Pats beat Vikings 28-18, knock out Favre in 4th

The Pats started off the game rusty but hung in there until taking over late in the second half to improve to an NFL best 6-1 record with a ten point victory,28-18. The Pats hung tough despite a bad first half for the offense. They went into the half tied 7-7 thanks to a Danny Woodhead 3 yd run and a big goal line stand right before the half by Florida Gator draft picks Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham. Tom Brady got the offense on track in the second half and the defense contained Adrian Peterson while limiting the damage Favre could do. Favre left the game for good when he was hit by DT Myron Pryor with 7:26 left in the game. A phantom illegal contact penalty was called and lead to a Vikings touchdown to make it 21-18 with seven minutes left.

The game was won by the Patriots offensive line and running back BenJarvus Green Ellis who ran for 108 yards and 2TDS in the second half to seal the game for the Pats. Brady also hit Brandon Tate on a 65 yard touchdown pass on a broken play midway through the third to give the Pats a 14-10 lead they would not relinquish. Brady threw for 240 yards and a TD while former Pat Randy Moss had only one catch for 8 yards and was constantly double covered by a Patriots secondary that lined up against him tons in practice and knew how to take him out of the game.

Winners:
1. BenJarvus Green Ellis- 17 carries for 112 yards and 2TDS finished the game for the Pats
2. The offensive line- the pass protection was suspect at times but the run blocking and pass protection was very good in the second half
3. Alge Crumpler- The veteran captain TE made some key blocks and his leadership was felt throughout the game
4. Jerod Mayo- lead the team in tackles and was simply fantastic leading the defense
5. Myron Pryor- knocked Favre out of the game so he is a winner in my book. I don't care if he didn't do much else. He put 8 stitches in the hick's chin
6. The new foghorn noise at the stadium- You hear that thing? It is fucking fantastic. If a fog horn doesn't fire you up, nothing will

Losers:
- I can't find any as this really was an all around team effort and another win for the best team in the NFL.

Thoughts on Another One Goal Victory; Post Game Video

This Terrier squad is going to send me to an early heart attack. Coach Parker and I will be sharing a hospital room if these one goal games persist...

Grant Rollheiser proved to be an effective second goalie after his performance last night. Granted it was UMass-Lowell, but he made 24 of 25 saves (compared to Millan's 27 of 28 the night before) so one has to be happy with that. On the season, Rollie the Goalie is now 2-0 with a .915 save percentage and a 2.5 gaa...

As QuackQuack said in his recap, last night's game was one that we would have lost last year. But this year's team showed resiliency and fight after ULowell scored the go ahead goal halfway through the 3rd, something we will need to continue to see as the season progresses...

For the 2nd night in a row, I thought Garrett Noonan was the second best defender on the ice (behind Warso). Me and your favorite guest blogger, Curly, were in complete agreement on Noonan's skill on the defensive end. He might not end up in the score sheet, but the kid continues to play simple, smart defense (which Coach Parker kind of acknowledged in his post game press conference)...

Also for the second night in a row, Alex Chiasson stepped up to play the role of enforcer/hot head. Not saying it's a great attribute to have but hey, somebody has to do it...

I'm not 100% sure of Max Nicastro deserved a game misconduct on his 1st period penalty for hitting from behind. Granted, Nicastro hit a defenseless player, however it seemed really no different than any other hitting from behind minor other than the fact that the kid was dumb enough to brace himself with his head (but seriously, hope that kids okay)....

BU's penalty kill has now killed 30 of it's last 31 penalties, an impressive feat. Their skill at killing off penalties this year definitely aided them in killing of Nicastro's 5 minute major...

Continuing with the after effects of Nicastro's penalty, the other 5 defenseman (Warso, Clendening, Noonan, Ruikka, and Scooby) have to be absolutely dead after last night...

Well, that's really all I've got. Here are the press conferences, so you can hear it from people who know what they are talking about...

BU completes sweep of Lowell with two goals in last five minutes

This is a game the 2009-10 BU Terriers panic and lose after going down 1-0 in the third to a team they should beat at home. This year's team is much different. Trailing 1-0 with four minutes left in the game, an ugly loss seemed to be looming but once again the Terriers dug in and tied the game up with 3:43 left on Alex Chiasson's third goal of the season on a great pass from Warso to Coyle who put it on net for Chiasson to finish. The Terriers then got the winning goal from junior captain Chris Connolly with 27.5 second left to give the team a scrappy 2-1 win in front of a packed crowd. The Terriers' defense were tested as they were forced to use a five man rotation the whole game once Max Nicastro received a 5 minute major and game misconduct for hitting from behind. It was a dumb penalty to take especially so early in the game. Junior goalie Grant Rollheiser played well in his first game action since the Ice Breaker. He made some solid saves and rarely let up rebounds. He earned some more playing time with his start last night but still expect Kieran to get the nod against Maine and their high powered attack next weekend.

This was a huge win for the Terriers to get all four points this weekend and lengthen the lead in Hockey East as BC fell to Merrimack in their first student sell-out in ten years. I am sure everyone is going to jump on the Merrimack bandwagon now but I will take BU just doing what needs to be done even if its not pretty wins. The Hockey East standings still need time to pan out with BU playing 5 games already and most other schools only having played two or three out first place standing is premature. BU has done what it needed to do against some weaker opponents coming out with 9 out of a possible 10 points which I will take everyday of the week. Bu is one of three teams left undefeated in Hockey East and the only undefeated team in the conference. Hopefully this team continues to work and stick together as Chiasson has taken the role of the enforcer on this team(scary I know) getting a penalty for hitting after the whistle Friday Night and getting thrown out of the line last night after a scrum after the final buzzer went off.

BU Beats Lowell with Second Period Outburst; Your Favorite Bloggers Live to Fight Another Day

It looks like somebody finally told the Terriers that it's ok to win games by more than one goal. BU took care of UMass-Lowell tonight, a 5-1 victory at Tsongas Arena, paced by 2 shorthanded goals. The goals were scored by: Alex Chiasson (shorthanded), Chris Connolly, Corey Trivino, Charlie Coyle, and Sahir Gill (shorthanded). With the exception of Chiasson's tally, the other 4 goals were all scored in the 2nd period (including 2 in less than a minute). Two of the prettiest goals tonight were Chiasson's and Coyle's - both were 2 on 1 odd man rushes, both were products of pretty passes (Warsofsky on Chiasson's, Gill on Coyle's), and both featured absolute bullets past UML goalie Marc Boulanger. Perhaps one of the reasons for this prolific scoring output tonight is Parker's decision to move freshman Sahir Gill up to the first line, and junior Chris Connolly down to the 3rd line, as both finished the game with a goal and an assist. Goaltender Kieran Millan had another impressive start in net for the Terriers, standing on his head for a lot of the powerplays and taking a shutout deep into the third. BU successfully killed off all 5 penalties they committed tonight, making them 28 for their last 29 in penalty kills.

