UMass Preview-Win or Lose They Still Booze

The BU Terriers face the UMass Minutmen is a conference matchup as their last game before the Beanpot begins Monday. The Terriers and Minutmen are separated by one point in the standings as BU trails UMass who has played one more games than BU. BU took the first game of the season from UMass 3-1 at Agganis Arena but that was back in October and both teams are much better at home than on the road. This game, more so than any other, will be dictated by special teams play.  UMass has the best powerplay in the conference at 21.8% while BU comes in 3rd at 20.8%. UMass is last in penalty kill at 80.2% while BU 's PK is middle of the pack(7th in the conference) at 82.8%. The team that can stay out of the box the most will win this game. This is crucial for BU especially early to take the crowd out of the game.

BU will rely heavily on their top two lines which Coach Quinn hinted would be O'Regan-Baillargeon-Rodrigues and Lane- Hohmann-Roberto when he spoke with USCHO at the Beanpot luncheon on Tuesday. He was discussing this in reference to the Beanpot(which begins Monday) but you would have to think he is going roll similar lines Friday as well if Rodrigues feels close to 100%.

BSRS Weekly Awards 1/28

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- Danny O'Regan- O'Regan made Coach Quinn look like a smart man by moving him to wing for this weekend's series with UVM as he scored a goal each night. Saturday's was a highlight reel goal no doubt as Duck showed off the high end skill he possesses.. O'Regan has been laboring as of late fighting through an injury suffered at World Juniors but seems to be fully capable at producing at a steady clip from wing for the rest of the season. O'Regan along with linemates Cason Hohmann and Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon will be counted on to produce heavily for the rest of the season and after two games, they seem to be up to the task.

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- Anthony Moccia, G. Now this award was going to go to Robbie Baillargeon or Garrett Noonan for the big time minutes they were forced to play both nights this weekend. That all changed once Anthony Moccia made his first career regular season appearance late in Saturday's contest. Moccia who began his career as the practice/4th goalie his freshman season before being promoted to the third goalie after the graduation of Adam Kraus after the 2010-2011 season. Moccia has practiced with the team and waited his time to play for 3.5 seasons now and finally got his chance in a regular season contest. He had a shutout period in the exhibition game earlier this season and his celly after the buzzer went off was awesome. Saturday, he made the save on the one shot he faced and maintained his perfect save percentage and goals against average. Coach Quinn spoke glowingly of Moccia after the game- "He is everything you want in a person, nevermind an athlete. If I can have him around from now until I retire I'd do it, because he brings so much to the program in so many ways."(Daily Free Press Article)

Weekend Recap- BU/UVM Split Series at Agganis, land another 2014 dman commit

The BU Terriers and UVM Catamounts split their weekend series at Agganis Arena with the home team taking Friday night's contest while UVM fought back to win Saturday afternoon's game. Friday night the Terriers got out to a lead in the second period after a scoreless first. Danny O'Regan scored the first goal as he adjusted quite nicely to wing as Coach Quinn shuffled the lineup a bit. Centerman Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon made a great pass to O'Regan who put the puck home. UVM would later tie it up on a powerplay goal as the Terriers continued to struggle taking penalties. The Terriers would take the lead for good when sophomore Matt Lane pressured UVM defenseman Nick Bruneteau who coughed the puck up allowing Lane to race by him and roof a shot past UVM's goalie Brody Hoffman. The Terriers would open up a two goal lead on a 5 on 3 powerplay goal by Ahti Oksanen after a few near misses earlier in the powerplay. UVM would add another powerplay goal in the third but never get closer than that as Nick Roberto sealed the game with an empty net goal with less than two seconds remaining for the 4-2 win. This one was certainly a good win for the Terriers while not perfect, it was good enough. They took advantage of their opportunities when available and they will need to continue to opportunistic going forward.

UVM Preview: They came to play hockey...and then they got high

The BU Terriers host the UVM Catamounts for two games this weekend at Agganis Arena. BU looks to get back on track and pick up some much needed Hockey East points while UVM does the same. UVM is coming off a split last weekend with Northeastern at Matthews Arena. The Catamounts are 2-2-2 in their last 6 and are fighting for an at-large berth in the pairwise rankings. They are lead offensively by  forwards senior Chris McCarthy(11-14-25) and freshman Mario"I look like I need to shower" Puskarich(10-12-22) along with defenseman Chris Paliotta(3-14-17). They also have two capable goaltenders as freshman Mike Santaguida and sophomore Brady Hoffmann both post save percentages north of .915 and GAA sub 2.4.The Terriers took 2 out of 3 matchups from the Catamounts last season.

The biggest key for the Terriers success this weekend is health. They need Evan Rodrigues and Jake Moscatel to get back in the lineup after both suffered injuries on 1/4 at Harvard. This is even more important as it is evident that Dillon Lawrence is less than 100% and Coach Quinn alluded to Danny O'Regan being less than 100% as well in press conference after Lowell on Saturday. Ahti Oksanen went down in what looked like an ugly injury at Lowell but there is always a chance, it could just be a bad bruise or something minor.  I would expect to see both goaltenders get a game this weekend but Maguire could possibly get both starts if he performs well Friday night. He was an absolute stud in net last weekend and will be huge for this team going forward if he continues that play.

BSRS Weekly Awards 1/21

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- Sean Maguire,G- The sophomore goalie played like the goalie who backstopped BU on a run to the Hockey East Tournament Final last year. Maguire seems to be over the back problems that plagued his first half as he was amazing both night this weekend. He gave up 5 to BC on Friday but anyone who was at that game, knows BC could have scored more than that. Maguire robbed Benedict Bill Arnold twice in the second period. Mags backed it up with another great game against Lowell Saturday night. While he did not face as many quality chances, the quantity was still there as he was forced to make 40+  saves. If Maguire keeps playing this well, BU is going to have a chance to win every game they play for the rest of the year.

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- Garrett Noonan,D- Noonan easily lead the Terriers in ice time this weekend as he was taking every other shift with only 5 healthy dmen available each night(4 after Oksanen went down on Saturday night). He has been an absolute workhorse for this team when they have needed him most. As the injuries continue to pile up, Noonan has picked up his own play along with his minutes. There is no chance he was under 30 minutes of ice time either night. Despite the recent struggles, he continues to battle every shift out there and he is a great example for the rest of the team to follow.