Big 24 hours: Clendening signs, NiCastro is free

I am coming out of my summer hiatus to write this post because we all know GW won't get off the couch nevermind write a whole post. This has been a very busy 24 hours for BU hockey especially for early June when usually the only business is off-season training. First, last night rising junior defenseman Adam Clendening announced he was signing with the Chicago Blackhawks who drafted him in the 2nd round in last year's draft. Clendening had nothing but good things to say about his time at BU and deemed himself ready for the next step by signing a 3 year deal worth $650,000 per. Clendening came to BU as a highly touted recruit and he showed that skill and talent on the powerplay, specifically this past season. He still has work to improve his defensive game and could have benefited from another year in college hockey. In the end, it was his choice and he moves on leaving an open scholarship for the BU coaching staff to use for the coming season. This seems to be left for another d-man as BU only is carrying 6/7 on the roster defending on your definition of the bod Matt Ronan. One rumor would be that 2013 recruit Marc Hetnik could come next year to fill the defensive void on the blue line and the scholarship would be used on a forward like USHL player of the year Kevin Roy, who is looking into backing out of his committment to Brown. Other rumors are that BU was prepared for this and have a d-man recruit lined up to fill the void. Best of luck to Clenny with the Blackhawks and hopefully he doesn't emulate Patrick Kane too much.

Next, this morning both charges of rape were dropped against Max NiCastro, who was accused of the crime in late February and later suspended from the team and the school. The dropping of the charges saves NiCastro a long trial and posssibly 20 years in prison, if he had been convicted. Good luck to Max wherever he goes next, whether that be back to BU or signing with Detroit, who have his rights after drafting him in 2008. Now all the haters and pro-task force advocates can go climb back into their holes and shutup. I bet there aren't any news trucks outside of Agganis today looking for students opinions on the charges being dropped because that doesn't make good news at 6.

In other minor news, former BU commit Robert Polsello has committed to UVM for next year. Polsello and BU parted ways after an off-ice incident this past year. BU replaced him in their 2012 class with forward Sam Kurker. Seems like an upgrade to me. That's all I got for now. If anyone else goes pro, I am going to be heated so hopefully I won't have to post again anytime soon. Let' s see if you can guess the theme of the videos below

Terriers' Report Card- Goalies and dmen

This took a few weeks but I am finally sitting down and grading each Terrier's season as a whole. This is my opinion on the goalies and d-men and obviously no one is going to agree so feel free to whine/comment below. I am hoping to have the forwards done before the weekend as well.

Goalies

31 Kieran Millan- Millan had another solid year and wrapped a fantastic 4 year career with BU where he racked up all-time records in wins and saves. He finished this season with nice numbers 20-14-1, .923 save % and 2.60 GAA. Millan was a backbone for this team at times when they needed him to be and will go down as one of the all-time great BU goalies. Millan will sign with the Colorado Avalanche franchise in the coming weeks.
Grade:A-

35 Grant Rollheiser- "Rollie" had another solid year as the backup goaltender to his classmate Millan. Rollheiser made the most of the starts handed to him in the second half of the year. He finished the year with 3-1 record in his four starts, 7 total appearances. He posted decent numbers with .905 save % and a 2.87 GAA. Rollheiser is a pick of the Toronto Maple Leafs and could be given a shot in the ECHL or overseas if he wishes to continue to play hockey.
Grade: B

1 Anthony Moccia- The sophomore third string goalie dressed in 26 games this season but did not see action in any of them. He still led the country in GAA with his 0.00.
Grade: N/A

Defensemen

5 Adam Clendening- The sophomore d-man put up very nice numbers this year racking up 33 points(4g, 29 a) in 38 out of the team's 39 games. He was a key part of one of the best powerplays in the nation. He improved from his freshman year and was named a HE first team All-Star. Clendening does need to defend on the defensive end of the ice and make some better decisions when on the point. He was 50/50 on going pro(Chicago draft pick) to begin the off-season but it now seems like he will return for his junior season. Clendening will need to continue to improve and make his teammates better. If he does this, he could easily be an All-American next year. I am grading him off of his potential. He can be the best defenseman in the country and hopefully we will see that type of play out of him next season.
Grade: B

