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+

Guest Post #5

Here is Guest Post #5 for those of you keeping track still. This is from the famous Fake Agganis Arena. It is uh...interesting. We have one more guest post coming tomorrow or Thursday and then maybe we'll actually start to post again.

A Love Letter An Open Letter A Love Letter to Kieran Millan (and the other seniors)

NOTE: to get the full effect, listen to this as you read:

Hey Kieran,

What’s happening? How have you been? Things going ok with you? Good to hear. We’re fine, thanks for asking. Sit back and get comfy. We have a lot of emotions and we want to let you know how we feel.

First, one last plea: DON’T GRADUATE. FAIL YOUR CLASSES. GO BACK IN TIME AND ERASE A YEAR OF PLAYING SO YOU CAN COME BACK ONE MORE TIME. PLEASE.

Ok that was a bit embarrassing. But hey, it’s what we were all thinking, right?

On a more serious and sincere note, we just want to say congratulations on your four years here. It’s been a while that this BU program has had such a standout goaltender like yourself, and we probably aren’t going to see another one for a while. We won’t embarrass you by listing off your stats and accomplishments – we all know how good you are (but we will if you want…).

(This is where the rest of the team can start reading)

We just want to make you and the rest of your graduating class aware of the impact you’re leaving behind at this school and this hockey program. As you all know, you’re the last class to graduate from the 2009 Championship season and you’re leaving behind a legacy that students here will talk about for years to come. “Hey, remember that bald guy who was a total badass? Chris Connolly? Yeah, I miss him.” “Didn’t that Ryan Ruikka guy almost get a 4.0 while he was on the hockey team? Damn.” “Grant Rollheiser; what an attractive man.”

We’re not going to lie, we’re going to remember you for both your highs and lows. Winning a national championship your freshman year? HIGH. The season afterwards? Ok, that was a bit of a low. Losing three important players in a month during your senior year? Damn right that sucked. Bouncing back, letting the talk roll off your shoulders and still make it to the NCAA tournament? Hell yeah, that’s a high. If you are all going to be remembered for one thing, it’s your resilience. Most of you could’ve easily packed things up and threw in the towel. You’d already won a national championship – most people don’t even get to do that. But you guys didn’t do that. You fought hard. You wouldn’t let the problems of some affect the whole team. You worked hard to get to the post season not just for yourselves, not just for the other guys on the team, but also for BU. You showed everyone that one can throw a few punches at BU, but we won’t go down without a fight.

Some of you might be moving on to a professional career in hockey. Out of that group, some might even make it to the NHL. Others may be hanging up their skates for a bit to start a job in the “real world” (if that even exists). No matter what you all move on to do in your years away from BU, good luck. Never forget the time you’ve spent here. We definitely won’t.

Thank you all for sticking around and dealing with us for four years. Keep on keepin’ on.

Forever and Always Yours,

(Fake) Agganis Arena

P.S. Kieran: please remember us when you become famous. We’re expecting a shoutout when you win your Vezina Trophy.

Monday=day of the meaningless polls

The USCHO and USA Today polls both came out today and both have your BU Terriers at #5 in the country. Once again, these polls are meaningless. The Pairwise is how teams are seeded for the NCAA tournament (BU is t-4) and the new pairwise predictor from USCHO is helpful for fans to see how their team will rise or fall with outcomes this weekend. Here is a breakdown of the rest of the top 10.

1. Newton University (BC)- 27-10-1- They beat UMass with officiating going their way all weekend. Nothing to be bragging about.
2. Minnesota Duluth- 24-8-6- They will go as far as soon to be Hobey Finalist Jack Connolly will take them
3. Michigan-23-11-4- Red Berenson gets his red-hot team ready for another NCAA run
4. Minnesota-26-12-1- The Gophers will be a tough out come NCAA time, especially since they will be placed in St. Paul.
5. BU- This team is the grittiest team in the top 5 and keeps finding ways to dig deep and win games. Still the best team in the nation waiting their time to make a run.
6. Union-22-7-7- If they don't win the EZAC tournament, an at-large team is going to get bumped and not be a huge Union fan anymore.
7.Miami-23-13-2- They are hanging in there and can be anywhere from out of the field to a #1 seed.
8. Ferris State- 23-11-5- Their QF loss to Bowling Green is going to kill their seeding
9. Denver-23-12-4- Beat Wisconsin in 3 games as they finally seem to be getting healthy
10. Lowell-23-12-1- Losing to PC in 3 puts the NCAA tournament faith of this team in the hand of others which you never want
11.Maine- BU's opposition this coming Friday in the HE semis fresh off knocking Merrimack out of the playoffs
15. Merrimack- Look like they will miss the NCAA's barely after their HE QF loss to Maine

- Some other notes from this week....BU junior forward Alex Chiasson was name the Hockey East Player of the Week with his 6 points and +3 rating over the weekend...Kieran Millan also was the obvious choice for Defensive Player of the Week with his 150 saves and .943 save percentage over the weekend...Chris Connolly, Sahir Gill, and Garrett Noonan were also named Top Performers. Chris Connolly also played his 150th career game this weekend while Kieran Millan broke the HE tournament record with 68 saves in Game 3 of the QF series with UNH.

