USA swamps Kazaks; showdown with Canada tonight

Colin Wilson scored twice in 19 seconds and Kevin Shattenkirk recorded three assists as Team USA hung a 12-0 shutout on beleaguered Kazakhstan at the WJCs USA moves to 3-0 in the preliminary round and takes on undefeated Canada in a New Year’s Eve matchup. Both Wilson and Shattenkirk have six points in the tournament. Wilson, who had a hattrick in last year’s WJC event against Finland, now has nine goals in nine career WJC games. USA Hockey game blog.

Links to video highlights of Team USA’s wins against Germany and the Czech Republic are found on the USA Hockey All-Access page. Highlights of last night’s game should be added today.

Through Tuesday night’s games, Shattenkirk and Wilson are tied—with others—for fifth in tournament scoring with six points. Shattenkirk is the top scoring defenseman in the tournament.

►Jay Pandolfo’s fourth goal of the season was the difference in the Devil’s 4-3 win over the Blues.

►Chris Bourque, recalled Monday from the AHL, scored his first NHL goal in the Caps' 4-2 win over Buffalo (video).

Cissé scores, but Quebec loses

2010 recruit Yasin Cissé scored Team Quebec’s first goal and assisted on the second, but Canada West doubled that output in a 4-2 win in the World U17 Challenge in British Columbia. Cissé (photo) is the only member of the Quebec squad playing junior hockey in the U.S.

At the WJCs in Ottawa, Team USA takes on Kazakhstan today in what should be a tuneup for tomorrow’s showdown with the host team, Canada. NHL.com’s Adam Kimmelman’s feature story focuses on the longstanding friendship between current linemates—but Hockey East rivals—Colin Wilson and James van Riemsdyk. Check out the video clip with shots of Wilson growing up and discussing his relationship with his Dad, former NHL forward Cary Wilson.

The Terriers return to the ice Friday, meeting RPI in the first round of the Denver Cup tournament. BU will adjust its lineup due to the absence of Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk and the host team is doing a shuffle of its own with Tyler Bozak out of the lineup due to injury. Moving up to forward is Pioneers' defenseman Patrick Mullen, whose father, Joe, played for BC in the late ‘70s.

Looking Back
Former Terrier blueliner Tom Morrow, who spent last season in German is skating for the ECHL Bakersfield Condors.

Chris Bourque has been called up again from AHL Hershey to the Washington Caps. Bourque played four games for the Caps earlier this season, joining ex-BU All-American defenseman Tom Poti.

USA wins second; U17 Challenge begins

Team USA opened up a 4-1 lead against the Czech Republic, then hung on for 4-3 win at the WJCs in Ottawa. Colin Wilson assisted on Team USA’s first goal, as did Kevin Shattenkirk, who later added a second assist. We have a recap from USA Hockey, along with USA Hockey’s blog and game notes. Tournament results and standings.

The victory was Team USA’s 100th in the history of the WJC tournament. Yesterday’s reported attendance, 19,847, was the largest ever for a WJC game.

► Play begins today in the World U17 Challenge in British Columbia, where 2010 recruit Yasin Cissé will be skating for Quebec against Canada West.

► Future fields for the Great Lakes Invitation Tournament have been announced and BU will be completing with Michigan, Michigan State and Michigan Tech in the 2010 event.

►New England Hockey Journal’s profile of longtime Avon Old Farms coach John Gardner looks at his decision to recruit current Terrier sophomore Nick Bonino when others voiced doubts:

Bonino (Unionville, Conn.) was an interesting story, a kid who almost didn’t make the stop at Avon. He was playing Division 2 hockey in Farmington, Conn., the next town over from Avon and not a lot of people saw what Gagnon and Gardner saw in him.

“I watched him play one time when he played Avon High School in our rink,” Gardner said. ”I thought, ‘That kid is really intriguing. He doesn’t skate well, he doesn’t move around much. He’s tall and skinny and he’s got Gretzky-like hands and if you teach him how to skate …”

Bonino signed on. Not everyone was convinced.

“People said, ˜That kid’s not going to play for you. He’s not your
type of player,” Gardner recalled. “Yeah, but he’s got hands. He’s got things you can’t teach.”

Plus, Bonino was willing to work hard and the skating and the leg strength and his game came along.