Some thoughts from the game...
Having never been to Tsongas Arena before tonight, I have to say I was impressed with how nice it is. New jumbotron, new seats, and a really nice indoor patio/bar area in one of the corners. However, the metal posts which held the boards together were ridiculously annoying and made it difficult to see some of the action clearly. Oh, and they had a mini sized remote control blimp that flew around in between periods (Quack Quack's favorite)...

Adam Clendening is Kevin Shattenkirk reincarnated. Same style of play, same passes, same "let's take the puck across my own crease" mentality. It's ridiculous how similarly they play.

Freshman Garrett Noonan was arguably BU's second best defender on the ice tonight (behind Warso, obviously). Just seems to be playing a simple style of defense, nothing flashy, nothing that'll get him on ESPN, just good solid D. I have to say that for all the press our freshman forwards get, Noonan is playing just as solid defensively as they are offensively. Plus, he acknowledged QuackQuack and I on his way into the penalty box. That's whats up bro.

Charlie Coyle is the real deal. Good lord can this kid play. Gill makes a lot of highlight reel moves, but Coyle is easily one of our best forwards (if not the best). He skates hard, passes incredibly well, isn't afraid to nail guys, and can score from almost anywhere. There's a reason he went in the first round of the NHL draft, and he's proving it game in and game out.

Alex Chiasson showed tonight that he doesn't mind taking over the role of enforcer on this year's team. He's certainly a big kid (6'4", 200 lbs) and was awful quick to jump in and defend Matt Nieto tonight. Nieto got knocked down behind the play and then punched, and as the whistle blew Chiasson flew at Nieto's attacker and honestly looked ready to drop the gloves. Wouldn't have been smart, but you have to like the fire.

Kieran Millan looks to have regained the form that he was missing last year. He continues to keep the Terriers in games every time he steps between the posts, and he definitely picks up the defensive slack on the penalty kill. If he can keep this up, he might carry the Terriers into the postseason.

Joey Pereira seems to have hit a little bit of an offensive cold streak these past few games. After starting off hot in the Ice Breaker, he's been slowing down. I wouldn't worry, cause Pereira seems to be a driven guy, I just hope he turns it around soon.

Also, the BU women's team tied PC tonight 2-2 down in Providence. Junior Jenn Wakefield scored both goals for the Terriers.

That's all for tonight. When the press conferences get posted I'll deliver them to you.

Game Day - BU at Lowell

The weekend is here again and you know what that means folks - hockey. Myself and our very own QuackQuack will be making the trek up to Lowell for the game tonight, braving the chance of aggravated assault and murder along the way.  If we don't post something before the game tomorrow, just assume the worst. Anyways, here are your game day odds and ends...

As always, The Boston Hockey Blog will have a live blog of the game, for those of you unwilling to hike it up to Lowell. Be sure to check out their Hockey East power rankings as well as a preview of this weekends action...

Hockey East Online has their weekend press release out now, which includes a quick preview of all of this weekend's games...

USCHO.com has their Hockey East picks  for the weekend (spoiler alert: both writers pick BU on Friday and Saturday...

USCHO.com also has an article from earlier in the week in which they talk to Coach Parker and discuss BU's quick start to the year so far, definitely worth checking out...

GoTerriers.com has game notes for tonight's game...

Coach Parker received one of the NHL's annual Lester Patrick Awards on Wednesday night for his contribution to the game and to USA hockey. The video can be seen right here...



The BU women's hockey team travels to Providence tonight to take on the Lady Friars to try and improve their record against PC. The Lady Terriers have won only 1 of their last 8 games against PC...

That's all I have for you today guys. If you're going to either of the games this weekend, be sure to be loud and involved. Hopefully we can pull 4 points out of this weekend and keep on rolling. GO TERRIERS

Quack Quack's Money in the bank lock of the week #3

So I bounced back last weekend with a solid 2-0 to hopefully get my family's mortgage payments back on track. Hopefully I can keep it going this weekend.
NCAA
#2 Oregon@USC(+6.5)
- Oregon scores so many points that a 6.5 point spread is nothing for them. They could be tied with a team with four minutes left and put up 21 points to make it look like a blowout. I think this game is close for the first half but the Ducks offense breaks it open in the second half and cruises to a double digit victory. USC has some athletes on both sides of the ball lead by QB Matt Barkley but they just don't have enough to compete even at home. Their two losses this year were by a combined three points but I don't see the defense doing enough to keep the offense in this game. Oregon wins by 14. Quack Quack Quack! Go Ducks!
The Pick- Oregon(-6.5)



NFL
Titans@Chargers(-3.5)

-Maybe I am missing something with these lines out in Vegas but didn't San Diego have 4 first half turnovers last week? Yes I know they probably won't again but they are playing against a very good Titans defense that caused two turnovers against a good Eagles team last week and made Jacksonville look foolish the week before. It doesn't seem to matter who is at QB either for the Titans as both Vince Young and Kerry Collins find Kenny Britt all over the field for this team with the best running back in the league to boot. The Chargers defense is very good but this team just finds ways to lose games and Titans find ways to win. It just happens. No way San Diego should be the favorite here.
The pick- Titans(+3.5)

- As stated above, I am traveling up to Lowell for the hockey game tonight with little Redd10 so if we don't have a recap by tomorrow around noon either come bail us out of Jail or the local ER.

Wednesday Morning Hockey

NHL.com has a really good article about Coach Parker and his upcoming receiving of a Lester Patrick award. Good for some laughs, and it's always funny to see Parker recycle the "208 sons" line...

Two former Terriers potted goals in the NHL earlier this week - Colin Wilson and John McCarthy. For McCarthy, a Captain on the 08-09 team, it was his first career NHL goal. The link to Wilson's goal is here, and McCarthy's goal is right below...


Terrier freshman forward Yasin Cisse will be out for a long time, according to Coach Parker's postgame interview on Saturday. According to The Boston Hockey Blog, Cisse may have re-injured a tendon in his ankle (it was originally injured by an opponents skate blade last season), and may require surgery. I think I see a redshirt in his future...

Inside College Hockey has prepared their yearly rankings of recruits and recruit classes, and BU has a bunch of guys on their lists - including forwards, defenseman, and overall. Definitely worth checking out...

I can't remember if I posted this or not, but BU's own David Warsofsky was recently featured in Hockey East's "5 Minute Major", a re-occurring interview segment they do with various league players. The video is below...


Hockey East also named their top performers from this past weekend in their weekly press release, and there were a few BU names on the list: Alex Chiasson, Charlie Coyle, Ryan Ruikka, Kieran Millan. They also named the BU penalty kill in their "Who's Hot" section...

