Hockey East title game coverage--Part 2

Photo by Jim Michaud, Boston Herald

• HockeyEastOnline: Updated coverage with photo gallery and audio links
• The Boston Globe: Gone to the Dogs, Going National, Playing it cool serves Millan
• The Boston Herald: Terriers blank Lowell; Millan Nets MVP
• Inside Hockey: Another trophy for BU; Title game photo display
• College Hockey News: Millan feature
• Lynn Daily Item: Lawrence, McCarthy bask in Hockey East title
  

Terriers snare Hockey East title, 1-0

A first period goal by Brandon Yip and a sparkling 32-save performance by freshman netminder Kieran Millan gave the Terriers a 1-0 win over UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East title game at TD BankNorth Garden. The championship, in the conference's silver anniversary season, was BU's seventh Hockey East tournament win.
Millan was named the tournament's Most Valuable Player and was joined on the all-tournament team by co-captains Matt Gilroy and John McCarthy and by Colin Wilson.

With his game-winning goal tonight, Yip, a senior, ended his Hockey East career with a matching bookend to go with the overtime game-winner (video) in the 2006 title game when BU beat BC, 2-1.

BU, which improved its overall record to 31-6-4, has locked up the #1 seed for the NCAA tournament. Tomorrow, pairings for the four regionals will be announced on ESPN2 at 11:30 a.m. ET.

From HockeyEastOnline, a recap, boxscore, an in-game blog and the photo above. More recaps: USCHO, New York Times, GoTerriers.com. NESN video highlights. Comprehensive boxscore. Post-game comments from Coach Parker and the BU players were also made available by HockeyEastOnline and can be found below (click to begin).


►Sophomore forward Joe Pereira suffered a ruptured spleen when his stick became caught in the Lowell net and the handle was forced into his stomach. He was taken to the hospital. For the second consecutive game, BU had just 11 forward for the bulk of the game. Pereira's teammates will visit him Sunday, following the NCAA selection show.

► BU hit posts and crossbars five or six times during the game. During a late third period power play both Yip and Gilroy did so. When Lowell pulled its goalie for an extra-attacker, Kevin Shattenkirk’s long clear seemed headed for the empty net, but struck the post instead.

►The Terriers controlled 34 of 64 faceoffs and as was the case on Friday, they dominated the third-period draws, winning 17 of 26, including the last five.

► BU is now undefeated in its last 15 games (13-0-2) away from Agganis Arena.

USCHO's coverage included several Jack Parker quotes including this one.

"One of the biggest plusses of our team this year, and for me
personally as a coach, is to see the recognition of John
McCarthy. This is a fabulous kid; this is the best student on the team, this is the kid that does everything right. He does
the next right thing all the time and it just comes natural
to him."

Check back for more post-game information and coverage.

Terriers rally past BC, 3-2, to reach Hockey East final

Trailing BC 1-0 midway through the third period, BU exploded for three goals in 44 seconds—a Hockey East tournament record—then held on to squeeze past the Eagles, 3-2 in the league tournament semifinal. BU will meet UMass-Lowell, a 3-2 overtime winner over Northeaster, in the Hockey East championship game on Saturday night.

“Big Train” Zach Cohen (photo, credit Dominick Reuter) got BU untracked, forcing his way from the corner to the BC net and beating John Muse on a low backhander. Just 21 seconds later, Brian Strait’s one-timer from the left point went past a screened Muse. Then Colin Wilson duplicated Cohen’s goal, coming out of the opposite corner.

We have recaps from Hockey East Online USCHO, College Hockey News The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The New York Times and a comprehensive boxscore. Video highlights from NESN. Post-game comments from Coach Parker and the players below.


► With the victory, BU has 30 wins for the first time since 1995-95.

► Colin Wilson’s goal gave him 50 points. He’s the first Terrier to reach the half-century mark since Chris Drury. Senior Chris Higgin's assist on Wilson's goal gave him 40 points this season.

► Cohen's 10th goal made him the sixth Terrier to hit double figures in goals this season.

► BU spent nearly the entire game down a forward as Brandon Yip took a five-minute major and game misconduct for a hit from behind just 91 seconds into the first period.

►Assistant captain Strait—sporting a playoff beard—made his return after missing two weeks the a knee strain.

► BU scored on its first three shots of the third period and only had one more shot after the barrage.

► The Terrier senior class has a 9-8-2 record in 19 games with BC during four seasons.

►BU went 0 for 5 on the power play, but it wasn’t for lack of good puck movement. The Eagles blocked a slew of BU shots. Jason Lawrence had a great chance with nine minutes left in the middle stanza. The rebound of his shot from the slot trickled off to the side of BC netminder John Muse, but Lawrence couldn’t control the bouncing puck before being leveled.

►BU won 38 of 61 faceoffs, including 20 of 25 in the third period.

►BU met Lowell in the HE quarterfinals last year, beating the River Hawks, 2 games to 1. The teams last met in the Hockey East title game in 1994, with the Terriers winning 3-2.

►Lowell’s 3-2 OT semifinal win over Northeastern was its fourth extra-attacker goal since January. The River Hawks won three of the games in overtime and tied the other one.

Game Day: BU-BC in the Hockey East semifinal

It would be hard to understate the fact that tonight game is BU’s most important matchup of the season, thus far. The Terriers face archrival BC for the right to play tomorrow for the Hockey East title, one of the key milestone that BU has targeted. Having won three in-season tournament this season, the Terriers now seek the first post-season title. BU last won the Lamoriello Cup three seasons ago in 2006 (video) with John Curry in goal.

