Thursday, November 30, 2017

’78 National Champions’ reunion on tap Saturday at Agganis; “Jack Parker’s Wiseguys, chronicling title season, will be available for book signing



Front row L to R - Mark Fidler, Jack O'Callahan, Tony Meagher, Brian Durocher Bill O'Neill and Tony Ruvolo (hand on O'Neill's shoulder). Second row L to R - Bill Cotter, Dave Silk, Mickey Mullen, Scott Nieland, John Melanson, Dick Lamby, Bill LeBlond and Pete Morris (glasses).

Forty years ago on this date, the Terriers traveled to Hanover, N.H. to take on Dartmouth in an early season game. Behind goals from Dave Silk, Darryl MacLeod and Billy Cotter, BU rallied to take home a come-from-behind 3-2 decision, its third straight win in a streak that would eventually stretch to a school-record 21 games. And the wins would just keep coming as the Terriers went on to post a 30-2-0 record and claim the school's third national championship, defeating Green Line rival Boston College in the title game, 5-3.

[Check back later on Friday for the Game Day post]

Getting to that title game was far from easy despite having ripped through the regular season with a 25-1-0 record. Upset by Providence in the ECAC semifinals, BU was forced to play the Friars again a week later in an NCAA play-in game in Providence. BU won the rematch, 5-3, then eliminated Wisconsin in the NCAA semis to set the stage for the All-Commonwealth Avenue championship game.

This Saturday, coaches, players and managers from the 1977-78 Terriers will hold their 40-year reunion, appropriately, during the BU-BC game. The team will be introduced to the crowd between the second and third periods. Earlier in the day on Saturday, they’ll also take in the BU Women’s game against BC at Walter Brown Arena, which was the men’s squad’s home ice in 1977-78.

Team manager Tony Ruvolo, who began organizing the reunion three years ago, reports that virtually all team members (roster and stats), as well as Coach Jack Parker and assistants Don Cahoon, Bob Murray and Andy Fila, will be present. One team member, Billy Cotter, passed away two years ago.

Goalie Brian Durocher and Head Coach Jack Parker
The ’77-’78 national champs featured five skaters with 50 or more points—Mark Fidler, John Bethel, Dick Lamby, Dave Silk and Jack O’Callahan--and a pair of standout goalies in Jim Craig and current Women’s Team Head Coach Brian Durocher. O’Callahan, Silk and Craig would, of course, go on to Olympic glory in 1980, along with former Terrier Mike Eruzione. Fidler, who led the team in scoring with 65 points, would become the first Terrier to lead the team in scoring all four years.

Jack Parker’s Wiseguys
Coincident with the four-decade anniversary of the 1978 title team is the publication of a no-holds-barred chronicle of the tumultuous, exhilarating, raucous and heart-breaking events of “that championship season.”  Authored by hockey journalist, former ESPN hockey producer and Lake Forest College skater Tim Rappleye, the book’s full title is Jack Parker's Wiseguys: The National Champion BU Terriers, the Blizzard of ’78, and the Miracle on Ice. The book's publisher, University Press of New England, describes the 248-page, illustrated book as “the story of one of the most outrageous national championship teams of the swashbuckling ’70s.” (details and comments)

Hardcover copies of Jack Parker’s Wiseguys will be on sale for $27.95 during the game on the Agganis Arena Concourse and after the game in the arena lobby where Coach Parker and team members will be signing books. Five dollars from each book purchase will be donated to The Travis RoyFoundation. The book also can be purchased at UPNE.com and Amazon.

► Book excerpt: The Education of Mark Fidler


So how did this book come to be written?

Two years ago, Rappleye, who was a prep school teammate at BB&N with Terrier forward Todd Johnson (a freshman on the title team), had written a lengthy piece for his RinkRAP blog about BU’s first loss of the ’77-’78 season, an upset win by Yale that ended the 21-game winning streak. He explains:

“It was my most popular post, and during the research, I learned that BU's only other loss came within hours of Parker's first wife dying. I have always been fascinated with Parker's character and his evolution from firebrand Jackie Parker in the red plaid jacket, to the sport's statesman Jack Parker, the benevolent father figure to BU hockey. This was the perfect opportunity to write my first book.”

In addition to his connection with Johnson, Rappleye had a mutual friend with O’Callahan, leading to his first lengthy interview for the book. 

“Once OC was on board, the rest followed,” Rappleye reports. “Dave Silk and I have known each other since playing in Europe together in the 1970's, and he was a massive contributor to this project. Since nearly 40 years have passed since the 1977-78 season, the boys did not hold much back.

“Coach Parker was kind enough to finish reading Wiseguys immediately prior to deadline. He made some vital corrections; the most important to him was the fact that, although he was a chain smoker at the time, he assured me that he did NOT smoke on the bench, as one of his players had claimed.”