Weekend Recap- BU takes HE QF in 3

So after 11 periods or 229 minutes and 42 seconds of hockey, BU advanced to play in the HE semifinals Friday against Maine. BU beat UNH 2-1 after the Wildcats gave BU all they could handle including jumping out to a 4-1 lead halfway through the game tonight before giving up 4 straight goals. UNH's season is now over and their hillbilly fans will have to fire up their houses and drive them back to New Hampshire. They continue to have won zero meaningful games and always find new ways to lose them. Let's go through each game this weekend one by one though.

Friday, BU jumped out to an early 1-0 lead on a great play from Matt Nieto to feed Alex Chiasson for a goal. UNH controlled play really from there on out and answered with goals from Nick Sorkin and Kevin Goumas(who is a prick by the way). BU tied it up on a great breakaway goal from Kevin Gilroy where he was very patient before making the move to his backhand. He was sprung by freshman Alexx Privitera. The game remained tied until double overtime when UNH scored on a flukey wrap around that hit Millan's pad and jumped over his shoulder. It was a tough loss to take as Millan made 47 saves in the defeat, which was a new record. UNH freshman forward Grayson Dowling scored the game winner which put BU in a 1-0 hole in the series.

Saturday night, BU scored first once again and never trailed as they held leads of 1-0(on a Chris Connolly PP goal) and 2-1 (on a break away Sahir Gill goal) before finally putting away UNH 4-2 on Matt Nieto and Ryan Santana goals in the third. UNH responded to each of BU's first 2 goals with a goal of their own thanks to a snipe by their lead douche Stevie Moses and a pp goal by Connor Hardowa. BU controlled play from there. Gill's goal was sprung by a great pass by Patrick "Truck" MacGregor. Kieran Millan only made 35 saves in this win which would be his low total of the weekend.

Tonight, BU scored first once again as Evan Rodrigues scored on a slick move after a UNH goal had just been called back due to a high stick. UNH then took control of the game and scored the next four goals- 2 from Casey Thrush, Greg Burke, and Mike Borisenok. UNH looked like they were running away with the game. Jack Parker called a timeout for the Terriers and seemed to give them an earful on the bench. Whatever he said seemed to wake them up as they played improved hockey for the rest of the period. Specifically, junior assistant captain Justin Courtnall really seemed to energize the rest of the team as he came out looking to hit guys and did so for 3 or 4 straight shifts without taking a penalty. During that period to end the second period, BU scored two goals, both off the stick of Garrett Noonan, who is now tied for the nation lead in goals by a defenseman with 16. BU continued the intensity into the third as Wade Megan scored his 19th 30 seconds into the third to knot it up at 4. It would stay tied until 7:42 into double overtime when Alex Chiasson potted the game winner off a Wade Megan rebound. Kieran Millan made 68 saves in all breaking his own record and is now 7 saves away from setting a HE tournament record. It was a huge gut check for this team and a great way for the seniors to leave Agganis Arena. That group includes Millan, Grant Rollheiser, captain Chris Connolly, Ryan Ruikka, Kevin Gilroy and likely Chiasson who will most likely go pro at the conclusion of the season.

This was a great win and now BU looks forward to return to the Garden for the semifinals against Maine at 8 pm. BU jumped into a t-4 tie in the pairwise with the win.We will keep the posts churning out with spring break being this week leading up to the Garden on Friday. Until then, Maine sucks! Go BU!

Goalies: First half in review

This is the last part of our first half review as we gear up for the second half beginning with the game this coming Saturday at Notre Dame on national TV through Versus(which becomes NBC Sports in the near future). Here are the goalies and our expert breakdown of their first half.

31 Kieran Millan- Millan has been shaky at times for the Terriers but overall, has played quite well sporting a 8-5-1 record with a 2.68 GAA and .917 Save % for the Terriers. Millan will be tested more often as the season progresses, as he will be relied upon by this team to carry them to where they want to go. Millan is going to need to find some gritty performances to win some tough games in the conference playoffs, the Beanpot, and hopefully, the NCAA tournament. Hopefully, he plays as good as he thinks he is because apparently this kid thinks he has all the swag in the world but "he is just ugly" according to teammate Garrett Noonan.

