Monday, December 16, 2024

Recapping the week; Polls & Pairwise; Milestones for Hutson and Commesso; Profiling Murtagh; Parker on Sacco

                        Image  

We start off with @BUHockeyStats’ Week 11 Stats Sheet recapping the wins against UMass and the NTDP U18s and presenting advanced analytics from the come-from-behind win over the Minutemen.

Image

BU Hockey Stats invites questions about BU Hockey history or stats for his upcoming Mailbag post. Submit your inqueries here by 5 p.m. ET on Wednesday. 

►The schedule for the Beanpot tournament has been announced with BU and Harvard tangling in the early game on February 3.

Image 

►USCHO.com’s Monday 10 report includes four items that are especially of interest to Terrier fans. #5 points out that seven Hockey East teams currently are inside the PairWise cutline for NCAA tournament consideration (more below in Polls). 

#8 addresses the impact of NIL money on college hockey and the BC athletic director throwing cold water on a rumor that the Eagles have offered star Saginaw center Michael Misa, a projected top 5 pick in the 2025 Entry Draft, $1M in NIL. Several internet reports indicate that BU, BC and Minnesota are the leading suitors for the center who has scored 30 goals in 29 games for the Spirit. 

#10 looks at the potential impact of a 26-man roster limit that may result from the House vs. NCAA settlement

►Videography maven Bernie Perisie may have relocated to Buffalo to work for the Sabres, but hasn’t forgotten his Terrier ties.

 

 

Poll & Pairwise


In the USCHO Division 1 Men’s Poll, the Terriers remain at #13 after their 4-2 win at UMass. Michigan State, which swept its series with Minnesota, is the new #1 with the Gophers dropping to #3 and BC keeping its #2 slot. Maine moves up to #5. Providence and Lowell hold steady at #7 and #10 respectively. New Hampshire and UMass are the top two point-getters outside the top 20.

● USCHO.com How the top 20 NCAA hockey teams fared, Dec. 13-14 

Image 

►Terriers slipped one slot to #13 in the USA Hockey/The Rink Inside Division 1 Poll.

The top five teams in the Pairwise Rankings at the break: BC, Michigan State, Maine, Minnesota and Western Michigan. Others from Hockey East: #6 Providence, #8 Lowell, #10 BU, #14 UNH, #20 UMass and #27 Northeastern.

Other BU rankings: Buccigross #13; Everything College Hockey #17.

 

Looking ahead

2025 recruit Jack Murtagh recorded his 12th assist in the NTDP U18s' 6-2 loss to New Hampshire. Murtagh, who collected two helpers Friday against BU, has 22 points in 20 games and is second on the team in points.

Elite Prospects' discussion of its December Top 32 for the 2025 NHL Draft looks at Murtagh's game followed by a comparison of him with ASU recruit Ben Kevan. Elite Prospect currently rates Murtagh #24 and Carter Amico #31.

●YouTube (begins at 1:02.4 and continues through 1:08)

2025 recruit Jack Pridham is thriving in the OHL. He scored his sixth and seventh goals in Kitchener's 3-2 overtime win against Kingston. The 6'2" right-shot wing, who earned first-star honors, has 14 points in 11 games since joining the Rangers.

● Video highlights

2025 recruit Cal Hughes also has made a seamless move to the O. He scored a pair of goals and added an assist in Erie's 8-2 win against Saginaw. A left-shot center, Hughes has four goals and two assists in eight games since joining the Otters. Left-shot center Michael Misa, who reportedly is being recruited by BU and other “brand name” schools, scored his 30th goal in 29 games.

● Video highlights: Hughes goals at 0:40 and 2:03; Misa goal at 4:00.

 

2025 recruit Jonathan Morella scored his second goal and added his eighth assist as Dubuque routed Des Moines, 7-2. The 6'3" center from Toronto was a fifth-round pick by the Bruins in the 2024 Entry Draft.

2026 recruit Haoxi Simon Wang recently signed with OHL Oshawa. His first game with the Generals was an 8-4 win over Ottawa.   

 

Looking back

Lane Hutson scored his first NHL goal in Montreal’s 4-2 loss to Winnipeg, beating former Lowell goalie Connor Hellebuyck from the left circle. Hutson now has 20 points and is tied with Macklin Celebrini (10-10-20) for second most points by a rookie. Note that former Eagle Mike Matheson retrieved the puck for Hutson.

 r/Habs - Lane Hutson with his 1st NHL goal puck

Drew Commesso made his first NHL start in goal for Chicago Saturday and after stopping all 17 Devils’ shots over the first two period, including this big-time stop, yielded four in the final period in a 4-1 loss. Alex Vlasic had 24 minutes TOI, playing on the Blackhawks’ first PP and PK units.

Editor's Note: I attended the game and can attest that a few of the goals were no-chancers, including a laser by an unmarked Jack Hughes. IMO, Commesso proved he’s an NHL goalie.

● Chicago Sun-Times Goalie Drew Commesso's impressive first NHL start ruined by Blackhawks' meltdown

● Blackhawks Up Drew Commesso provides hope of better days ahead

Clayton Keller’s power-play goal with 44 seconds left in regulation lifted Utah past San Jose, 4-3. For the UHC captain, it was his 10th goal and 28th point of the season. UHC players invited their mentors to join them on the current road trip and Keller brought his mother. 

Also, during the Utah-San Jose game, Macklin Celebrini demonstrated another skill. H/T to Jeffrey Simon.

 

Brady Tkachuk’s overtime goal gave Ottawa a 3-2 win over the Penguins. It was the 15th tally for the Senators’ captain. Matt Grzelcyk notched his 15th assist for Pittsburgh.

Jack Eichel recorded his 32nd and 33rd assists in Vegas’ 3-2 win over Minnesota. With a 9-33-42 scoring line, he is seventh in the NHL in points and second in assists.

Chris Kelleher, a two-time All-American defenseman and a member of BU’s 1995 national champions, joined Colby Cohen on Jonny Lazerus on Morning Cuppa Hockey. Kelleher is currently the assistant general manager of the Minnesota Wild and will serve as director of player personnel for the U.S. Men's National Team at the 2025 4 Nations Face-Off. Current Wild head coach John Hynes was his teammate on the ’95 championship squad.

►The Globe’s Sunday Hockey Notes delves into the impact Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco had on Jack Parker’s program when he committed to be a Terrier. 

“I think Joe’s class, we had nine or 10 freshmen coming in,” Parker said. “But he was one of the key recruits because he was heavily recruited. He was a star out of Medford, and everybody knew who he was.”

Sacco was sort of a pied piper for the program. Once he committed to the Terriers, others followed suit.

“When you get a guy like that, then other people want to come,” said Parker. “So, he was a big recruit and when we got him, I think it helped us to get guys like Shawn McEachern and Tony Amonte. And, of course, once we got Joe, we got [his younger brother] David, who was a terrific player for us, too.”

Boston Globe: According to Jack Parker, when Joe Sacco came to Boston University everything fell into place (subscription)

 

 Women's Team

 

Posted by at

No comments:

Post a Comment

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)
Site Meter