If you have been looking to get your hands on those sweet Frozen Fenway jerseys ever since last January, then be sure to hit up the BU bookstore to grab one. Personally, I would if I had $115 just lying around...

You Should Man Up

If you haven't seen the new Lebron commercial, watch it right now. Done? Good.

The new Lebron commercial, which you presumably just watched, more or less consists of Lebron asking the viewer "What should I do?" in a series of what Nike apparently considers jokes. Well, I've got what you should do right here Lebron (besides get your head out of your ass) - you should man up. I know, it's a foreign concept in the space between your ears. So in case you don't know how to man up in this situation, I'll help you out.

1. Stop making excuses for why people dislike you. It's not racism. It isn't jealousy. It's just not. Want to know what the real reason is? Because you sold out a whole franchise and city. Not to mention your hometown.
2. Apologize to Cleveland fans and the Cavaliers organization. They tried to build a franchise around you, more or less making you the Czar of the Cavs organization for the years you were there. And the fans flocked to see the supposed next coming of Jordan and cheered you on through crappy seasons, crappy games and crappy attitudes. They deserve at least an apology (and by they, I don't mean Dan Gilbert. That dude is nuts).
3. Admit that "The Decision" was a terrible PR move. Look, I don't care how much money you raised for the Boys and Girls clubs of Connecticut or the US or the World. Taking up a whole hour to let the NBA and its fans know where you were going to play this season is ridiculously self-indulgent. Plus, you should have at least given the Cleveland ownership the courtesy of knowing you wouldn't be returning. Come on.
4. After the first 3, put this thing behind you. Stop making stupid commercials with Nike, stop releasing the "hateful tweets" people sent you, stop claiming racism. Nobody is going to sympathize with you. Accept that, and move on.
5. Miss all your shots when facing the Celtics.

P.S. What is it with Nike and commercials like this? First they had the one with Tiger. Now this? Man if I was a Nike stockholder, I'd be scared. Now if you'll excuse me, I have some stock to sell.

How the Terriers Rank Up

Since we are 5 games into the year, and I have nothing better to write about since QuackQuack already took care of the poll situation, I decided to delve into a sports fans favorite topic - stats. Luckily for me, there are numerous databases which keep track of this stuff, making my job a piece of cake. Anyways, here are some of the categories and where BU ranks nationally...

Team Offense - #16, 3.4 goals per game

Team Defense - #19, 2.6 goals allowed per game

Power Play - #23, 4 for 21, 19.05%

Penalty Killing - #8, 24-27, 88.9%

Penalty Minutes - #35, 29 penalties for 58 minutes

BU also has a hand in some of the individual categories, of course...

Goals - Joe Pereira, T-14, 4 goals

Power Play Goals - Charlie Coyle, T-13, 2 goals

Overall Goaltending - Kieran Millan, #17

Save Percentage - Kieran Millan, T-17, .927   

Hockey East keeps its own internal stats regarding just the HE teams, but I won't waste your time listing those. If you want to access those stats, go here 

      

Rankings out...BU#6, BC loses grasp on #1

The USCHO.COM polls for this week were just released and look as follows for the top ten
1. Miami(OH)
2. Boston (Newton)College
3. Minnesota-Duluth
4. Michigan
5. Yale
6. Boston University
7. Maine
8. North Dakota
9. Nebraska-Omaha
10. New Hampshire

No real shockers here as BC loses its #1 title with a loss to #13 Notre Dame as their priests touched more little boys than the priests down in Newton to come out with the 2-1 victory Saturday night. Miami takes the #1 spot as they beat Western Michigan 9-1 over the weekend and ND lost two tough ones up in Orono to those streaky Maine Black Bears(I know it is only three weekend but this team is streaky). No other hockey east schools are in the poll as Vermont and Merrimack received votes but that shows how poor the rest of the league is looked upon by the rest of the country this season. BC only loses one place in the poll as nobody else did much to make a move besides Miami as Yale has not played yet and Michigan also has a loss so BU would have been next in line to pass the Eagles but it a little early in the season for that to happen. We will wait until early April to pass them in the standings(aslong as we win the head to head games for bragging rights). We will take the jump from 8 to 6 after a solid four point weekend in HE play. The Terriers look to continue the wins against UMASS Lowell in a home and home this weekend.

-Also the BU women held onto their #5 ranking in the national poll after a four point weekend.

Hockey East Weekend Roundup

Ahhh, another weekend of hockey leads us to this edition of Weekend Roundup. It was a full weekend of play, so let's get to it.

Also, I'm going to just put the rankings and write up together to save time/space. You're welcome.

1. Maine - After a tough set of games last weekend against Michigan State, the Maine Black
Bears claimed their spot on top of my Hockey East rankings after two convincing victories over North Dakota this weekend. ND was ranked #2 nationally prior to this weekend, making the victories (7-3 and 4-2, respectively) even more impressive.  Those of us around the BSRSB think Maine will probably only show up against tougher opponents, so it could be an up and down season. But for now, only up - look for their national stock to rise in the polls this week.

2. Boston College - After an impressive start to their year, BC drops a spot in my ranking (and probably in the national ones as well) after going 0-1 this weekend against Notre Dame in a battle of aspiring priests. ND was ranked much lower than BC coming in, so this is a bad loss for their squad (especially since BU beat the same Notre Dame team in the Ice Breaker). BC looks to rebound with a home and home against Merrimack next weekend.

3. Boston University - A four point weekend was exactly what the doctor ordered after a disappointing tie at home against Zoomass last weekend. Friday night, our Terriers took down the very same UMass team in Amherst, 4-3. On Saturday, the boys in Scarlet and White beat PC at home 2-1 in a victory very much thanks to goalie Kieran Millan.  Next weekend BU will take on UMass Lowell in a home and home as Hockey East play swings into full gear.

4. UNH - Hanging in at the 4 spot this week, UNH tied Northeastern in their only play this weekend. This has to be a disappointing tie for UNH, as Northeastern has not been showing the stuff of a few years ago thus far this season. They are back in action at Cornell this Friday night.

Please note that the next 6 spots could honestly go anywhere right now, as none of these teams has proven to be anything special thus far into the season. With that being said...

5. Vermont - Only in play once this weekend, the Catamounts of Vermont skated to a 2-2 tie with Merrimack on Saturday night. I suppose that result has to be judged depending upon your opinion of Merrimack, and mine is only so-so. So this team hangs by the skin of their teeth to this 5 spot.

6. Merrimack - Oh hey look who it is! Yes the Mack tied UVM in their only play this weekend. Yes, I don't think these guys are that great. They haven't proven anything to me yet. Beat somebody other than UConn and get back to me.