“I just loved him,” said the 6-foot-1, 190-pound Bonino, who graduated from Avon in 2007. “He was a great guy. Real funny. He’s obviously a great coach and I was fortunate to play for him.”

Now, Bonino is at BU and he’s been drafted by the San Jose Sharks. His future is mighty bright.

“You get a few guys like that and it certainly makes coaching fun,” Gardner said.

WJCs: USA vs. Czechs tonight

Team USA returns to action tonight, matched up with the Czech Republic. USA Hockey’s WJC blog provides some insights into Colin Wilson’s sense of humor, while Dave Starman, who is doing color on the NHL Network broadcasts provides comments for USCHO.com and lens-ace Melissa Wade offers a pictorial display from Friday’s USA-Germany game.

Looking back
The Terriers are a few days from their next game, but a couple of former teammates from BU's powerhouse teams in the 70s, now longtime rival Division III coaches, will be facing off tonight. Bowdoin College, led by Terry Meagher, in his 26th year, meets host Salem State in the Holiday Class. The Vikings are coached by Bill O’Neill, in his 28th season.

Adrian Aucoin’s third period slapshot was the gamewinner in last night’s Calgary 6-3 win over Ottawa. . It was his fifth goal of the season...Mike Grier also scored his fifth of the season for San Jose, but it came in a 3-2 shootout loss to Keith Tkachuk and the Blues...Carl Corazzini netted his third of the season for Springfield in a loss to Hartford...Sean Sullivan had the primary assisted on the game-winning goal in San Antonio’s 5-3 win against Houston... On Friday, John Curry pitched his first shutout of the year for the Baby Pens, blanking the Philly Phantoms.

It was 35 years ago today...

Terrier coach Jack Parker stood behind the BU bench as head coach for the first time and came away with a 3-1 win against Dartmouth in the RPI Tournament in Troy. Details for this milestone and many others are posted daily on our THIS DATE IN TERRIER HOCKEY PAGE, compiled by Sean Pickett.

Please visit that page along with The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog. There is a link at the top of the sidebar on the right side of this page.

USA thumps Germany

Team USA made an early statement in the WJC tournament in Ottawa, blowing away Germany 8-2. The team’s top line of Colin Wilson, James Van Riemsdyk and Jordan Schroeder accounted for half the goals, Wilson scored the game’s first goal, completing a tic-tack-toe passing play with Kevin Shattenkirk getting the primary assist. Wilson later assisted on two scores by his linemates. Recaps are from USA Hockey and USA Today. Scoring summary. USA Hockey blog notes. Next up for Team USA is the Czech Republic on Sunday.

Looking back
Former Terrier goalie Rick DiPietro made his first start in two months for the Islanders, following a knee injury, and produced a strong effort in a 4-1 win that ended the Fishsticks’ 10-game losing streak. Freddy Meyer, DiPietro’s teammate--both at BU and on the U.S. NTDP-- scored New York’s final goal on a third-period slapshot. It was his fourth goal of the season.



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USA-Germany today in WJC opener

Team U.S.A. begins preliminary round play in the World Junior Championships in Ottawa this afternoon against Germany. NHL Network is televising the game at 3:30 p.m. ET. Terrier defenseman and Team USA assistant captain Kevin Shattenkirk discussed his excitement about performing on a world-class stage in the WJCs and how that might impact his future hockey plans with a hometown newspaper. Rink Rat Elliot Olshansky, of The Daily News, also covers Shattenkirk’s role on Team USA and his development as defenseman since his NTDP days.

Coach Ron Rolston discusses what he expects from Germany, whose roster includes a prospect reportedly on BU’s recruiting radar-- Conor Morrison, the top goal-scorer on the BCHL Salmon Arm Silverbacks, currently ranked second in the Canadian Junior Hockey League.

He is a 5-8 forward from London, Ontario, is the son of Toronto Maple Leafs’ chief amateur scout Dave Morrison.

Looking back
Darryl MacLeod was a member of the 1977-78 freshmen class, along with Mark Fidler, Bill Cotter, Tim Kimball and Paul Miller, that helped spark the Terriers to a 30-2-0 season and the third of BU’s four national championships. MacLeod’s daughter, Meredith, now is pursuing her own career on a combined Melrose-Watertown, Mass., high school team.

