Senior Series Post #1 Mike Moran

This is the first post in the 2015-2016 Senior Series. Posts on Matt Lane, Ahti Oksanen, Danny O'Regan, Matt Grzelcyk and Sean Maguire will follow.

Mike Moran may seem like your typical fourth line grinder but he certainly is not. Moran was destined to play on Comm Ave since he was born into a family full of BU hockey players including both of his uncles Mike and Mark Bavis. Mike, who he would play for during his freshman season and Mark, who he would honor with his jersey number.

Moran came to BU as a 21 year old freshman when most of his classmates were 2 or 3 years younger than him. He had to play a year after graduation from high school in the BCHL and EJHL for three different teams to convince the BU coaching staff including his own uncle that he belonged. his 46 points in 39 BCHL games certainly proved that. He wasn't given a spot because of his uncles. He earned it and was a critical player for BU over his four year career. He was a stable presence on the fourth line always finding a way to make a positive play whether it was a goal, a chip out of the zone or a faceoff win. Moran arrived on campus in the fall of 2011 and contributed to the team from the very beginning. He wasn't the offensive scorer of some of his classmates like Danny O'Regan or Matt Gryzelcyk but he certainly found his niche as a fourth line grinder who could play the defensive style of the game very well. His 25 career points certainly are not going to jump out at you but he always seemed to find a way to score in the biggest games. His biggest goal scored  was probably in the Beanpot Final last year to open up the game that BU would eventually win in OT. He also scored from below the goalline on BC's Thatcher Demko last season in a BU win at BC.

Guest Post from @BurntBoats

Editor's Note: This is a guest post from @burntboats on twitter and you should take the time to read it if you are a BU hockey fan or if you root for another college team and want to become depressed.


If you’ve been following @BurntBoats for any period of time you know by now that possession stats have proven to be a valuable tool when evaluating hockey teams (if you haven’t and you want to learn, tweet at me and I’ll send you links to things written by people smarter than me). Obviously Eichel is a generational talent and comparing what he did to the prior year’s team is beyond unfair, so I have been comparing this season’s 2nd, 3rd, and 4th lines to the prior year’s entire roster on twitter all season, this is my final comparison:

BU 2013-14 possession [5v5 Corsi] (35 games): 44.8%

Now who were the key players from 2013-14 who weren’t on the lines 2-4 in 2014-15?

Half of Baillargeon (Mono)
Half of Ahti (split 14-15 on 1st and 2nd lines)
O’Regan (1st line all of 14-15)
Noonan (graduation)
Half of Rodrigues (split 14-15 on 1st and 2nd lines)
Grzelcyk is a wash as he missed almost half of 2013-14 with an injury and likely spent about half of his 2014-15 with the 1st line.

So this year’s 2nd-4th line lost 3.5 of the best players from last year’s team, they and a handful of role players were replaced by a rotation of four freshman forwards and four more freshman defensemen. This year’s group had the advantage of playing against easier opponents than last year, as this year’s 1st line took up the majority of other teams’ top unit’s ice time. They had the disadvantage of score effects from playing with a lead most of the time, instead of from behind.

All these factors work to somewhat counterbalance each other, my rough educated guess is their net effect on possession is slightly positive, but under 2%.  So if this year BU’s 2nd-4th lines were around 46% that would be equivalent to last year, if they were at 48% that would represent a substantial but reasonable improvement, anything over that would be quite the turnaround.

Weekend Recap - Blind Squirrels are Still Blind

- Actual footage of Northeastern trying to play hockey this weekend. Wobbly would have been their most effective forward. If you don't get the reference, read our preview from Thursday

The BU Terriers swept the Northeastern Huskies in their home and home series this past weekend. BU did so rolling three lines each night as numerous forwards were benched for a night(4 Friday, 4 Saturday) for a violation of team rules. The players who did play, played well as BU found the scoring touch that they seriously lacked in South Bend last weekend. The Terriers also got solid performances from both Matt O'Connor and Sean Maguire once again as both continue to put up solid numbers and play better than their numbers indicate.

On Friday night, BU celebrated senior night before the game and continued the celebration into the first period as Kevin Duane scored off of Colton Saucerman's leg to give the Terriers a lead that they would never give up. Danny O'Regan would make it 2-0 less than 30 second later. Both goals were shots that NU goalie Clay Witt would want back as both beat him 5-hole and were not difficult saves by any means.  BU would stretch the lead to 3-0 on a Robbie"Carrots" Baillargeon breakaway goal midway through the second. NU would score once to make it a 3-1 game but never got any closer as Ahti Oksanen " finnished" the game with a 200 foot goal on an empty net. BU held on for the 4-1 win and their most convincing win since an October win vs Wisconsin.