The Terriers and Eagles will faceoff at TD Banknorth Garden at 8 p.m. (unless the NU-Lowell semifinal goes to overtime). The only TV is on NESN and, in Canada, RogersSports Net. This will be the 246th meeting between BU and BC with the Terriers holding a 122-106-17 edge.

GoTerriers.com has links to game notes, the audio Webcast with Bernie Corbett and Tom Ryan, and gametracker. College Hockey News' stat comparison of BU and BC. We have previews from USCHO, Inside College Hockey, HockeyEastOnline, Inside Hockey, College Hockey News, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald. Plus some features: The Patriot Ledger on why BU's loss to Maine Saturday might be a blessing in disguise; The Enterprise News on senior Steve Smolinsky, and Colin Wilson’s hometown paper, The Winnipeg Free Press, looks at the Terriers' top scorer.


►The Terriers will be attempting to reach the 30-win plateau for just the fifth time in program history. BU last earned 30 wins in a season during the 1995-96 campaign.


►This is the just the third time BU and BC have met in the Hockey East semifinals, as each team has come out on top once. The Terriers won a thrilling 6-5 double overtime contest (video of Justin Maiser's game-winner) in the 2003 semifinals, while the Eagles posted a convincing 6-2 victory in the 2007 semifinals

►BU is 11-4-0 (.733) in the 15 meetings at TD Banknorth Garden.

►The BU and BC seniors are tied at 8-8-2 in head to head competion over four seasons.

Gilroy, Wilson named Hobey Baker finalists

Senior co-captain Matt Gilroy and sophomore Colin Wilson have been named to the list of ten Hobey Baker Award finalists. This marks the second time two Terriers have been finalists. In 1996, Jay Pandolfo and Chris Drury were finalists and Pandolfo finished as runner-up. Drury won the Hobey Baker as a senior in 1998. Wilson is the first BU sophomore to become a finalist since Drury. This year's winner will be announced at the Frozen Four in Washington, D.C. Award criteria. CHN summary of finalists.

Hockey East claimed four finalists overall, including Northeastern's Brad Thiessen and Vermont's Viktor Stalberg.

Gilroy and Wilson also were among the honorees at last night's Hockey East awards dinner, earning places on the all-league first team. Gilroy is the first defenseman in Hockey East history to be named to the league first team three times. He leads all Hockey East defensemen in points this season with 32 (8g, 24a), has a plus-17 rating and has played in 140 consecutive contests. He was a finalist for Hockey East's Player of the Year award, won by Thiessen.

Wilson, last year's Hockey East Rookie of the Year, was league co-scoring champion with UMass forward James Marcou, has 14 goals and a league-high 35 assists on the season and registered 16 multi-point games.

Sophomore Kevin Shattenkirk and freshman goalie Kieran Millan were named to the league's second team, while senior Chris Higgins and sophomore junior Nick Bonino received honorable mention.

Millan also became the Terriers' second consecutive Rookie of the Year, and the third winner in four years. Brandon Yip won the award in 2006. Hockey East issued a Rookie of the Year highlights video and a video interview with Millan.

Hockey East also released a season highlights video of its 25th anniversary season and video interviews with the coaches of the four semifinalist teams. Link to Jack Parker interview.

Q&A With Tom Ryan

Terrier radio analyst Tom Ryan was co-captain—with current BU assistant head coach David Quinn—of BU’s 1987-88 team. Before arriving at BU, he starred at Newton North High School and this past season he returned to his high school alma mater as head coach. Now in his 16th season as Bernie Corbett’s partner on BU broadcasts, Ryan, a Pittsburgh Penguins draft choice, answered our questions in the latest THFB guest Q&A interview.

Q How has the level and/or style of play changed in Hockey East since you played for BU in the late 1980s?
A As far as the style of play, it was much more of a free wheeling game in the 80's .I think the coaching is so much better now from top to bottom with the advent of film study as well as the different defensive systems . Teams really focus on center ice play and transition as opposed to creating offense on forecheck and odd man rushes, which we used to see more often during the course of a game. I personally enjoyed playing and watching the game in the 80's compared to today’s game, but that's just my opinion. MORE

Connolly and Millan named to HE All-Rookie team

Lots of news from Hockey East this week. The conference announced its all-rookie team which includes freshman goalie Kieran Millan and forward Chris Connolly (photo).

The coaches of the four Hockey East seminfinals participated in a conference call on Tuesday. Audio and pdf links to each of the coaches remarks are here. In his comments, BU coach Jack Parker noted that he expects Brian Strait, on the sidelines the past two weeks with a strained knee, to return to the lineup.

Two more Terriers Colby Cohen and Brandon Yip were recognized as top performers of the QF round in Hockey East’s weekly release.

We have more coverage of last weekend's quarterfinal action from The New York Times and The Daily Free Press, while NESN, which will broadcast the Hockey East semifinals and finals, reviews the Terriers's season thus far.

While the Hockey East conference championship is the next goal for the Terriers, NCAA brackteology discussions and projections are in high gear, too. USCHO offers its latest predictions about the tournament brackets as well as an article focused on BU’s status as #1 ranked team in the PWR. Going into conference championship weekend, 26 teams are still contending for the 16 spots in the NCAA tournament.

