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BU’s 2014-15 schedule is yet to be announced, however the dates of a few non-conference games have been confirmed.  The BU-Harvard game on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving is back on the schedule after several seasons’ absence. This year’s game is at BU on Nov. 25. Terriers will head west on the Mass Pike to take on Rensselaer on Dec. 13. And just after New Year’s, on Jan. 3, newly-crowned NCAA champion Union will visit Agganis Arena.

Looking ahead

Two Terrier recruits were selected during phase 2 of the USHL draft this week. 2015 recruit Sean MacTavish, a right-shot center, was the first-round choice of the Waterloo Black Hawks. MacTavish spent the past two seasons with the Sherwood Park Crusaders, finishing last season with a 28-44-72 scoring line, third best in the AJHL. Crusaders’ Coach Tim Fragle:

"[Sean] has just really exceeded our expectations offensively. He’s such a smart player offensively, he’s got a good shot and people have taken notice. It sure helps that he’s had a good start, but he also comes from a good hockey background. He’s definitely come in and has played well for us.”

In the ninth round, the Tri-City Storm selected 2016 recruit Johnny McDermott, a left-shot center who played for the Westminster School last season and the Connecticut Oilers the previous season.  USHR on McDermott:

McDermott has size, is an excellent skater, is a pure athlete, and makes plays. At 6'2', 178 lbs., he will fill out more before the fall of '16 and will keep getting better. A good playmaker to go along with his skating, he is a power forward with finesse and has a lot of upside. More than willing to set up his teammates for scoring chances, he uses his size and reach to disrupt defensemen on the forecheck and create scoring chances at the other end. 

2016 recruit Hank Crone wasn’t picked in the USHL draft as he’d already signed a tender with Omaha and will spend the next two seasons providing offense for the Lancers, whose scouting director, Rick Comley, says: "Hank has an elite skill level and hockey sense. We fully expect him to develop into one of the premium forwards in the USHL over the course of the next few seasons."

While Crone’s hockey skills have pegged him as one of the top U.S. born forwards for the 2016 NHL draft, he comes from a baseball family. His father is a major league baseball scout for the Tigers and his grandfather, Ray Crone, was a right-handed pitcher for the Milwaukee Braves and the New York Giants during the 1950s. Earlier this spring, a Wall Street Journal article cited Crone as an example of the growing number of young athletes who find baseball to be simply to slow and turned to more fast-paced endeavors, including hockey.

Looking back

All-American defenseman Tom Poti has retired after 14 NHL seasons. After a standout career at Cushing Academy, the tall defenseman from Worcester, Mass., spent two seasons on the Terrier blueline, scoring 21 points as a freshman, earning Hockey East All-Rookie honors,  and 42 points as a sophomore (First Team Hockey East All-Star) and helped BU reach the NCAA championship game in 1997. He was a third-round draft pick of Edmonton and also played for the Rangers, Islanders and Capitals, scoring 327 regular season points and another 19 in the playoffs.

"I was very fortunate to play in the National Hockey League for 14 years. It was a dream come true and I had an awesome ride and met so many great people along the way," Poti said in a statement released through the NHL Players' Association. "I'd like to thank my family and my wife and children for all their love and support."

●Greatest Hockey Legends.com report

The Hockey News examined up and coming candidates for NHL general manager job, including former Terrier forward Paul Fenton, the Nashville assistant GM who had been under consideration for the Buffalo job earlier this season.

Paul Fenton, 54:The time has come for Fenton to find work as a GM because there is basically nothing he hasn’t done in every other capacity. Fenton is supremely confident in his abilities to run an NHL hockey department. Earlier this season he told thn.com: “I helped build Anaheim from the bottom. I’ve broken down this team when ownership declared that they were going to sell the team and move and then built it back up to hopefully a contender. I believe that I’m ready and I hope that somebody else does. There’s nothing that I haven’t done in this business to say that I’m not ready to be a manager,” Fenton said. “I make decisions. I have been put on the spot to make decisions on everything from free agency to drafts to trades to any type of acquisition. I live it every day, so for me I think it’s a natural progression.”
His previous experience with the Ducks and 16 years with the Predators has been marked by a lot of success in player procurement. He could probably dine out on the Predators 2003 draft alone, when they got four defensemen – Ryan Suter, Shea Weber, Kevin Klein and Alexander Sulzer – who have all ended up playing in the NHL.
Probable destination: Predators GM David Poile, at some point, moves aside and Fenton takes over.

Women’s Team

The Daily Free Press looks at the four-year career and winning legacy of 2013-14 captain Louise Warren.

2014 recruit Erin O’Neil is among the goalies invited to the prestigious Warren Strelow goalie camp opening today in Ann Arbor, Michigan. A standout netminder for Hopkin High School in Minnesota, O’Neil played for Team USA in the recent Women’s U18 championships.

2014 recruits-- Part 3

Third installment of today's announcement of NLI signings by 2014 recruits. 
● GoTerriers.com summary with Coach David Quinn's comments                                            
● Daily Free Press report
● BU recruiting pipeline

Johnathan MacLeod 6-1.5, 200, right-shot defenseman, DOB 6-2-96, Dracut, Mass.

● Physical, shutdown defenseman for gold-medal US team in World U18 Championships

● Scored a pair of power play goals in the quarterfinal win against Slovakia

● 5-6-11 scoring line for the NTDP U18s

● Ranked #44 by NHL Central Scouting for North Americans

● Teammate of Doyle Somerby and Nick Roberto on Kimball Union’s Small School prep champs in 2012.