Friday night was a big win for the team as they proved to everyone that they could beat a top 10 team with 9 forwards and 5 D(the 6th D TJ Ryan was injured in the game and did not return). It was also a big win in that it was Jack Parker's number retirement night as a ceremony took place during the first intermission(video included after the jump). It was a well done ceremony and Coach Parker certainly deserves it for all he did for BU hockey. He catches so much hate from opposing fans which makes you realize what a good coach he was. Opposing fans don't hate bad coaches. For example, we love Jim Madigan. Coach Parker's #6 is now the second retired number in BU hockey history along with Travis Roy's 24.Congrats to Coach Parker and all of BU hockey.

BSRS Weekly Awards 2/18

Greg Jennings Award- given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM).



Winner- Collier/Moran/Duane line- Friday's night contest(a 4-3 loss @ UNH) was dominated on the scoresheet by the first line of Rodrigues-Baillargeon-O'Regan as they combined for 7 points in a game where the Terriers deserved a better fate than they got. The third line went unmentioned for the most part as the top 6 played so well but they had a very underrated effort Friday night creating a few chances for themselves while keeping the game simple. They were then easily the best line in yesterday's 3-1 loss while also scoring the only goal for the Terriers. Sean Maguire was also in the conversation for the great game he had in Monday's contest.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Brendan Collier- Collier continues to perform better and better for the Terriers as his freshman year progresses and has continued to be rewarded with more ice time as a result. He is a grinder who keeps the game simple and has been part of the most consistent line of late. They will need to continue to perform at a consistent level as the Terriers head out west this weekend for two tough games at Notre Dame.

BSRS Weekly Awards 12/3

Greg Jennings Award- given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM)




Winner- Matt O'Connor- OC has been hot lately and Coach Quinn has rewarded him with 4 straight starts where he has given up 7 goals total in this span. He made 37 saves on 39 shots this weekend vs Cornell and was visibly pumped when BU held on for the victory. OC wins his second straight GJ

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Mike Moran,F- Moran was flying all over the ice once again Saturday night for the Terriers. He not only tallied the first goal on a sweet pass from Danny O'Regan. His line continued to play well while also staying out of the box. It is no coincidence that the team has gone on a 4 game unbeaten streak with his line intact.

Weekend Recap: Terriers take home piece of hardware with RHH win over Cornell

The BU Terriers fought through adversity and found a way to remain undefeated at the biannual Red Hot Hockey event at Madison Square Garden vs the Cornell Big Red with a 3-2 victory Saturday night. Despite being outshot 39-11 and being on the wrong end of some bad officiating, the Terriers gutted out the victory behind goals from Mike Moran, Robbie Baillargeon and Nick Roberto. Matt O'Connor stopped 35 of 37 shots he faced.

Despite the shot totals, I thought the Terriers played well defensively and were great on the penalty kill as Cornell was 0 for 7 while BU was 1 for 2. You would like to seem more sustained zone time offensively and obviously more shots on net but they made the most of their opportunities. Danny O'Regan made a sweet pass for Mike Moran's tap in goal with 2:10 left in the first. The Terriers would extend that lead with goals from Robbie Baillargeon off a great centering pass from Evan Rodrigues and a Nick Roberto powerplay goal off a nice pass from Kevin Duane. The freshmen are starting to score regularly and produce which is no coincidence as BU is now 3-0-1 in their last 4 and 7-6-1 overall.

BS(R)S Weekly Awards 10/29

Here is this week's edition of our weekly awards. If you think of another award we could give out each week, leave a comment or shoot us an email at baystateroadsports@gmail.com

The Greg Jennings Award-given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM)




Winner: Matt O'Connor/Sean Maguire, G- This was an easy one this week as both goalies put the team on their back during their starts in Michigan and gave them a chance to win. They carry fantastic save percentages of .936 and .941. The Terriers have not allowed more than 3 goals in a game yet this season and these two are the biggest reason why.


The Joe Pereira Trophy- -given to the Terrier who through grit, hard work and determination helps the team to victory both on and off the scoresheet.  Just like Joey did it. (BSRS interview with Joe Pereira here)

Weekend Recap- BU splits pair with non-conference foes

The #15 BU Terriers split their pair of weekend home games with non-conference opponents this weekend. They dropped their Friday night affair to a physical, hungry RPI team who played a solid 60 minutes to withstand BU's surges. Saturday's game was much different as Wisconsin played very little defense allowing 7 BU goals as the Terriers gained a big non-conference victory at home in front of a raucous crowd at Agganis.

