Parker dishes on state of the game

Recently retired BU head coach Jack Parker, always a candid commenter on the state of college hockey, sat down for a conversation with New England Hockey Journal’s Brion O’Connor about changes in the college game, competition for talent with Major Junior leagues, uneven rules enforcement and other topics. As usual, he pulls no punches.

►The Terriers continue their volunteer activities in support of Autism Speaks this past weekend, beginning their 10^th season of involvement with the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization. The team provided support at a benefit marathon at Suffolk Downs (photo)and helped officiate and judge the Autism Speaks AMRAP (as many reps as possible) competition at CrossFit Homebase in Canton.

►Former BU netminder Kieran Millan, who earned NCAA Rookie of the Year and Hockey East tournament MVP honors in 2008-09, is in Colorado Avalanche training camp and turned in a scoreless 20 minutes in goal in the team’s annual Burgandy-and-White intrasquad scrimmage. Millan, who spent his first pro season with the ECHL Denver Cutthroats, has earned kudos from Avs coach and NHL Hall of Famer Patrick Roy, and hopes to move up the organizational chain to AHL Lake Erie.            ● Denver Post article

►Hockeysfuture.com has ranked former BU standout Matt Nieto as the #2 prospect in the San Jose organization.

►A pair of defensive mainstays on BU’s 2009 national championship team, Brian Strait and Kevin Shattenkirk talk about how their seasons with USA Hockey’s National Team Development Program advanced their development. Strait (video) is beginning his second season with the Islanders, while Shattenkirk (video), a candidate for the U.S. Olympic squad, will begin his fourth season with the Blues.

Twenty-two former Terriers have participated in the NTDP program. Three future Terriers, 2014 recruits Jack Eichel and Johnathan MacLeod and 2015 recruit Charlie McAvoy, are currently in the program.

►McAvoy, playing for the U17s picked up his Team USA point with a power play assist in the team’s’ 4-3 OT win against Janesville.

Women's Team

Defending champion (video) BU has been picked for second place in the Hockey East coaches preseason poll. The Terriers, who open regular season play on Oct. 11 against Rensselaer, received 48 points and 1 first-place vote in the poll. BC, picked for first place, received 56 points and seven first-place votes. 

● GoTerriers.com release. 

ockey East preseason coaches poll

Terriers announce 2013 recruit class

Coach David Quinn officially announced BU’s 2013 recruit class featuring six forwards and four defensemen today. The group includes nine freshmen and one transfer. The transfer is 6-6, right-shot defenseman J.D. Carrabino, who played three games for Clarkson last season after red-shirting in 2011-12. He’ll practice with the team this season and have two years of eligibility beginning in fall 2014.

Blueline help for the coming season comes from:

● Doyle Somerby a 6-6 left-shot and 2012 Islander 5^th round draft choice, who captained Kimball Union last season—earning NEPSIHA all-star honors—before playing ten games in the USHL with Muskegon. A shutdown defenseman, he also led KUA blueliners in scoring this past season with a 3-18-21 line. As a junior he helped the Wildcats to a prep championship.  2012 interview.

● Dalton MacAfee, a 6-1, right-shot from St. Sebastian’s and the Cape Cod Whalers, whose father and grandfather were standout receivers in the NFL. U.S. Hockey Report called him “a highly-mobile, puck-moving defenseman who is also very good in his own end,” and named him to its list of top New England seniors last year. Video

● TJ Ryan, 6-0 right shot from the South Shore Kings and Newton North, where he was a five-time captain (hockey, golf, lacrosse) and was recognized as the school’s top athlete. His father, Tom, provides analysis on BU hockey broadcasts and shared the captaincy of the 1987-88 Terriers with Quinn.

New firepower up front consists of:

● Robbie Baillargeon, a 6-0, right-shot center, who spent the past two season in the USHL, scoring 89 points, after two campaigns at Cushing Academy, where has was USHR Prep Forward of the Year in 2010-11. A #5 draft pick of Ottawa in 2012.