35 Grant Rollheiser- "Rollie" has only seen action in four games this season with 2 starts, which both resulted in wins. Rollie is sporting a solid 2-0, 3.34 GAA, .900 Sv % line for a backup goalie. Rollie has proven to be a capable backup to Millan and will continue to push his classmate for playing time in the second half.

1 Anthony Moccia- The third string goalie is opening the doors fantastically so far in the first half. Hopefully he can continue his strong performance in the second half because those doors aren't going to open themselves. The kid also is rumored to have a girlfriend so he is keeping up with the top 2 goalies off the ice as all three of these fine gentlemen are taken. Sorry, ladies.

BU beats Maine 5-1 to finish first half

- The hillbillies above weren't too happy once again last night as BU sent them back to their sad,pathetic lives in Canada I mean Maine which is actually much worse than Canada.

The BU men's ice hockey team finished off their unofficial first half of the season(16 games out of 34 regular season games) with a 5-1 win at Maine. Alfond Arena was packed as usual and CBS college sports had a nice piece on the history of inbreds filing into Alfond and how "great" they are. The win gives BU a 10-5-1(8-4-1) record going into a 3 week break due to final exams and the holidays. They return to the ice next December 31st at Notre Dame in the first ever televised game on Versus. Now back to the game...

The Terriers went down early while killing off a 5 minute major penalty and game misconduct on assistant captain Justin Courtnall. The call could certainly be questioned as it was deemed to be conduct to the head, but if you watched the TV replay it was clearly shoulder to shoulder contact with the Maine player conveniently putting his head down after the contact(read: he sold the call-must have learned from Whitney on BC). The resulting powerplay resulted in a Maine goal from inbred Mark Anthoine off the left dot.The kid looks like he got run over by a truck aka his parents were related before they had him for sure.

Maine then committed their own game misconduct from captain Brian Flynn. This call could also be questioned but it went in BU's favor so we're going to just pat the refs on the back for that one. BU scored 5 unanswered goals after the first goal of the game by Maine. Senior Corey Trivino scored his first of two(13 on the year) on the night to tie the game 1-1 with 1:37 left in the second.

BU took the lead for good on a Sahir Gil(4th of the year) tip in goal on Adam Clendening pass/shot to put BU ahead 2-1 with 13:49 left in the game and BU added 3 more throughout the 3rd period including Corey Trivino's 13th of the year along with Gil's second of the game. Freshman d-man Alexx Privitera also added a nifty backhand goal for the first of his collegiate career. He has played much better since spending a few games a s a scratch in the middle of this semester. It was Privitera's goal that send the 4910 hillbillies back out to the parking lot to fire up their houses to drive back to the trailor park home.

Senior goalie Kieran Millan broke the all-time saves record at BU passing Sean Fields' mark of 3055(Millan now stands at 3057) which is quite the feat given the amount of great goaltenders to come through BU throughout the years. Congrats from all of us here to Kieran for breaking the record and the stellar play so far this season.

The win sends the Terriers into break having won 6 of their last seven and sitting second in Hockey East and 5th nationally in the pairwise rankings which are the only ones that mean anything. Stay tuned as we will have an interview with Terrier sophomore sensation Sahir Gil in the next few days along with some other stuff recapping the first half before we take our own final exam break.

BU loses to Holy Cross,chaos ensues

The #7 BU Terriers mens ice hockey team lost in a classic trap game 5-4 to the College of Holy Cross at Agganis Arena Saturday night. It marked the Terriers first ever loss to an Atlantic Hockey team and has caused alot of backlash from fans. I have read fans on various websites blaming Coach Parker, Kieran Millan, Charlie Coyle to the band. Now let's not go turn into the Red Sox here. Was the game ugly? Of course. I was beyond angry walking out of the rink Saturday night. There is a reason I waited over 24 hours to post something. It is because it is just ticking me off and it is tough to put a positive spin on anything that happened. The Terriers got outworked and simply didn't execute hard enough to win the game in front of a fairly full Agganis Arena due to parents' weekend.

Wade Megan was thrown out of the game in the third for a hit from behind which was a penalty but I can't blame Megan for playing hard. He was skating around hitting guys trying to wake up his team the whole third period. I won't get into how the call was changed based on the injury to the opposing player. It is always scary when a guy gets hurt but don't make it a major penalty because of it or guys will be milking injuries all over the country to get a call.

