After a first half of the season, which at 9-7-1 failed to live up to preseason expectations, the #15/13 Terriers return to the ice for a Hockey East series, hosting the Vermont Catamounts tonight and tomorrow. Friday’s game starts at 7 p.m. ET with ESPN+ providing the live stream.
Despite the overall record, BU in a four-way tie for second place in the Hockey East standings--along with BC, Providence and Lowell--a point behind Maine
The Terriers, whose last outing was a 7-4 loss at Yale, will be bolstered by the return of the four World Junior Championship participants—Cole Eiserman, Cole Hutson, Brandon Svoboda and Tom Willander—along with Devin Kaplan who had been injured.
Coach Jay Pandolfo offered his thoughts on his WJC players’ performances.
Willander: "I thought he was Sweden's best defenseman. I know the other kid won best defenseman of the tournament, Sandin-Pellikka, who's very good offensively. But from a guy that can play both ways, I'm not sure anyone does it as well as Tom."
Hutson: "I thought he was the best defenseman in the tournament. Could he get MVP? Probably could have. I understand they gave it to Leonard. Should he have been the top defenseman? I think so...I think he showed the world what he's capable of."
Eiserman: "For someone to be in that situation, in that [limited] role, and for him still to perform the way he did...that was great to see, the way he handled being the 13th forward...really happy to see that. It's a credit to him."
Svoboda: "Scored huge goals for them. Clearly, the one in the Gold Medal game gave them life. He played a role for them, he was killing penalties for them, he was winning faceoffs."
Pandolfo noted that Svoboda will continue to play center and will see added ice time on the penalty kill, and asserted that “We’re going to try to find some more consistency with our lines...that’s the plan going into the second half.”
BU is averaging 3.59 goals per game, which is fifth best in Division 1.
“There’s no question we’re scoring enough goals,” Pandolfo acknowledged. “That hasn’t been an issue. Keeping the puck out of our net is an issue. We haven’t possessed the puck in the offensive zone as much as we need to. We haven’t created second and third opportunities for ourselves like we need to.
“We’ve always been a good defensive team because we’ve had the puck more. We’ve transitioned fast, made it harder for the other team to get a lot offense going against us. This year has been different. We’ve been in the [penalty] box way too much and that’s really affected our team in finding a rhythm.”
Vermont has won its last five games—all non-conference—with the most recent being an 8-1 thumping of St. Lawrence. In the conference, the Cats are 3-4-2 with wins against Providence, UMass and UConn.
Pacing the balanced-scoring offense are freshman Max Strand (18 points), senior Joel Maatta (16), freshman Colin Kessler (15), junior Massimo Lombardi (13) and senior Simon Gellus. Blueliners Sebastian Tornqvust and Luca Munzenberger each have nine points.
After three seasons of facing goalie Gabe Carriere, BU will see a new face in the UVM net, sophomore Axel Mangbo who is 7-4-0 with a 2.09 GAA and a .917 save percentage.
CHECK BACK FOR TONIGHT’S TERRIER LINEUP
● GoTerriers.com preview, Game Notes, Live Stats, BU All-Access (audio), BU Men's Hockey Twitter
● Live Stream ESPN+
● College Hockey News Tale of the Tape
● Boston Hockey Blog BU men’s hockey looks to turn the tide against Vermont
● BU Hockey Stats Week 14 Preview: Vermonster
► BU’s Alumni Association will hold pre-game parties in Boston prior to the January 14 Women’s Beanpot semifinal game against Harvard and the February 3 Men’s Beanpot semifinal against Harvard. In addition, watch parties for the Men’s game will be held in 18 cities across the country.
● BU Alumni: Details and party locations
Looking ahead
Three 2025 recruits—forwards Jack Murtagh and Conrad Fondrk
and defenseman Charlie Trethewey—will participate in USA Hockey’s All-American
Prospects game in Plymouth, Michigan, next Thursday. NHL Network will carry the game live at 7 p.m. ET.