US beats Russia in final WJC tune-up

Team USA skated to a convincing 5-1 win over Russia in its final exhibition game for the World Junior Championships last night in Kingston, Ontario. Michigan's Aaron Palushaj scored a natural hattrick and Terrier sophomore Colin Wilson (#33) added a goal and an assist. Wilson rang a wrister off the pipe, which James VanRiemsdyk converted. Later, he drilled a slapshot from the high slot past the Russian goalie. Video highlights on All-Access Pass. The tournament's preliminary round begins on Friday in Ottawa with Team USA playing Germany. Canada, which is in the same bracket as USA, meets the Czech Republic.

A future Terrier, 2010 recruit Yasin Cissé, has an international tournament on his schedule, as well. Cissé, a forward on the USHL Des Moines Bucs and formerly with the Lac St. Louis Lions in the Quebec AAA Midget League, is on Quebec's roster for the World U17 Challenge in Port Alberni, B.C., which begins on Sunday with an exhibition game.

As part of Hockey East's 25th anniversary celebration, BU will honor 61 former Terriers who achieved special recognition for their play in the conference. The event will take place during the February 28 home game against UMass, which is part of the University's Annual Winterfest Weekend. Those who will be recognized earned Hockey East awards such as Player of the Year, Tournament MVP, Rookie of the Year, Conference All-Star, All-Rookie and Coach of the Year.

Former Terrier Ryan Whitney returned to the Pittsburgh Penguins lineup last night following offseason foot surgery.

Next Up: 2009 World Junior Championships

The 2009 World Junior Tournament begins Friday in Ottawa with the U.S. facing Germany and Canada matched up with the Czech Republic. We have a bundle of links to help you follow and enjoy the tournament, beginning with official sites of the IIHF, host Canada and USA Hockey. USA Hockey provides a 90-page media guide with team bios, historical data and records. Also on the USA Hockey WJC page is an All-Access Pass with links to a Q&A interview with Team USA Coach Ron Rolston and video highlights beginning with the team’s camp at Lake Placid, and continuing with exhibition and tournament games.

Terriers sophomores Colin Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk, first round draft choices respectively of Nashville (2008) and Colorado (2007), have been named assistant captains for Team USA. Defenseman Jonathon Blum of Vancouver/WHL is team captain. NHL.com provides a preview of Team USA, while Team Canada is preview by HockeysFuture.com. More previews are here. Canadian Press offers capsules of all tournament teams. Wilson, born in the U.S., but raised in Canada, spoke with The Sporting News by cell after a practice in Lake Placid, N.Y. about the prospect of playing in the WJCs in Canada:

It's the Super Bowl in Canada. It's something I wish people were paying a little more attention to here. Everybody is a world-class athlete on our team, and they're used to the pressure. Because they do well with pressure, more media and more attention, it could raise our game a little bit.

That's likely to happen because NHL Network will broadcast all U.S. and Canadian preliminary round games and all medal round games.

Team USA had its offense flying in Sunday’s 13-2 exhibition win against Latvia with nine players scoring goals. Shattenkirk tallied four assists while Wilson scored a goal and had three helpers. His goal is the third one in this highlights video. Wilson, who led team USA in goals scored at last year’s WJCs, has been reunited by Coach Rolston with UNH’s James VanRiemsdyk and Minnesota’s Jordan Schroeder on the team’s top line. A second exhibition is scheduled tonight against Russia. We’ll update this post with results later tonight.

Looking back

It was a three-dog night in Wilkes Barre as the Baby Pens edged Albany 4-3 on Saturday night. River Rat forward Ryan Weston (photo) scored his second goal of the week, beating his former Terrier teammate John Curry, who won his second game in three starts since returning from Pittsburgh. Ryan Whitney began a rehab stint with Wilkes Barre/ Scranton, as he recovers from foot surgery. It was Whitney's first AHL action since the 2006 Calder Cup playoffs.

Former BU All-American Mike Grier, now in his second season with San Jose, has been skating on a line with former Harvard star Tom Cavanagh, whose father, Joe, was a three-time All-American for the Crimson and one of the most dangerous scorers in college hockey.

MassLive.com looks at the multiple front-office hats worn by former Terrier and NHL forward Paul Fenton, who is assistant general manager of Nashville and general manager of it's AHL affiliate in Milwaukee.