College Hockey News offers its own current take on the brackets, plus a tool for predicting final PWR rankings based on different results in the conference championships.

Looking back
Chris Drury's shoot out goal provided the margin of victory for the New York Rangers last night in a 4-3 win over Montreal.

In the AHL, Pete MacArthur recorded his first 2-goal game as a pro in Rockford's 5-4 loss to Houston.

Looking ahead
2009 recruit Alex Chiasson and 2010 recruit Yasin Cissé each scored in Des Moines' 4-1 win over Tri-City in USHL action. Cissé's goal was the game-winner for the Bucs.

2009 recruit Justin Courtnall scored his first post-season goal as Victoria eliminated Cowichan Valley in the BCHL playoffs.

Terriers rebound to eliminate Maine, 6-2

Stung by Maine in game two of the quarterfinal series, BU scored early and often to win the deciding third game of its Hockey East quarterfinal series, 6-2, at Agganis Arena.

BU advances to the Hockey East semifinals for the eighth consecutive season—becoming the first team in conference history to do so. And, for the fifth time in the last six years, the Terriers needed all three games to move on.

On Friday evening, BU will face arch-rival Boston College in the 8 p.m. game at Bank TD North Garden. The Eagles beat New Hampshire in two games to advance. In 2007, BC beat the Terriers in the semifinals. The previous year, the Commonwealth Ave. rivals met in the Hockey East Championship game, with BU winning on Brandon Yip's overtime goal.

Northern meets UMass-Lowell in the other semi-final. This will be the first time that all three Hockey East Beanpot schools--BU, BC, NU--have reached the semis together.

Colby Cohen, who scored the game-winner in Friday’s game, got BU off to a fast start tonight, scoring just 58-seconds into the game. Maine tied the score late in the period, but Brandon Yip and Joe Pereira scored 29 seconds apart for 3-1 lead. BU added three more goals in the second period. Corey Trivino’s fourth goal of the season was followed by Zach Cohen’s (photo) ninth and Nick Bonino’s 16th, during four on four play. Maine added a late goal to close out the scoring.

►Kieran Millan recorded his 23rd victory in 28 decisions.

►The win improves BU’s record to 29-6-4. The 29 wins are the most for BU since its 1995-96 Frozen Four team won 30.

►With his first-period goal, Pereira became the 16th Terrier to reach double-figures in scoring.

►BU received strong efforts by freshmen David Warsofsky, Chris Connolly and Trivino.

►Warsofsky’s pair of assists give him 20 points, making him the 11th Terrier to reach that milestone.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO , The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald and The Daily Free Press, along with a comprehensive boxscore and video highlights. Jack Parker's post-game comments are linked below (click to begin).

Maine upends Terriers to force third game

A gift goal in the first minute of play and four power play goals enabled Maine to defeat BU, 6-3, ending the Terriers’ 17 game unbeaten streaks and forcing a third game to settle the Hockey East quarterfinal series.

BU came storming back in the first period after a turnover at the side of the Terrier net became a Chris Hahn goal. Brandon Yip, Luke Popko and co-captain John McCarthy—shorthanded—all scored to give the home team a 3-1 lead, but Maine added a pair to knot the score at three at the end of one. Maine tacked on a power play goal in the second period and two more in the final period, while BU couldn’t solve Black Bear goalie Scott Darling.

Maine's six goals were the most BU has surrendered this year. The Black Bears clicked on four of seven power play opportunities, while the Terriers failed to score in five man-advantage chances. McCarthy's shorthander was BU's ninth of the season.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO and The Boston Globe, along with video highlights, a comprehensive boxscore and Coach Jack Parker’s post-game comments below (click to begin).

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Terriers edge Maine in QF opener

BU overcame a determined Maine Black Bear squad, 2-1, on Colby Cohen’s power play goal with just under three minutes left in regulation. The Terriers take a 1-0 lead in the best-of-three Hockey East quarterfinal series. The win extended BU's unbeaten streak to 17 games (14-0-3) and its overall record to 28-5-4. (photo credit Matthew Healy, Boston Herald)

Maine grabbed a 1-0 lead in the final minute of the first period on a power play goal as a deflection eluded Kieran Millan.

BU evened the scored midway through the second when Colin Wilson, standing behind the Maine goal line, found Kevin Shattenkirk in the high slot. He fired home his seventh goal of the season. Terriers dominated play in the second period, but were stopped by Scott Darling on several opportunities.

Maine kept BU bottled up for parts of the third period, but with BU already on a power play, Wilson drove to the net and drew a second penalty. With the 5-on-3 advantage winding down, Wilson wheeled and fired a cross-ice pass to Cohen in the left circle and he one-timed the go-ahead goal past Darling. Millan was forced to make a sharp save in the waning minutes after Maine pulled its goalie. BU outshot Maine 25-21.

We have recaps from GoTerriers. com, USCHO's Scott Weighart, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald, along with video highlights and a detailed boxscore. Below is a link to Coach Jack Parker's post-game comments (click to start):

BU was the only home ice team in Hockey East to win tonight. UMass came from behind to nip Northeastern, 2-1. BC thumped UNH, 5-3. And Lowell, after tying Vermont at 3-all in the final minute of regulation, beat the Catamounts on a goal scored two two second left in the first overtime. For scores and details of Hockey East playoff games, click here.