Murtagh, No. 20 in FCHockey’s Winter ranking for the 2025 draft, is the top-ranked skater set to participate in the contest. He is second on the NTDP in scoring with 22 points (10 goals, 12 assists) in 22 games this season.
“Murtagh’s combination of speed and strength makes him a dangerous offensive force,” FCHockey scout Jacob Roth said. “He’s a great shooter with a quick release and has shown the ability to get shots off while on the move. Where I would like to see him improve is with his puck skills and edge work. If he were able to add some shiftiness to his great straight-line speed, it would greatly increase his NHL potential.”
Fondrk is #29 and Trethewey is #36 in the FC Winter ranking. A fourth 2025 recruit, defenseman Carter Amico, rated #38, will miss the game due a season-ending injury.
The FCHockey top 100 list also includes #28 Sascha Boumedienne and #60 Haoxi Simon Wang.
● USA Hockey All-American Prospect Game details and rosters
Looking back
tw-align-center— Gabriel Foley (@NHLFoley) January 7, 2025
Following a 3-point game (G,2A) in Monday’s Montreal 5-4 overtime win over Vancouver, Lane Hutson is the scoring leader among NHL rookies with 30 points in 40 games. His .75 points per game, is second only among first-year skaters to Macklin Celebrini’s .90 (28 points in 31 games).
● Daily Faceoff Calder Trophy Race: Hutson takes off as the new No. 1
►From Habs on Reddit: Only three defensemen have led rookie scoring midway through a season in NHL history: Bobby Orr (1966-67),Nicklas Lidstrom (1991-92) and Lane Hutson (2024-2025).
►A poll by the Professional Hockey Writers Association projects that last year's Hobey Baker Award winner will take home the NHL's Calder Trophy this season.
Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in the 2024 NHL Draft, is NHL.com's favorite for the Calder Trophy given to the NHL rookie of the year at the halfway point of the season. He received 72 voting points (10 first-place votes) from a 16-person panel. Montreal Canadiens defenseman Lane Hutson was second with 58 points (five for first place), followed by Philadelphia Flyers forward Matvei Michkov (48 points).
● NHL.com Calder Tracker: Celebrini picked to win Calder as best rookie
Jack Eichel recorded his 42nd assist, third best in the NHL, in the Golden Knights’ 4-2 win over San Jose. He has an 11-42-53 line in 40 games and is +27.
Brady Tkachuk scored his 18th goal in Ottawa’s 3-2 loss to Detroit.
Jake Oettinger collected his 20th win in the Stars’ 5-4 overtime win over the Rangers. Oettinger, who stopped 20 shots, has a 2.41 GAA.
tw-align-centerColeman hired as assistant coach for @BabsonHockey: https://t.co/XRQ7NyUyb2 #GoBabo #d3hockey pic.twitter.com/ysaHOoXKko
— Babson Athletics (@BabsonAthletics) January 8, 2025
►Jon Coleman, a two-time All-American Terrier defenseman,
will begin a second
stint as assistant coach at Babson College. At BU from 1993-97, he recorded
114 points in 118 games and played in four Frozen Fours, including winning the
1995 NCAA championship and reaching the title game in 1994 and 1997. Coleman's father, Dave, was Babson's head coach from 1966-1968.
Women’s Team
The #13 Terriers are in Vermont for a two-game series against the Catamounts. Tonight’s game at Gutterson Field House begins at 6 p.m. ET and will be live streamed on ESPN+
BU is in third place in Hockey East, one point behind BC and UConn, but has three games in hand vs. the Eagles, two vs. the Huskies. Terriers are 9-1-1 in the last 11 conference games, including three shutouts by senior Callie Shanahan.
● GoTerriers.com Preview. Game Notes, Live Stats, BU Women’s Hockey Twitter
● Live Stream ESPN+
● Boston Hockey Blog preview
Looking back
tw-align-centerMarie-Philip Poulin doing Marie-Philip Poulin things. Scores a beauty of a goal from her knees. 3-0 Montreal. Victoire are taking over the game. #PWHL pic.twitter.com/hI53RotCoc
— Marc Dumont (@MarcPDumont) January 9, 2025
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