Now to begin, there is plenty of blame to go around here but it doesn't all fall on Coach Parker. He does need to find a way to motivate better and mentally prepare the team for games against lower ranked opponents such as PC and Holy Cross. We will see first hand if he can do it this week against UMASS who has one win this year, against Bentley. Some of the blame falls on the coaching staff's shoulders but certainly not all of it.

Next, sophomore first round pick Charlie Coyle has been singled out along with other forwards for not producing. Let's take a look at the top two lines this year shall we?(through 4 game splayed)

Alex Chiasson- 4g,3a,+7- 7 points

Charlie Coyle- 0g, 5a +6, 5 points

Matt Nieto- 4g, 1a, +5, 5 points

Chris Connolly- 0g, 3a, +0, 3 points

Sahir Gil, 1g, 4a, +0, 5 points

Corey Trivino 3g, 2a, 5 points +1

These top two lines of forwards are dominating when they are on the ice. The 3rd and 4th lines are struggling but the third line is two freshman with Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues(both who have showed signs of catching up with the college game so far). The defensmen are struggling at times and leaving Kieran Millan out to dry. These problems will get less apparent with hard work and the return of injured players Ryan Ruikka and Yasin Cisse. Cisse can bring another scoring touch to the 3rd or 4th line while Ruikka will create competition among defenseman as one of the four lower defenseman: Escobedo, Nicastro Clendening, or Privaterra will need to sit every game once Ruikka returns and is 100%.

Kieran Millan needs to get a game off this weekend to give Grant "Rollie" Rollheiser a chance to play well and push Millan to raise his level of play as well. Then again, we are only four games into the season. Last year this team began 6-0-4 and rose to be #1 in the country and then fell from there. The positive spin to this year is that problems are being diagnosed earlier in the year with more time for them to be addressed by the coaching staff and veteran leaders on the club. They could go unanswered and BU could miss the tournament for the 3rd year in a row or the questions will be answered and this team will be stronger because of it. So don't jump off that bridge yet and leave the fucking band alone.

Weekend Recap- BU hockey splits weekend pair

First, we will start with the bad. BU lost 5-3 to Providence College on Friday night down in Schneider Arena. The night started off poorly for the Terriers as they sat in traffic for over 2 hours as they arrived late at the arena forcing the game to start 15 minutes late. The Terriers played like they were still on the bus in the first ten minutes as PC quickly jumped out to a quick 2-0 lead as the defense specifically Sean Escobedo. BU began to turn the tide in the game and quiet down the uneducated crowd. PC scored again late in the first to make it 3-0 and a steep hill to climb out of it. The Terriers began to do just so as sophomore Matt Nieto and senior Corey Trivino scored quickly in the second to start the come back. The score remained 3-2 throughout the second as goalie Kieran Millan settled in and made some great saves. The Terriers eventually tied the score just 3:13 into the third to make it 3-3. The Terriers couldn't complete the comeback though as PC took the lead for good on a powerplay with 6-5 junior Miles Harvey's first career goal. PC added an empty net goal to make it 5-3 and serve BU's first loss of the season.

Now to comment on the atmosphere at Schneider. It was the most full I have ever seen it at the traditional basketball-first school. Turns out basketball was the reason all of the fans were there as they were waiting for late nite madness tickets and they soon all left with ten minutes left in the third. The ice was also in rough shape and their was fog throughout the rink making visibility tough at times. Overall, the fans were loud but had very little to offer besides "Let's Go Friars" and "F*** BU". Not a very family friendly atmosphere as a fan even ran on the ice as the game concluded and was quickly escorted off the ice but we saw him in the parking lot later so those PC police really cracked down on him hard. The fans were all 'lubed' up and gave Matthews(NU) and Mullins(UMASS) a run for their money as the most annoying,classless crowd I have encountered. They will be nowhere to be seen the rest of the season Iam sure but Friday night certainly wasn't a good reflection upon their school.

Now on to the good game. BU hosted #3 Denver, who was fresh off a 4-2 win out in Newton over BC on Friday night. BU came out flying to atone for Friday night's loss. They scored on a sweet move by junior forward Alex Chiasson on a backhand to forehand move and then flip over Denver goalie ,junior Adam Murray. The Terriers played much better defensively and came out flying the begin the second period. They scored their second goal on a senior Corey Trivino hustle play shorthanded. He scored on a wrap-around after Murray mishandled the puck behind his own net. On the same powerplay, Matt Nieto scored on back hand 5 hole after a great pass from Charlie Coyle who played a great game along with the rest of his line(Nieto and Chiasson). That put Denver in an early hole that grew larger as Wade Megan scored on the powerplay later in the second to give BU a four goal lead with one period left. This lead almost did not hold as the Terriers allowed 3 goals in the third but Kieran Millan but made some key saves and the team competed hard once it became a one goal game. Great 4-3 win for BU!