Game Day— Hockey East Quarterfinal Previews and Prognostications

Five months of preliminaries are over. The partners have been determined for the first post-season dance. Top-ranked BU puts its regular season achievements in the rear-view mirror and sets off on the road to pursue its two final goals: the Hockey East championship and the NCAA title. Tonight, BU takes on Maine, beginning a best-of-three-games quarterfinals at Agganis Arena.

There’s a bushel of previews and prognostication on the Internet to get you ready for tonight’s games:

●From GoTerriers.com, we have links to game notes, game tracker, the audio broadcast and the Webcast on B2 Network. To watch on B2 Network, you must sign up ten minutes before tonight's 7 p.m. start. Maine game notes.

●In his final weekly Hockey East column, USCHO’s Dave Hendrickson predicts a Terrier sweep of the Black Bears, but sees a few matchups that could go to a third game.

●INCH’s Jeff Howe provides both quarterfinal capsules and his own picks for league all-stars and individual awards, which go heavy on the Scarlet.

●The Boston Globe also has quarterfinal thumbnails, while Nancy Marrapese-Burrell looks at difference-maker Colin Wilson’s standout season and his future plans, which may not be the foregone conclusion that many people assume.

●The Boston Heralds’ Jim Connolly previews the four matchups and examines the added pressure of playing on the road in the quarterfinals.

●We also more previews from Hockey East Online, Inside Hockey and The Kennebec Journal , while USCHO college hockey analyst and broadcaster Dave Starman takes a stab at picking the teams that move on to their league semi-final in Hockey East, the ECAC, CCHA and WCHA.

WBUR’s Doug Tribou spoke with Boston’s two college hockey coaching legends, BU’s Jack Parker and BC’s Jerry York, tracing their long and frequently connected careers. (Audio link)

►Terrier defenseman Brian Strait, who sprained a knee two weeks ago, remains questionable for tonight’s game.

►Does playoff experience make a difference? Maine’s current roster has only five players who have previously played in the Hockey East playoffs. The Black Bears missed last year’s playoffs.

►BU has earned the top seed in the Hockey East playoffs seven times in the league's 25 year history. The Terriers last won the conference championship in 2006, their sixth title.

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Hockey East Coaches' Conference Call

Terrier head coach Jack Parker and the seven other Hockey East coaches whose teams are in the playoffs participated in a conference call yesterday. Parker's comments follow below and you can find the other coaches' remarks here.

Overall Comments:
The goal of every BU hockey team is to make sure we win enough games in the regular season to get home ice in the Hockey East playoffs and to get selected to the national tournament on the basis of our regular-season play without having to win our (conference) tournament.

If you said that the entire college hockey season ended today, we would say we had a very successful season. But that isn’t how college hockey, and certainly not Boston University hockey, is measured. We will be judged on how well we do from here on out, when the two biggest tournaments are available and the biggest championships are available.

So far, so good. Now it’s clean the slate. It’s all new – everybody’s got a chance. As Al McGuire used to say ‘We’re in position to be position’, so we’ll see how it all works out.

On facing a historical rival like Maine in a 1-8 matchup:
At this stage of the game, everybody worries if your team is going to be ready for the playoffs; it doesn’t matter if you’re a four playing a five or a one playing an eight. We have been involved on both ends on it. We’ve been a one team that got beat by an eight team, and we have been an eight team that’s beaten a one team. So we know exactly what can happen in that round, and hopefully our guys know that. The good part about that is that the last time we played Maine, they tied us 2-2 in what was a really well-played, tough contest for us and for them – a really good college hockey game. It’s not like we blew them out and we think it’s going to be an easy game.

On the keys factor in the team’s run since the losses to Vermont in November:
After the Vermont series, we were ranked 35th in the nation in penalty kill, and today we are ranked fourth. From that time on, we’ve been the best penalty-team in the nation, and that has been a big boost for us. The turn- around came with confidence in our special teams. The power play kept going – it was going well and it got even better – and the penalty kill really took off. We also started getting into some games right after that like BC. I would say that was the real turnaround. We tied them here, 1-1, and then beat them up at BC; in fact, I think that we played better in the game that we tied here. I’ve always thought that a good outing against BC can boost our team, because there is so much pressure in those games.

►College Hockey News editor Adam Wodon's take on brackets for the NCAA tournament would have the Terriers--all but locked into the top seed overall--playing in the Bridgeport regional on March 27 & 28.

►Further information on Webcasts of Hockey East tournament quarterfinal games are here. Cost for individual games is $8.

On to the second season

Playoff time is upon us. Three of college hockey’s leagues begin playoffs this weekend while three others have already begun theirs—with some startling upsets in the ECAC. A good place to follow all the action is CHN’s Tourney Watch. Hockey East’s playoff bracket has all four series beginning this Friday. The only game that will be televised is Saturday’s UMass-Northeastern encounters. For those who have been watching BU home games on All-Access, that service is done for the season. However, you can watch any of the HE quarterfinal games (except the NESN game) on B2 Networks at $8/game. We’ll post details later this week.

Sports of Boston.com previews the four quarterfinal series and projects winners for each one. While statistical site PlayoffStatus.com has evaluated the likelihood for each team to win the league crown.