Will this book grab the attention of sports fans beyond BU and New England? Rappleye is confident that it will.

“Every sports fan with a pulse knows the story of the Miracle on Ice, and BU represented the dominant personalities on that historic club,” Rappleye adds, “Mike Eruzione was kind enough to write the foreword to Wiseguys, and there are a plethora of entertaining stories of the other three Miracle Men to entertain readers with no connection to BU. Plus, the Blizzard of 78 is still remembered by the entire region and beyond. Coach Parker displayed his masterful storytelling in vivid recollections of that infamous blizzard.”

Wednesday, November 29, 2017

Midweek Linkorama



Dante Fabbro was named to Hockey East’s Weekly Top Performers list after having had a hand in all three BU goals (1G, 2A) against Cornell.
CHECK BACK LATER THIS WEEK FOR SPECIAL FEATURES RELATED TO THE UPCOMING REUNION OF THE 1978 NATIONAL CHAMPION TERRIERS AND THE PUBLICATION OF TIM RAPPLEYE'S JACK PARKER'S WISE GUYS




This Date in Terrier History
Nov. 29th 2008—BU improved its record to 9-4-0 with a 4-1 home win against St. Lawrence, led by a pair of Colin Wilson goals.  Zach Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk also scored for the Terriers. The victory was part of an eight-game unbeaten streak for BU, which would go 28-2-4 over its final 32 games en route to the 2009 NCAA title.

Looking back


Chris Bourque scored his eighth and ninth goals and added a shootout tally but it wasn’t enough for Hershey to overcome Bridgeport, which received two goals from Chris’ younger brother, Ryan Bourque, in a 3-2 win for the Sound Tigers.  Chris Bourque has 27 points in 21 games for Hershey.

Wade Megan scored a pair of goals for AHL Chicago in a 6-4 loss to Iowa.  Last season, the former BU captain led the AHL in goal scoring with 33.

Sean Maguire has been recalled from the ECHL Wheeling Nailers to the AHL Wilkes Barre/Scranton. The 24 year old netminder has an 8-3-0 record for the Nailers with a .910 save percentage and a 3.28 GAA.  

Women’s Team
Terriers defeated Brown, 6-4, last night at Walter Brown Arena, and once again senior Victoria Bach was the offensive catalyst with two goals and three assists. Senior captain Rebecca Leslie also scored twice and added a helper, while sophomore Abby Cook had a career-best four assists. Freshman Jesse Compher scored her first two collegiate goals, both on a power play.

After BU took an early 2-0 lead, the Bears scored four of the next five goals to take a 4-3 lead at 5:37 of the third. Compher’s second goal knotted the score. Then Bach and Leslie scored goals two minutes apart to secure the win. Freshman Corrine Schroeder stopped 17 shots for BU.
Over her last five games, Bach has found the net 12 times.

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score 
Daily Free Press: Women's hockey pulls off 6-4 win

Sunday, November 26, 2017

Third-period rally falls short; Cornell tops BU, 4-3 UPDATED



#19 BU’s third-period rally, narrowing a 4-1 deficit to just one goal, fell short as #7 Cornell hung on to gain a 4-3 victory, its first in the six games of the Red Hot Hockey series at New York’s Madison Square Garden.

With power play goals by sophomores Dante Fabbro and Chad Krys and an even-strength score by classmate Patrick Harper, BU had the Big Red on its heels through much of the third period. The Terriers stormed the Cornell net in the final minutes, but couldn’t put an equalizer past goalie Matthew Galajda. 

● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score
● Post-game comments: Quinn, Hickey and Fabbro
● Daily Free Press recap and analysis
● USCHO recap
● College Hockey News recap
● Cornell Daily Sun recap  

Looking back

Evan Rodrigues scored two goals and added a pair of assists as AHL Rochester blitzed Binghamton, 10-3.  Rodrigues, who had made the Sabres roster but was sidelined by a hand injury now has 6 points in four games with the Americans and may be headed back to the NHL. Sahir Gill also had an assist for Rochester.
● HockeyBuzz.com report on Rodrigues.

Women’s Team
Terriers dropped a 4-2 decision to #1 ranked Wisconsin in the second game of their weekend series in Washington, D.C. BU took an early lead when Victoria Bach scored just 32 seconds into the contest, assisted by Rebecca Leslie and Mary Grace Kelley. The Badgers responded with two goals to lead 2-1 after one and extended the lead to 3-1 midway through the third. Bach scored again, from Leslie and Breanna Scarpaci to cut the margin to one, before Wisconsin added one more for the 4-2 final.

