Why I Hate Boston College Part 1

I worked today and no one shops on Newbury Street in November so it left me alot of time to think. My parents should stop reading here and assume I was thinking of my studies. Let's get real it's BC week. I hate those choir boys with a passion. They walk around like the arrogant fucks that they are. They think God is on their side or that is what the priest told them all before he continued "Religion class"(read: inappropriate touching). So without further wait. The first 11 of many reasons why BC sucks. I'll probably keep this going everyday and see how many I can get up to. Feel free to add more in the comments section of this post.
1. They call themselves Boston College and are actually in Newton. Fuck this. Don't give the great city of Boston a bad name you pompous fucks.
2. They take up a spot in the Beanpot meant for Boston schools. Denver has as much of a right to plan in the beanpot as you. Let's start the UMASS-Boston rally to get them in.
3. They are arrogant fucks. Whenever this weekend you begin to think someone crossed the line with a chant just remember they think they're better than you.
4. Their priest touched them as little children. That's why they go to catholic school.
5. Jerry York wears sweaters to hockey games. Maybe they are sweater vests. Either way they are fucking stupid. You're not playing 18 holes York. That will be in April while we re bring home #6.
6. Ole' Muse you're gay!- Not that there is anything wrong with that of course.
7. Their fans are superfrauds! They only go to games on national TV or when the teams are good. Fucking bandwagoners.
8. Bald Eagles almost went extinct. You ever hear about Terriers almost going extinct? Exactly, because Terriers are fucking awesome and man's best friend. You know any eagles who are a man's best friend?
9. Their AD is a fucking idiot. - He thinks every coach ever should want to coach there and never want to leave until they are fired.
10. They drink,they drive, they run away and hide. Poor green line gets blame for Bc kids deciding to go for joy drunk rides in the T tracks then blames the MBTA driver. I don't know the driver but they should light the school on fire.
11. They pay taxes as if they are in Newton(which they are) but claim Boston in their title. Cheap bastards need to pay or change the name to Newton College.

-I got plenty more where that came from but I will save some for my fellow bloggers and readers who are bored enough to comment on this

The Choir Boys at their Finest

After remembering seeing this video on my friends wall over the summer, I spent about 2 hours trying to find it, but here it is in all of its glory. That's right eagleboys, this is the hockey program you choose to associate yourselves with.

In my humble opinion, there is nothing worse than these fucking eagleboys. All of them. They parade around and yell and scream about how much better they are than BU with all the HURRR DURRR SUCKS TO BU LOLOL chants and as soon as a logical, better-looking, and overall better-at-life BU fan says anything, they all jump to the HURRRR DURRR YOU DONT HAVE A FOOTBALL TEAM SO YOU SUCK LOLOL. Last I checked, eagleboy, BU still has more championship wins than you. Honestly? Get the fuck out, BC. I cannot stand these people. And the worst part? Seeing these little kids walk around with BC shit plastered all over themselves. It's a fucking joke.

This is gonna be a pivotal weekend for BU, not only to shut up the chestnut hill assholes, but standings-wise too. BU and BC are currently tied right now at 14 points apiece, so nothing would be better than a back-to-back sweep of these guys to put them back where they belong - behind the Terriers.

Fuck off Jerry York.


I apologize for all the language.

BC HATING WEEK: PART 3 DRUNK DRIVING

TRIVIA QUESTION:
WHICH SCHOOL LET THEIR STUDENTS DRUNK DRIVE ON COMM AVE. AND ENDED THE NIGHT BY HITTING A T? HINT: THEY WERE DRINKING RUBINOFF AND RAN FROM THE COPS.

ANSWER: THE BC MENS HOCKEY TEAM.

TRIVIA QUESTION:
WHICH SCHOOL LET IN 3 GOALS IN 44 SECONDS? HINT: NCC

ANSWER: BC(NCC)



GO BU, SCREW BC!

Cardinals don't have a great track record on MNF...

Cardinals tend to get killed on MNF and then blow up on the reporters huh?
I love this video from last night just because it gives me a reason to post the famour Denny Green clip.

Colby Cohen coming back to Boston

The Bruins have just completed a trade with the Colorado Avalanche to deal defenseman Matt Hunwick to the Colorado Avalanche for defenseman and former BU Terrier Colby Cohen. The deal clears about 1.4 million dollars in cap space and makes room for Marc Savard's return in the coming days.

Colby Cohen was quoted: "I was praying," he said. "I had a few cities in mind, but I was praying it wasn't Edmonton, and when he said Boston, I was like, 'Wow, this couldn't be any better.'

"I'm sort of lost for words right now because there's not a better place," he said. "I never realized how much I loved it before I left, and I miss Boston in the worst way."

It was tough for the Bruins to let Hunwick go as he was a Bruins draft pick out of the University of Michigan in 2004 and was developed as a Bruin which makes this move tough for both sides. Hunwick is expected to be in Colorado's lineup upon arrival and could affect the ice time of former BU Terrier Kevin Shattenkirk who has been lighting it up out there the last couple games.

Cohen was assigned to the AHL affiliate Providence Bruins leaving the Bruins with a six man defensive rotation for the time being.

BC HATING WEEK: F*CK YOU SUPERFRAUDS (PART2)

I HATE THIS F*CKING SCHOOL. THEY SUCK. JUST WAITING ON LINE TODAY FOR TICKETS TO GAME MADE ME GROW SO MUCH HATRED CAUSE BECAUSE THEY ARE BOSTON COLLEGE. I CANNOT RESPECT A SCHOOL THAT THINKS THAT THEIR SHIT DON'T SMELL.

I CANNOT WAIT TO GO TO NEWTON AND START HANGING EAGLES ALL OVER THEIR CAMPUS WITH QUACKQUACK, REDD, AND FELIZ. MIGHT AS WELL BURN THEM AS WELL. NO RESPECT GIVEN, NO RESPECT GAINED.



JUMP ON THEIR SOULS AND MAKE THEM BLEED THROUGH YOUR ORIFICES AND LET THE DEVIL SUCK THEIR SOUL.

BU remains at #2 in new USCHO.COM poll

Our Terriers remained at #2 in the nation this week despite a 4-4 tie with Brown over the weekend. Yale jumped up in points from #3 and now share the #2 ranking with the Terriers after their 5-1 victory of notorious hockey powerhouse Sacred Heart (that is sarcasm... Sacred Heart blows). The rest of the top ten shakes out as listed below. This shapes up to make the BU/BC home and home this weekend not only important in HE but also nationally as the #2 Terriers take on the #8 Eagles Friday and Saturday night. Both games are at 7:30 and televised live on the CBS college network. The Terriers look to get some wins(instead of ties) and open up a lead in Hockey East standings leading into the break. Go BU! BC sucks!

USCHO.com Poll
1. UMD-11-1-2- Minnesota-Duluth remains very very good and easily the #1 team in the nation.
2.BU- 7-1-5- The Terriers look to avoid more ties and head into a big weekend the Boston pretenders down Comm. Ave.
2. Yale-8-1- All they do is study and play shitty schools in hockey.
4.Nebraska-Omaha 9-2-1- There is nothing better to do out there besides pick corn so they better be good at hockey.
5.UNH 7-2-4 -Drive their houses to each road game and tend to struggle because of it. They are very very good at home though.
6. Miami 9-4-3
7. North Dakota-9-5-2
8. BC-9-5-0- Newton College is #8 heading into the BU weekend where they are going to get smoked both nights and fall down a few spots a week from today.
9. Maine-6-3-3
10. Denver-10-4-2
Other notables
16.RPI 6-3-3
18. Merrihack-5-3-4- They remain #18 after beating BC at home and losing to UNH on the road over the weekend. All their fans will probably blame the officiating for actually calling penalties when they shove guys head first into the boards.