Overall, the Terriers showed some great spurts throughout the weekend and looked bad at other times. They still search for the more consistent focus and execution throughout the game but they showed the grit to come back Friday night and to hold on to a lead Saturday night against a highly skilled team like Denver. The Terriers might fall in the polls as a result of the PC loss but in October it is more important to get wins and the Denver win will be huge come March as they try to get back to the NCAA tournament. Below are the press conference from Saturday night from Coach Parker and Matt Nieto/Alex Chiasson.

New polls released from USCHO Week 2

The new polls were released this afternoon with some fairly major moves as the voters only have one weekend of action to vote on so fairly big moves aren't unexpected. Here is what the top 10 and other notables look like. The first number would be the USCHO.com poll with the second being the USA Today poll.

1. Boston College - #1 in both polls after winning the Ice Breaker Tournament. Yeah yeah no one cares about that tournament. We won it last year and looked how that ended up.

2. Notre Dame- #2 in both polls make it two Catholic schools at the top of the polls and the most arrogant ones at that. Excuse me while I go puke my brains out.

3. Denver- #3 have not played a game yet but will certainly be tested as they travel to BC and BU this weekend for a pair of great non-conference games

4. Michigan 4/5- Michigan wins 3 games to start off the year granted not against the greatest opposing teams

5. Miami- 4/5- Their loss this weekend drops them down three spots

6. North Dakota- #6 They got romped by BC this weekend which isn't a great sign but it is a long season and their mascot is still racist as Feliz Miguel would say.

7. Colorado College- 7/8- Thank you for raping BC last year in the tournament.

8. BU- 8/7- Jump two and drop one in each poll after the 5-0 win over #15 UNH.

9. UMD- The defending champs stay in the top 10 even after a loss.

10. Yale- You play in the EZAC. Your games shouldn't even count in the polls.

13. Merrihack- A nice win up in Orono keeps the Warriors in the polls and moving up

15. UNH- Frozen pizza looked be thawing a little bit giving up four goals to BU behind an inexperienced blue line

17. Maine- The Black Bears split a weekend at home which is what Maine fans have grown accustomed to under Timmy.

Others receiving votes: UMASS, Northeastern? Fuck you Saponari

Here are some other links about BU's win this weekend and Millan's play

Millan

3 big findings from HE this week

BU opens up the season with 5-0 win

Boston University Terriers came out slugged, out hit and out played UNH in their first game of the season. The 5-0 win gives the Terriers a good start off to the season as a whole while also giving them a quick head start in the conference. The first period was very physical and hard hitting but was a scoreless one. The second period was a different story as the Terriers scored twice to take control of the game. Wade Megan scored the first on a great pass from senior captain Chris Connolly. Connolly then found a streaking Corey Trivino who finished the play to make it 2-0 going into the third period. Matt Nieto then put the game out of reach with a goal 2 minutes into the third and Alex Chiasson added an empty netter with Kevin Gilroy also scoring on a wrap around to account for the 3 Terrier goals in the third. Sophomore Charlie Coyle and Sahir Gil added 2 assists for BU. The Terriers played solid throughout the game and when they(read Clendening) did make a few bad pinches, they were bailed out by Hockey East Defensive player of the week Kieran Millan who stopped all 35 shots he faced. For more info and postgame remarks follow this link. BU killed all 6 UNH powerplays and did enough to get four goals on USCHO's #1 goalie Matt "Frozen Pizza" Di Girolamo. He did make 32 saves out of the 36 fired at him. The Terriers continue their HE schedule with a visit to PC on Friday at 7 in a game that will also be aired live on NESN. BSRS will be well represented at the game so there is really no reason not to go. Go BU!

Why Millan Starts Saturday Night

So after the debacle that was the exhibition game Saturday night against St. Francis Xavier, everyone and their brother is calling for BU head coach Jack Parker to start three year back up goalie Grant Rollheiser over three year starter and national champion Kieran Millan. This is all of course, based on one exhibition game where Millan gave up five goals on 17 shots and Rollheiser made seven saves in the third. After the game, Parker and junior forward Wade Megan gave Millan a vote of confidence, both saying they expected him to be ready. Millan simply laid an egg Saturday night but Rollheiser also benefited from playing a team with a 5-0 lead and his own team attacking to try to come back and win the game so naturally he would be tested less. Rollheiser played better in the opportunity provided to him but the decision for the season opener vs. #11 UNH. Fans are willing to start a career backup despite all the stats in the world to go against it.