Fenton’s boss, GM Dave Poile —also a former BU opponent as a Northeastern standout—will be paying close attention to Colin Wilson’s performance in next week’s World Junior Championships to determine the Predator’s plans for Wilson.

Midseason assessments
Inside College Hockey’s Jeff Howe offers his thoughts on surprises and successes in Hockey East at the break. Chris Dilks of the Western College Hockey Blog provides reviews of each of the WCHA and CCHA teams at the midpoint.

Boston Globe college hockey writer Nancy Marrrapese-Burrell answered fans’ question in a live chat last week. Based what she’s seen of the Terriers thus far, she projects they can be a Frozen Four team.

BU is rock solid despite having two freshmen goalies and 10 freshmen players. Colin Wilson is the real deal and I think you're going to see them go far because they're still bugged by what happened last year.

Free agents

TSN columnist Darren Dreger reports that BU All-American Matt Gilroy and Denver standout forward Tyler Bozak are the top undrafted players in college. Both are expected to be targets of bidding wars by NHL teams. Scouts who expected to see both players at next month’s Denver Cup will be disappointed as Bozak recently underwent knee surgery and will miss the tourney.

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Courtnall joins 2009 recruit class

BU’s 2009 recruit class has grown to three with a verbal commitment from Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) forward Justin Courtnall, a 6-3, 197 left wing and the son of former NHLer and current Grizzlies coach, Geoff Courtnall. Currently, he leads Victoria in scoring with 42 points (12-30) in 37 games, good for 13th best in the BCHL. He also has racked up 62 penalty minutes. Last Sunday, Courtnall scored two goals and an assist in a 5-3 Victoria win and discussed his recent uptick in goal-scoring. In 2007-08, he scored 51 points for the Grizzlies.

Courtnall, who has been named to the BCHL all-star game, is a teammate of Wisconsin recruit Derek Lee, whom BU attempted to recruit. Already 19, he was a late round 2007 draft choice of Tampa Bay, where former Terrier captain and Bruins head coach Mike Sullivan has rejoined the club as an assistant to Rick Tocchet. Courtnall attended this past summer’s Lightning Prospect Camp . Action video. Video interview.

Courtnall's strengths include his toughness and playmaking ability. His size will help the Terriers next season with Brandon Yip and John McCarthy graduating and the expectation that Colin Wilson will turn pro.

The other members of the 2009 recruit class are defenseman Max Nicastro, a third-round Detroit draft choice now playing for the Chicago Steel, and Des Moines Bucs forward Alex Chiasson.

More recruiting news

BU continues to be in the hunt for NTDP U18 forward Jeremy Morin, projected as an early first- round draft choice next June by services such as McKeen's and North American Central Scouting. The 6-1, right-shot center, who leads the U18s in goal scoring, also is being pursued by the OHL Kitchener Rangers. Morin attended BU's 3-0 shutout of Northeastern last month.

Another prospect who visited Agganis Arena recently is Dixie Beehives defenseman Nick Quinn, a possible 2010 recruit. The 6-0, 182 left-shot Quinn, the first player taken in the second round of last Spring's OHL draft, participated in this past week's Canadian Junior Hockey League prospects game. In the late '60s and '70s. Dixie was a key recruiting pipeline for BU, sending the Terriers Steve Stirling, John Danby and Vic Stanfield, all of whom became All-Americans, and also Pat Devlin, Dick Decloe and Jim "Catfish" Glover.

Midweek Linkorama

World Junior Championship practice has begun for Team USA in Lake Placid with Terriers Colin Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk on hand. Wilson, who grew up in Winnipeg, explained to The Sporting News the importance the event is in Canada. NHL network is televising this year's tournament. which is being held in Ottawa.

Bernie Corbett and Paul McDonald’s weekly HOCKEY ON CAMPUS program will broadcast live from Bickford’s Grille in Burlington, Mass. this evening, from 7 to 9 p.m. ET on AM-890 in Boston, and 1400-AM in Lowell. It also will be streamed live online at www.890espn.com. Tonight’s line up for the 2nd Annual “College Hockey Christmas Party” includes:
►Coach Jeff Jackson from the #1 ranked nationally Notre Dame Fighting Irish
►Coach Guy Gadowsky from the 8th ranked Princeton Tigers
►Early season commentary from players from Holy Cross in Atlantic Hockey and Boston University from Hockey East, and Manhattanville and Trinity College in Division 3
►Writer Elliot Olshansky on the early-season Hobey Baker Watch; and
►Mike Klein, PR Director from the Eastern Junior Hockey League
The program’s call-in number is 617-242-3776 (E-S-P-N) .