The INCH power rankings vary a little as they dropped BU to #4 because of all the ties recently but honestly these guys' opinions don't fucking matter.
1. UMD
2. Yale
3. Nebraska-Omaha
4.BU
5. Maine
6. North Dakota
7.UNH
.....

13. BC- These guys really hate those girls down in Newton. I love it! Go BU!

USA Today poll here
-This poll is very similar to the USCHO but they rank our Terriers at #3 instead of #2.

The Pairwise rankings are also here. These are more important because this is what the selection committee goes by in March to choose the 10 at large teams to the tournament.

BC Hating Week; HEY SUPERFRAUDS F*CK YOU.

SO I HAVE BEEN WAITING FOR THIS SINCE THE SCHEDULE CAME OUT. BC WEEK! I HATE THIS COLLEGE. I DON'T UNDERSTAND THE LIKING OF THIS SCHOOL. THEY SUCK! WHILE GROWING UP AS AN AVID NOTRE DAME FAN, I STARTED MY DISDAIN AND PURE HATRED. THEY SYMBOLIZE EVIL SIMILAR TO EMPEROR PALPATINE. DOES TO UNIVERSE IN STAR WARS. I WILL NOT STOP MY HATRED FOR THIS SCHOOL. THEY SUCK. THEY THINK THEIR SHIT DON'T SMELL.

BOSTON COLLEGE (A.K.A NEWTON COMMUNITY COLLEGE) SUCKS. THERE IS SIMPLY TOO MUCH LOVE FOR THIS SCHOOL. I WENT TO THEIR SCHOOL LAST YEAR FOR A BU GAME AND THEY DECIDE TO CREATE 5 SEPARATE FIGHTS WITH ME. WHAT HAVE I DONE TO THIS SCHOOL TO GET THAT MUCH HATE. THIS IS THE DECADE FOR BU TO CHANGE FOR THE GOOD AND BECOME THE TRUE BOSTON SCHOOL.

Hockey East Thanksgiving Roundup

An odd week with the holiday this past week, so there was a whole bunch of hockey played. Let's shake off that tryptophan and get rolling!

1. BU - Yes, your Terriers hold the top spot with a tie against Brown on Saturday. While perhaps not their best effort on the season, they overcame a 2-0 deficit to fight for the tie at home. Our Terriers are next in play this coming weekend against the ever popular Boston College.

2. BC - It was an interesting week for the Eagles. They thrashed Maine last Sunday, lost to Merrimack again on Friday, and destroyed Vermont today. All in all, they remain at #2. I have to say, I'm a little scared that BC found their game this afternoon. Should be interesting next weekend.

3. UNH - They retain their top spot with a victory over my recently anointed "Most Hated Team in Hockey East", Merrimack. Look, anytime you beat BC or Merrimack you are good in my book. So a tip of the hat to you, UNH. Except for Dick Umile. Bite me.

4. Maine - They didn't play this week. I guess they can't be bothered to run their stereotypical run down pick up trucks on Thanksgiving week.

5. Merrimack - Yeah, they beat BC. But they lost to UNH, so explain to me why I should care. Oh, and I have news for all Merrimack fans. STEPHANE DA COSTA ISN'T THAT GOOD. Also, he's a commie. Or his grandfather probably sympathized with them. Either way, this is AMERICA (shout out to the Next Tiger Woods).

6. Northeastern - They tied Vermont, which isn't terrible for them. I still don't see this team doing much of anything down the road, but that's beside the point. Also, Chris Rawlings is a beast.

7. Providence College - They beat Holy Cross in a holy battle the likes of which hasn't been seen since the Crusades (not really). But for real, they beat HC, which won't do anything for their Pairwise ranking but something tells me they have no reason to pay attention to that anyways.

8. UMass - Amherst - THEY FINALLY WON. Twice. Only against Vermont and Quinnipiac, but hey. A win is a win.

9. Vermont - They lost, tied, then lost. Ouch. Sorry Catamounts, not looking good.

10. UMass - Lowell - They got thrashed at home by Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday this weekend. 8-3? Come on.

BC SUCKS!

It is now officially BC week. You know what that means...time to do everything to get pumped up for the games this week. One may ask what do you do a week before the game to get ready? Well I make awesome videos with my dogs. Here are a couple...BC sucks. Let's smack them next weekend!! Time to shut up those choir boys and take control of Hockey East before winter break.

Shatty scores again

Kevin Shattenkirk scored once again for the Colorado Avalanche in a 3-2 loss to the Edmonton Oilers. With the loss, the team still remains tied with Vancouver for the Northwest division lead. This was Shattenkirk's third goal of the season and seventh point in 11 games since being called up. With this ,it looks like Shatty will stick with the big club along with former Terrier Brandon Yip who has 10 points in 20 games so far this season and had an assist in this one.

Shatty's goal was one which he came swooping from the left of the Edmonton goalie(Martin Gerber) and stuffed it past his pad short side. It was a critical goal in the game as the Avalanche fell behind 2-0 quickly and Shatty's goal got them back in the game before the intermission and could stolen a point for the team if it were not for a last second Taylor Hall goal.

Both Zach Cohen and Colby Cohen remain on the AHL affiliate Lake Erie Monsters putting up unimpressive numbers thus far.

Also USCHO.com has an article on what the Terriers should be thankful for this Thanksgiving along with the rest of Hockey East and some projections for this coming weekend's games.

UPDATE- Shatty was the number two star in the 11/27 7-4 win over the Minnesota Wild at the Pepsi Center in Colorado. Shatty had another goal and two assists and is quickly making a name for himself in the NHL.

Saponari Rejected By BC

According to a post on Eagle Outsider, a BC sports forum, Vinny Saponari has been rejected by BC admissions and will not be attending BC next fall (scroll three quarters of the way down the page). Now, this a fan driven website so let's take this news with a grain of salt, of course. If this is true, it is more likely that York and Co. had second thoughts about Saponari (whether it be attitude, taking a scholarship over a younger player, etc) than it is that he got rejected by BC admissions. While possible, I kind of doubt it. Wouldn't York and the rest of the athletic department have checked his grades from BU out before officially announcing anything? Come on. Plus, let's not act like BC is some ridiculously hard school to get into. They let in some pretty dumb athletes (and regular students too. It's all about that money). No, the more likely chance is that he acted out down in the USHL or York found a better recruit that he could keep for four years instead of Sap's two years of remaining eligibility.

Again, we don't know if this is true. I sort of believe that this has some merit, since BC fans self reported it. It's not like some BU conspiracy or anything. If/when we get any more details on this, we will let you know. My bet? He goes to Merrimack or some other close rival. It would fit the pattern, no?