7. Northeastern - Northeastern definitely could have slid up higher than 7th this week, after tying a better UNH team on Friday and beating UMass - Lowell on Saturday. However, I'm still wavering on this team. I really think Chris Rawlings will have to be an All World goalie this year to keep it up. His conquest to be the Michael Jordan of this hockey style Space Jam continues against Holy Cross and Bentley this coming weekend.

8. UMass - Amherst - They played us tough both last weekend and this weekend, and this is why they are ranked ahead of the ULowell and PC. But like I said, they could easily move down (or up, I suppose) in the coming weeks as the league really starts to shake out. Their journey to the bottom (or top) continues with a home and home against PC next weekend.

9. UMass - Lowell - They baaaarely eaked out an OT victory against PC on Friday night and then proceeded to cough the winning streak up to N'Eastern on Saturday. This could be a long year for the River Hawks...

10. Providence College - ...But it's going to be longer for PC. A two loss weekend can't be a good morale booster for Tim Army's squad (but hey, that's what you get for handing a scholarship to your son when nobody else wanted him). They look to climb out of the the basement against UMass Amherst this weekend...

So that's it. I'll fill you in on the National Polls as they come out later today, so stay tuned...   

A win is a win...Pats hold on against Chargers

The Chargers turned the ball over four times in the first half and were held in check until the end of the fourth quarter. Despite all of this, the Chargers had a 50 yard FG attempt by kicker Kris Brown(not to be confused with the great-Rihanna beater Chris Brown) to send the game into OT with 1:30 left. This guy is very white but hit the right upright with the kick and the Patriots eeked out a 23-20 win for the second week in a row. The Patriots lead 23-6 at a point in the fourth quarter. This lead dwindled as Chargers QB Phillip Rivers(34-50 336yds, 1 TD 1INT) lead a drive that ended in a Chargers TD on a pass to the injured Antonio Gates. The Chargers then pulled off a gutsy on sides kick which they recovered at their own 40 yard line. They then took the ball down the field again and scored once again on a Mike Tolbert run to make it 23-20 with four minutes left. The Patriots' offense was unable to put them away and had a fourth and one at their own 49 yard line where a first down puts the game away for the team. Once again, coach Bill Belichick elected to go for it and once again they were stopped. This decision will be broken down all week long but I think Belichick makes it every time in this situation. His defense had been chewed up on two straight drives and he thought the best chance to win the game was to go for it. However, the argument can be mad that he had the confidence in the defense to hold the Chargers to a long field goal attempt if the offense failed. It was a gutsy call and one could say punting would have been more logical here but you play to win the game and Benjarvus Green-Ellis is an excellent short yardage back. In the end, the defense held the Chargers to a long field goal attempt which clanked off the right upright and lead to the Pats fifth win this season. It was not pretty at all but the Patriots did enough to take advantage of San Diego's mistakes to win the game and that is all that counts in the standings.

The Patriots return home next week for a re-match with Randy Moss(aka the pothead),Brett Favre(sponsor of Wrangler open fly jeans) and the Vikings which should have plenty of headlines besides the actual game. The offense looks to get back on track against a defense that is getting ripped apart by the Packers right now.


Winners/Losers
Winners:
1. The defense- They won this game for the team against a potent San Diego offense causing four turnovers in the first half and holding them at the end of the game.
2. Zoltan Mesko- his average punt yardage was only 38.3 but he scooped numerous Jake Ingram(see losers) snaps off the turf and got them off.
3. Stephen Gostkowski- the kicker hits 3/3 and that's all you can ask for as he also hit some great kicks on kickoffs.


Losers:
1. Jake Ingram- the second year long snapper from Hawaii could be looking for work this week after numerous shaky snaps on punts and field goal attempts.
2. Tom Brady- this is being critical of the all-pro but it falls on his shoulders when the offense doesn't move the ball which they didn't all that well today. Without the defense, the Pats lose.
3. the offensive line- Brady was sacked 4 times and hurried all game long making it difficult to generate much offense.

P.S. went 2 for 2 in my Money in the Bank this weekend so hopefully dad can pay for food in the house this week

Bill Belichick Press conference here.

Post Game Reactions from Last Night's Game

The Boston Hockey Blog posted their grades for the Terriers from last night's game, as well as a quick recap  of last night's action...

Hockey East Online also posted their own recap of last night's game...

BU's All Access has highlight's  in case anybody missed the game (or you just wanna see Ruikka's snipe one more time)...

Finally, here are the post game interviews from last night

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.

Quack Quack's Money in the bank lock of the week

Ok so this is week two of my attempts to tell you who to bet on this weekend. I have to post it so I can take my blogging abilities out to Amherst to cover the hockey game tomorrow night. After my stellar 0-2 performance last week, who wouldn't want to put the house down on these two games? Sorry dad if you're broke now...

NCAA Football:
Michigan State @ Northwestern(+5)
The pick- Michigan State
- I don't care that they are on the road. Michigan State simply finds ways to win games and I expect a big win here and no let down after a big couple of wins in the last month. Spartans role to a 14 point win in this one.



NFL:
New England @ San Diego(-2.5)
The pick: New England
-I know San Diego is a tough place to play and win as the Patriots found in 2008 when they got romped 38-10 but this is a different team then those Patriots. This team is gaining that confidence and coming together as a team after a couple of tough wins over Miami and Baltimore. The Patriots will go on the road and embarrass this 2-4 San Diego team.

Thursday's Hockey Odds and Ends

The Boston Bruins defeated the Washington Capitals on Wednesday night, 3-1, in a contest held down in D.C. The Bruins got goals from David Krejci, Milan Lucic, and Matt Hunwick, as well as a stellar 35 save performance from goalie Tim Thomas. The Bruins D-Men kept the Capitals potent offense in check, including shutting down superstar Alex Ovechkin. Lucic recorded the always impressive "Gordie Howe Hat Trick", which consists of a goal, assist, and a fight (see the goal below this post).  Thomas continues to make his case for starting goalie, improving his record this season to 3-0 with a ridiculous .67 gaa and a .979 save percentage. The B's are back in action tonight against these same Capitals, this time at the Garden...


Prior to the Bruins-Capitals game on Tuesday night, Versus showed a 15 minute video about former BU Terrier Travis Roy. For those of you who don't know, Roy was a promising 20 year old freshman in 1995 who suffered a paralyzing spinal cord injury only 11 seconds into his BU career. The injury left Roy a quadriplegic, and forever ended his hockey career. These days, Roy gives motivational speeches and raises money for his charity, The Travis Roy Foundation. The video included BU great Chris Drury as well as legendary coach Jack Parker You can find the video right below this post, and I'd definitely recommend that any BU fan or hockey fan in general should watch it...