Denver Cup
The Terriers' next action is after New Year's in the Denver Cup. The only New England television coverage would occur if the Terriers meet the host team in the final on Jan. 3. In that case, CN8 will air the game, picking it up in progress following the Catamount Cup.

Looking Back
After 23 professional games, ex-Terrier Ryan Weston found the back of the net, providing the game-winner in the AHL Albany River Rats’ 3-1 win over Portland last Sunday. He celebrated by doing former teammate Pete MacArthur’s trademark leap into the corner glass.

Former BU forwards Craig Sanders and Eric Thomassian are playing for the Amstel Tijgers in Amsterdam.

Coach’s Mailbag #2--Submit your questions

With the regular season at its midpoint, we’ll begin accepting your questions for the second Coach’s Mailbag of the season. Please send them to: buhockeymailbag@comcast.net . Include first name only (or other posting name) and location with your question. You can take a look back at Coach Parker’s responses in our first mailbag back in September. At that time, he said he was "hoping that Chris Higgins, Brandon Yip and/or Jason Lawrence can do what Boomer Ewing did in his senior year." Thus far, Higgins and Yip are on that path, while Lawrence, after a hot start, has cooled off considerably.

Freshman Corey Trivino’s first semester was slowed by a knee injury, but Elliot Olshansky reports in The Daily News that he made good use of his time off the ice and that it should help him handle the increased physical play in Division 1. Olshansky also looked at some of the top Hobey Baker Award candidates and gives WJC Tournament-bound Colin Wilson an early vote.

John Curry's first game back in Wilkes Barre-Scranton, following his three NHL appearances, was a success with the Baby Pens winning, 5-1. The former Terrier All-American goalie stopped 23 of 24 shots.

We offer condolences to the family of former BU defenseman and co-captain and current radio analyst Tom Ryan, whose father, James, passed away last week.

Terriers notch 11th win, edge Lowell 3-2

BU concluded its first semester schedule with a hard-earned victory over always-tough UMass-Lowell, 3-2. The Riverhawks, coached by former Terrier assistant Blaise MacDonald and former BU and NHL standout Shawn McEachern, had took one-goal leads twice, but fourth-line forwards Joe Pereira and Zach Cohen (photo) responded to knot the score. A Colby Cohen one-timer deflected off Chris Higgins during a third-period power play for the game-winner. We have recaps from the BU Athletics Web site, The Boston Herald, and The Boston Globe. Coverage from USCHO includes a Jim Connelly sidebar piece about the Terriers’ strong penalty-killing. Detailed boxscore. Video highlights are here.

Loose pucks
► Terriers killed all six Lowell power plays, giving them 17 consecutive kills and 24 in the past 25 attempts.
► Zach Cohen’s goal was his third in the past five games.
► Colby Cohen leads all HE defensemen in scoring with 13 points (1-12). Kieran Millan raised his conference leading won-lost record to 8-1-1.

► Colin Wilson, who assisted on Higgins' game-winner, was plus-seven on faceoffs as BU won 36 of 61 draws during the game.
► Blog contributor CDRAL points out that last night’s game was the 1300th of Jack Parker’s coaching career. It also was his 792nd win.
► Maury Edwards, who scored Lowell’s second goal, has become what Bernie Corbett called “a Terrier-killer” with a 6-4-10 line in eight career games against BU.

What a difference a year makes.
In December 2007, BU ended its first semester with a 4-3 loss at Lowell, bringing its record to 4-10-2. Terriers had scored 56 goals and given up 59. This season's midpoint numbers: 11-4-1 with 57 GF and 34 GA.

Looking ahead

►2009 recruit Max Nicastro scored a goal and an assist in Chicago’s 6-3 win against Indiana, bring his season’s line to 4-9-13.
►2010 recruit defenseman Sean Escobedo helped his new team, Sioux Falls, blank his old team, TriCity, in his first game since a midweek USHL trade.