● Brendan Collier, a 5-9 left wing who played for the EJHL Valley Jr. Warriors last season after two standout seasons at Malden Catholic, leading the Lancers to back-to-back state titles.  Named ESPN Boston's  Mr. Hockey after scoring 65 points in 2011-12. Collier grew up playing with close friend Matt Grzelcyk in the Middlesex Islanders organization and later the N.E. Nordiques summer tournament program. A #7 pick by Carolina in 2012.

●Nick Roberto, a 5-9 right wing, from Kimball Union, where his 23-25-48 scoring line earned him 2012-2013 USHR Prep Forward of the Year honors. Teamed with Somerby and 2014 recruit Jonathan MacLeod on KUA’s 2012 NEPSIHA championship team.  Previously was a teammate of Collier at Malden Catholic. Roberto, who committed to BU this past Spring after decommitting from Maine, was MVP of the Flood Marr Tournament (photo)

●Kevin Duane, a 6-5 right wing, who split time between the USHL and EJHL last season, scoring 13 goals and 15 assists in 25 games for the Jr. Bruins. Had two seasons as a top scorer at The Brunswick School, including 29-24-53 in 2011-12.

● Tommy Kelley, a 5-11 left wing and teammate of MacAfee at St. Seb’s, where he was the top goal scorer last season and was Danny O’Regan’s linemate the previous year. 14-16-30 line in 2012-13 and 19-15-34 in 2011-12. Was a top forward in the Fall Prep League; scored a pair, including the GWG, in the Fall Prep all-star game. Also played for the N.E. Nordiques summer team. Video

● Dillon Lawrence, a 6-3 left-shot center, who played for the AAA Major Midget Toronto Nationals, with a 15-21-36 scoring line in 33 regular-season games and 3-4-7 in ten playoff games. Played in last season’s GTHL Midget All-Star game and was his team’s recipient of the 2013 Gretzky Award for combined academics and on-ice performance.

Click here and then on each player’s name for individual stats from recent seasons.

2013-14full roster.

►OverTheBoards.com recently revealed its recruit class rankings and pegged the Terriers’ class at #5 in the nation. OTB recently posted its analysis of BU’s current recruit class as well as several other verbals in the pipeline.

Looking ahead

2014 recruits goalie Shane Starrett and right wing J.J. Piccinich participated in the inaugural USHL Atlantic Challenge in New Jersey this past weekend, skating for Sioux Falls and Youngstown respectively. The event was heavily attend by college coaches, including BU associate head coach Steve Greeley and former Terrier captain Joe Pereira, now an assistant at UConn, along with numerous NHL scouts.

Frozen Fenway Tickets on Sale

Tickets for Frozen Fenway 2014 are now on sale (details).  Eight Hockey East teams will participate in doubleheaders on January 4 and January 11. In the final game, at 6:30 p.m. on the 11^th, BU takes on Maine.  In 2010, the Terriers defeated BC, 3-2, (video) in the first Frozen Fenway college game.

● HockeyEastOnline news release

Looking back

Former Terrier Adam Clendening is the top-ranked blueline prospect in the Blackhawks’ system, according to Hockey’s Future. Clendening, who earned Hockey East All-Rookie honors in 2010-11, scored 59 points in two season in Scarlet.

3. Adam Clendening, D, 7.0C
Drafted 2nd round, 36th overall, 2011
Leading Chicago's defensive depth chart is Adam Clendening, who is coming off an AHL All-Star season as a rookie with the Rockford IceHogs in which he scored 46 points in 73 games. Clendening is a puck-moving defenseman with good vision and puck skills. He logged plenty of time on the powerplay and showed in his rookie AHL season that he is not a liability at even strength either. Although not an imposing player from a physical standpoint, Clendening is nonetheless more than willing to finish his checks and play a scrappy style of game in his own zone.

He ranks as the Blackhawks' top defensive prospect on this list, but it may still be some time before Clendening makes his NHL debut. The Blackhawks are well-stocked at the NHL level with veteran defenseman and Ryan Stanton (who is no longer eligible for prospect status by virtue of his age) would be the more likely call-up for the role of a third-pairing or a reserve defenseman. That said, Clendening is perhaps the best offensive-minded blueliner in the Chicago system and is furthermore far from a one-dimensional player. He should find himself stepping into a second or third-pairing role at some point in the future, but until then he will remain a key player on the Rockford blue line.

