Co-captains
Garrett Noonan and Patrick MacGregor will lead the Terriers into their first
game action tonight, an exhibition contest with St. Francis Xavier of Canadian
Intrauniversity Sports Conference. Puck drop at Agganis Arena is 7 p.m.
New
head coach David Quinn will have his first opportunity to see his club in game
conditions. While it’s expected that
Quinn will try out numerous line combinations, sources tell THFB that returning
top scorer Danny O’Regan has been centering junior Evan Rodrigues and freshman
Robbie Baillargeon, while junior pivot Cason Hohmann has had sophomores Matt
Lane and Sam Kurker as his wings. Another line combined three first-year
skaters: Brendan Collier, Tommy Kelley and Nick Roberto.
The
X-Men played their fourth pre-season game on Thursday, doubling up Aigles Bleus
de Moncton, 4-2. Two seasons ago, the X-Men outscored BU, 6-4 in an exhibition
game.
Tonight's exhibition game is the first of 14 home contests to be Webcast on Terrier TV, as will next week's season opener against UMass (10/11) and the Holy Cross game (10/12). We'll soon post the full TV and Webcast schedule
●
GoTerriers.com preview,
GameTracker,
WTBU Sports Radio Webcast, Terrier TV Webcast
(subscription) , 2013-14 BU Hockey
Prospectus
●
CIS Blogs’ David Kilfoil talked with BloggingonBabcock
about St. Francis Xavier and the CIS.
►THFB
Trivia: When was the last time two BU defensemen served as Terrier
co-captains? It was 1987 when BU was led
by Quinn and Tom Ryan, who is the longtime analyst on BU Hockey broadcasts and
the father of freshman blueliner T.J. Ryan.
►United
States of Hockey’s pre-season players
to watch list includes sophomores Matt Grzelcyk and Danny O’Regan. Dave Starman, a USCHO
national columnist and CBS Sports Network analysts for college hockey, says
Grzekcyk is among the players he expecting to have a standout season. He points
out:
"I think he could be a big-time player this season. He was great last year and under new coach David Quinn, a former BU defenseman who is all energy and very demanding, a player with Grzelcyk’s skills could be scary. His playmaking skills are a combination of tremendous vision, excellent passing skills, quick release and an ability to get shots to the net."
►The
Western College Hockey Blog’s Hockey East preview ranked
the Terriers sixth, the same as where the coaches’ pre-season polled placed
them.
►
Bay State Sports has posted a three-part series looking at the 2013 recruit
class.
Looking
ahead
2014
recruit J.J. Piccinich scored
twice for Youngstown, but it wasn’t enough as Cedar Rapids edged the
Phantoms, 4-3.
Piccinich, who tied the game in the third period with his second marker of the
evening, now has five
goals on 13 shots in five USHL games, which ranks him second in the
league. Youngstown head coach Anthony
Noreen, noting Piccinich’s improved maturity since last season, explained:
"Both of those were goal-scorer's goals. He doesn't over-handle the puck. He puts it on net and gets it there before the goalie is able to set. That's what goal-scorers do. It's not always the placement or how hard you shoot it."
Looking back
THFB
contributor defkit points out that, with his opening night goal against
Florida, Alex Chiasson has scored seven times in his eight NHL starts.
Matt
Nieto, who made his NHL debut Thursday night for San Jose playing 9+ minutes, isn’t the only
former Terrier who is making California his hockey home this season. Recent grads
Ben Rosen and Sean Escobedo, who had been in Bridgeport Sound Tigers camp, have
been assigned to the ECHL Stockton Thunder, and Corey Trivino, who was in
Florida Panthers camp, has
signed with Stockton to make a trio of ex-BU players on the roster.
John
McCarthy, a co-captain on BU’s 2009 national champions, has
been recalled to San Jose. He had been assigned to AHL Worcester last week
after clearing waivers. McCarthy has skated in 51 NHL games for the Sharks.