Gameday: BU-Lowell at Agganis

The Terriers' final game of the semester is the season’s second matchup with the Lowell Riverhawks. BU came from behind to win 6-4 last month in a game at Tsongas Arena in which Colin Wilson (photo) assisted on the tying goal by Chris Higgins, then scored the game-winner. BU gamenotes and links to watch on All-Access, listen online and follow gametracker are here. Our friends at College Hockey News offer a matchup comparison of the teams.

John Curry earned his second NHL win in the Penguins blowout of the Islanders last night, 9-2, with his parents in attendance at The Igloo. Curry's reward was to be reassigned to Wilkes Barre/Scranton in th AHL as the Pens' top goalie returned from an injury. Islanders All-Star goalie Rick DiPietro, recovering from surgery, is a few weeks away from returning to action.

Sharks draft choices earn kudos
Of the 28 NHL draft choices that suited up in last Friday’s BU-BC game at Agganis Arena, three are property of the San Jose Sharks: Terrier captain John McCarthy and his linemate, sophomore Nick Bonino, and BC blueliner Nick Petrecki. Sharkspage talent analyst Max Giese viewed both weekend games and offered opinions on all three as did an unnamed NHL scout. The two were in agreement about McCarthy’s defensive skills and leadership and that Bonino reminded them of Sharks center –and former Wisconsin standout--Joe Pavelski.

As has been the case with several Terrier recruits from outside of New England, playing in the Beanpot Tournament was a motivating factor in 2010 recruit Wade Megan’s verbal to BU. A native of Canton, N.Y. Megan became a BU fan as a youth when he and his father attended the Beanpot. Megan recalls, " It was a great experience. It started there and I don't know, I always wanted to play there." The 6-1 left-shot forward now centers the top line for South Kent School, whose home games are Webcast at no cost. On Wednesday, Megan had a goal and two assists in an 8-2 win for the Cardinals.

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Midweek Linkorama

Head Coach Jack Parker recorded a special thank you to Terrier fans who attended Friday night’s game at Agganis Arena and Saturday’s game at BC’s Conte Forum. He applauds the "fabulous noise level" on Friday and and how the fan presence at BC Saturday "spurred us on." Parker's message also urges fans to support the Student Athletic Advisory Committee's "teddy bear toss" at this Friday's home game against Lowell to benefit The Home for Little Wanderers. To see the clip, click here, then choose “free events” and the “Dec. 9 Special Thanks from Jack Parker.”

The Daily Free Press profiled senior co-captain John McCarthy, a quiet leader who has instilled his own work ethic in his teammates.

Hockey on Campus, the weekly radio broadcast hosted by Terrier broadcaster Bernie Corbett and Paul McNamara, returns to the air tonight. The two-hour talk show, beginning at 7 p.m. ET airs on Wednesday in Boston on 890AM and 1400AM and online on ESPN Radio Boston. This week's guests include Hockey East Commissioner Joe Bertagna, Northeastern Coach Greg Cronin and BU Strength & Conditioning Coach Mike Boyle.

Looking ahead on the blueline
2010 recruit defenseman Sean Escobedo was traded from the TriCity Storm to the Sioux Falls Stampede in return for two blueliners. Escobedo, who tallied four assists with 30 PIMs in 21 games for the Storm, had been to the Stampede’s summer camp in 2007 prior to returning to the EJHL's New York Apple Core.

His new coach, Kevin Hartzel said “We’re very excited to have Sean join the team. He was in our camp a year ago and we are very familiar with his game.” Hartzel explained that the Stampede “had too many stay-at-home defensemen and needed someone who can handle and pass the puck well on the blue line.”

Redwingscentral.com discussed the development of 2009 recruit and Detroit draft choice (3rd round-2008) Max Nicastro, now in his second season with the Chicago Steel/USHL. Red Wings' amateur scout David Kolb assesses where Nicastro has improved—on offense--and where further improvement is needed—physical play.

12-6-08 BU-BC Video Highlights

Thanks to blog follower and USCHO poster Candycanes99 who created this highlights clip from Saturday night's 3-1 victory over Boston College at Conte Forum and posted it on YouTube. ESPN has also posted a highlights clip from its broadcast featuring some of big hits and goalpost clangers, as well as the goals.

