Recruits delivering; McAvoy re-ups with Bs

With team practices underway, @TerrierHockey is featuring both returnees and newcomers on Twitter. Among them, Kasper Kotkansalo and Markus Boguslavsky.

Let’s close out with the weekend with junior @KKotkansalo!

Of all the returning defensemen in @hockey_east, no one had more assists in conference play last season than Kasper. #GoBU pic.twitter.com/QRqopWhEsm

— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) September 16, 2019

After a great day with our team, let’s introduce you to freshman winger @Bogsy_15!

He served as captain of the @drumdragons last year and he’s scored 35 goals over the past two seasons. #GoBU pic.twitter.com/LvYkWC1nRz

— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) September 15, 2019

Looking ahead 

3-on-3 overtime usually brings out the skill in players.

In the case of @PentictonVees forward Jay O'Brien, he has a lot of it. What an overtime winner for the @NHLFlyers first round pick 😲 pic.twitter.com/azZ6d85xqS

— BC Hockey League (@GoBCHL) September 15, 2019

 

2020 recruit Jay O’Brien earned first star honors in both Penticton wins over the weekend. On Saturday, he scored in 3-on-3 overtime on an end-to-end rush to give the Vees a 4-3 win against Prince George. On Friday, fellow recruit Cade Webber scored his first BCHL goal, assisted by O’Brien, in Penticton’s 7-3 win against Merritt on Friday. O’Brien, who later added a second assist, now has six points (3G,3A) in four games. Webber, a 6’7” defenseman, scored 26 points in 29 games last season for The Rivers School.

● Prince George Citizen Flyers’ first-rounder O’Brien spikes Spruce Kings

Mark Cheremeta scored an unassisted goal and a power play marker in USHL Dubuque’s 5-2 win against Cedar Rapids. 2020 recruit Braden Doyle had three shots in the Saints win.

2020 recruit Wilmer Skoog scored a goal and added an assist in NAHL Maryland’s 7-5 opening night loss to New Jersey. Last season, the 6’2”, left-shot forward scored 47 points for NAHL Minot. He also had a goal in the Black Bears’ second game against the Titans.

2020 recruit Brian Carrabes, who scored 32 points for Kimball Union Academy last season, made his USHL debut with Sioux Falls with three shots on goal in a win against Des Moines. Terrier freshmen Ethan Phillips and Sam Stevens played for the Clark Cup champion Stampede last season.

OverTheBoards interviewed Coach Vinny Smith of the powerhouse North Jersey Avalanche 16U program, which in addition to AYHL league games and the BEAST series, has joined with four other elite programs in the region to form the “Northeast Pack” league. They also discussed 2022 recruits Lane Hutson and Devin Kaplan, who have been standouts in early season games.

On BU recruit Lane Hutson:

Yeah, I’ve been fortunate enough to coach a lot of good hockey players. I think Lane Hutson is probably the best D I’ve coached at this age. I had Adam Fox, one of the most interesting, coaching Foxy was one of the best things I ever experienced because it taught me a lot, obviously you don’t get kids like that a lot, that are so smart, and so poised, control the game, good human being. I think Lane is a step above him right now, and that’s a lot for me, because Foxy’s my guy. The thing with [Lane] that most people are going to learn, that is going to cement him as the best D in the country, even cutting into other age groups… away from the rink he is probably the most diligent kid I’ve seen in my life. He’s an absolute savage. He cares so much… that makes it scary.

It looks like [Lane’s] playing his own game out there.

Yeah. His IQ, awareness, and intensity. There are a lot of guys that are really smart, I don’t know if I’ve seen a kid with this much bite that has that much brains.

On BU recruit Devin Kaplan:

Kaplan’s similar, I’ve never coached a kid with his ability. I’ve had a lot of guys that have played pro, really good college players, but his athleticism and his brain combined, it’s outrageous. He’s so smart for a kid at that size. In my opinion [Kaplan’s] the best forward in the country in his birthyear, when he’s at his best. Obviously they both have work to do… but you know, they’re both outrageous.

Looking back

We have some good news...@CMcAvoy44 has been signed to a 3-year contract with an annual cap hit of $4.9 million: https://t.co/7ksEj98RQP pic.twitter.com/rXxnbMF5K6

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) September 15, 2019

With his contract resolved, McAvoy told the media:

“My goal is to go out and become the best hockey player I can be, to grow into one of the best defensemen, hopefully, in the league. I feel like the sky is the limit."

 

Four year Terrier defenseman Sean Escobedo has been named assistant coach at New York University. A member of Coach Jack Parker’s final BU squad, Escobedo had been assistant coach of the North Jersey Avalanche 15U team that won last year’s AYHL championship. After BU, he played three seasons of minor league hockey.

A pair of BU defensemen have new homes in the ECHL. Brien Diffley has been signed by the ECHL Greenville Swamp Rabbits after spending last season with Wheeling and Manchester. John MacLeod has joined the Utah Grizzlies, following a season with South Carolina. Both blueliners played on Terrier Hockey East championship teams in their freshman (2015) and senior (2018) seasons.

● Swamprabbits.com report

● UtahGrizzlies.com report