USCHO’s Scott Weighart, who has covered Terrier home games all season, has generously prepared, on two audio files, an assessment of the team and the completed regular season and a look ahead to the playoffs, both of which you can find in the player below (click to select):



While the Terriers must focus their attention on first-round opponent, Maine, BU fans have the luxury of looking down the road to the NCAA tournament where BU is assured of being a top seed. USCHO’s Jim Connelly’s analysis suggests that the Terriers may already have wrapped up the top overall seed. Most people assume that BU will find itself in the Manchester Regional, but Connelly offers one scenario that would put BU in Bridgeport. And, in a comment to the article, THFBlog contributor Todd presents a second possibility.

We have some trailing recaps of Sunday’s win that clinched the regular season Hockey East title. The Daily Free Press, The New York Times and New England Hockey Journal. Meanwhile, NHL Fanhouse.com focuses on Nick Bonino's hot hand of late in its weekly report.

A few items from the Hockey East Online weekly news release:
►The Terriers have five players with 30 points or more this season, placing all of them in the top 10 among Hockey East players.

►BU has one loss since Thanksgiving and is on a 16-game unbeaten streak, its longest since a 17-game stretch (14-0-3) in the 1995-96.

►Co-captain Matt Gilroy and Chris Higgins, both played in their 150th career game this past weekend.

►Brandon Yip became the 76th Terrier to reach the 100-point mark on the final goal of his hat trick in Friday’s 8-2 win at Providence. He's tied on the all-time scoring list with Rich Brennan, a defenseman on BU's 1995 national championship team.

Shutout seals regular season Hockey East title for BU

For six Terrier seniors, there was a déjà vu feeling to their 3-0 win over Providence College that provided the two points the pushed BU past Northeastern and made the Terriers regular season champions. Just as they reached first place on the final day of the current season, three years ago as freshman, they were part of the Terrier squad that beat the Huskies 5-3 in the regular season finale while BC lost to New Hampshire, 5-2. BU squeaked past the Eagles to finish atop the conference for the first time since 1999-00.

BU’s unbeaten streak is now at 16 games (13-0-3). The 2005-06 squad also reached the conference playoffs on a hot streak, 14-1-3.

BU scored once in each period against Providence, with goals scored by Luke Popko, Vinny Saponari and Chris Higgins. Freshman Grant Rollheiser stopped 16 Friar shots en route to his first shutout and the Terriers’ third of the year.

The Terriers, top seed in the Hockey East playoffs, meet Maine next weekend in a best of three series at Agganis Arena., with games Friday, Saturday and, if necessary, Sunday. Full conference playoff pairings are listed here.

We have recaps from GoTerrriers.com, USCHO, The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe, along with a comprehensive boxscore, video highlights and Coach Jack Parker’s lengthy post-game comments below:


►The six seniors--Matt Gilroy, Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence, John McCarthy, Steve Smolinsky and Brandon Yip--were recognized along with their parents in a post-game on-ice ceremony to the cheeers of Terrier fans. Team manager Amanda Gibson also was honored and the names of the senior members of BU’s Pep Band were flashed on the Agganis Arena scoreboard.

►Senior Steve Smolinsky assisted on Popko's goal for his first point of the season.

►Freshman center Corey Trivino’s assist on Saponari’s goal was his tenth point of the season, making him the 15th Terrier to reach double-figures in points.

► Since losing a weekend series to Vermont in November, the Terriers have a 20-1-4 record. The win was BU’s 27th (27-5-4), most in the regular season since 1997-98.

► Hockey East Director of Officials Dick DeCaprio, a former BU teammate of Coach Jack Parker, presented the Hockey East regular season trophy to the Terriers. DeCaprio also coaches Arlington High School.

Among the former Terriers on hand for Senior Day were: Tony Ruvolo, Kirsten Durocher, Tony Amonte, , Mark Hetnik, Dennis O'Connell, Brian Collins, Bill Whelton, Shawn Ferullo, Brad Zancanaro, Peter Fish, Blaine Maus, Stefan Siwiec, Mike Eruzione, Dick DeCaprio, Scott Manty, Ryan Monaghan, Chris Henes and Bob Smith, who was captain of both Harry Cleverly's last Terrier squad and the first one coached by Jack Kelley.

Photo caption: Brian Strait, Matt Gilroy, League Official Dick DiCaprio, John McCarthy and Coach Jack Parker with the regular season Hockey East championship trophy.

Opportunity knocks on Senior Day

As USCHO’s Jim Connolly points out in his recap to last night’s BC win over Northeastern, the Huskies have held first place in Hockey Eastern since conference play began, 114 days ago.

When Northeastern rallied in the final minute to tie and then beat the Eagles in OT Friday night, it looking like the Huntingdon Hounds would indeed hold off the hard-charging Terriers who had closed gap to a single point three weeks ago.

But with last night’s verdict, BU controls its chance to grab its first regular season conference title since 2006. A win against Providence in this afternoon’s 2:00 p.m. matinee contest will give BU the pennant outright. A tie would make BU and NU co-champs, with the Terriers getting the #1 seed in the conference tournament because they own the tie-breaker.

Freshman Grant Rollheiser will get the start in goal for the Terriers today.

Six seniors--Matt Gilroy, Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence, John McCarthy, Steve Smolinsky and Brandon Yip will be honored in post-game ceremonies today. The “On Being a Sports Girl” blog has posted a series of profiles on the seniors.

Between the second and third periods, former Terrier Tony Amonte will be recognized for his outstanding NHL career.

GoTerriers.com has a preview article with links to game tracker and the audio and video Webcasts.

Going into today's game, Colin Wilson is tied with UMass' James Marcou for the conference scoring lead at 35. Wilson tops the list in assists, while Gilroy is second in points by a defenseman, trailing Lowell's Maury Edwards.