We now have the game recaps from The Daily Free Press and The New York Times and will add today's poll rankings when they become available.

Hockey East announced its weekly award-winners and both Chris Connolly and Kieran Millan were recognized. Connolly, whose penalty-shot goal was Saturday's game-winner and who assisted on Corey Trivino's goal, was named Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week. Millan, who gave up two goals in 125-minutes of play vs. BC, was Pure Hockey Co-Defensive Player of the Week.

UMass Head Coach Don Cahoon, a member of BU's 1971 and 1972 national championship teams, picked up his 300th career coaching win. Cahoon previously was head coach at Princeton and associate head coach at BU.

TSN.ca's Darren Dreger offers a feature on two of college hockey's most-coveted undrafted standouts, Terrier All-American Matt Gilroy and Denver Pioneers' high-scoring forward Tyler Bozak.

Terriers’ road win completes 3-point weekend vs. BC

The Terriers continued their strong play with a 3-1 victory over arch-rival BC last night at the Eagles’ Conte Forum. Freshmen led the way as Corey Trivino scored his first college goal, Chris Connolly (photo) scored the game-winner on a highlight-reel penalty shot and goalie Kieran Millan turned in another poised, clutch effort in goal, raising his record to 7-1-1 and lowering his GAA to 1.77.

We have game recaps from USCHO, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and the BU Athletics Web site, along with a detailed boxscore. When video highlights become available we’ll add them.

► The win was Head Coach Jack Parker’s 70th against Boston College (70-55-12). It also was his 791st career, all at BU.

►BU’s penalty kill during the two games was particularly effective yielding no goals and only seven shots on goal in nine power plays.

►One of our readers points out that on Friday night, there were 28 NHL draft choices on the ice between the two teams--plus undrafted two-time All-American Matt Gilroy. And the two stars of the game were the two undrafted goalies, Millan and John Muse.

►Corey Trivino's parents, visiting from Toronto, were on hand to see the freshman center's first career goal. He nearly had a game-winner on Friday night, pouncing on a rebound but was robbed by Muse.


Bonus coverage of Friday night’s 1-1 tie :
► Video highlights

►Jack Parker’s post-game press conference (coming soon—check back)

Thriller at The Greek

The two hockey behemoths of Commonwealth Avenue put on a show last night with all the up-and-down-the-ice action anyone could ask for. But after 65 minutes, the result was a 1-1 OT tie between the Terriers and Eagles. All the scoring came in one 19 second span. Senior co-captain John McCarthy (photo) converted a brilliant backhand pass by Brandon Yip from the right boards to the left post. BC's top scorer Brock Bradford countered almost immediately on a breakaway.

Terriers had the majority of "A" chances--including a pair of posts by Chris Higgins--and were thwarted all night by Eagles goalie John Muse. Kieran Millan came up huge on a number of BC shots, especially when his quick glove robbed Cam Atkinson on a 2-on-1 in the third.

BU's second line of McCarthy, Yip and Nick Bonino enjoyed a strong game and accounted for a nearly a third of the team's shots on goal. Terriers--especially Colin Wilson--did an excellent job winning faceoffs, particularly in the second and third periods and were quite good in the defensive zone, helping to minimize BC offensive chances.

We have recaps with the details. Scott Weighart's USCHO recap. Nancy Marrapese-Burrell for The Boston Globe and the BU Athletics Web site. Game highlights should be available later today on the BU site.

Blog contributor CDRAL reports that as often is the case at BU-BC games, there was a strong turnout of former Terriers including: Blaine Maus, Brian Collins, Andrew Warren, Darryl MacLeod, Bob Murray, Travis Roy, Chris Mays, Jim McCann, Tom O'Regan, Mike Eruzione, Dennis O'Connell, Frank D'Orio, Brad Zancanaro, Stephan Siwiec, Steve Greeley, Rob Davies, Paul Giandomenico, Tony Ruvolo, Coach Jack Kelley, and Coach Ben Smith. Former Eagles and New England Whalers standout Tim Sheehy also was on hand for the game.

Gameday: THE Game(s)

BU vs. BC Games #243 and 243. No doubt that these games have been marked on your calendars for some time. So let's get to it. First a reminder that tonight's game at Agganis Arena is a 7:30 p.m. start, while tomorrow's matchup at Conte Forum begins at 7:00 p.m.

