Guest Post: The Importance of Captain Gryz's return

Editor's note: This is the first  guest post that we have received this offseason. We will post basically anything that people submit because we are a blog of the people(unless it is pro BC or anti-BU) so feel free to submit a post about anything you feel like you want to talk about. If it's a pro-BC post, we will just change your words and make fun of you so I wouldn't recommend doing that. Thank you to Jacob Reiser who submitted this post.

Despite a heartbreaking loss in the NCAA finals, Terriers captain Matt Grzelyck already has his sights set on the future, and it does not involve him wearing black and gold just yet. “Obviously it hurts to lose but I’m going to be motivated more than ever to come back stronger next season,” Grzelyck remarked postgame. “Obviously we had a great year and now we have to build off it.”

 Many people already know the Terrier defenseman’s story due to his tremendous success this season, but I’ll repeat it for emphasis. Gryz grew up a stone’s throw away from TD Garden, his dad working as a member of the bull gang that turns over Celtics and Bruins games. If there was open ice, Gryz’s dad would let him come down and skate, and boy, could he skate. After suffering a season-ending injury during a practice in January of his sophomore year, he came back with a vengeance, scoring 10 goals, including the OT winner at the Beanpot, and tallying 28 assists.

So why exactly does it matter that he’s coming back? He’ll contribute the most leadership as a senior to this team. The only two seniors on last season’s team were Evan Rodrigues and Cason Hohmann, and they were heralded as figureheads in the locker-room, molding young freshman such as Brandon Fortunato, who didn’t take a penalty all season, Nikolas Olsson, and incorporating Jack Eichel’s skill as well. Next year’s seniors include Matt O’Connor(Editor's note: O'Connor has 3 NHL visits lined up and is most likely turning pro this summer), who as much as he gained a lot of confidence, needs to build it back up again after his performance in the championship game, Ahti Oksanen and Matt Lane. It’s no guarantee Danny O’Regan comes back, he could go to play for the San Jose Barracudas (the new AHL affiliate for the San Jose Sharks). Having a proven leader in Matt Grzelyck come back to this team makes all the difference with another stellar freshman class coming in with Jordan Greenway, Sean MacTavish, Maxim Letunov and others. Even without Jack Eichel, and let’s face it, he’s going pro(Editor's note: Disagree that it's a certainty), this team can contend once again, and having Gryz to bind this team together will make all the difference. 

-Jacob Reiser