Pats silence Lions on Turkey Day 45-24

Tom Brady became the first QB to have a perfect passing rating in a game this season and the Pats bounced back from a sloppy first half to outscore the Lions 35-7 in the second half. Brady threw for 346 yards and 4 TDs including 2 to Deion Branch in the second half. BenJarvus Green-Ellis chipped in with 59 yards and 2 TDs of his own to make the defense respect the ground attack as well. The Lions jumped out to a 14-3 lead behind QB Shaun Hill(285 yards 1 TD, 2int) and Maurice Morris (55 yds and 2 TDS). The Pats worked their way back and took the lead for good on Branch's second TD this one 22 yards. The Pats just rolled from here as the rookie corner Devin McCourty picked off Shaun Hill twice and made some other great places. The Pats now have ten days off to prep for the New York Jets at Gillette on Monday December 6th. This game will be a showdown for the AFC East division lead with huge playoff implications. Here are the winners/losers for this week

Winners:
1. Tom Brady- Perfect passer rating pretty much says it all
2. Deion Branch- 3 catches for 113 yards and 2 TDS including a 79 yarder
3. Wes Welker -8 receptions for 90 yards and 2 more TDs.
4. BenJarvus Green-Ellis -60 yards rushing and 2 TDs on some tough running is exactly what the doctor ordered to slow the pass rush down.
5. Devin McCourty- 2 picks for the rookie out of Rutgers that changed the tide of the game for the Pats' defense
Losers
1. The Lions- Now have lost seven straight on Thanksgiving and have not won a road game in over two years.

The Patriots also signed RB Danny Woodhead to a contract extension through the 2012 season which gives Woodhead some long term security after working on a one year deal after being claimed off waivers from the Jets.

BU vs BU

Alright so I checked the schedule for this week and I see the Terriers are playing Brown University on saturday...easy W, right? We'll see. Brown played the third-place Wildcats on monday, and had a hell of a game. Sislo opened the game for the Wildcats with the only first-period goal, and wound up scoring again in the third, but the real kicker of the game was the fact that Brown scored 4 goals in the second period, three of which went unanswered. Brown held a 5-3 lead over the Wildcats until they tied it up late in the third. If you want a recap of this game, click here.

While UNH isn't too tough of a team (except for causing the only bruise in an otherwise awesome Terriers season), Brown still put up a fight, showcasing a pretty aggressive offense, and putting on a pretty physical defense. Do I think that Brown is gonna destroy the Terriers, make 'em look like chumps, and ruin the rest of their season? Absolutely not. But I am saying watch out for them, and don't take them for granted.

I look forward to this game! Have a happy Thanksgiving!












Also, should you find yourself at a Red Robin with QuackQuack, you better order a goddamn root beer float if you want maintain your dignity.

Early week edition of Quack Quack's Money in the bank locks of the week

So I am going two days early this week with the holiday and BSRS HQ being closed due to our favorite holiday Turkey Day. So here is a special Thanksgiving edition of my gambling expertise. After my impressive 4-0 record last weekend, I improved to 11-4 overall since starting this. So I know what I am talking about and you would all be up big money if you threw down a couple dimes on each one of my picks like i told you. So here is a special set of picks for this week. I slaved over these for hours in my office while all my friends are having fun on this Thanksgiving Eve so enjoy.




NCAA Football:
Indiana@Purdue(-3) Sat 12:00
To stick with the Big Ten theme here, I am going with Indiana and Purdue this weekend. This is a battle of the two worst teams in the Big Ten but Purdue has been showing some life in recent weeks after almost beating Michigan St in Sparta last weekend and has an impressive 2-1 record vs. the Top 25 this season. Indiana on the contrary, has given up 124 points the last two weeks and now go into the last game of the season @Purdue so this three point spread is nothing for the Boilmakers. They win by at least 14 and pad my betting stats. Purdue full steam ahead!
The pick- Purdue

Texas A&M @ Texas(+3) Thursday 8:00
- This three point spread is ridiculous like beyond ridiculous. It is ludicrous. Texas has played one quality game all year. One. They beat Nebraska in Nebraska in mid October but also has had a series of bad losses including UCLA, Iowa State, Kansas State, and Kansas State all of which were by seven or more points with most being more. Texas A&M are coming off a big 9-6 win over #8 Nebraska at home last week and should be geared up for this Thanksgiving night game at Texas which is already a rivalry game for both sides. This is why the spread is so low as Texas will be ready to play at home for a rivalry game but Texas A&M should win this game by 10 to 14 points pulling away in the fourth q.




The pick- Texas A&M

Philly@ Chicago(+3) Sunday 4:15
- Philly is hot right now. Lead by the former dog killer Mike Vick. The offense is not what make this such an easy pick though. It is the defense against Chicago QB Jay Cutler. The guy throws every pass backing up and just chucks it up for grabs. The Philly defense has 19 ints in 10 games this season. That is almost two picks a game. Jay Cutler has 10 ints this season in only 7 games played. Doing the calculus, this leads to some turnovers this weekend and if Chicago is turning the ball over to the Vick-led offense, they are in trouble no matter how good the defense plays. They may be able to bail them out against lesser teams such as Minnesota and Carolina but Philly will capitalize on Cutler's mistakes.



NCAA Basketball:
Wyoming vs. Providence(-9) Wed. 7:00
-Providence which is 4-1 on the season take on Wyoming in the Cancun Challenge. Wyoming is only 2-3 and has some bad losses already including Northern Florida(hick city) and Northern Colorado. Providence has won by double digits in 3 of the 4 wins and look for this trend to continue unless the undisciplined holligans partied too much in Cancun last night and don't show up. So i am assuming the coach Keno Davis held them in the hotel and that Providence wins big tonight.

The pick-Providence

York signs five year extension with BC and called the "best coach in America"

Newton College's own historic coach Jerry York signed a five year contract extension to lock up his stay in Newton(not Boston) through the 2014-2015 seasons. This is all well and good considering he is a decent coach and I love to see him and Parker go and call each other friends in interviews while York is picking up our scraps *cough Vinny Saponari cough* and trying to use him to beat us next year in HE. I got a little heated when I first read this line so let me put the quote first from the article:
“Jerry York is the best collegiate hockey coach in America,” athletic director Gene DeFilippo said.

This is where I lost it. Like yeah yeah I know the athletic director is suppose to say something nice when they sign a coach to an extension but come on DeFlippo. This guy is such a douche it is ridiculous. I won't even get into his disputes with their other coaches(O'Brien, Jagodzinski, Al Skinner(aka Mr.Ed) because I don't have time for that nor does anyone with a life. This quote just is the perfect example of the arrogance of BC and their athletic program. Like yes he has won three national championships in his time at BC. I am not saying he is a bad coach but fucking Jack Parker is down the street in his 38th year on the bench with five national championships(three as head coach and two in the last years('71 and '72) behind the bench with legend Jack Kelley)in his pocket. DeFlippo just continues to assume BC is above all else. Fuck him and fuck choir boys. Parker is just one example of a coach who is just as good/better than York while also having the same amount of experience. Parker has a higher winning percentage as coach(.648 to .605). Of course I am going to defend Parker as the best coach in the game because I love him (in a no homo way of course). There are so many other great coaches currently in the game though. Here are a few to make my argument even more legitimate:

1. Rick Comley- Michigan St.- 768 wins, 37 years

2.Red Berenson- Michigan- for all 26 years, .669 winning percentage, 699 wins, 2 NCAA titles

3.Mike McShane- Norwich- 29 years .638 winning percentage,564 wins despite coaching Providence from '86 to '94, 29 years, 1 D-III championship

4.Don Lucia- Minnesota, .643 winning percentage, 23 years, 2 NCAA Titles

5. Bill Beaney-Middlebury- 30 years , .711 winning percentage, 8 D-III Championships

6. George Gwozdecky-Denver- 524 wins, .522 wins, 24 years, 2 NCAA Titles

These are all great coaches to go along with Parker's 3 titles, .648 winning percentage, 834 wins, 3-time NCAA coach of the year, 5 time Hockey East coach of the year, 30 NCAA Tournament games won, 7 HE tournament titles, 8 HE regular season titles, 21 Beanpot Titles... Also coached the following great players


1. Jim Craig 2. Mike Eruzione 3. Keith Tkachuk 4. Chris Drury 5. Matt Gilroy 6. Jay Pandolfo 7. Rick DiPietro 8. Ray Whitney 9. Tony Amonte

Shall I continue DeFlippio? Fuck you. York isn't the best coach in America right now. He is in the top 5 and probably the top two or three but is not the best. Get over yourself you arrogant piece of shit. We're going to destroy you in 9/10 days and shut you up ourselves.