Let's throw some numbers down on the board shall we?

Millan's career stats at BU

08-09 29-2-3, .921 Save percentage, 3 Shutouts, 1.94 GAA, 776 saves 35 games

09-10 16-16-0 .891 , 1 shutout, 3.15 GAA, 797 saves 32 games

10-11 16-10-8 , .919, 1 shutout, 2.68 GAA, 1085 saves, 36 games

Rollheiser's career stats at BU

08-09 6-4-1, .897 , 1 shutout, 2.13 GAA, 201 saves, 12 games played

09-10 2-1-1, .876, 3.39 GAA, 156 saves 7 games played

10-11 3-2, .885, 3.98 GAA, 123 saves 5 games played

Now I think the records speak for themselves all three years and if they don't sell you the GAA from last year. Millan made a whopping 962 saves more than Rollheiser last year. Millan has lead to BU to 61 wins in his three year career compared to 11 from Rollheiser. It is fair to state that Millan has been given a majority of the chances to start but he has earned those chances. He should not be pulled based off an exhibition performance on the day of his first day of practice. Rollheiser looked good and has earned a chance to make his fair share of starts this season(maybe the first being at PC next Friday) but not on opening night at home against a top team in the country and your league. If Rollheiser outplays Millan over the first month of the season, then we can have this argument but until then stop embarrassing yourselves. Fans need to educate themselves before coming to drastic opinions that they came when they are about five Nattie lights into the night. Millan is the goalie to lead this team and he has already show he is capable of putting them on his back. If the fowards pick it up from last year and Millan is the exact same goalie, then this team is a Frozen Four team, no doubt in my mind. Show a little loyalty and keep the faith BU fans.

Terriers finalize roster for 2011-2012 season

The Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey roster was finalized in the last week and can be found by clicking here. The Terriers formally announced an incoming class of four new additions to the roster which includes F Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues along with D Alexx Privitera and last year's practice goalie Anthony Moccia, who will become the third goalie. With having the full roster I obviously have to give my first attempt at predicting the lines for opening night on 10/8 even though i will probably be way off anyway well here we go.

Forwards

1 - Connolly- Coyle- Chiasson

2- Nieto- Trivino- Megan

3- Gill- Hohmann- Rodrigues

4 Cisse- Rosen- Courtnall

Defense

1 Noonan-Clendening

2 Privitera- Ruikka

3 Escobedo- NiCastro

Goalie

1 Millan

2 Rollie

3 Moccia

- Obviously I reserve the right to change my mind as Ross Gaudet and Cisse were a tossup to me for that fourth line and it depends on how both return from surgery(ankle for Cisse, hip for Gaudet). Feel free to tell me how wrong I am below but we all know we're going to win it all no matter what lines we throw out there. Go BU!

Chris Connolly named captain of 2011-2012 BU hockey team

Chris Connolly will be the only captain of the BU Terriers mens ice hockey team next season. This was announced last night by Coach Jack Parker at the Friends of Boston University hockey banquet. My guess is it does not remain this way going into the season but Coach Parker sees no clear-cut leaders left on the team and will leave the assistant captain jobs open to who earns them.

It was also announced that the season opener will be against conference foe UNH on October 8 in Durham,NH. This is usually reserved for a non-conference games but must have been moved around depending on the non-conference opponents availability. Coach Parker also announced the following awards for the players.

Bennett McInnis Award for Spirit
- Joe Pereira for the second consecutive year. No surprise here as the captain was always the hardest working Terrier on the ice stopping at nothing to try to lead his team to victory.
Albert Sidd Unsung Hero Award
- read above

Ed Carpenter Award: Alex Chiasson-leading scorer
Most Improved Player Award: Justin Courtnall
Regina Eilberg Scholarship: Ryan Ruikka
Clifford P. Fitzgerald Scholarship: Sean Escobedo

Parker spoke at length about both seniors(Kraus and Pereira). He mentioned how great of a supporter Kraus was for Millan. He then spoked about Pereira and his work ethic while also joking he has been lobbying for a job on the coaching staff for next season.

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.

Terriers take 3 points from Black Bears

The Boston University Terriers took 3 crucial points over in the weekend up in Orono,Maine(read Canada). The Terriers battled hard Friday night and overcame a 3 goal spurt by Maine in 1:12 in the second period. The Black Bears lead 3-1 after this spurt but the Terriers quickly came back to tie it up 3-3 with two goals in the rest of the period. BU got the first goal of the game from Corey Trivino and then got a nice goal from Alex Chiasson and the third from sophomore Wade Meagan.