Garrett Noonan- Noonan was out there with Clendening for the powerplay and potted many goals off of passes from Clendening. The HE 2nd team all-star potted 16 goals and 11 assists in 38 games. He made a big jump offensively from his freshman season and was one of the nice surprises on the team this year. His team-leading +19 shows his competitive nature and his desire to do whatever it takes to win a game. Like Clendening, he needs to improve his play in his own zone before making the jump to the next level in the next 2 years. Noonan was also an emotional leader on this team and could very easily be wearing a letter next season. The fan favorite earned the respect of fans and coaches throughout Hockey East with his play this past season.
Grade: B+

Patrick MacGregor- "Truck" also made a big jump in play from his freshman to sophomore season. MacGregor dressed in 36 games and had 3 assists but that only begins to tell his impact on the ice. MacGregor is a defensive defenseman who plays defense first and worries about his own point total secondarily. He posted a solid +9 rating for the year but will need to improve his decision-making and he will most likely be pushed for a spot in the lineup consistently depending how many recruits are brought in for next season.
Grade: B-

Sean Escobedo- Escobedo really grew as a player this season and became one of the leaders for the club through adversity. He posted a solid 3-10-13 line this season with 2 goals coming one game at Vermont. He is another guy who will have a leadership role next season and has a chance to wear an A since the defense will be the strength of this team next season
Grade: B+

Ryan Ruikka- The redshirt junior performed consistently in his last year at BU posting 5 assists in 29 games played for the Terriers. He was a solid 5/6 d-man for the Terriers providing depth when they needed it most due to the off the ice issues this year.
Grade: C+(Only time he won't get an A this semester)

Alexx Privitera- The leader of the "pony express" made huge improvements from the beginning to the conclusion of his freshman year. His stat line would have been even more impressive than the 4-10-14 line he posted if not for a broken wrist that sidelined him for 4 weeks including both Beanpot games. The rising sophomore will be a key part of the defensive rotation next year and should be a top 4 dman for this club. I am giving him two grades because I feel he performed drastically better in the second half than the first.
Grades: Fall: C, Spring B+

Merrihack Preview

The BU Terriers will open up the second half of their conference schedule against the #7 ranked 11-3-3(7-2-1) Merrimack Warriors. Merrimack went undefeated in their first 10 games including a 3-2 OT win at BU in November. Since then, they have struggled due to injuries and an increase in the strength of schedule. Since the beginning of December, the Warriors have struggled with a 2-2-3 record against less than stellar opposition. The highest ranked team during that period was t13 Pairwise Colgate who Merrimack tied. Merrimack has struggled through injuries to most of their team and have not been able to gel since their sweep at the hands of Providence in the beginning of December.

Merrimack is led in total points by senior, trash talking forward Ryan Flanigan who has posted 14 points in 17 games so far this season but also had a little extra to say to Garrett Noonan in the handshake line in November. That will certainly be something to watch during the game and afterwards to see how bad Noonan beats up on the little punk from Rochester,NY.

The Terriers come into this game coming off a 5-2 loss at Notre Dame on New Year's Eve. The Terriers will be getting sophomore defenseman(and our next interview hopefully) Adam Clendening back from WJCs which should give the team a boost along with the elevated roles of Sahir Gill(who gets a shoutout on USCHO) and the hero from Canton Wade Megan. The Terriers look to prove to the nation that the new revamped lineup is just as effective as the lineup from the first half.