The Terriers struggled to have a sustained effort Friday night against the RPI Engineers as they put themselves in a quick 2-0 hole and never full recovered as they suffered a 3-1 loss.. Defensive miscues cost the Terriers two early goals along with a few shots that goalie Sean Maguire clearly wanted back. BU picked up play in the second period but had trouble getting in the back of the net until Ahti Oksanen made a great pass to spring freshman Kevin Duane who potted his first collegiate goal. That gave the team a big jump heading into the second intermission. An early RPI goal and penalties derailed any BU comeback effort which resulted in the first loss of the David Quinn era.

Freshman class officially announced- Roster set for 2013-2014 season

The BU Terriers Men's Ice Hockey official roster was released yesterday with the announcement of the incoming freshman class. The class includes 9 freshmen and a junior transfer. 8 of the 9 freshmen come from New England with the 9th coming from Toronto,Canada. The full roster with line projections(my first attempt is posted here) after the jump.

First half review- Forwards

Now that the first half of the season is over and the Terriers sit at 10-5-0(8-4-0) , it is a good time to look back at individual player's first halves. For reference last season, BU finished the first half at 10-5-1. Obviously, two very different teams but similar results. This year's team is much younger and have more reason to be excited for the second half of the season as the underclassmen develop and execute even better. Here is the review of each forward still on the roster.

1. Cason Hohmann (4-12-16, 15 GP) "Texas Toast" has had a hell of a first half for the Terriers. He has been noted by Coach Parker on numerous occasions as a guy who needed to make a jump this year for the team to succeed. He certainly has met that challenge. He leads the team in points and has doubled his point total from last season(35 games played). He is the top line center and has been producing all season.  He is usually the fastest guy on the ice when he is out there but that might only because Nieto plays on a different line. That is a race I would love to see.

2. Wade Megan(9-6-15, 15 GP)- The Captain from Canton, NY leads the team in goals in the first half and they have come in a variety of ways. He sniped against his hometown St. Lawrence Saints and he had one of the greasiest goals of all time against UNH. The team is 9-2-0 when he records a point and 8-1-0 when he scores a goal. He is obviously a big part of this offense and on pace to do even better than his 20-9-29 line in 39 games last year.

3. Danny O'Regan (5-6-11, 15 GP)- The freshman from Needhman, MA and St. Sebastian's stepped in right away and contributed for BU. He has been the second line center all season and has done it very well. The Sharks' fifth round pick has been responsible on both ends of the ice and has scored some big goals for this team in the first half. Specifically, I am talking about the final goal against UND to finish the game and put it out of reach. He has a great ability to set up in front of the goalie and put pucks away. Very Jason Lawrence-like in that aspect.

Freshman Preview Part 2

This is part 2 of 3 parts previewing the incoming freshman class. I covered the 3 US U-18 recruits last week. Each part will have 3 recruits mentioned as BU announced its 9 member class last week with the addition of Finnish dman Ahti Oksanen to the other 8 recruits that had been previously announced. Today, I am going to cover 3 forwards with Mike Moran, Wes Myron, and Sam Kurker.

4. Mike Moran,F - Marshfield,MA (Victoria Grizzlies(BCHL)(39 GP, 18-28-46, 22 pms) 6-1, 200lbs  left shot

- Moran is a graduate of the Taft School in Watertown,CT where he was a 3 sport athlete before he spent the last season in the BCHL with the Victoria Grizzlies. Moran posted solid numbers and wore an A for the squad. He played on a line with classmate Wes Myron and recent Merrimack de-committ Wade Murphy. Moran is an older,bigger recruit who seems like he will be in a fight for a spot in the lineup each game. Fun fact about Moran is that he is associate coach Mike Bavis' nephew. He led the Taft school in scoring his senior year and then put up over a point a game in the BCHL last season. He went undrafted so he should be a solid 4 year player for the Terriers as he continues to develop. Moran will see action at some point this season for sure and I would expect somewhere from 5-15 points for the freshman.
Here is a blurb from USHR about Moran
-"One of Myron’s teammates at Victoria is fellow Terrier recruit Mike Moran, who is 11th in league scoring with an 11-9-20 line in 14 games played. Moran, the nephew of BU assistant coach Mike Bavis, is a 2011 Taft graduate."

5. Wes Myron, F - Victoria, BC(Canada) (Victoria Grizzlies(BCHL) (26 GP, 17-25-42, 18 PMs) 6-2, 190lbs, left shot