The Daily Free Press (BU's top student newspaper) has a good article about BU's lone seniors - Captain Joe Pereira and back-up goalie Adam Kraus. You can read that article here.

Keeping with BU hockey, the men travel to Zoomass tomorrow night for a rematch of last Saturday night's tie at Agganis, while the women take on St. Lawrence at Walter Brown Arena. If you are a BU student who doesn't want to make the trek out to Amherst like QuackQuack will be, I would highly recommend attending the women's game. They are extremely talented this year and are a fun team to watch...

Ever since I bought tickets through BC for the BU at BC game last season, I've been receiving e-mails from the BC athletic department from time to time. And last night, I received probably the funniest e-mail yet - a promo for the upcoming "Ice Jam". Apparently the "Ice Jam" is some sort of retarded rally to get kids hyped about the winter sports season. Here's the best part - this dumb ass video featuring members of the men's and women's hockey and basketball teams:

Seriously how retarded is that? First off, getting Bob Costas as emcee seems a little dramatic. This isn't the opening ceremonies of the Olympics for Chrissakes. It's an overblown rally. Plus, what kind of production value is that? Cmon looks like that video was shot on a freakin Flip Cam or some shit. All I'm saying is for a school that thinks it's a half step away from Harvard, that was pretty shitty. Did none of them own a camcorder or something? Good lord. I guess I'll just never understand those holy-types...

Enough with this head shot penalty debate in the NFL

So if you have been breathing at all the last couple days, you know what this post is all about just by the title. This is because it is all every sports writer in the world is talking about since Sunday when the NFL deemed there was a series of "egregious" hits. First, 90% of the players in the NFL don't know what egregious means and neither do I, so use normal words. Second, the NFL just decided randomly to become strict on this issue after years of letting it slide for the most part. This was never going to win any players over and it hasn't as many big name defensive players:present and past have spoken out against the new policy. The list goes forever from Ray Lewis to Mark Schlereth on ESPN. The players want to be able to play and some of them have taken it upon themselves to make a point by taking a stance on this issue.

Steelers LB Jerome Harrison is contemplating retirement after he was fine 75k for two hits to the head on Sunday. As Lil Wayne once told Katie Couric " I am a gangsta Miss Kaite. I do what I want. If I can't do what I want I'll just die." This is Harrison's mindset here. He is threatening to retire because he is a hard hitter and if he can't do that, he is less effective as a player.
The fine is too steep and is not the best way for the league to deal with these hits. I feel like you can't just decide to enforce the rules Week 7 into a season. The three players fined this week were the example for the rest of the league and unjustly so. The league simply needs to tell the officials to use the rules in place. These rules have been in place for multiple years. Yet, no official has thrown a player out of a game for such a hit when that punishment is the fairest and most reasonable option. Fining players is just going to piss them off. Suspending them after is going to piss off fans and coaches. If a player makes a helmet to helmet hit with intent then he should be ejected. As a Patriots fan, I think Brandon Meriweather deserved to be ejected on Sunday against the Ravens. Belichick quickly yanked him out of the game anyway. Guys are going to get hit in the head in football. The hits are what makes the NFL great. Trying to protect little pussy receivers going across the middle of the field isn't going to win any fans besides those players and their agents. Most defensive players will be more careful about this now but some still won't. The game is meant to be physical and this is a huge overreaction by the league because some of their jerseys don't sell if the player is a vegetable apparently. Wes Welker got clobbered in the head in Week 2 by the Jets' Eric Smith and he was fine 7500 and not thrown out. Simply throw him out of the game and the players will get the message enough to not try to kill each other. The refs need to do their fucking jobs.

Ok. I am done ranting now. This is way overblown and not the publicity the league needs. Talk about the games coming up in Week 7 not what will happen if someone gets a boo boo from a hit.
Look for money in the bank locks of the week tomorrow as I will be traveling for "business" purposes out to Amherst on Friday. That's right all two of our followers will get a recap of the hockey game where they will be allowed to hit each other in the head without any 15 yard penalties.

Hockey East Weekend Roundup

Another eventful weekend of college hockey leads us into this Weekend Roundup. Almost all of Hockey East was in play at one point or another (with the exception of those farmers up in Vermont), so there's a decent amount to cover...

Boston University

Only in action once this weekend, our Terriers came away with one point thanks to a tie with UMass-Amherst. Although they moved up two spots to #8 in the national ranking, I would argue that this weekend was a bit of a letdown following victories against Wisconsin and Notre Dame in the Ice Breaker. Hopefully they can grab two victories this coming weekend, with games against UMass and PC.

Boston College

Those choir boys down at BC continue to impress this year. They took down UDenver (a top ten ranked program) on both Friday and Saturday night. Goalies John Muse and Parker Milner took care of business, and that's a deadly sign for the rest of Hockey East. If their defense continues to keep pace with their offense, it's going to be a long year for everybody else.

Northeastern

NU looks to be in for a long season if their play continues like this. They only played once this weekend, skating to a 1-1 tie with RPI on Friday night. The Huskies looked rough in that game, going 0-8 on the powerplay. The only bright spot will and continues to be goalie Chris Rawlings, who made 29 saves on Friday night.

UMass-Amherst

The Minutemen played to the aforementioned tie with BU on Saturday night, in a game that nobody expected them to even contend in. It's a point that they probably needed, after being swept by Minnesota and even losing their exhibition game against New Brunswick. A big plus for them was the emergence of freshman Jeff Teglia, who performed spectacularly in the absence of Paul Dainton.

UMass-Lowell

In play twice this past weekend, coming away with two ties. On Friday night it was a 2-2 tie against Niagara, highlighted by freshman goalie Doug Carr stopping 34 of 36 shots to keep the River Hawks afloat (what the hell is a River Hawk again?). On Saturday, ULowell battled to a 4-4 tie against RIT, with the game tying goal being scored by Lowell with 1.3 seconds left in regulation. This brings their record to 0-1-2 on the year, and they look for their first win this Friday night at home against PC.

Maine

Maine played a rare Thursday-Friday series against Michigan State last weekend, and came away with a tie and a loss. Thursday night saw the Black Bears pull out to a 3-1 loud, only to have to settle for a 4-4 tie. On Friday, Maine forward Spencer Abbott scored two goals in literally ten seconds, but the Spartans of Michigan State still prevailed with a 3-2 victory. This has to be a disappointing start to the year for Maine, who has been predicted across the board as a favorite to contend with BC for tops in HE. They look to turn things around at home against North Dakota this Friday.

UNH

New Hampshire was only in play once this weekend, a game against Michigan which resulted in a 3-3 tie. This isn't a bad result for the Wildcats, as UM is a top ranked program in the country. UNH has been decently impressive thus far, and they look to continue that trend against Northeastern this Friday.