BU basketball wins home opener Friday...loses to Hampton tonight

The Terriers fell to 2-3 on the season as they lost a tough one tonight 51-50 to Hampton in the preseason NIT tournament in Washington D.C. John Holland lead the way 12 points which explains it all as the team struggled all night to score while shooting 25% from the field. They shot even worse from 3 point land at 15%. Patrick Hazel lead the team with 4 blocks while the Dom Morris lead the team with 9 rebounds. The team needs a quick bounce back as they take on Nevada of the WAC tomorrow at 5:30 before they get a few days off for the Turkey Day break. The Terriers remain 1-0 at home after their 58-36 win Friday night in front of a fairly loud crowd at Case Gym. Hopefully the team continues to gel and grow as the season progresses. The team returns home Saturday at 5 to play Cornell in another non-conference game. Here is the press conference from the game Friday.

Hobey Baker Watch Part 1

I know it's only November, but it's never too early to start looking at the potential front runners for the nations best player award. I've compiled a quick list of the guys I think would have a chance to win it if the award was given tomorrow...

1.) Carter Camper, Senior, Forward - Miami of Ohio
Commit this name to memory, because this kid can flat out play. In 14 games this season, he has 12 goals and 18 assists for a total of 30 points. 30 points and it's not even December. Good lord. That comes out to 2.14 points per game, so if Miami plays 40 games this season (as they have the past two years), he would be on pace to have 85 points, which is simply not right. Camper is surprisingly undrafted, which many feel is a product of his size - only 5'-9", 170. In his first 3 seasons with the Red Hawks, he tallied 41, 42 and 44 points, respectively.

2.) Andy Miele, Senior, Forward - Miami of Ohio
A teammate of Carter Camper's at Miami, Andy Miele knows how to score as well. In 14 games, he's tallied 6 goals and 19 assists for 25 points (1.79 ppg). He would only be on pace to have 71 points to Carter's 85. No big deal. Miele is also undrafted (chalk it up to size again: 5'8", 175), but he was invited to the Washington Capitols camp last summer. In his first 3 seasons with Miami, he totaled 14, 31, and 44 points, respectively.

3.) Jaden Schwartz, Freshman, Forward - Colorado College
An impressive freshman, Schwartz has 9 goals and 9 assists for 18 points in only 12 games thus far this season. Prior to playing at Colorado College, Jaden skated for the Tri City Storm of the USHL. He was taken 14th overall in the 2010 NHL entry draft by the St. Louis Blues.

4.) Jack Connolly, Junior, Center - Minnesota Duluth
Younger brother of BU's own Chris Connolly, Jack has been putting on a show thus far this season. In 14 games, he has 5 goals and 15 assists, good for 20 points. Prior to playing for UMD, he played for the Sioux Falls Stampede of the USHL and was named the 2007-2008 USA Hockey Junior Player of the Year.

5.) Dave Warsofsky, Junior, Defenseman, Boston University
Yeah, I'm being a bit of a homer with this one. But Warso is leading Hockey East in defensemen scoring (4-7-11), is averaging just under a point a game, and has a +/- of 7. For a D-man, that's all pretty good. If his offensive numbers keep up or even improve, look for him to be in the Hobey talk come second semester.


Honestly, if the award was given tomorrow, there's no doubt in my mind it goes to Carter Camper. If his offensive output continues, don't be surprised if his name is getting called next spring.

Avs getting Millan in the spotlight

The Colorado Avalanche have seriously shown they know how to pick their team. With Yip having a decent season (18 games played, 5 goals and 3 assists) with them, Shatty getting his first NHL career goal last week with them, and Millan being drafted in the 5th round for them, they're gonna have a good squad in the next few years.

Now they're getting pumped to have 31 to mind the net for them. Millan's proved himself at the NCAA level, and I think it's time to show what he's got at the professional level

Click here for the Avs spotlight on Millan

picture: http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3421/3315880221_8d90656156.jpg

BU stays at #2 in USCHO.com poll...BC starts to climb up top ten

Our Terriers remain at #2 in the USCHO.com poll this week after a split with now #6 UNH this past weekend. While the Terriers suffered their first loss, it was at UNH and they rebounded with a convincing home victory to keep their national standing solid. The rest of the top ten is fairly constant from a week ago with the only big drop coming from Maine who was swept down in Newton this weekend and looked very human on both ends of the ice making John Muse look like Jim Craig against the USSR in 1980. Maine dropped from 3 to 10 but look for them to bounce back and as I have said about BC...they will be in the top ten come March and April when the games really count. Here is the rest of the top ten and a little break down for you.

1. Minnesota-Duluth(11-1-2)- The Bulldogs received 49 of the 50 first place votes after their two OT wins at #16 Wisconsin which is not an easy place to play.
2.BU(7-1-4)- The Terriers split with #6 UNH with the home team taking each game as many expected. BU plays the surging Brown Bears this Saturday who have one of the best power plays in the nation that should test Kieran Millan the Terrier defense.
3. Yale(7-1-0)- Those smart sons of bitches took two on the road this weekend beating both Cornell and Colgate and starting to earn their ranking.
4. Nebraska-Omaha(9-2-1)- Lost a tough one Friday night vs. North Dakota but bounce back to steal one Sat night with .3 seconds left on the clock.
5. Miami(8-3-3)- They swept Bowling Green to get back on track in CCHA play.
6. UNH(6-2-3)- A split with BU is what was expected and moved them up one spot in the polls as Maine free falls. Probably not what their coach wanted since he is a dick and gives no one credit but blames his own team if they lose. Probably why they choke in clutch games every year.
7. (N)BC(8-4-0)- The pansies took two from Maine this weekend at home which is impressive and helps them climb back into the polls and gear up for the BU/BC weekend in two weeks. They face Merrimack and UVM this weekend though(Each has accounted for one of BC's losses so ar.
8. Michigan(8-3-3)- The Wolverines took two against Lake Superior State and now gear up for a couple against rivals Wisconsin and Minnesota this weekend in a tournament.
9. North Dakota(8-5-1)- Splitting a pair at Omaha is not the end of the world for the Fighting Sioux as they look to to take a couple from those Catholic fucks out in Indiana this weekend(aka Notre Dame).
10. Maine(6-3-3)- Losing two in Newton is not what is expected from the #3 team in the nation. Lay off the moonshine Black Bears.