Bach continues her torrid scoring, with five goals over the weekend and 10 in her last four games. She is tied for first in the NCAA with 15 goals.
●GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score


Saturday, November 25, 2017

Game Day: Red Hot Hockey VI--UPDATED



The #19 Terriers and #7 Cornell Big Red have descended on New York’s Madison Square Garden to contend for the Kelley-Harkness Cup in the sixth edition of Red Hot Hockey. Two seasons ago, BU and Cornell played to a 3-3 overtime tie; in the shootout to determine who would take home the Cup, Matt Lane scored for BU while Connor LaCouvee stoned Cornell’s Matt Buckles.

BU has won three of the five previous games and tied in the 2009 game as well as the 2015 match-up. BU Athletics has prepared a highlights video beginning with the Terriers 6-3 victory in 2007.


Cornell brings an 8-1-0 record into the game following Tuesday’s 5-4 win against Niagara. The Big Red is led by freshman goalie Matthew Galajda who has a stingy 1.92 GAA and a .913 save percentage. On the offensive end, senior Trevor Yates has team-highs in goals (6) and points (10) while sophomore Jeff Malott has eight points (3g, 5A).

While the Terrier offense has been paced by veterans Patrick Harper, Bobo Carpenter, Chad Krys and Jordan Greenway, freshmen have increasingly been contributing. Shane Bowers and Logan Cockerill each scored twice in the series against Maine, while Brady Tkachuk and Hank Crone each scored their first collegiate goal.

● Boston Hockey Blog Live In-Game Blog
Daily Free Press game preview
● HockeyEastOnline Weekend preview
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
Cornell Game Notes
● Cornell Sun preview

Tonight's Terrier line-up


Tkachuk-Greenway-Amonte

Cockerill-Bowers-Harper
Crone-Carpenter-Curry
Phelps-Melanson-Olsson

Kotkansalo-Fabbro
Krys-Crotty
Farrance-Hickey
Oettinger



Once again the morning skate for Red Hot Hockey is in Central Park with Ice Hockey in Harlem.







This week’s episode of Inside BU Hockey features Bernie Corbett’s interviews with Head Coach David Quinn and freshman forward Cockerill,  whose brother, Garret, is a senior defenseman at Northeastern. Cockerill, who had two assists to go with his pair of goals against Maine, was drafted by the New York Islanders in the seventh round of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.


► NBC Sports: Q&A with Brady Tkachuk

Jeff Cox of the New England Hockey Journal looks at local college players who are candidates for the U.S. Junior National Team that will defend the World Junior Championship gold medal next month, including Krys, Harper and Jake Oettinger.



This week’s Hockey on Campus podcast features: Cornell Coach Mike Schaefer, College Hockey Inc’s Mike Snee discussing potential expansion of Division 1 and legendary Terrier Coach Jack Parker on the origins of Red Hot Hockey. It airs on NHL Radio (SiriusXMChannel 91) on Saturday morning at 8 a.m. ET and Sunday morning at 10 a.m. ET. You can also find it here on College Hockey News.

Looking ahead
2018 or 2019 recruit Matt Quercia scored a goal, added an assist and was +3 for the night in Sioux Falls 6-3 win against the NTDP U17s.

2018 recruit Ryan O'Connell has been named to the Canada West camp roster for the upcoming World Junior A Challenge. O'Connell, a Toronto draft pick, has 14 points in 22 games for BCHL Penticton.

 
Looking back
Former Terrier All-American and captain Matt Grzelcyk scored his first NHL goal in the Bruins’ 4-3 win against Pittsburgh. Grzelcyk converted a pass at the bottom of the left circle for Boston’s third goal. Charlie McAvoy had set up the Bruins second goal with a steal and a cross-ice pass to Sean Kuraly.


● Boston Sports Journal post-game comments from Grzelcyk

A Tweet about Wednesday’s Bruins-Devils game in New Jersey that Boston won on a McAvoy shootout goal.


Women’s Team
Powered by senior Victoria Bach’s second hat trick in three games, BU defeated Minnesota State, 5-2, on Friday at the Kettler Capitals Iceplex in Arlington, Virginia.  The Terriers will take on top ranked Wisconsin on Saturday in the same venue. (Saturday game links)

Bach gave BU its first lead at 6:43 of the first, but it was matched a minute later by the Mavericks. It took just 20 seconds for Bach to restore the Terriers’ lead. In the middle period, senior Nina Rodgers scored two in a 1:47 span to extend the lead to 4-1. Minnesota State’s power play goal cut the margin to two goals, but Bach completed her hat trick in the final seconds of the period, making the score 5-2. Freshman Corinne Schroeder stopped 29 Mavericks shots en route to her fifth win.

Bach leads the Terriers in goals with 13 overall and eight in the past three games.
● GoTerriers.com recap and comprehensive box score




Site Meter