The Terriers then took the lead for good with an absolute bomb from defenseman Dave Warsofsky to beat Maine goalie Shawn Sirman and give Terriers a huge 4-3 win at Alfond Arena. The win was a huge two points in the standings and the team rode behind their goalie Kieran Millan who was spectacular.

Saturday night started poorly for the Terriers as Kieran Millan gave up his only goal on the first shot he faced of the night. He then continued to make saves on the next 40 and pull out a point with a 1-1 tie. The Terriers got outshot in the first 20-2 and looked awful on the powerplay but a shorthanded goal by senior captain Joe Pereira got the team the tying goal in the first and the score remained that way for the remainder of the night.

The three point weekend moves the Terriers up to 13 in the RPI standings and 15 in the pairwise. They also concluded their tough stretch of games against the top of HE with a 2-2-1 record after starting 0-2. The Terriers now fall back into a more normal schedule and the ultimate trap game this Friday against UMASS-Lowell. Lowell is the worst team in HE if not the country but they have the Terriers at Agganis Arena Friday night before the Beanpot semifinal game against on Monday. The Terriers need to stay focused and beat a pesky Lowell team that has beaten Merrimack at home in the last couple of weeks. They could easily do the same to BU.

Here are the press conferences from the last couple nights....

BU gets first win in over a month...edges UVM 4-2

In a game in which the BU Terriers got outshot 31 to 16, they certainly made every shot count. BU won its first game since the eight of December with a big 4-2 win at Vermont tonight. Sophomore forward Alex Chiasson had two goals while Max NiCastro and Corey Trivino added the others for the Terriers. This was huge win for this young BU team that is trying to answer all of its critics. Kieran Millan made 29 saves and the only two goals he allowed were tipped off of BU players in front of the net. The win solidifies third place in HE for the Terriers leading up to Wednesday night's matchup with Merrimack (who is coming off of a 7-1 thrashing). BSRS will be well represented at the game as GW, Raymundo, and myself will be making the trip up to North Andover to catch the game. It is a huge game for the Terriers as Merrimack sits three points back with one game in hand in the standings after they thrashed Maine. BU improves the overall record to 9-5-6 while UVM falls to a lowly 3-11-4. Look for the rankings coming out tomorrow afternoon and the pairwise rankings are updated. Wednesday night's game are big for both and should be a good one if the first two meetings were any sign as both ended in ties(2-2,3-3). Lawler Arena is a tough place to play so we will see if this young team can respond and build a winning streak.

The win also puts BU to #15 in the pairwise rankings up from #17.

Note- Parker was not pleased with the performance at all and the press conference was very similar to the ones after the games last year so look for the team to get fired up for the game Wednesday after he rips into them the next couple days.

BU Bridge must have had quite the crowd last night...

So our Terriers had a rough weekend out at the Shillelagh tournament in Chicago. The Terriers got thrashed by Brown 6-1 Saturday night. Coach Parker was critical of the team's play as they outshout Brown 42-24 but did not capitalize on any opportunities and could not bounce back after giving up a 2-1 lead early in the second. Kieran Millan had his worst game in net all season and the rest of the team followed. This was a poor effort with no excuses by the team. The team also lost forward Alex Chiasson in the game to a leg contusion that left him barely able to walk Sunday morning. The team also already missed Charlie Coyle who was competing in the World Juniors for Team USA(who got thrashed 4-1 by Canada tonight in the semifinals). Andy Glass was also suspended indefinitely for being late and missing team meetings according to Parker.

They needed to bounce back last night against #12 Notre Dame and they put forward a pretty good effort despite all of the adversity. It was not a perfect night as they gave up the tying goal while on the powerplay. Parker played only three lines with 11 forwards as he dressed 7 defenseman even though MacGregor did not see the ice all night. This lack of bodies seemed to take its toll as the Irish scored two in the third to tie the game. The game ended in a 3-3 tie with ND winning in a shootout which does not count in any rankings or polls. The Terriers got goals by driving hard to the net and tipping shots. These are the little things they did not do Saturday night and why they lost the game along with the difference in goaltending by Millan. I really give Parker and the goalie coach credit for rolling with Millan again because he is the best goalie we got and we need his confidence up for him to play at his best.