The BU Athletics Web site has links to watch online via All-Access, to listen to the radio broadcast by Bernie Corbett and Tom Ryan and to follow online with gametracker. A USCHO feature looks at college hockey's greatest rivalries; along with BU-BC, that "other rivalry," Michigan-Michigan State, is renewed this weekend. Both The New York Times and The Daily Free Press preview the two-game set, while BU Today offers a tongu-in-cheek video investigation to determine where "BU territory" in Boston and "BC territory" meet.

Last night, 2009 recruit Alex Chiasson's power play goal got slumping Des Moines/USHL untracked and the Bucs ended an eight-game winless streak with a 4-2 win over Fargo.The 6-3 forward from Quebec now is tied for the team lead in goals with eight.


On the road again--sort of

• Ex-Terrier Kevin Schaeffer, who began the season at the Senators' Binghamton farm team, then spent a while with ECHL Reading and now is with the Bruins' affiliate in Providence, had his ECHL rights traded to Phoenix.
  
• Chris Dyment returned to Trenton Devils's blueline after an injury that had sidelined him since the second week of the season. The return of Dyment, who is team'captain, helped make expendable Dan McGoff, whom we reported had been traded to Stockton.

Revving up for the Comm. Ave. rumble

We’re getting an early start on pregame coverage of the upcoming home-and-home series with BC. InsideHockey.com offers some perspective on the rivalry from BC coach Jerry York.

On the BU Athletics site, stat-rich game notes cover just about everything you could ask for. A few notable items:
■ BU has four shorthanded goals thus far, double last season’s total.
■ In 13 games, BU has yielded only 14 even-strength goals.

Both games will be televised. Friday’s game (a 7:30 p.m. start) at Agganis Arena is part of BU’s CN8 package and will be carried by both the New England and Mid Atlantic divisions of CN8. Saturday’s game (7 p.m.) at Conte Forum is being broadcast by ESPNU.

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Sadness

Once again, we have sad news within the BU hockey family. Bob Crocker Jr., 47, passed away on November 24 in Texas. Services locally are pending. He was the son of former BU Assistant Coach, New England Whalers Assistant GM, and currently Los Angeles Kings scout Bob Crocker, considered the “dean of New England scouts” and one of hockey’s truly good guys. Sincere condolences to Bob and his family.

Shattenkirk and Wilson named to US WJC squad

Sophomores Kevin Shattenkirk and Colin Wilson will be putting on the red-white-and-blue again, as they were named to Team USA for the World Junior Championships in Ottawa, beginning Dec. 26. Team USA plays two exhibitions with Latvia in Kingston, Ontario on Dec. 21 and 23. A USA Hockey news release includes the full roster. USCHO article. New England Hockey Journal. Video clip of Team USA in the 2008 WJC.

Prior to their arrival at BU, the duo spent two seasons playing for USA Hockey’s NTDP program and led the team to the World U18 championship game in 2007. Last year, Wilson played for the U.S. WJC team and led the squad in goals, scoring 6 of the team’s 21.

If Team USA advances to the medal round, Shattenkirk and Wilson will likely miss the Terriers’ post-New Year’s Day trip to Colorado for The Denver Cup tournament (Jan. 2-3). In Ottawa, they’ll be reunited with many of their NTDP teammates, including UNH forward James Van Riemsdyk and BC forward Jimmy Hayes.

Shattenkirk becomes the 44th Terrier to participate in the WJCs. Former NHL player Scott Young is one of just 16 players to have participated in three WJC tournaments.

Updating things…

1. Yesterday we reported that it is too early for pairwise ranking. Not so fast. An alert blogreader—and longtime Terrier fan— forwarded a link to the RPIHockey.net site that shows all the major ranking systems—and some lesser known ones—and explains each one. Terriers are listed at third in PWR, RPI and KRACH, and, second in something called E-ratings.

The new USCHO rankings are out and the Terriers’ two wins moved them up to #7 with a home-and-home weekend series against #2 Boston College looming.

2. Former All American goalie John Curry’s Penguin teammate weren’t about to let his first NHL win escape the traditional recognition for such a milestone.



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