USCHO Jason Moy’s latest bracketology, which includes Friday’s games, has the Terriers holding the top seed in the Bridgeport, Conn., NCAA regional and facing Air Force in the first round. Tim Rosenthal of Inside Hockey sees it differently with BU in the Manchester, N.H. regional, taking on the 16th seed, Bemidji State.

Fantasy hockey site School Your Pool did a Q&A with Kevin Shattenkirk.

2010 recruit Yasin Cisse scored for Des Moines/USHL, which broke a seven-game losing streak with a 3-2 win over Green Bay. Alex Chiasson added an assist.

2009 recruit Justin Courtnall has an assist in Victoria’s win over Cowichan Valley in the BCHL playoffs. The second-round series is tied at one apiece.

Goals a-plenty in Providence

The Terriers continued to fill opponents’ nets with pucks, throttling Providence College, 8-2. The lop-sided win gave BU a short-lived visit to first place in Hockey East, inching ahead of Northeastern...for about an hour. The Huskies trailed BC in their game, 1-0, until tying it up with less than half a minute in regulation. They completed the comeback win in overtime, so BU remains a point behind with each team having one regular season game left to play.

Playing in Schneider Arena, BU waited nearly ten minutes to get its offense untracked and then turned on the red light four times before the end of the period. The Terriers added a pair in each of the next two periods. BU’s second line did most of the damage. Nick Bonino scored twice and added three assists, while Brandon Yip (photo) registered BU’s third hattrick in seven games. John McCarthy chipped in with a goal and two assists. Jason Lawrence and Zach Cohen also found the back of the net.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO, The Boston Globe, and the Providence Journal, along with a comprehensive boxscore and Brian Kelley’s in-game blog.

►The win extends the Terriers’ nation’s-best unbeaten streak to 15 games (12-0-3) and brings their overall record 26-5-4—the team’s most wins since 1997-98. BU's only loss since Thanksgiving came at the hands of the Friars in January, 4=2. If BU wins Sunday's finale, the Terriers will have won every season series against Hockey East opponent, with the exception of Vermont.

►Lawrence’ goal was his 21st, Yip’s trio bring him to 16 and Bonino’s pair give him 15. Colin Wilson's two assists give him a team-leading 46 points. He's second in the nation in points per game and second in assists (32)

►Bernie Corbett noted on All-Access that Yip's parents are visiting from British Columbia and that always seems to result in Yip putting a puck past a goalie. The senior wing's third goal of the game was his 100th career point, making him the second Terrier to reach the century mark this season. Chris Higgins, who assisted on Lawrence's goal and now has 121 points, was the other one. Yip now has at least one point in his last 11 games.

►McCarthy became the 10th Terrier to hit 20 points or more this season.

►Zach Cohen’s scored the game-winner, his eighth goal of the season. His 11 points are two more than his previous two seasons combined.

►The win brought goal Kieran Millan’s record to 21-1-3 in 26 starts with a 1.77 goals against average and a .925 save percentage. His only loss came back on Nov. 22 against Vermont.

Game Day--BU takes on the Friars

It's the final weekend of the regular season and top-ranked BU is still seeking to catch Northeastern which has a one-point lead for first place in Hockey East. The Terriers play a home-and-home series with the Providence College Friars, the last team to defeat BU--back on January 13, by a 4-2 score. Since then, BU has gone 11-0-3 in 14 games.

Junior defenseman Brian Strait will miss the weekend series with a sprained knee, suffered last week against UMass. Senior Steve Smolinsky, who filled in ably for Kevin Shattenkirk during the Denver Cup tournament in January, gets the call to replace Strait. Kieran Millan will be in goal for BU.

If BU and Northeastern, which plays Boston College this weekend, end up tied, BU will earn the top seed for the conference tournament (current standings) because it owns the head-to-head tiebreaker over the Huskies. The second game in the weekend series with the Friars is Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m. By then, BU will know whether it can catch the Huskies for the conference crown.

We have game and conference previews from The Boston Globe, USCHO, and Hockey East Online, which also has prepared a rundown of playoff possibilities and tiebreakers. GoTerriers.com provides links to game notes, game tracker and the audio Web cast from Schneider Arena tonight. From College Hockey News, there's a statistical comparison of the teams and links to recent games in the Terriers-Friars series.

Sports Information Director Brian Kelley will provide a live, in-game blog throughout tonight's game. The link is here.

The Daily Free Press focuses on how standout seasons by BU's two Hobey Baker Award candidates, Colin Wilson and Matt Gilroy, in its game preview article.

In his weekly column, INCH's Jeff Howe recounts how Hockey East, now celebrating its 25th anniversary, established with BU Coach Jack Parker relating much of the intrigue that surround the departure of five teams from the ECAC in 1984. A very good read.

USCHO's latest cut at bracketology for the NCAA tournament has the Terriers in the Manchester Regional meeting Bemidji State with UNH vs. Cornell completing that regional.

The Hockey News' annual top prospects issue is out, listing the top ten prospects for each NHL team. The Colorado Avs' list includes three Terriers: #1 Shattenkirk, #6 Colby Cohen and #10 Brandon Yip. We'll post more of these lists as they become available. The issue includes a feature article on BU co-captain Matt Gilroy.