BU currently stands #14/15 in the nation and #19 in the pairwise rankings which decide the NCAA tournament pairings. It is also January so it is not a time to panic. I followed the live blog for both games on the Boston Hockey blog and I could not believe the amount of people bashing this team left and right. Are they playing their best hockey right now? Of course not but they just tied the #12 team in the nation with 11 forwards and missing their top 2 forwards arguably. The Terriers travel to Vermont this Sunday with a full team(Coyle returns Thursday, Chiasson should be healthy by then) and look to get a big win in the conference and for their confidence. I am a firm believer that this team will right the ship and end up making the tournament. There are going to be growing pains with a young team and this is one of those times. So don't jump off Bu Bridge just yet. They have a whole three months left of hockey(including the Beanpot to beat those bastards down in Newton) to turn this season around and build up some momentum for a post season run. Keep the faith.

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

Kieran! Kieran! Kieran!

The BU Terriers almost blew a 2-0 lead from the first period for the second time in two home games this season but held on behind the magnificent play from junior goalie Kieran Millan. Millan saved 39 of the 40 shots he faced as the Providence Friars outshot the Terriers 40 to 20 and outplayed our boys in scarlet and red for much of the last two periods. The lackluster effort gives the coaches something to yell at the team for leading up to the home and home with UMASS-Lowell this Halloween weekend. The Terriers killed all seven of the Friar powerplays but did allow 14 shots on goal. Without Millan, this could have been a long night for the Terriers. He played out of this world and with calls going against the Terriers (Quinn sucks), not much was going right. But the Canadian goalie put the team on his back and led us to another victory giving the team five points in HE. The team needs to continue to get wins with an easy beginning to their Hockey East schedule before they run into Maine in two weekends followed by Merrimack, UNH, and BC.

BU beats UMASS 4-3 at the Zoo

From the second we arrived on campus the animals were out lined up for blocks to get into the game. By the end of the second, they were nowhere to be seen or heard in the Mullins Center. The young BU squad responded from an early deficit to pick its first HE win of the season and the best start(3-0-1) for a BU team since 01-o2. The Terriers outplayed UMASS in the first but faced a 1-0 deficit on a powerplay goal by Darren Rowe. The goal coming on a bullshit roughing call on Terrier captain Joe Pereira. Pereira hit a kid as he was falling down against the boards and was called for the penalty because the kid couldn't skate(probably because he pre-gamed with the rest of the school). That got UMASS and the rowdy crowd off to a big start in their home opener. The crowd was loud from before the puck dropped with their sick intro video as a clip from "300" which always gets me pumped up.

BU came out flying in the second, seeming determined to bounce back and take the lead. This is exactly what they did. Freshman Charlie Coyle scored on a goal right in front of the net assisted by captain Chris Connolly. BU then preceded to pour it on as Andy Glass scored on a great pass by Ross Gaudet. He fed Glass right in the slot and Andy ripped a wrister top shelf on UMASS goalie Jeff Teglia. This gave BU a lead they would never give up. The Terriers scored their third goal of the period after another bullshit penalty called on Pereira which turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Pereira jumped out of the box and was fed at the UMASS blueline leaving him one on one with Teglia who he quickly beat five-hole to give BU a 3-1 lead after two.This is when the student section stopped the "Fuck BU's" and left to go get shitfaced like the wild hooligans they are and also when QuackQuack and the great Skip got on NESN. We are famous. Just saying.

BU came out in the third and played afraid to lose much of they did last weekend. Sure enough Darren Rowe scored again less than two minutes into the period on a screened shot from the point that Kieran Millan never had a chance to see. BU seemed to be woken up by this goal as they came out and played with aggression for the rest of the period but not much action happened again besides UMASS scoring after they were whistled for an offsides with seven minutes remaining. Then with less than two minutes left, freshman Sahir Gill held the puck in the zone and beat a defender to get Teglia one on one before making a sick move to his backhand and beating the freshman goalie easily. This put the game away even with UMASS scoring 6 on 5 with 19 second left. A few face-offs later and our Terriers had put away a solid road victory in HE on a night where UNH and Northeastern tied and Lowell beat Providence in OT.
The Terriers return to the rink later tonight to face PC. Look for a similar lineup to tonight which included Kevin Gilroy in place of Justin Courtnall while Ross Gaudet moved back to center and Glass and Santana moved back to their natural wing positions. The defensive pairings were also changed as Nicastro and Warso anchored the top line defensively.
If our bottom two lines can give us two goals a night, this team will be very good. Look for the momentum to keep building tomorrow night at home. BSRS will be stationed in 108 once again for anyone who actually reads this and goes to the games. Hopefully we can manage to stay in the stands unlike those party animals in Amherst even though they were classier than Northeastern fans which isn't saying much I know but still surprised me.