Former Terriers Justin Courtnall and Wes Myron are in the Vancouer Canucks’ rookie camp in Victoria. Courtnall was a BU assistant captain in 2011-12.

Ex-Terrier, Matt Nieto wore the “C” and scored a goal 12 seconds into the second period for the Sharks’ rookies in a 3-2 win against Calgary at the Young Stars Classic.

Alex Chiasson, BU’s MVP in 2011-12, scored the shoot-out game-winner for Dallas, which edged Minnesota, 2-1, at the Traverse City Prospects Tournament.

Women's Team

The Canadian National Team is in Sochi, Russia, site of the 2014 Winter Olympics, for 11 days of training and exhibition games. The current centralized roster includes four former Terriers, Jenn Wakefield, Jennelle Kohanchuk, Catherine Ward and Tara Watchorn, and current BU forward Marie-Philip Poulin, who is taking off this season to play for Team Canada.

 

A scorer for the future--UPDATED

BU has received a verbal from one of the top U.S. ‘98 birthdate forwards, Shattuck St. Mary Bantam standout Clayton Keller, who will arrive at Agganis Arena in 2016.

A 5-10, 144 lb. native of Swansea, Illinois, and a product of the Jr. Blues program, Keller scored a team-high129 points —58g, 71 a—in 60 games (40 points more than the #2 scorer) to lead the Sabres to the USA Hockey U14 National Championship game. His performance in the Nationals earned him a spot on the All-Youth1 tournament team.

According to Matthew Barnaby, a former NHLer and now coach of SSM rival the 14U Buffalo Regals, “Clayton is a tremendous player with exceptional skills. His passing and vision make him a force every time he is on the ice and his hockey IQ is off the charts.”  

In late April, Keller skated for the New England Nordiques in the World Selects Invitational in Saco, Maine, earning kudos from U.S. Hockey Report:

Clayton Keller, F, ’98 (New England Nordiques) 5-8/150 — We saw the Shattuck-St. Mary’s forward at Nationals a couple of weeks ago, and wrote that he reminded us of Zach Parise at the same age. We’ll stick with that. The Bellville, Ill. native is an effortless skater with a top-notch skill set. Makes plays every time he touches the puck. Is only going to get better when he begins to fill out. Our only knock on him is that we would like to see him add some more finish to his game — he’s definitely a ‘pass first’ player. Regardless, we’re convinced Keller is a young star in the making.

At the recent USA Hockey Select 15 development camp, the left-shot center had a 5-5-10 line in five games, tied for fourth best at the event. Keller will skate for SSM’s 16U squad this season.

The Western Hockey Blog’s Chris Dilks, who calls Keller “a small shifty playmaker with incredible vision and passing ability,” opines:

It's a huge pick-up for the Terriers and new head coach David Quinn, in an area that BU isn't necessarily known for recruiting from. Keller is just entering the 10th grade this year, so he wouldn't join the Terriers until 2016 at the earliest, but it's a very positive sign for BU's long-term stability to lock up quality players like this.

Keller is #9 for SSM in this video clip:

Other observations about Kelleher from Amateur Hockey Report scouts:

Scouted on July 14-20, 2013 @ USA Select 15 Festival
A Shattuck U-14 product was the best player on the ice on Saturday.  He is on the small side but competes for every puck.  He has high-end skills and is very slick and creative with the puck.  His game on Saturday made him the #7 best forward at the camp in AHR’s opinion.  AHR Rating: A

 Scouted on November 10-11, 2012 @ HPHL Showcase-Chicago
Keller boasts a whopping 13 points in 5 games in the HPHL and has an outstanding wrist shot.  He is a power play specialist with a good set of hands to boot.  When you first see him on the ice you wouldn't expect it because he has an awkward stride and has room to grow, but as soon as the puck drops it is pure domination from there.  If he brings his footwork up to speed he should be a top tier prospect for years to come.  Your typical SSM stud. AHR Rating: A