Merrimack

Also only in play once, the Mack beat the crap out of UConn on Saturday night, 7-1. Before you start to be impressed by that result, please remember that UConn hockey sucks and I'm pretty sure they've never even been nationally ranked. Ever. Of course the clowns over at Warrior Rink Rat are probably throwing parties all week, but let's not be fooled here. This is about as impressive as quackquack misspelling basic words. It could happen any day of the week.

Providence College

Minnesota Duluth (not to be confused with regular Minnesota) handed the Friars a two night beat-down extravaganza this past weekend. PC lost 5-3 on Friday night and 7-1 on Saturday night, which probably isn't that surprising since, well, PC blows. To be fair, MD is currently ranked 5th in the country. But still.

Redd10's Updated Power Rankings

1. BC
2. UNH
3. BU
4. Maine
5. Vermont
6. Merrimack
7. UMass Lowell
8. Northeastern
9. UMass Amherst
10. PC

Pats have "biggest win in a long time" edging Ravens in OT

The Patriots' young defense stood up when it needed to and the offense overcame some inconsistency to do enough to win the game against a strong Baltimore team. Deion Branch played like he never left with 98 yards receiving and a TD. Branch looked like he didn't lose a step in his chemistry with Tom Brady. Aaron Hernandez also had some big plays but had two costly drops that almost cost the team the game in OT. The Patriots trailed 20-10 entering the fourth quarter but quickly scored on a 4 yard throw from Brady to Moss I mean Branch. The defense made some great plays after the young corners were picked on by the veteran receiving corps of Baltimore. After the game Vince Wilfork said "this was the best win for this team in a long time". This is a huge win for this team to vault them to 4-1 and into a first place tie with the Jets who beat Denver today also. Here are the winners and losers from today's game
Winners:
Deion Branch- 98 yards receiving, TD

Zoltan Mesko- Mesko had a huge 67 yard punt to swing the field position late in the game and had perfect holds in all three of the field goals including the game winner.

Danny Woodhead- had over 110 total yards in the game and is quickly stepping up to be the team's change of pace back.

Pat Chung, Jerod Mayo- defensive leaders kept the unit together all day and made some big plays to keep the offense in the game in the 4th Q and OT.

Losers:
Aaron Hernandez- had two costly drops that could have won the game much earlier into the OT

Secondary- McCourty, Meriweather and Arrington all down points throughout the day with penalties and getting beat on routes. They hung in their though to give the team the win in the end of the day.

BU Skates to a 2-2 Tie With UMass

 Last night's contest was a tale of two games - the first twenty minutes, and the last forty minutes.  BU scored two goals in the first period to jump out to an early lead, but it was UMass who would dictate play from there on out. The Minutemen's freshman netminder Jeff Teglia had an impressive first start in net, stopping 33 of the 35 shots fired his way. He was matched by his BU counterpart, Kieran Millan, who stopped 28 of 30 shots. BU's goals were scored by freshman Matt Nieto (1) and junior Chris Connolly (1). After Connolly's goal, it appeared BU was going to turn the game into a route, but after the first stopover UMass came out firing and the Terriers looked sluggish - a bad combination. Millan made many impressive stops in net, and both of the goals could hardly be called his fault - one was a very late deflection in front, and the other was through a tough screen. BU had perhaps their best chance of the night to win the game with only seconds remaining in overtime. Alex Chiasson sprung Nieto on a breakout, but Nieto fired wide as he was interfered with from behind (and for some reason didn't get a penalty shot).

Last night was very much one of those tie's where you feel like you lost (or if you're a UMass fan, you probably feel like you won). Hopefully BU can right the ship this week in practice, because next Friday night they have a date with these same Minutemen, and this time they need to come out with a victory.

GAME DAY Odds and Ends

Oh man it's finally here. October 16th. I feel like a little kid on Christmas. Like Ben Roethlisberger at the sight of drunk co-eds. Like QuackQuack at the sight of whatever a female duck is. Let the analogies continue because it's the MEN'S HOCKEY HOME OPENER. If you're a BU hockey fan, this is easily one of the best days of the year. Today looks to be no exception, as our Terriers take on UMass-Amherst tonight, in a battle of two pretty young teams. This is also being touted as a battle of siblings, as BU captain Joe Pereira will skate against his younger brother, Mike, a freshman forward at UMass. My prediction is that BU will skate to a comfortable win, simply because of our talent and confidence coming off the Ice Breaker win. Plus, talented Canadians Alex Chiasson and Corey Trivino will rejoin the squad tonight (and will be playing on the same line along with Matt Nieto, according to the Boston Hockey Blog). Check back at sometime tomorrow or Monday for a roundup and breakdown of the game. Its should be a good one.

The BU women's hockey team had their home opener last night, a 7-2 win over Wayne State. Before the game, they raised their first Hockey East Championship banner after winning the title last year. The Lady Terriers were paced by freshman Marie-Philip Poulin, who poured in 4 goals. The two teams face off again this afternoon, at 2 pm at Walter Brown Arena.

Most of the rest of Hockey East was in play last night. Here's how those games shook out -

BC 6 - UDenver 2.
RPI 2 - Northeastern 2
ULowell 2 - Niagra 2
Michigan St. 3 - Maine 2 (Maine and Michigan St. tied 4-4 on Thursday night)
Minnesota-Duluth 5 - PC 3

Overall, not a great night for Hockey East. RPI and Niagra aren't great hockey teams, so that doesn't bode well for Northeastern and UMass - Lowell. UDenver is ranked in the top 10, so that's an impressive win for BC over a very solid program. And Maine coming away winless against a team barely in the top 20 doesn't bode well for them either...

This blog that I've never heard of recently did a Q and A with Terrier freshman forward Matt Nieto, asking him about how got started in hockey and who his favorite player was, amongst other things...

Head over to Go Terriers to check out the game notes for tonight's game against UMass, as well as information about all the BU athletic squads...

If anybody reading this is going to the game tonight, the Bay State Road Sports Blog will be posted up in the 108 (we will be the loud kids somewhere in the middle). We hope to see you all there. If you can't make it to the game, The Boston Hockey Blog will have a very good live blog of the game, which they do for every contest...

LET'S GO TERRIERS

Quack Quack's Money in the bank lock of the week

This is the first of a weekly post on Friday where I pick the best college game and NFL game that weekend to bet on with the spread. I don't trust myself to bet on games so this is my way of fulfilling my gambling urge without actually going broke.

NCAA:
Pittsburgh @ Syracuse(-1)

The Pick: Syracuse


The Orangemen take the 11th best defense into a game against a Pitt team that has struggled to score points besides an early big win against UNH. The Cuse at home are only a one point favorite? Oh please. Put the house on the Orange and the revitalized football program out there in upstate New York.

