved his record to 7-4-1.  

Mathieu Caron ringing the Belpot bell as he salutes the BU band 

● GoTerriers.com Caron, Lachance Earn Hockey East Weekly Awards

 

World Junior Championships

United States National Junior Team preliminary roster graphic with photos of Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson and Brandon Svoboda

Freshmen Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson and Brandon Svoboda have been named to the preliminary roster for the U.S. National Junior Team and will head to training camp in Plymouth, Michigan, on Dec. 16 and 17. There, the final roster will be set for the World Junior Championships that begin December 26 in Ottawa.

The Terrier trio will look to help Team USA repeat the WJC gold medal won last season with Lane Hutson on the team.

Brandon Svoboda, Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson Graphic for USA National Junior Team Camp 

Eiserman's seven goals are the most among D1 rookies and seventh among all skaters.  Hutson leads all freshmen defensemen in both points (10) and assists (8), with all his assists being primary ones. Svoboda has three goals in nine games, including a dynamic pair in the Nov. 22 win over Merrimack. He led all US players with five points in the World Junior Summer Showcase, the first step in the selection process.

Sophomore Tom Willander is expected to be on Team Sweden's roster again this year. 

NHL Network will air all of Team USA's games, along with all quarterfinal, semifinal and medal round games.

● GoTerriers.com Eiserman, Hutson, Svoboda Named to U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster

● USA Hockey 2025 U.S. National Junior Team Preliminary Roster Released

● The Hockey News Guide to the WJCs 

 

Poll Story


Terriers moved up two slots to #11 in the USCHO Division 1 Men’s Poll after their two wins in the Friendship Four tournament.  Four conference rivals are among the top 14: #3 BC, #5 Maine, #10 Providence and #14 Lowell. Michigan State and Denver remain in the first two slots with Minnesota at #4 and Michigan at #6.

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BU's two wins also resulted in a two-slot jump to #11 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Inside Division 1 Poll, where the top 10 teams from the previous week remained unchanged.

In the Pairwise rankings, BU moved up to #10, just ahead of Providence and just behind defending champion Denver. Top five are BC, Michigan State, Dartmouth and Western Michigan.

In College Hockey News’ Power Ratings. the Terriers jumped up three spots to #13.

While the three wins over the past two weekends moved BU up in the polls, CHN Power Rankings and the Pairwise, they dropped BU’s strength of schedule rating from #2 to #7. The #2, of course, reflected earlier games against North Dakota, Michigan and Lowell.

 

SNL (Saturday Night Leftovers--get comfortable, there's lots of leftovers)

►BHB’s Mitch Fink recaps the championship game and reports that after scoring the tying goal, co-captain Ryan Greene declared to his teammates, “Boys, we’re not gonna let this go to overtime.”

● Boston Hockey Blog: Never in doubt, BU men’s hockey takes 2024 Friendship Four with 4-3 thriller over Notre Dame

►More from the BHB crew

● Boston Hockey Blog ‘They really care:’ Together, captains Ryan Greene and Shane Lachance produce another signature moment   

►2018-19 BU co-captain Bobo Carpenter, who played in the Terriers' first Friendship Four appearance six years ago and now skates for the Belfast Giants, joined the current squad for Thanksgiving dinner. He imparted some wisdom born of experience and later traced the career path that has taken him to Boston’s sister city.

● Boston Hockey Blog Now a Belfast Giant, former BU captain Bobo Carpenter has wisdom to share for this generation of Terriers

►Advanced analytics of the title game show that BU had a 17-11 edge in scoring chances, 12-8 in hits and 19 seconds more o-zone possession.

                        Photo credit Annika Morris

►Friendship Four co-founder, Belfast Giants' director of hockey operations and BU MVP 20 seasons ago Steve Thornton was Bernie Corbett's guest between the second and third periods. He conceded that, "While I'm supposed to be neutral, I'd like to see a few more goals from the the Red team." The current captains delivered for him and Terrier Nation.  

Even with the Terriers winning three out of the last four meetings with Notre Dame, the Irish have a one-game edge in the overall series, 8-9-2. But in tournament meetings, it's been all BU. Coach Jay Pandolfo was the Terrier captain for the 1995 Badger Showdown win. The 1970 win was the first of three tournament titles, culminating in the Terriers first national championship.

►If the name of the NESN/ESPN+ color commentator, Colin Shields, sounds familiar, its because he was a standout forward--and a BU nemesis--for Maine from 2000 to 2004, earning All-American honors a senior. After a brief time in the minor leagues, he began a long career with the Belfast Giants, playing with Thornton and later for him when Thornton became coach and general manager. 

Looking ahead

Haoxi Simon Wang, a 2026 BU recruit, has drawn tremendous interest from the scouting community during his breakout season in the OJHL. In 29 games with King Rebellion, he has a 3-14-17 scoring line with 56 PIM.

Several scouts and ranking services have him as an early second-round or late first-round draft pick in the 2025 Entry Draft. NHL Central Scouting gave him a B-rating on its preliminary watch list, the only OJHL player to receive that rating.

Wang is the third BU recruit to sign with a CHL team since the recent rules change. Previously, 2025 recruit Jack Pridham joined OHL Kitchener while fellow recruit Callum Hughes now skates for Erie.

● The Hockey News Meet Simon Wang, The OJHL Defenseman NHL Scouts Are Flocking To See


Looking back

The Bruins’ Centennial Celebration, marking the 100th anniversary of their first game, had BU written all over it. Charlie McAvoy and Charlie Coyle each scored twice in a 6-3 win over Original Six rival Montreal. It was Joe Sacco's fourth win since being named interim head coach.

McAvoy’s second of the game and fifth of the season proved to be the game-winner. Coyle’s goals were his sixth and seventh this year. Lane Hutson collected his 14th assist for Montreal. Here are each player's second goals.

A pair of Brady Tkachuk goals—his 12th and 13th—were not enough as Ottawa fell to the Ducks, 4-3, in a shootout with Trevor Zegras netting the deciding tally.  Tkachuk’s first came on a redirection and his second on a breakaway.

Jake Oettinger stopped 26 of 27 shot to backstop Dallas to a 3-1 win over Winnipeg, outdueling Connor Hellebuyck in a matchup of Hockey East goalies. He improved his record to 13-4 and has won seven of his last eight starts. The Minnesota native lowered his GAA to 2.38 with a .915 save percentage.

 

Jake Oettinger stopped 26 of 27 shot to backstop Dallas to a 3-1 win over Winnipeg, outdueling Connor Hellebuyck in a matchup of Hockey East goalies. He improved his record to 13-4 and has won seven of his last eight starts. The Minnesota native lowered his GAA to 2.38 with a .915 save percentage. 

Women's Team

Despite losing its only game of the past week to Princeton, Terriers remain at #13 in the USCHO Division 1 Women's Poll.

 


 

 

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