Other notables(10-20)
#18 Merrimack College- Yeah my bff Mike McMahon over at Warrior Rink Rat is probably having a field day over the national ranking for the first time like ever but the facts are they barely got by Lowell this past weekend. Overrated much? They higher up they go the harder they will fall when they lose a couple in a row in March

Receiving Votes
Providence - Providence only got one point on the weekend but I think they make a push for the polls again before the season is up.
Brown- The Bears are 3-2-1 on the season but haven't played anyone out of the ECAC yet so we will see what they are made of this weekend when they come into Agganis Arena.

Here are the INCH power rankings too if you wish to read more. Not much different than the polls besides their love of Union for some reason and their hatred of BC which I fully support.
Here are some notables in their power rankings:
1. UMD
2. BU
3. Yale
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5.Maine
6. North Dakota
7. UNH
10. Union
12. BC
17. Merrimack


- I would also like to take the time to welcome Raymundo to the blog. Redd10 is correct when he says he will use better grammar than me but so does my dog. I don't give a fuck about grammar. I just go 4-0 on weekends on my gambling and count the bills on Monday. Anyway, Raymundo should contribute plenty to the blog about BU hockey and will surely be coming to plenty of games in the future to hopefully meet the rest of the blog team because I don't think he has met anyone in person besides me. Redd10 likes to act like he went looking for new bloggers and this rigorous interview process that he sat down with guys. Don't let him fool you...it was my idea and we only require a positive test on a drug sample to write(yeah positive like you're on drugs). Hope you enjoy! As always BC sucks look for reasons why to be released in the days leading up the BU/BC weekend in less than two weekends. Our boy Tiger usually finds pretty inventive insults.

Hey!

What's up readers, Raymundo here, honored to be writing for a damn fine blog about the greatest hockey club the east coast has seen. I'm looking forward to posting my insights about games and news in the Hockey East division. Can't wait to start writing!

BC sucks

Hockey East Weekend Roundup

With 8 of the 10 HE teams in action this weekend, there was a lot of hockey played between Friday, Saturday, and even the rare Sunday matinee over in Chestnut Hill. So let's jump right in, shall we?

1. BU - Yeah, they split with UNH. Yeah, they got embarrassed on the road and handed their first loss of the season. So what. 7-1-4 is still damn good, and with Maine getting torn to pieces by John Muse and BC, they move into the top spot.

2. BC - I have to say, they redeemed themselves this weekend in my book. They hit a rough stretch there with losses to Merrimack and Vermont, but a pair of impressive wins over the highly regarded Black Bears of Maine moves them up a few spots this week. I wouldn't look for John Muse to keep up those kind of numbers, however.

3. UNH - It was the tale of two games for UNH this weekend. Friday night, they could do no wrong. Saturday night, they did nothing but wrong. All together, this team is kind of impressive. They put on a strong forecheck and pepper the goaltender with shots for all 60 minutes. However, this team proved they are susceptible to let downs and lapses with many turnovers Saturday night at Agganis.

4. Maine - A tough weekend for Maine pushes them down a few spots. Look, they are clearly a talented team. But John Muse hasn't been at his sharpest in a BC uniform this year, and the Eagles' offense has looked sluggish as well. But BC outscored Maine 8-1 on the weekend and made John Muse look like the understudy of Timmy Thomas. Not good for the Black Bears. Not good.

5. Merrimack - They literally squeaked out a pair of victories against the thoroughly unimpressive UMass - Lowell. Just goes to show that they are clearly not the nationally regarded team that some people in the Merrimack Valley think they should be. Oh, and what happened to your beloved commie Stephane Da Costa? He's no more of a Hobey Candidate than Charlie Coyle, who has one more point than Da Costa, by the way.

6. Northeastern - A tie and a win against an upstart PC team results in Northeastern climbing up this week. While I wouldn't advise the Huskies to get used to being here, I will say a 3 point weekend has to help the attitude over at Matthews Arena.

7. Providence College - Yeah, a loss and a tie isn't great, especially to a not-so-great N'Eastern team. But overall this Tim Army team has been performing beyond expectations this season, so they've got that going for them.

8. Vermont - Not in play this weekend, the Catamounts get back in action against UMass - Amherst on Tuesday.

9. UMass - Lowell - A two loss weekend isn't what ULowell needed. However, Merrimack has been playing pretty well as of late, so keeping it close against them has to be good for something, right?

10. UMass - Amherst - Not in play, and therefore still winless, the Minutemen host Vermont on Tuesday to try and get in the W column.

And just for fun this week, I decided to try and estimate where the ranked HE teams will fall in the polls tomorrow:

#3 - BU
#4 - UNH
#7 - BC
#10 - Maine
#20 - Merrimack (undeserving, but unfortunately will probably be there).

We Have a New Blogger!

Big day here at BSRSB. We have brought in another writer for you all to enjoy - Raymundo. He's a current Keene State product/avid BU fan, and he knows more about Hockey East than most of us here combined (not that that is saying much). Plus, he has to have better grammar than QuackQuack (to be fair, he has to type with whatever ducks have instead of hands). Look for Raymundo to bring a fresh perspective to our BU hockey coverage, as well as whatever the hell he wants to write about. Why? Because he's...

RAYMUNDO

Pats' late pick seals victory over Crybaby Peyton's Colts

The game seemed to be shaping up like last year's Colts/Pats game where the Colts beat the Pats 35-34 after the infamous " Fourth and two play" that gave the Colts great field position and eventually lead to the win. This year had a different ending as Peyton threw his third interception of the game as Jermaine Cunningham hit him on the throw. James Sanders came down with the ball and the game was over(ruining any chances for any Adam Vinatieri heroics in Foxboro. The Patriots won 31-28.Brady threw for two touchdowns and Benjarvus Green-Ellis and Danny Woodhead each ran for one. Deion Branch had seven catches for 70 yards with Wes Welker having 5 receptions for 58 more yards and a TD catch. The defense stood tall when it needed to and held on for a great win that extends Brady's home game winning streak to 25 games. Even Darius Butler(yes Darius Butler) contributed once starting corner Kyle Arrington went down with a knee knjury in the first half. The Patriots keep pace with the Jets at 8-2 and now prepare for the Lions on a short week on Thanksgiving. Now here are the Winners/Losers for this week

Winners:
1. Wes Welker- played a Welker-esk game with five big catches for 58 yards and a TD.
2. James Sanders- Game winning interception was a huge play for the young safety
3. Tom Brady- Had another spirited effort and was caught on camera still yelling at the Colts and the ref even once the game was over
4. BJGE -97 yards rushing and one TD along with some tough running at the end of the game was a solid effort from the undrafted RB from Ole' Miss
5. Devin McCourty- Had a pick and some other great coverage throughout the night on Peyton's receivers
6. Jermaine Cunningham- pressured Manning into that final pick

Losers
1. Pat Chung- was not one of the second-year safety's better games as he was in coverage for two of the four TD passes by Manning
2. Peyton's sister tonight -if you see the Peyton press conference you will see that his sister/wife is going to have a long night tonight as he was so pissed. Might be my favorite win of the year so far.

