Tonight, #2 Terriers begin second semester play on the road, traveling to New Haven to face Yale in a 7 p.m. start. The contest will be live-streamed on ESPN+, while the BU broadcasters call can be heard on BU All-Access.
The Terriers-Eli rivalry is hitting 100 years as the first meeting took place in February of 1924 with Yale claiming a 6-0 win. The all-time series stands at 32-31-3 with BU holding a slight edge thanks to a 5-2 win at Agganis Arena in December 2016. Terriers last visited Ingalls Arena in December 2015. Ingalls, known as the "Yale Whale" has been called the rink with the “Best Design” across America.
Yale (4-8-0) struggled during the first month of the season, winning just two of nine, but they played Cornell tight and forced in-state rival Quinnipiac to rally in the third period for a win. The Elis finished the semester with victories against Merrimack and LIU.
Yale's offense is led by its first line trio of David Chen (11 points), Briggs Gammill (9) and Niklas Allain (7). Gammill is the top goal-scorer with six. Goaltending duties have been split between senior Nathan Reid (3.88/.867) and freshman Jack Stark (3.30/.877). Reid was in goal against Merrimack.
With an 11-4-1 mark and wins in seven
of its last eight, BU is #1 in the PairWise rankings and in first place in
Hockey East. Tonight, they will be playing without their top two scorers, Macklin
Celebrini and Lane Hutson, and one of their top defenders, Tom Willander, as
all three are playing in the World Juniors in Sweden. So, changes to some
forward lines and defense pairing are expected. BU scoring stats.
Iron man Matthieu Caron has been in goal for all 16 games, producing a 2.63 GAA and a .907 save percentage.
Check later at this
site for tonight's BU lineup
● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men’s Hockey Twitter
● Live Stream ESPN+
● Boston Hockey Blog Shorthanded Terriers to close out 2003 with clash at Yale
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
● HockeyEastOnline Friday scoreboard
►Episode 4 of Inside BU Hockey features Bernie Corbett’s interview with Head Coach Jay Pandolfo and grad student Cade Webber.
tw-align-centerWe’re excited to officially welcome Max Lacroix to our program! Max joins us from the Colorado Grit of the NAHL. pic.twitter.com/OqeLhgNYNC
— BU Men's Hockey (@TerrierHockey) December 28, 2023
As second semester begins, BU has added a fourth goalie to the roster. Colorado Grit netminder Max LaCroix, who originally had been tabbed for the 2024 recruit class, has come aboard now to provide added depth behind Caron.
The 6’0” Colorado native, who is a dual US/Canada citizen, has been playing for the NAHL expansion franchise in Greeley and has a 2-6-3 record in 12 games with a 3.16 GAA and a .914 save percentage.
Lacroix told Colorado Rubber Hockey:
"I got a phone call from the coaching staff seeing if I would be interested to join the team after Christmas as they felt that I was ready to come in now. After talking with my family and coaches, we all agreed that it was the right decision and we went ahead with it. To be honest, I wasn’t even aware that it was possible to go in halfway, but we’ll have four goalies now. I’m just planning on being myself and helping the team in any way I can regardless of where I am in the lineup."
He spent the two previous seasons playing prep hockey at The Governor’s Academy (Newberry, Mass.) for head coach Brian McGuirk, a former Terrier captain.
Lacroix, who was team captain in 2022-23, played in 29 games with a 3.17 GAA and a .907 save percentage. During Lacroix's junior season when he posted a 2.50 GAA and a .928 save percentage, McGuirk told New England Hockey Journal:
“He just has that ability not only to keep you in games but steal games for you. He plays the position with such as athleticism, and the maturity level and mindset of how he competes … to me, he’s already got that college/pro-type mindset. He’s very mature in how he approaches it.”
Previously he played in the Colorado Thunderbirds organization, posting a league best 1.14 GAA in 2019-20 with the 16U team. Lacroix has also trained at Stop It Hockey, the goaltending school headed by BU goalie coach Brian Daccord.
His father is former NHLer Eric Lacroix who spent seven seasons with the Kings, Avalanche, Rangers and Senators and played collegiately at St. Lawrence. His late grandfather, Pierre Lacroix, was the longtime general manager and team president of the Colorado Avalanche.
Last month, Max traveled to Toronto to deliver the speech for his grandfather’s posthumous Hall of Fame induction.
During the 2018-19 season, BU also brought in a fourth goalie at mid-season. Vinnie Purpura joined the team prior to second semester, cutting short his second USHL season.
● GoTerriers.com roster bio
● NAHL.com report
►College Hockey News projects what the NCAA tournament brackets might look like based on current Pairwise rankings. The projection has BU as the first seed in the Springfield, Mass., regional. The article also notes that this would be the first time both BU and BC qualify for the tournament since 2015-16.
Looking ahead
Three 2024 recruits, Cole Eiserman, Kamil Bednarik and Cole Hutson--all from the NTDP U18--are rostered on Team Blue for the 2024 All-American Prospects Game. The contest, set for January 15 at USA Arena in Plymouth, Michigan, will feature 45 players currently competing in the USHL. All are draft eligible and all are committed to D1 schools. The BU recruits are respectively #1, #3 and #7 on the U18s’ scoring chart.
● USA Hockey Rosters announced for All-American Prospects Game
In a 9-3 blowout win by the U18s over Muskegon, Eiserman notched his 28th goal and added an assist, while Bednarik also had a helper.
2025 recruit Jack Murtagh scored his ninth goal and added an assist in the NTDP U17s’ 7-4 loss to Waterloo. He has 21 points in 25 games. Fellow recruit Charlie Trethewey scored his eighth tally for Team USA and has 26 points in 26 games. The Waterloo goalie whom they both beat for goals, Calvin Vachon, is the son former Terrier Nick Vachon.
tw-align-center‼️ GOALIE ASSIST ALERT ‼️
— USA Hockey’s NTDP (@USAHockeyNTDP) December 29, 2023
(+ a beauty from @jackmurtagh07) | #USAvsWAT pic.twitter.com/a4GXB7Im1S
Looking back
Jack Eichel rocketed home his 16th goal as Vegas edged the Kings, 3-2.
tw-align-centerJack attacks first 🤩 pic.twitter.com/sLBPjOnsKJ
— Vegas Golden Knights (@GoldenKnights) December 29, 2023
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