● USA Junior Hockey Magazine feature

●THFB report on MacLeod verbal to BU (2 years ago)

● Elite Prospects card

KUA Coach Mike Levine: MacLeod “is a special talent because at 6’2” he can really skate, shoot the puck, and think the game at a high level, plus he’s tough and the loves the physical aspect of the game at such a young age – and that’s unique. He’s actually the toughest kid I have ever coached – and that includes the college level.”

Chase Phelps 6-1, 185, left-shot forward, DOB 4-26-96, Edina, Minn.

● 4^th leading scorer (24-42-66) on Shattuck St. Mary’s Prep’s 2014 National 18U champions.

● Teammate of 2016 recruit Clayton Keller

● Skated for U.S. Selects in 2013 Ivan Hlinka Tournament.

● Ranked #163 by NHL Central Scouting for North Americans

●THFB report on Phelps verbal

● Elite Prospects card

OTB: “Good-sized forward contributes in every facet of the game and can toy with defenders in the offensive zone.”

SBNation: “A heavy snap shot with a quick release makes him a dangerous scoring threat from many areas of the ice, and his high assist totals show an ability to use his teammates effectively as well.”

J.J. Piccinich 6-0, 190 right-shot forward DOB 6-12-96, Paramus, N.J.

● Rugged wing was 2^nd leading scorer for USHL/Youngstown with 27-31-58

● Led USHL in power play goals (13);

● Top scorer for NJ Avalanche U16s in 2011-12 with 23-19-42

● THFB report on Piccinich verbal

● Elite Prospects card

Phantoms Coach Anthony Noreen: "A big part of it is he goes out and he's willing to get to the areas where you might have to take a stick, you might have to take a punch in the face, you might have to take a body, but if you get to that area, you're more likely to score a goal.

JJ has a knack for scoring at every level he’s ever been at.”

2014 Recruits – Part 2

We continue today's announced NLI signings with Brandon Hickey and Jack Eichel, whose NLI was reported here yesterday. Coach David Quinn's comments on each recruit are in this goterriers.com report

Jack Eichel 6-1, 191, right-shot center. DOB 10-28-98 Chelmsford, Mass.

● Led NTDP U18s to World Championship, scoring 10 points in the tournament

● 2013-14 NTDP total of 87 points (38G, 49A) is fourth best in program history

● Career NTDP totals:   67-72-139, tied for fourth best in program history

● Played as an underager in the 2014 World Junior Championships with a 1-4-5 scoring line in five games

● Projected to be a top pick in the 2015 NHL draft

● Previously captained the Empire League Junior Bruins, scoring 39-47-86

● THFB report on Eichel verbal to BU (2 years ago)
● Elite Prospects stats

Brandon Hickey, 6-2, 180, left-shot defenseman. DOB 4-13-96 Leduc, Alberta

● A shutdown defenseman for AJHL Spruce Grove. 4-18-22 regular season, plus five playoff assists. 29 PIMs.

● Played for Canada West in 2014 World Jr. A Challenge

● Played for Canada Pacific in 2013 World U17 tournament 

● Competed in 2012 Tellus Cup against 2015 BU recruit AJ Greer

● Highest ranked AJHLplayer  by NHL Central Scouting at #63

● Spruce Grove Examiner report

● THFB report on Hickey verbal

● The Hockey News Hot List: “Hickey brings a  skill that all scouts love and that’s skating.”
● Video interview and highlights 
● Elite Prospects stats

BU announces 6 of its 2014 recruits

Today, BU is officially announcing six member of the 2014 recruit class who have signed National Letters of Intent.  Follow the tweets at @TerrierHockey. We’ll be updating this blog post all day as the recruits are announced.

►Brien Diffley, 6-2, 184 left-shot defenseman. DOB 7-8-95. Burlington, Mass.

● Buckingham, Browne & Nichols 
● An ISL All-Star Defenseman 
● 30 points in 2 seasons at BB&N 
● Led Burlington H.S. to a Mass. State title in 2012
● THFB report

● SBNation report 
● Elite Prospects card
● BB&N Coach Terrence Butt:

"He has the ability to carry the puck at full speed, and makes plays with his head up moving up the ice. He has great stick skills, and his vision and decision making are his strengths. His combination of speed and skill at his frame are hard to find, and his skating is as fluid as there is. Once he grows into his body, he will be a difference maker."

● USHR 12-12-13 DIffley’s Stock Rising

BB&N has a one-man breakout in 6’2”, 180 lb. senior LD Brien Diffley, who we got to see in action in the Knights 4-2 loss to St. Sebastian’s Wednesday. We’ve seen Diffley before, and went into the season considering him as a high DIII/low DI borderline kid, but his stock is rising. There are not a lot of senior d-men out there who can rush the puck like Diffley. BB&N head coach Terrence Butt knows what he has and gives the 7/8/95 birthdate the green light. And Diffley, who keeps his head up and has the hands needed to work his way through guys on rink-length rushes, is not shy in the least, playing with a ton of confidence. His hockey IQ is good and he has an excellent shot. He seems to have grown more into his body over the last year, and become quicker and more confident. He’s certainly the best prospect we’ve seen at BB&N since goaltender Joe Cannata played there – and he’s a lot of fun to watch, too. With a bit of refinement to his game, Diffley, who played on that strong Burlington (Mass.) High School team before coming to BB&N last year, could provide a nice payoff to the right DI school.