NFL: Atlanta @ Philadelphia (-2.5)
Philly is starting Kevin Kolb ,(in place of Mike Vick), who made some good plays for them against San Fran but the Falcons are not the 49ers. The Falcons can score without turning the ball over and should test this Eagles' defense while also harrassing the young Kolb all game long. Look for the Falcons to win by seven here. Take Atlanta here.




oh yeah and go BU!

Chilean Miners Getting Huge Invites

So I was checking out ESPN today and found that major sporting teams and organized events are offering the Chilean Miners to come to various events to celebrate their liberation from the collapsed mine in Chile. So big-time teams as in Man Utd., Real Madrid, and Barcelona FC are making offers for the miners to come and partake in some events and attend soccer matches. One of the Chilean miners supposedly ran everyday, and " New York City Marathon officials decided to invite him to participate in next month's race." I very happy that they all survived and I think this is what sports is about. The ability to bring people together under the same colors or train of thought and supporting the same idea.

This Stuff Gives Me Chills

So I was spending the last few moments of tonight surfing the web and found this awesome article. I watched/ listened to every video or mpeg and I had chills for everyone. Why cause these moments are the moments that will live for every. For instance the Tiger Woods chip, I saw live and when I re-watch it and still get chills. The best is for last but you are going to have to look for yourself.

BU Hockey Notes, Past and Present

Former Terrier Colin Wilson scored his first goal of the year last night, as his Nashville Predators edged the defending NHL champion Chicago Blackhawks 3-2. Wilson is starting this season up with the big club, after being sent down to the AHL for the majority of last year...


Another former Terrier standout, Nick Bonino, suffered a mild concussion last friday night while skating for the Syracuse Crunch (the Ducks AHL affiliate). Bonino skated in practice yesterday, and says he will be ready to play in their game on Friday...

College Hockey News awarded  BU it's "Team of the Week" award following the Terriers victories this past weekend. Click the link to read the article, including quotes from Coach Parker...

As part of their "Get to Know..." series, the Lake Erie Monsters website posted a quick interview with former Terrier defenseman Kevin Shattenkirk. Shattenkirk tallied the winning shootout goal for the Monsters last Friday night against Bonino's Syracuse squad. If you ever wanted to know what junk food he likes most, here's your chance...

Another former Terrier and Hobey Baker award winner Matt Gilroy has yet to log any ice time this year with the New York Rangers, being edged out of playing time by a few rookie defenseman. Gilroy spent all but a few games with the Rangers last season, as he was demoted to the AHL partway through the season and then shortly brought back up...

Nesn.com recently posted an article about this season's BU men's hockey team, noting the importance of the leadership of its captains - Pereira, Connolly, and Warsofsky...

The BU Athletics youtube account posted the postgame interview of junior David Warsofsky and sophomore Sean Escobedo, both blueliners, following BU's victory over Notre Dame last Sunday...


If any of you are fans of BU women's hockey, or just want to see a nationally ranked women's team play some good solid hockey, make your way over to BU's Walter Brown Arena tomorrow night or Saturday afternoon to see our Lady Terriers take on Wayne State. It's free for students and very cheap for non-students. This year's team figures to build upon last year's NCAA tournament run and Hockey East Championship. They are led by head coach (and former BU men's player) Brian Durocher...

Wednesday Morning Odds and Ends

Former Terrier standout and current Colorado Avalanche (read: BU West) forward Brandon Yip scored a shootout goal last night to lift the Avs over the Red Wings, 5-4. The Yipper was the 6th Avs skater to come out in the shootout, and beat the Red Wings goalie Jimmy Howard top shelf glove side to score the only shootout goal for either team...

Buffalo Sabres goalie Ryan Miller spoke out against head shots in the NHL, referencing injured Bruins forward Marc Savard in the process. "Savard's still not playing," Miller said. "One of the best playmakers we have in this game is still not playing because of a stupid hit". Miller's comments came after one of his teammates, Jason Pominville, was nailed from behind by Blackhawks D-Man Niklas Hjalmarsson...Savard was injured last March 7 on a blindside hit from the Penguins resident scumbag Matt Cooke...

Hockey East announced its first round of weekly award winners, and BU was represented well. Junior defenseman and assistant captain David Warsofsky won the Athletic Republic Player of the Week award, while freshman forward Sahir Gill took home the Pro Ambitions Rookie of the Week award. As a team, BU won the very first Hockey East team of the week award. All of this, of course, comes on the heels of last weekends title win at the Ice Breaker in St. Louis...

Sticking with BU hockey, the men host UMass-Amherst this Saturday night in their home opener, while the women host Wayne State on both Friday and Saturday night...

Recent Patriots acquisition Deion Branch practiced yesterday, wearing number 84 (his number 83 is in use by Wes Welker. After practice, Branch made it  clear that he is not here to replace Randy Moss: "Not here to replace Randy. I’m not Randy. I wasn’t Randy Moss when I was here and I’m not here to replace him"...

Rangers Ace Cliff Lee lifted Texas over Evan Longoria and the Tampa Rays last night, in Game 5 of their AL Divisional series. The Rangers now move on to face another AL East team - the Yankees - in the AL Championship series. As a Red Sox fan and avid hater of all things Yankee, I really hope Lee saves his best stuff for those Bronx Beaters...

The Miami Heat's "Big 3" should probably just start renting out spots on the Injured Reserve now. Dwayne Wade is currently attempting to heal his strained right hamstring, and last night former Cavalier and current racial ignoramus Lebron James limped off the court with leg cramps. Watch out Bosh, it's only a matter of time...

According to The Bleacher Report, Vikings quarterback and resident "sexter" Brett Favre issued a tearful apology to his team prior their Monday night defeat at the hands of his former team, the New York Jets. It has yet to be determined if Favre was crying due to embarrassment or shock over having been turned down by somebody other than his sister...

That's all I've got for you folks. If you are a BU hockey fan, be on the lookout for a preview of this weekend's matchup against those clowns from Zoomass

Branch returning to Pats...BU moves up into #10 of the rankings

The Patriots have reacquired WR Deion Branch from the Seattle Seahawks for a 2011 fourth round draft pick. The move was highly anticipated after Branch was given the day off for "personal reasons" Monday. The move was rumored for close to a week once the Randy Moss trade was completed last Tuesday. The move gives the Patriots more depth at receiver and another veteran option at receive along with Wes Welker. Branch was originally traded from New England to Seattle for a first round draft choice in 2006 after a contract dispute with the Patriots. Branch spent four injury plagued seasons in Seattle but it was becoming apparent that he was expendable in recent weeks with the signing of veteran Brandon Stokley to bring the team to five starter-caliber receivers on the team. The move loses one of the Pats' eight draft picks in the first four rounds but a move they surely will take to gain a receiver who has a history with Brady and knows how to win championships.

