Weekend Preview: BU/BC #robertmorris

The BU Terriers take on their arch rival Boston College Newton University Eagles for their only two scheduled games of the regular season this coming weekend. These teams could meet again in the Beanpot final (obviously) but that is far from a sure thing with BC having to play a top 10 team in the first round in Harvard. The #4 ranked Eagles come into the weekend overrated for sure but this still is the only top 10 matchup this weekend with the Terriers currently ranked #10. On top of a top 10 matchup, this is the best rivalry in college hockey where you can basically throw out the records whenever they meet. The teams, fans, coaches do not like each other no matter what front the coaches may put up when they are on camera. It brings out the best and sometimes worst in the players as they play in front of the most hostile crowds of the season outside of the Beanpot.

The Terriers come into this weekend on a bit of a heater having won three games in a row including two wins over top 10 teams in Quinnipiac and Havard. BC has gone 1-2-1 in their last four including an ugly loss to Ohio State who is the opposite of good. Despite the recent struggles, you will hear all about how talented BC is and how highly those in the media think of them. They are ranked 4 in polls despite being 10 in the pairwise rankings (which are the only ones that matter). I am not going to disagree with them that BC is talented. BC has plenty of talent especially up front and in goal if Thatcher Demko is healthy/knows where he is despite a concussion. The main point that I feel is being very overlooked is that BC has not been tested.  They just recorded their first win of the year against a current top 15 pairwise team. BU on the other hand has beaten three such teams as well tied Cornell and PC twice.  BC has not been pushed or really tested by any teams outside of Hockey East so we have no idea how good they really are. BU has played the top teams in the ECAC (Harvard, Cornell, Yale, and Quinnipiac) and Michigan along with PC. BU has been through a ringer of a schedule up to this point while BC kicks over tomato can after tomato can to easy victories.  To make this point clearer, lets take a look at two teams below (hint BU is better than both of them):

Team A: 4.15 goals for/game, 12.7 shooting %,  *QWB(Quality Win Bonus) .0034

Team B: 4.36 goals for/game,  12.5 shooting %, * QWB(Quality Win Bonus) .0036

*It is what it sounds like. It is a bonus factor into pairwise for beating good teams(BU's is .0112 best in the country)

Which team would you rather be at this point in the season?

The BU wagon rolls along: sweep pair with Harvard and UMass

The BU Terriers swept their first two games of the second half of the season with 6-5 and 7-2 wins over Harvard and UMass. The first period of the Harvard game was their worst period of hockey this season but they got some very good play out of senior goalie Sean Maguire to keep the deficit to 1-0. The Terriers would begin to play better in the second as they got two goals from senior Matt Lane but unfortunately they were matched by two goals from Harvard's Sean Malone. The Terriers were forced to fight back from two separate two goal deficits in the third period but they found a way to continue to battle and fight back. The Terriers scored three goals in just over two minutes late in the third to come out a 6-5 victor against another top ECAC team on the road. Their last win of the first semester was a road win at Quinnipiac who is still the #1 team in the country with their only loss coming to BU.

Roberto suspended for remainder of season

BU junior forward  Nick Roberto has officially been suspended for the remainder of the season. Roberto is reportedly serving a suspension for being involved in gambling activity by CHN. He will not play for the reminder of this season and I would guess his future at BU is very much in doubt. However, as reported by WEEI reporter Scott McLaughlin, Roberto remains a member of the team at this time. First, I want to say that this was a great job of reporting by Mike McMahon and Adam Wodon at CHN. They remain one of roughly three stories to correctly have identified Roberto as suspended and not kicked off the team. Kudos to them for responsibly reporting the story without fueling the speculation and rumors being spread by others on the internet.

The rest of what I'm about to say shouldn't be misinterpreted as defending Nick Roberto. What he did was obviously wrong and he is now serving the penalty for those actions. I have no issue with players gambling but the NCAA obviously does so if you are going to do it, you can't let your debt or the allegations get this serious and not expect conequences. Roberto messed up which I'm sure he is very well aware of. I hope he is able to come back from this at BU or somewhere else to finish his hockey career. He did nothing malicious and is becoming the forefront of this story because BU self reported his violation to the NCAA as they should have. BU handled this 100% correctly. They sat out Roberto while the investigation was taking place and turned over everything to the NCAA. If you are transparent and forthright with the NCAA, then they usually do not punish the program. The coverups are what are punished severely.  David Quinn and the athletic department certainly handled this correctly so props to them for that. Just another example of why Quinn is the best in the business.

Greer bolts for the Q; Oksanen injury forces staff to add another forward

The Terriers lost some serious depth this past week as the injury to Ahti Oksanen is now being reported as more serious than originally anticipated. They still plan to reevaluate him in the next few weeks but he is crucial to their ability to score goals from the forward position. Hopefully he can return at some point this season but it is seeming less and less likely after he suffered a shoulder injury in the Terriers last game of the first half against Quinnipiac.

Re: Oksanen- Sources I talked to say nothing has been decided as far as when (or if) he'll be able to return.

— Scott McLaughlin (@smclaughlin9) December 17, 2015

Terriers finish first half with CT split

The BU Terriers finished the first half with a split against ECAC Connecticut foes Yale and Quinnipiac this past weekend. The Terriers dropped Friday's night contest at Yale after jumping out to a 1-0 lead on an Ahti Oksanen goal. The goal was  a great play and pass from freshman forward Jordan Greenway who continues to dominate games physically against any opponent. Unfortunately, the game went downhill from there for the Terriers as Yale tied the game and then took the lead and extended lead on John Hayden goals.The first of a which was on a major penalty after a borderline hit by freshman Ryan Cloonan. Cloonan was thrown out of the game and given a major. The hit was borderline for a major but was definitely a penalty of some sorts and just not a necessary play in the neutral zone. Cloonan will certainly learn from it as Coach Quinn referred to it as a "stupid penalty" after the game. The Terriers pushed hard to tie the game after killing off the rest of the major but gave up another Hayden goal on an odd man push. It was a tough game to lose as the Terriers got within one late on a Bobo Carpenter goal but could not get the tying goal across. Charlie McAvoy had a real good night Friday night as he continues to make some silly moves to break defenders ankles and generate some great offensive opportunities for his team.