BU banned from AE conference tournaments, NiCastro signs with Detroit

We typically only blog about hockey here at BSRS but, there was some major athletic news this past week affecting the majority of the remaining athletic teams at BU. America East has decided to ban BU teams from post-season conference tournaments this coming year as a result of BU choosing to leave the conference for the 2013-2014 season. BU has belonged to the conference since it was founded in 1979 so this coming season will be BU's 33rd in the conference and yet, the conference members have enacted some by-law that allows to ban BU from conference tournaments which destroys many teams chance of making the NCAA tournament. This is the same school that has won 12(or some other large number) straight Commissioner's Cups, which is awarded to the best athletic program in the conference based on a points system in each sport. This is also the first time in America East history that a school leaving the conference has been banned from conference tournament play due to the school's departure. This seems to be a reaction to the CAA putting similar bans on Georgia State and Old Dominion for leaving their conference. 12 other programs have  left America East since its founding in 1979. More than half of those were after less than 15 years in the conference. None of those schools were banned from conference tournaments. Northeastern left for the CAA as recent as 2005 and were not dealt with in such a manner. BU will be leaving for a league , in the Patriot League, where they belong and are an overall better fit. BU will be with other private schools with similar academic programs and standards. What was BU athletics gaining by dominating America East in most sports year after year? If anything, this gives other schools a chance to gain NCAA tournament bids and allows BU to continue to develop as an athletic program. Banning BU for this season benefits no one. America East just gets to feel good about itself. The ruling to ban BU and punish the athletes for an administrative decision is ridiculous and just flat out wrong. It seems like other schools are just bitter that BU beat up on them for the past 33 years. Get over yourselves and let the kids play.  You can support the group started by BU fans on facebook by liking this page or just continually tweet at America East like we are.

In other news, former BU Terrier hockey player Max NiCastro has signed with the Detroit Red Wings, who drafted him in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft. NiCastro had sexual assault charges dropped against him earlier this month and seems to be getting his life back in order. He will be assigned to their AHL Grand Rapids team and I would expect him to see regular ice time there as he certainly has the physical tools to play in the NHL someday if he can continue to develop and stay healthy. We wish Max all the best in his professional career and hope to see big things out of him.

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