Father's Day Linkorama UPDATED

While no former Terriers were on the ice as the Los Angeles Kings won their second  Stanley Cup in three years, a trio of BU grads are long-time members of the Kings’ staff:

Jack Ferreira, Special Assistant to the General Manager.

An All-American goalie for Jack Kelley’s BU teams in the mid-1960s and a member of the BU athletics Hall of Fame, Ferreira has had a long career in coaching, scouting and management, including Assistant GM for the New England Whalers, Director of Player Personnel for the Atlanta Thrashers, Director of Player Development for the New York Rangers and VP of Hockey Operations for the Anaheim Ducks.

Bob Crocker, Amateur Scout, Northeastern U.S.

The “Dean of New England scouts,” Crocker played hockey and baseball as an undergrad at BU in the 1950s and later became the school’s head baseball coach and assistant hockey coach to Jack Kelley. Later, he was head coach of the University of Pennsylvania’s hockey team for three seasons and then spent 15 seasons as assistant general manager for the Hartford Whalers. Crocker later scouted for the New York Rangers, who won a Stanley Cup (1994) during that time, before joining the Kings' staff. He has now been a part of three Stanley Cup champions (Kings 2012, 2014), as well as two NCAA champions (BU 1971, 1972).

Mark Mullen, Collegiate Scout-East.

Mullen captained the 2003-04 Terrier squad. After playing minor league hockey, he later served as assistant coach for the USHL Cedar Rapids Roughriders before joining the Kings’ scouting staff in 2009.

The HockeyWriters.com analyzed BU’s 2014 recruit class (prior to the recent verbal from goalie Connor Lacouvee) and how the incoming talent will help head coach David Quinn craft his type of team.

● Johnathan MacLeod draft profile

● NHL.com article on draft-eligible NTDP defensemen

With the NHL draft approaching, the Boston Herald checked in with MacLeod. The Dracut, Mass., native helped Team USA win the gold at the recent World U18 Championships with two power play goals and an assist in seven games. 

New England Hockey Journal talked with incoming freshman Jack Eichel on his priorities as he begins the next stage of his hockey career. 

On June 21 The Travis Roy Foundation and the Franciscan Hospital for Children will co-host their fourth corporate-sponsored Wiffle Ball tournament at Boston University’s Nickerson Field from 8:30 a.m.-3 p.m. The Boston Herald reported that “this year, there will be a Beanpot element to the tourney as the BU, Boston College, Northeastern and Harvard men’s hockey programs will be fielding teams.” 

Proceeds will benefit the Travis Roy Foundation, which is dedicated to enhancing the lives of individuals with spinal cord injuries and funding research, and the Franciscan, which each year provides care and treatment to more than 10,000 children with a wide range of physical, medical, and behavioral challenges.

 

Standout BCHL goalie joins 2014 recruit class

Terriers have added top-flight BCHL goalie Connor Lacouvee to the 2014 recruit class, according to tweets from College Hockey Inc. and Examiner.com hockey writer Russ Bitely. Lacouvee, a 6-1, 190 lb. native of Qualicum Beach, British. Columbia who turned 20 last month, spent last season with Alberni Valley, helping the Bulldogs--last seed in the BCHL playoffs--extend top-seed Victoria to a full seven games, while racking up a league best save percentage of .929 during the playoffs.  

During the regular season, Lacouvee had a 2.82 GAA in 38 starts for Alberni Valley, earning team MVP honors. A 40-save, 3-0 shutout of Powell River in the regular-season finale enabled the Bulldogs, who had floundered early in the season before Lacouvee joined them in a trade, to reach the playoffs.

Lacouvee had originally planned to spend a second season with the Bulldogs before deciding to begin his college career at BU in September.


In 2012-2013, he played for Cowichan Valley. and spent the previous two seasons as a top Midget AAA netminder with the Notre Dame Argos.

OverTheBoards' Jeff McCarthy reported during the 2014 BCHL playoffs:

First round, the first seed Victoria Grizzlies clashed with the Alberni Valley Bulldogs. The Bulldogs squeaked into the first round of the playoffs with a late win over Powell River in the final game of the season, but they were no easy task for the first seeded Grizzlies, and the story of the series was Alberni Valley goaltender Connor Lacouvee. The big goaltender played his best hockey at the most opportune times for the Bulldogs, has solid fundamentals and can take up the net with his frame. With his ability to stop pucks, many teams have gotten a good look at the 1994-born goaltender, who has one more year to prove himself as a legitimate NCAA prospect. [Note--this was reported before Lacouvee was recruited for 2014-15]

McCarthy tweeted today: 

Really like Lacouvee heading off to BU, played big for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs and won games for them single handedly.
— Jeff McCarthy (@McCarthyOTB) June 11, 2014

Alberni Valley News editor Susan Quinn notes that Lacouvee "plays his angles well when he is at the edges of the crease, and has quick reflexes. LaCouvee is confident on the ice and a team leader. There were a lot of times last season the Bulldogs' defence struggled and Lacouvee kept the team in the game."

● Elite Prospects card  
● Save on penalty shot (video)
● Paddle save for Cowichan Valley (video) 
● Alberni Valley Times news feature on Lacouvee
● Player of the Week recognition

Check back for further information.