Press conferences: Tom Brady, Bill Belichick, Danny Woodhead

BU rebounds at home with a 4-2 win

BU only scored a goal in one period tonight(the one going towards the 108) but they scored four times. One time was shorthanded by Alex Chiasson and the other three were by freshmen including Adam Clendening's first career goal. Matt Nieto and Sahir Gill contributed the other two goals and junior goalie Grant Rollheiser was excellent(41 saves) after giving up two first period goals and BU hung on against those hicks from UNH 4-2 for their first win in the last five games and a split with #7 UNH. Tonight was a totally different game and effort by the Terriers.

There was bad news to the game though as junior forward and co-captain Chris Connolly left the game and had it heavily bandaged after the game and said he thought it was a break or fracture which means the junior forward will most likely be out for the remaining of the first half and possible beyond. Stay tuned for more on the game and our junior co-captain.

UPDATE- Connolly out 4-6 weeks with broken finger
- This puts his return right in the middle of the winter break which works out nicely for the Terriers as they can ease their junior co-captain back into the lineup

DANCE DANCE

So last night Quack Quack and I went to BU mens basketball home opener and saw BU win, BUT more importantly the Quacker himself got selected to dance at the game. The winner wins a gift card to Upper Crust. Well, Quack Quack, bright red face as always, went out there and owned. He did a little towel wave, backed his ass up, and gave an ass pop, before jumping down to floor. Quacker did in front of his Honey Quacker and she has been reported to say that she cant wait to eat at Upper Crust soon.

Chea, this is the dumb song he danced to:

UNH rules home ice and hands BU first loss of the season 5-2

BU jumped out to a 1-0 lead early on a David Warsofsky goal on their first shot of the game. It was all down-hill from there as UNH quickly rebounded and took a 2-1 lead heading into the second period. BU seemed to lose total control of the game from there as it was 5-2 at the end of two. Sean Escobedo was thrown out on a blatant hit from behind that also put the Terriers on a 5 on3 for 1:44 and forced Kieran Millan to be excellent which he was all night. Parker said after the game it would have been 12-2 if it wasn't for Millan. The team just did not respond to UNH's style of play on their home ice and got straight up thrashed. Stay tuned for more details and press conferences. Hopefully we can bounce back tonight back at Agganis Arena.

It's Friday so you know what that means...Money in the bank locks of the week!

So I went 2-1 last week with the over/under not going my way so I am going to avoid that shit from now on. I am now 7-4 overall though which means you would be making money by listening to me somehow. Yes my win NCAA game was a win by a half a point as Michigan won by 13 with 13.5 line but hey a win is a win. Sunday was a little more comfortable as Carolina sucks so Tampa had their way with them. I am also going to start doing one or two college basketball games for the upcoming week as these seasons start going full force. I am hot right so here is some easy cash for you this weekend.

NCAA:
Wisconsin @ Michigan(+4)- Yes, I am going with a Big Ten game this week. I will never pick the same team twice in a season so guess who I am going with here. That is right. Wisconsin is coming off an 83-20 win over Indiana. Yes, 83 points. They had over 300 yards of offense rushing the football alone. This week they go into the Big House and stomp all over Michigan's young defense who had trouble stopping people all year until I took the over last week of course. I think Wisconsin continues their offensive success with their 8th ranked offense(40.8 ppg) and 23 rd ranked defense(19.5ppg) keeps Denard Robinson in check for the most part and Wisconsin wins by 10-14 points. Wisconsin has two running backs(J. Clay-929,J. White-714) who could break the 1000 yard mark this season and a QB(S. Tolzien) who has 12 TD passes to lead the air attack. Michigan's 93rd ranked defense doesn't stand a chance this weekend. Wisconsin continues to rise the rankings after this win.
The pick- Wisconsin(-4)



Badgers are the most fearless animal! They will kill Michigan this weekend. Fast forward to the 55 second mark to watch the good part.

NFL:
Giants@Eagles(-3)
Ravens@Panthers(+11)
- This game seems like a set-up for the Eagles after a huge win over the Redskins last week but I am going for it. The Eagles are straight-up impossible to stop with Mike Vick as their QB. This guy has gotten better than he ever was by spending 20 months in jail. Maybe Eli Manning should spend some time in jail and he wouldn't get crushed by the (2-7)Cowboys. The Eagles are at home and the hottest team in football right now so a three point spread is nothing for a team that put 42 in the first half the other night. Eagles win by 14 over the G-Men and take control of the NFC East.

I couldn't decide to go with the Eagles or put my lock on whoever played Carolina for the second straight week. So instead I am putting both down. The Panthers are starting Brian St. Pierre who has a couple things going against him this week.
1. The Ravens' D is ridiculous and Ray Lewis is going to crush him
2. His top three RBs are out of the line-up.
3. He hasn't practiced since last January
4. He was being a stay-at-home dad as of Monday
5. His last name is French
6. He went to BC
- That is enough reasons for me to pick against him and his awful team which is one ugly win at home over SF from being winless still. Ray Lewis might kill him during the course of this game because that is what Ray Lewis does. He literally kills people.
The Picks- Eagles(-3),Ravens(-11)





NCAA Basketball:
URI@ Charleston(+4.5)
- URI almost knocked off Pitt already and continues the success in the 2K Classic Toledo Regional. They not only cover the 4.5 point spread but beat Charleston big and Rhody beats up their mascot again. This pick for Quack Quack Sr, an URI alum.

Game Day - BU vs UNH

         








Tonight, your BU Terriers (6-0-4, 4-0-4 HE) take on the Wildcats of UNH (5-1-3, 3-0-2 HE) in a matchup of nationally ranked squads up in New Hampshire. Your BU Terriers sit at #2 in the national polls this week, while the Wildcats moved up to #7/8. All time, BU holds a decided advantage against UNH, going 94-45-19 in 158 matchups. Last year, BU went 0-2-1 against UNH in their season series - 4-2 loss, 3-3 tie, and a final 4-1 loss (in our defense, UNH was on a regular season tear last year).

This season, UNH has continued its regular season success from last season. Within Hockey East, UNH has already beaten BC, UMass, and UMass - Lowell, while they were pushed to ties against the same UMass team as well as hapless Northeastern. Out of Hockey East, they split a series with Miami of Ohio, tied Michigan, and beat Cornell.

UNH has been the benefactor of some great goalie play by junior Matt Digirolamo. Making all 9 starts for the Wildcats, he has a 2.38 gaa and a .924 save percentage. One has to wonder if he will begin to tire soon, however, as making every start every weekend begins to take a toll on a goalie's sharpness and awareness. Offensively, UNH is led by a pair of seniors - Paul Thompson and Phil DeSimone. The two senior forwards have the same exact offensive numbers this season - 10 points on 3 goals and 7 assists.

UNH seems to have their best chance at winning when they jump out to an early lead. They have not lost this year when leading after the first or second period. However, they also haven't come back to win when being down after the first or second. The key for BU tonight will be to pot an early goal or two and put UNH away early. If UNH jumps out like Merrimack did last weekend, BU will have to just weather the storm.

For BU, look for the Connolly/Trivino/Chiasson line to continue its success offensively and defensively tonight. They provided both 3rd period goals in the dramatic comeback at the Mack last Saturday, and are often paired against our opponents top offensive line (i.e. DaCosta's line last weekend). My guess is that Millan will make the start tonight on the road, and depending on that outcome Parker will make the decision for tomorrow night (yeah I know Parker said he is going to start Rollheiser regardless on Saturday. I don't buy it). Also look for a new second line tonight, which emerged in the middle of last Saturday's contest - Nieto/Coyle/Gill. The all freshman line worked well when together, and because of this Parker will come them together at least for tonight. The third line is now Gaudet/Megan/Pereira, and the fourth line is Glass/Rosen/Santana.