Hobey Baker Watch

The initial stages of choosing the 2009 Hobey Baker Award winner are underway and Terriers Colin Wilson and co-captain Matt Gilroy are likely candidates to be among the ten finalists. The ballots of 58 Division 1 coaches—and to a minor degree, the fan vote—will decide the winner. BU Sports Information has produced files summarizing Wilson’s and Gilroy’s achievements thus far this season.

Gilroy, along with BU women’s team standout goalie Alyson Wilcox, have been named to participate in the skills competition at the 2009 NCAA Frozen Four in Washington D.C. next month.

The draft rights to sophomore center Nick Bonino were traded by the San Jose Sharks to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a four-player deal, just prior to the NHL trade deadline. Bonino, who has a 13-24-37 scoring line, recently was named MVP of the Beanpot and Hockey East’s Player of the Month of February. Last month, hockeysfuture.com named him a Sharks’ top NCAA prospect.

If you’d like to learn more about the factors that go into the Pairwise rankings, check these two sites. CHN’s Pairwise Primer and a listing of the Terriers' comparisons with other school that contribute to their Pairwise points. USCHO's latest bracketology shows BU as the top seed, playing in the Manchester, N.H., regional.

Looking back

BU's only Hobey Baker Award winner, Chris Drury (video) scored his 17th goal and added an assist in the Rangers' 4-2 win over the Islanders Thursday night.

David Van der Gulik, called up to Calgary over the past weekend, scored his first NHL point, a primary assist (video), in the Flames 6-3 win over Ottawa. Ex-Terrier blueline Adrian Aucoin also had a assist.

Former Terrier captain Carl Corazzini, recently traded from Springfield to Peoria, discussed his future plans with the Peoria Journal Star. The 2001 second team All-American forward, who has played 12 NHL games, says this is his final AHL season, but would like to play a few more years in Europe.

Former All-Hockey East defenseman Bryan Miller, in his second year with the ECHL Alaska Aces, was called up to the AHL Providence Bruins. Miller who was the Aces’ sixth leading scorer, will join ex-Terrier Kevin Schaeffer, his teammate at BU for two season, on the Bruins’ blueline.

Defenseman Dan Spang scored his fourth assist in five games since joining the Syracuse Crunch in a 3-2 loss to Hamilton.

Boomer Ewing scored his 36th goal for the ECHL Wheeling Nailer in a 3-2 win against Trenton over the weekend. Ewing, who is second in scoring in the ECHL with 72 points, subsequently was recalled to the Penguins AHL team in Scranton Wilkes Barre where he suited up last night in the Baby Pens 3-1 win over Binghamton. Goalie John Curry picked up his 24th win , equalling his 2007-08 total.

Kudos and Polls

Senior Jason Lawrence earned Hockey East's Player of the Week award for his four goal, one assist performance against UMass, including a natural hattrick during Friday's comeback win. Lawrence, who also won POTW honors for the week of Oct. 27, finished the month of February with nine goals. Also noted in the HockeyEast Online Weekly Release:

►Saturday's, 7-2 win was the Terriers' 25th of the regular season, a milestone last achieved during the 1997-98 campaign.

►BU’s penalty kill had been successful 24 straight times before UMass ended the streak in the closing minutes of Saturday’s game

►Freshman goaltender Kieran Millan is undefeated in his last 18 decisions (15-0-3).

►BU has lost only three of the 10 games this season in which its opponent scored first.

Bravo Bonino
Nick Bonino got the nod as Hockey East's Player of the Month for February, after scoring 14 points (6g,8a) to lead BU to an undefeated month (6-0-3). A +9 for the month, he scored at in eight of the nine games, tallying multiple points in five contests. The sophomore center's MVP performance in the Beanpot had earned him the conference's Player of the Week award for the week of Feb. 9.

Poll Story
BU solidified its first place ranking in the USCHO/CBS College Sports poll, taking 44 first place votes to 6 for Notre Dame. In the USA Today poll, the Terriers regained the top spot from the Fighting Irish.


But the polls are just the beauty pageant. Far more important, the RPI and Pairwise rankings are indicators of how the NCAA tournament seedings will play out. The Terriers remain at the top of each of those charts too.

College Hockey News' Adam Wodon offered a startling comment on the Terrier's current RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) numbers:

BU's RPI is so good, and Record vs. TUCs so much better than anyone else, that I really think at this point it could lose the next four games and still be the No. 1 overall seed. None of those four games are going to be against TUCs, and even if the Terriers' RPI slips below one of the teams below them (Notre Dame, Michigan, Denver), the other criteria are strong enough to win those comparisons.

Hockey East 25th Anniversary Honorees
Sunday we posted the names of the Terriers honored between the first and second period of Saturday's game. They included Terriers named to yearly all-HE teams and all-rookie teams, a 20-man BU 25th anniversary team, and the top Terrier goalie, forward and defenseman in HE play, along with the best individual performance. All those honorees are featured on a printable commemorative sheet, prepared by the BU athletics department, that also includes the names of assistant coaches and longtime program support staff during those 25 years.

►Boston Herald college hockey writer Jim Connolly describes how Terriers top scorer--and Hobey Baker award candidate--Colin Wilson has elevated his level of play this season.

Looking ahead--Wade Megan and Charlie Coyle

BU recruit Wade Megan (photo) may be lacing ‘em up at Agganis Arena a bit sooner than originally planned.