Terriers announce 2014-15 schedule

BU’s schedule for next season is out and it features 33 regular-season games and three exhibition games. With the addition of Connecticut to Hockey East, the Terriers will play 22 conference games along with 11 contests outside of Hockey East.

The first exhibition game, on October 4, brings St. Thomas of New Brunswick to Agganis Arena and a week later, the regular season opener will be played on the road at UMass in Amherst. Following another exhibition tilt at home against the U.S. National Under 18 team, Michigan State and Michigan, whom BU played on the road last season, will visit Agganis.

Other non-conference games include match-ups with defending national champion Union, Harvard and Colgate at home and visits to Wisconsin (for a pair) and Dartmouth. The final exhibition game, on Dec. 19, brings the Terriers back to the Walter Brown Arena, their home from the fall of 1971 to January 2005, as BU takes on the U.S. World Junior Team.

● 2014-15 schedule

● GoTerriers.com report

● Boston Hockey Blog report

Looking ahead

2015 recruit Jordan Greenway, interviewed by Red Line Editorial for USA Hockey, talks about his dream of playing Division 1 hockey. While that dream remains a year away for the 6-5 power forward, he’ll get his first chance to skate at Agganis Arena in BU’s Oct. 10 exhibition against the U18s.

● Elite prospects card

● Video of Greenway goal in World U17 Challenge

Looking back

Former BU captain Wade Megan is the last remaining Terrier competing in the playoffs. Megan and the Cincinnati Cyclones are in the ECHL Kelly Cup finals against Alaska, which holds a 2-1 lead going into tomorrow’s game four. Megan is tied for the team lead in playoff goals with ten in 19 games.  Earlier this season he had 20 points in 16 games for the Cyclones, earning a promotion to AHL San Antonio where he had an 11-6-17 line in 43 games. Megan is one of 15 former college players on Cincinnati.

Blades of Teal reviews Matt Nieto's rookie season with San Jose. The  California-born speedster scored 10 goals and added 14 assists in 66 regular-season games.

Curry inducted into BU Athletics Hall of Fame--UPDATED

L-R: Eric Thomassian, Brad Zancanarro, David Van Der Gulick, Tom Morrow, John Curry, Kevin Kielt, Sean Sullivan, Jack Parker, Dan Spang, Ryan Weston

   
A few years before Matt Gilroy went from walk-on to All-American, a somewhat obscure netminder from Shoreham, Minnesota, blazed a similar path at BU. John Curry’s Terrier experience reached its penultimate moment on Saturday evening when he was inducted into the BU Athletics Hall of Fame as a member of the 50^th HOF class.

After playing just five minutes as a freshman, he seized the goaltending job the next season and never relinquished it. A two-time All-American, Hockey East Player of theYear in 2007 and a Hobey Baker Award finalist, also in 2007, Curry’s name is repeatedly found in the all-time Terrier record book. He owns the top career marks for goals against average (2.07) and save percentage (.923) and is tied with Jack Ferreira for most shutouts with 13. Curry owns a perfect 5-0 record in the Beanpot Tournament, leading BU to three straight titles and earning the Eberly Award for best save percentage in 2007 (.985 with a 0.48 GAA).

Despite Curry’s limited playing time as a freshman, BU goalie coach Mike Geragosian saw the makings of a first-rate Division 1 goalie. Geragosian recalls:

After his freshman year, I gave him a list of 6-8 things to work on over the summer. In September, he showed me that he’d addressed each one of them and had done the hard work when no one was looking. John is someone who is motivated, intelligent and responsible. He has that “Tim Thomas” mentality and competitiveness. And that “third eye” intuition, knowing where the puck is going. It’s hard to teach, but he has it.

John has overachieved throughout his career and, at each stage, he’s made the  needed corrections to advance his career. Plus, he's simply a nice, humble person with a great attitude.

As a sophomore, Curry started the third game of the season, stopping 25 shots in a 4-1 win. After backboning a 3-2 win against Providence, Curry outdueled Maine's Jimmy Howard for a 2-1 win and the starting job was his.

Teammate Brian Strait adds:

There is no other player in my time at BU that better exemplified what it was to be a Boston University Terrier. Both on the ice and off the Ice John was a tremendous student, great goaltender, and even better person. I had the pleasure of playing pro hockey with John in Wilkes-Barre and he has carried all those same traits throughout his career. Relentless work ethic and great attitude have made him the player and person he is today. No other player I have played with is more deserving of a Hall of Fame induction.”

 ● Bernie Corbett and Brian Maurer interview Curry

● GoTerriers.com report and induction ceremony

● Boston Hockey Blog feature on Curry’s BU career

● BU Today feature

Looking ahead

● 2014 recruit Brandon Hickey interviewed at NHL Combine in Toronto

● 2016 recruit Vas Kolias selected in first round by Youngstown in the USHL dispersal draft

● BU recruits Ori Abramson and Shane Starrett make honorable mention for USPHL list of top prospects.

● The Boston College Hockey Blog reports that BU, along with the Eagles, Wisconsin and North Dakota are vying for a top Canadian ’98 defenseman, Dante Fabbro, who will play next season with BCHL Penticton.