In other news, our BU Terriers moved up four spots in the USCHO polls from #14 to #10 due to their pair of wins over #13 Wisconsin and #17 Notred Dame to win the IceBreaker Invitational. This moves the Terriers right behind HE foes UNH(#9) and Maine(#8). The choir boys remain number one in the rankings but look for that to possible change with a pair of games at #6 Denver next weekend.

HE Weekend Rundown

Most of my suspicions about the conference this season seem to have been borne out by the weekend's results.

1) BC--good. even a 2-goal margin at Mathews is solid in one of the toughest barns in the league. A shutout is a shutout, week in and week out.

2)BU--good. We got the timely goals and the crash-the-net plays that were not at all hallmarks of last year's team. Plus the team proved it can play from behind against very good opposition. Defense will get better as players get more comfortable with the new system. And this was all without two potential first-line players!

3) UNH--better than I expected. Friday was rough, but Miami is one of the best teams ion the nation and playing them on the road is certainly no easy feat. Rebounding on Saturday to pick up the big win is definitely a great result to get out of the weekend.

4) Maine--Mixed. Following up an 8-2 win against UML by tying non-scholarship UConn 3-3. When this team doesn't score buckets of goals this year, I think they will struggle to win like that.

5) PC--beating another possible cellar team this year? A win's a win!

6) NU--Have to be disappointed to lose to a team they're likely fighting with for 8th place. Solid effort vs. BC though, maybe a sign of life for a team that may have a long year ahead

7) UMass--at least they stayed remotely competitive vs. Minnesota

8) UML--those are the breaks when Maine goes off on offense. They won't be the last team that happens to this year.

9) Vermont--Loss and a tie against Denver? When you're not in an upper-echelon year, you take it and be glad it wasn't a sweep.

My conference power rankings for the week and team schedules:

1) BC--a pair @ Denver

2) BU--home vs. UMass

3) UNH--home vs. Michigan

4) Maine--a pair @ Michigan State

5) Merrimack--home vs. UConn

6)Vermont

7)Providence--a pair @ UM-Duluth

8) NU--vs. RPI

9) UML--@ Niagara, RIT

10) UMass--@BU

Terriers bring home first title of the season

Our BU Terriers beat #17Notre Dame today 5-4 with a late Sean Escobedo goal to win the Ice Breaker Invitational. Grant (Rollie) Rollheiser made 30 saves and recovered to have a good third period after looking shaky throughout the first two. Freshman Sahir Gill had four points(1 g , 3 assists) to lead the Terriers while Junior defenseman David Warsofsky had three points(1g, 2 assists) in the victory. This is the first of hopefully 6 championships for the Terriers this season(Beanpot, HE regular season, HE tournament, National Chamionship, and New Year tournament in Indianapolis). Joe Pereira also added a goal for the Terriers as he continues his quest to lead this team by example. BU resumes play Saturday at 7 against UMASS in their HE opener at Agganis Arena. Get ready to be loud and make some noise for your team. Stay tuned for Redd10's more detailed breakdown of the game later.

Hockey east has a rough weekend in out of conference play

Hockey East concluded the first weekend of hockey struggling against other conferences throughout the country. Yeah, yeah it is the first weekend but this is one of the few times teams play non conference games until the winter break in early jan. BC beat Northeastern 2-0 in conference blah blah BC is great. The more important headline from this game was Northeastern's goalie(Rawlins) making 33 saves on the choir boys. No big surprises in this game though as Northeastern struggled to score as they expect to all season. The lone bright note out of conference tonight was UNH beating Miami(OH) 6-3 which is a solid win to split the weekend with a good Miami squad. On the contrary, Maine, who beat Lowell 8-2 last night tied UCONN. Yes UCONN has hockey well kinda. They were 7-27-7 last year in the atlantic hockey league. How does that team tie Maine who is supposed to be #7 in the country and 2 in HE. Then Merrimack ties Niagra(12-20-7) 4-4, another atlantic hockey league foe. Merrimack is suppose to be like Jesus on skates this year. The Warrior Rink Rat freaks out on a daily basis over their frenchman Da Costa. To quote their blogger Mike McMahon " This is a good hockey team – a very good hockey team that should contend for home ice. I’ll be honest, I was really teetering on whether or not to pick them fourth. To be quite honest (and I’ll give you a little spoiler here), I think the Warriors are better than BU, who I have picked for fourth." Get used to that quote because it will be posted before every BU-Merrimack game to pump me up if nothing else. Yeah hey Mikey boy, do good hockey teams tie 12-20-7 teams in inferior leagues?...I think not. And your blog sucks...nice job jamming four teams into one post for your HE predictions that you started Labor Day weekend you fuck. I put all mine into one post and rant with no stats to back anything up and it is so much better than your " I love Merrimack. Da Costa is great" shit.
O.K. sorry for that. Rough day at the office but back to business... UMASS got swept by Minnesota which is no shocker but still looks like only BU has the only chance to come out with a winning record in non conference this weekend if they take care of Notre Dame tomorrow @4. UVM went 0-1-1 with a very good Denver team but a split would have been what they were looking for there.

Do It Do It (Starsky and Hutch Style)

You may notice that, along with the change in color/scheme/template to our blog, we have also recently added two Facebook buttons - like and share. Yes, they are legit. No, I am not going to give you a virus. Yes, she told me she was over 18. What? Anyways, for the love of God like and share the hell out of our posts - we would really appreciate it. Who knows, maybe more than 10 people will read it as a result of your help!

BU Opens Season with 4-3 Win Over No. 13 Wisconsin

Going down 2-0 quickly in the first period wasn't the way this BU team wanted to start their season. And as Captain Joe Pereira pointed out, if this had been last year the game would have been over right then. But as the No. 14 Terriers proved last night, this year looks to be nothing like last year. Pereira himself poured in the first and fourth goals, with freshman Charlie Coyle and junior Dave Warsofsky adding goals 2 and 3 to propel BU to victory. Junior netminder Kieran Millan looked shaky in the first period, allowing those two quick goals and one more before the period expired. But that's all the Badgers would get out of Millan, as he shut them down in periods 2 and 3. A large part of this turnaround for BU is centered on power plays - ours and theirs. Our power play gave us 3 of our 4 goals, and their power play gave them 2 of their 3 goals. Parker explained that BU's early problems on the penalty kill resulted from improper spacing due to an NHL sized rink, opening more passing lanes for the Badgers to thread the puck through.

BU now takes on No. 17 Notre Dame in the finals of the Ice Breaker Tournament, Sunday afternoon at 4. Notre Dame beat Holy Cross 6-3 in their opener. Check back in with us then for another recap of hopefully another BU victory and our first title of the year...