Three current BU Terriers selected on Day 2 of NHL draft

Three current member of the BU Terriers men's hockey team were drafted by three different teams on day 2 of the NHL draft yesterday. Adam Clendening was the first to go, to Chicago, at #36 overall(second round). This is a good fit for the rising sophomore at BU as Chicago is weak on the D-line and he was their first defenseman selected this year. This most likely means Clendening only has one or two years left at BU before jumping to the NHL but time will tell there. The second pick was also in the second round as winger Matt Nieto was selected 47th overall by the San Jose Sharks. This comes the day after the Shark traded the right from current Terrier Charlie Coyle in a deal with Minnesota. Sources from the Boston Hockey Blog have spoken with Coyle though and he has said he hasn't had much contact with Minnesota but plans to return to BU next season still. The third and final Terrier to be drafted yesterday was defenseman Garrett Noonan who was drafted #112 in the fourth round by the Nashville Predators and former Terrier Colin Wilson. Coach Jack Parker was present for the draft and the both Clendening and Nieto were evidently thrilled to have him there for support as shown in the two articles linked here( USCHO, ESPNBOSTON). This is just another example proving the haters wrong that Parker is just a crazy old man and doesn't care about his players. He cares more about them then any other coach in HE and tells them honestly the best move for their careers not for the program. He doesn't pray to the lord and grovel like York does out there in Newton. Just another class move from Parker. In another note, current Terrier Sahir Gil who was a draft prospect went undrafted.

In other HE news, two Northeastern recruits( Haar and Gaudreau) decomitted(will return to the USHL) following their coaching change while current player and first round pick D Jamie Olesiak is strongly considering moving to the OHL. Looks like Vinny Saponari is going to have to be a one man show for Northeastern to go anywhere this season no matter who the coach is. Aka not too concerned about the goons over on Huntington Ave. Cue the music!

Terriers sneak past PC with half-ass effort

BU took the first of six must-wins coming down the stretch with a 2-1 victory over Providence College. BU jumped out to a quick 1-0 lead on Matt Nieto's first goal in 49 days. The Terriers later made it 2-0 half way through the second with a PP goal from freshman D-man Adam Clendening on a wrister from the point. After that goal, the Terriers got outplayed and relied heavily upon junior goalie Kieran Millan. The first half of the game was owned by the Terriers and could have been 5-0 easily if not for the efforts of PC netminder Alex Beaudry. Beaudry made 32 saves on the night while Millan made 36.

Coach Parker dug into his team in the postgame presser for being selfish and stupid among other things. The lone PC goal was with two minutes remaining on the end of a pp where junior D-man David Warsofsky jumped up to steal a past and got burnt badly leading to a goal. It was another poor play by the junior who after being benched at UMASS last week hasn't improved. He took some solid shots tonight but made some poor decisions as well. Those have to stop if this team wants to make a run in the postseason.

Coach Parker was especially upset at the penalties of Alex Chiasson and Wade Meagan in the third period after a scuffle that resulted in eight minutes of penalties assessed to the two. Parker clearly chewed Meagan out before he got to the penalty box. Parker said there he was contemplating changing up the lines for tomorrow's game at PC for guys being stupid. It would seem Meagan and Chiasson would be those guys but the second line of Trivino Nieto and Chiasson produced both goals tonight so I would be shocked if Chiasson is benched. Meagan has been playing better as well so it will be interesting to see who Parker benches. I would guess possible Meagan for Santana/Gilroy depending on who plays on what line. There is no way he benches Chiasson for untested freshman Matt Ronan though. Sorry Matt.

I also wouldn't be surprised if MacGregor gets a game at d tomorrow night. Overall, the defenseman played well besides Warso and I don't see Parker benching him again. He has liked what he has seen from MacGregor though so the lines will be interesting. Hopefully, Warso gets his head out of his ass soon though and plays the way everyone knows he can. He is making some people wish he would go pro at the end of the season which is never a good thing. He needs to be the player we all know he can be and be an example for the young defenseman. Instead recently, the d-pairing of Noonan and Clendening has clearly been the best pairing out there. We will see what happens tomorrow.

In other HE News:
-Merrimack beat UMASS 4-3 on OT at the Mullins Center without Frenchie(read Da Costa)
-Maine took care of Lowell 4-0 at Tsongas to stay five points behind BU
- Northeastern and BC skated to a 7-7 tie? Is this football? Anyway don't expect to see little pussy Parker Milner anytime soon. He gave up 4 goals on 9 shots tonight before being pulled. He is too busy running away from the scene of accidents to practice goalie. But hey life could be worse you could be Greg Cronin(NU head coach) suspended indefinitely for recruiting violations.
NU showed some fight though I give them props.
- UNH shit on UVM's face in a 6-1 blowout on national TV. Nice job UVM.