The 6-1, 180 left shot forward from Canton, N.Y., is having a standout senior year at South Kent School. As of this past Friday, he was the leading scorer in New England Division 1 prep hockey with 27-36-63 in 30 games. Those numbers earned him a spot on the NEPSIHA Prep-West First Team. He centers the SKS top line, often skating with Joe Pereira’s brother, Mike, a UMass recruit and Jeff Silengo, a UNH recruit. As a junior, he posted a 24-29-53 line in 36 games.

U.S Hockey Report says Megan “is difficult to knock off the puck and can finish, too,” while an NHL scout compared his “hands, head and puck skills” to Terrier sophomore Nick Bonino's, noting that Megan also needs to improve his strength and skating. He was ranked #130 in NHL Central Scouting’s midterm rankings.

When Megan committed to BU this past summer, the plan was for him to spend a season in the USHL and arrive at BU in 2010. Now, a source familiar with the situation says that Megan will likely join BU’s 2009 recruit class, which currently has two other forwards, RW Alex Chiasson of Des Moines (USHL) and LW Justin Courntall of Victoria (BCHL), and one defenseman, Max Nicastro of Chicago (USHL).

BU 2011 recruit, Thayer Academy wing Charlie Coyle is having a strong sophomore season, leading his team in scoring with an 18-19-37 line in 26 games. Thayer is struggling this season, but according to one observer, Coyle is an excellent skater who “created a lot of opportunities even without much help from his teammates.” Coyle, who is a cousin of former BU and NHL standout Tony Amonte, will be participating in the Spring Beantown Classic, March 18-20, at NESC in Marlborough, Mass.

Terriers flex offensive muscle again

After playing three low-scoring ties with Maine and Northeastern (twice), BU completed its domination of UMass with a 7-2 win last night at Agganis Arena. Thirteen Terrier skaters had a hand in the scoring with Nick Bonino being the only multi-goal scorer. UMass scored first when a Terrier defender fell down, but Corey Trivino’s third goal of the season less than a minute later tied the score.

As in Friday’s win in Amherst, the Terriers scored three times in the second and three times in the final period to seal the one-sided win, with three power play markers. Bonino’s first came off a perfect cross-ice pass from Brandon Yip and his second on a wraparound. Early in the third period, Bonino won an offensive zone draw back to Yip who one-timed a laser past beleaguered UMass goalie Paul Dainton. Junior Eric Gryba (photo), who assisted on BU’s final goal, was “immense” on defense, according to Coach Jack Parker. Kieran Millan, pulled from Friday night's game, was strong in the Terrier net, especially early on when UMass has numerous grade A scoring opportunities.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO’s Scott Weighart, College Hockey News, The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe, along with a detailed boxscore and video highlights. Post-game comments from Coach Parker are below.


►During the first intermission, Boston University men's ice hockey program announced its Hockey East 25th Anniversary Team, consisting of 20 players (12 forwards, six defensemen, two goaltenders) who each played at least two seasons in the Hockey East era (1984-2009).

Forwards: Tony Amonte, John Cullen, Chris Drury, Mike Grier, Jacques Jobert, Pete MacArthur, Shawn McEachern, Chris O'Sullivan, Jay Pandolfo, David Sacco, Joe Sacco, Scott Young.

Defensemen: Jon Coleman, Matt Gilroy, Kaj Linna, Freddy Meyer, Tom Poti, Dan Spang.

Goaltenders: John Curry, Michel Larocque.

Fan voting chose Curry, Drury and Gilroy as the top performers at their respective positions. Fans also determined the top individual performance by a Terrier, which was Drury’s four-goal effort against BC in Dec. 1996. His spree included two shorthanded goals (one with BU one man down; the other with BU down two men), an even strength goal and an empty net goal.

► The ceremony also recognized numerous former players in attendence who were members of Hockey East regular season or tournament champions: Amonte, Pat Aufiero, Brian Collins, Coleman, Tom Dion, Peter Marshall, Chris O’Sullivan, Kevin O’Sullivan, Mike Predergast and Scott Shaunessy.

►Other former Terriers on hand included Tim Regan (first visit to Agganis), Vic Stanfield, Brian Durocher (whose Terrier women’s team won its first round Hockey East playoff game, 2-1 over Northeastern), Paul Giandomenico, Stan Mescon, Peter McLachlan, Bill Whelton, Frank D’Orio, Marc Hetnik, Scott Manty, Brad Zancanaro, Matt Marden, Stephan Siwiec and Karson Gillespie.

►Jason Lawrence, who scored his 20th goal of the season and 13th on the power play when he converted a slick Colby Cohen pass, was one of two Terriers to reach 30 points on the season. Yip’s goal and assist gave him 31, equaling his freshman year total. BU now has five 30+ scorers.
►Radio color commentator Tom Ryan pointed out that BU has now scored 5 goals or more 13 times this season.

►Friday’s win clinched home ice in the Hockey East playoffs for BU. Saturday’s victory means BU can finish no worse than third and with one point against Providence next weekend, BU will be guaranteed to finish at least second. A sweep of the Friars combined with a Northeastern tie or loss to BC would give the Terriers the regular season title and top seed in the playoffs.

►BU extended its current unbeaten streak to 14 games--best in NCAA D1--and is unbeaten in 22 of its last 23 games. The only blemish was a 4-2 loss to Providence, next weekend's opponent.

►The Herald's recap reports that BU has has registered 25 regular-season wins for the first time since 1997-98, when the Terriers posted 27 victories.