If you can't make it to NH tonight (like we can't), NESN will be televising the game. If you don't have access to a TV, the Boston Hockey Blog will have their usual live blog of the game.

As always, GO TERRIERS!

Quack Quack calls out Shatty...and he responds

So yesterday I posted a video of Shatty's so-called big hit in a game and down-playing it. I also called out Shatty's lack of ability to make some big hits. Well it doesn't matter if you can hit when you can snap off shots like that one. Can you say unstoppable? I know Redd10 can't(way too many repeating letters in there) but that is exactly what that shot was. Top corner...Goalie(A. Nittymaki) never had a chance. Congrats Shatty on your first career NHL goal.

Shatty's version of Gryba smash

-This was posted by Terrier Hockey Blog already but I had to put my opinion in on this. Honestly this make youtube video these days? This isn't Gryba lighting someone up or starting a fight. This is Shatty like accidentally getting in a dude's way. Yes, it would have been his biggest hit ever here but still not youtube worthy. He barely even touches the guy. He just gets their legs tangled up and they both fall. Next time put an elbow in his face so I have something better to post like this by hit by Gryba last year. This how to put someone on their back!

BU basketball picks up first win of the season

The BU men's basketball team picked up their first win of the season last night in Dick's Sporting Goods NIT season Tip-Off at Villanova's Pavilion. The Terriers edged the Colonials of George Washington 76-67 to improve to 1-1 on the season after a 66-64 loss to Northeastern over at Matthews Arena last Friday. Senior John Holland lead the way with 28 points and junior Captain Jake O'Brien added 20 more as they jumped all over the Colonels early and often. It was the first time since 1979 that the Terriers have beaten GW who have gone 17-1 against us all time before last night. The Terriers' win means Coach Pat Chambers gets to against his former school and mentor Jay Wright tonight as the #6 Villanova WildCats will play BU. This game will surely be sentimental for Chambers and should give the Terriers a reason to fight for an upset win.

Three freshman(DJ Irving, Travis Robinson, and Dom Morris) contributed significant minutes for the Terriers who have only two returning players healthy right now with Jeff Pelage sidelined with an ankle injury. Junior transfers Patrick Hazel, captain Matt Griffen, and Darryl Partin also put in good minutes as this team looks to gel as a unit in these first couple games before America East action heats up the next couple weeks. The team's home opener is Friday is against Marist this Friday at the Roof which looks to be a sell-out crowd and should be a loud atmosphere.

Here is a good article with a lot of America Eats predictions for the season from respected sources which I am not. So I will leave it to the professionals until I see a few more of these teams play one another.

Giant Mid-Week Roundup

Ok, so I know I'm slacking on getting up last weekend's Hockey East roundup. My bad, just haven't gotten around to it yet. So I'm going to combine that with my regular Wednesday Morning Hockey for one monster Mid Week Roundup. First up, Hockey East...

1. Maine - A pair of 4-2 wins against the hapless Northeastern Huskies last weekend pushed Maine into the top spot all alone this week. This team continues to impress with their ability to score almost at will sometimes, led by Spencer Abott and Gustav Nyquist. They play a rare Friday-Sunday home and home with BC this weekend in one of the best match-ups thus far into the season.

2. BU - A pair of ties at Merrimack isn't the worst result that could have come out of this weekend. However, for this Terrier team to separate themselves from the HE pack, a win in there somewhere would have been nice. This young team takes their talents to UNH Friday night for the first half of a home and home. This weekend will tell us a lot about the strength of this Terrier squad.

3. UNH - A win and a tie against the winless UMass - Amherst this past weekend finds UNH in the third spot this week. This team has been impressive as usual thus far this season, largely behind the talents of goaltender Matt Digirolamo. They have a home and home with the aforementioned BU this weekend.

4. BC - A win and a loss against Vermont this past weekend isn't what you would expect for the reigning National Champs. But so far this season, BC has followed the "Post Championship Hangover" path, much like BU last year. Don't get me wrong, however. BC is still an incredibly talented squad and will no doubt look to make a push going into the break. They next play this Friday against Maine in a battle of HE titans.

5. Merrimack - This team continued to prove itself this past weekend with two hard fought ties against BU, although they choked up a 3-1 lead at home on Saturday.  Let there be no doubts, however, that the Merri-hack title is well warranted - this team plays cheap and tries to draw dumb penalties after the whistle. They take their A-Rod-slapping-Arroyo ways up to UMass-Lowell this weekend.

6. Vermont - A win and a tie against BC isn't bad for this UVM squad. I'm going to be honest, I can't quite figure out this Catamounts squad just yet. But any team that beats BC is good in my book!

7. PC - Hey, two wins against the conference-less Alabama-Huntsville has to be a good morale booster for this Friars team, right? Right. I don't think these guys are really that great, but they have been playing pretty well as of late (including a win over the Mack). Army's squad looks to keep it rolling against N'eastern this weekend.

8. UMass - Lowell - They didn't play last weekend, so yeah. They still suck in case anybody is wondering.

9. UMass - Amherst - This winless Amherst team forced an impressive tie against UNH Saturday night after getting blanked 3-0 on Friday. I honestly think they are better than this, they just have fallen on some hard times up in Amherst as of late.

10. Northeastern - In both losses against Maine this past weekend, N'Eastern had leads at one point or another and then gave them away. The same thing seemed to have happened in the past weeks. This leads me to believe that these guys really just can't keep a lead/finish out a game. Tough times in Matthews thus far for the Huskies.

Now for the Wednesday Morning Hockey...

Sticking with HE, their weekly press release featured 3 Terrier players in their top performers from the weekend: Chris Connolly, Kieran Millan, and Corey Trivino.

USCHO.com's Hockey East blog examines BU and Merrimack's penalty kills from last weekend in their weekly column.

Former Terrier Matt Gilroy has started to turn his season around with the NY Rangers. After being a healthy scratch in a few games early in the year, and barely playing in the games he did get into, Gilroy has ended up on the scoresheet in his last two games. While both times it was only for one assist, that has to be encouraging for Gilroy to finally produce some points after struggling so far into the season. Gilroy and the Rangers take on the Bruins at Madison Square Garden tonight.

Another former Terrier, forward Brandon Yip, has been on an offensive tear of late. In his past 5 games, he has put up 3 goals and an assist for the Colorade Avalanche. The Yipper has been seeing his ice time increase as well, an encouraging sign for the second year forward. Perhaps he could share his offensive wealth with former and current teammate Kevin Shattenkirk, who had been seeing a lot of ice time for the Avs yet only has 1 assist in 6 games.

Sticking with the NHL, the voting has now opened for the 2011 All Star Game in Raleigh, NC. You can vote right here. Personally, I'm not sure if I like the new All Star format (where the captains for each team pick most of the players from a pre-made list). What was wrong with the old way?

The Boston Bruins have been without two of their key players as of late - Johnny Boychuk and David Krejci. Boychuk fractured his forearm on a slash while playing the Rangers, and Krejci suffered a concussion on November 6. Boychuk will reportedly be returning to the lineup tonight to face the very same Rangers, and Krejci just needs to pass a contact test in order to be cleared to play by the team doctors.

That's all I've got for you today. Stay tuned for QuackQuack's money in the bank picks of the week and a preview of the UNH series coming later this week.

Terriers fall to #2 in polls after two ties over the weekend

Obviously the national polls mean much less in college hockey than they do in college football but they are worth paying attention to as they come out each week. Our Terriers' stay as the #1 team in the nation lasted only one week as we fell to #2 with Minnesota-Duluth taking #1 after an impressive 4 point weekend out west. Here is how the rest of the USCHO.com poll shaped up:
1. Minnesota-Duluth(9-1-2)-two wins over Michigan Tech this weekend vault the Bulldogs past the Terriers into the #1 spot
2. BU(6-0-4)- two ties against a rising Merrimack team is nothing to be ashamed of but enough to lose the #1 spot in the rankings. This is a good place for BU as the #1 target has been taken off this young team's back for the time being.
3. Maine(6-1-3)- This is the hottest team in Hockey East and with a couple wins over BC this weekend could move further up in the polls and HE standings.
4. Nebraska-Omaha(8-1-0)- Have a chance to rise or fall in the standings this weekend with a pair against North Dakota
5. Yale(5-1-0)- They lost to Air Force this past weekend which you would think would cause them to fall more than one spot but for some reason USCHO loves this Yale team
6. Miami(6-3-3)- The split with Alaska causes the Red Hawks to continue to drop
7. New Hampshire(5-1-3)- big home and home with BU this weekend to go with the Maine/BC series should give everyone a good idea who really is the best team in HE.
8. North Dakota(7-4-1)- Swept Wisconsin this past weekend to gain some momentum heading into a series with Nebraska-Omaha
9. Michigan(6-3-3)- A split with #11ND is not exactly what you are looking for at home but Michigan will take it at this point in the season.
10. Newton(Boston) College(6-4-0)- N(B)C continues to lose games and split weekends as they did again with UVM this weekend. This is a tough loss despite it being in Vermont. Vermont has struggled to score all year. They are purple because they are a bunch of little girls.

The INCH power rankings are very similar to the USCHO poll with some minor flip flopping here and there.
1. Minnesota-Duluth
2. BU
3. Maine
4. Nebraska-Omaha
5. Yale
6. North Dakota
7. UNH
8. Miami
9. Michigan
10. Union
...
13. BC
20. PC? These guys are on crack but its funny because BC is ranked closer to PC than to us. Losers.

-This weekend approaching is going to be filled with good games as 6 of the top 10 teams play one another(BC/Maine, BU/UNH, ND/ Nebraska). A bunch of splits could mean more of the same in the polls or a bunch of sweeps could totally turn the polls upside down.

Pats steamroll the Steelers...again

The Pats scored on their opening drive on a Tom Brady pass to rookie tight end Rob Gronkowski for the first of their three hookups for TDs on the night as the Pats beat the Steelers 39-26. The Patriots' defense, which got romped on by the Cleveland running attack last week, kept the Steelers in check only allowing 3 points through the first 3 quarters. They gave 23 points in the fourth but the game was never within one score. Brady(30-43, 350 yards, 3 TDs) lead the way for the offense and showed an extreme amount of passion throughout the game.

Brady(press conference) was caught on camera numerous times lighting up his teamates over mistakes that he felt could have been avoided. Rob Gronkowski bounced back from a bad game in Cleveland to break all types of rookie records with 3 TDs on 5 catches for 72 yards. Gronkowski put up big numbers at TE while fellow rookie Aaron Hernandez didn't see the field much due to the Steelers' physical type of defense. BenJarvus Green Ellis also contributed 87 yards on 18 carries and the Pats improved to an NFL best 7-2 on the year. Wes Welker(press conference) had a season high 89 yards on eight grabs while Deion Branch had 7 catches for 71 yards as Brady looked to get back to his favorite targets along with Gronkowski, the rookie TE from Arizona.

The defense also scored some points as James Sanders ran an INT back 32 yards for a score off of Big Ben Raplisberger. They were superb throughout the game lead by Jerod Mayo and Pat Chung. They were making plays all over the field and keeping the game in control throughout.

Belichick presser here

Here are this week's winners/losers for the Pats
Winners:
1. Tom Brady- enough said above
2. Rob Gronkowski- 3 TDs and 72 yards in a great bounce back game from the rookie
3. Devin McCourty- this rookie is already becoming a leader on the defense along with Chung,Mayo, and Wilfork and made some great plays in the secondary.

Losers:
1. Shayne Graham- He missed an extra point in the game which is inexcusable but also hit two field goals even if they weren't the prettiest things in the world.
2. Young women in the Pittsburgh area- Big Ben doesn't like to lose...watch out the next couple nights as he may "force" his way on you(read rape you).

Post Game

Unfortunately, all I could find for press conferences was a quick interview with Corey Trivino from BU athletics. Hopefully the rest of the real press conferences will surface soon. That video is right here:



Fortunately, I was able to find Merrimack Athletic's highlights. The announcers love life when Merrimack scores, be forewarned.



If anything worthwhile pops up, I'll have it for you.

Quack Quack Sr.'s notes from Merrimack-BU game tonight

This is the gist of of what Quack Quack the Elder gave me over the phone after attending tonight's game.
1. Max Nicastro takes too many chances going for big hits when he should stay home and play good defense. Merrimack's second and third goals were a result of this type of play.
2. This team keeps battling no matter the score or how the game is going which is a great attribute to have.
3. Merrimack's rink roof is way too low with four of five live pucks striking the ceiling
4. Merrimack is a punch of goons who refuse to play skilled hockey. The radio call agreed with this as they described their type of play as five goalies in front of their actual goalie.
5. It was a good tie for the Terriers to remain undefeated making a strong two goal third to tie the game.
6. The crowd was very uneducated with many girls caring more about what they are going to wear out and what inappropriate things they were going to do.
7. Merrimack's white out was pathetic attempt to intimidate BU. BU had many fans in attendance and that is nothing to what we are doing BC weekend. Just saying. Merrimack blows!
8. The officiating was average at best. Merrimack makes alot of dumb penalties so that the refs eventually start letting stuff go when normally penalties would be called.

- My opinion of this game was that BU was getting baited into playing undisciplined hockey through the first two periods and taking risks they did not need to take. I'll take this tie and the two points from a Merrimack team that always shows up against the big time schools. In the end of the day, the Terriers keep playing quality hockey and this blog owns the Warrior Rink Rat blog which thinks Merrimack is a better team than BU. Come on buddy, you play ultra conservative hockey and refuse to go on a forecheck because we are better than you in every aspect of the game. Expect Merrimack and their punkass style to get them to fifth or sixth in the conference though and BU has not seen the end of these pesky bitches. The game Jan. 12th at Merrimack will be attended by Redd10 and myself so we can give better notes but we will take QuackQuack's Sr. notes even though his pen broke.

- Overall, BU is playing about to our expectations as the third best hockey team in HE. I know we are ranked #1 for the time being but in reality, Maine and UNH are better than us right now and the rest of HE is lagging behind. Obviously BC is also very good and will turn it on at some point this year but the rest of the league is well behind the top four unless Providence Merrimack or UVM proves they can stick with the big boys over the course of a season

- Stay tuned for the press conference from Redd10