Denver Recap: "What Does 5-on-5 Hockey Look Like Again?" Edition

Hooooooo boy. While a lesser blogger would still be in the fetal position trying to erase last night from memory, here at BSRS we are men of action. Which is why I started drinking unhealthy amounts of alcohol in the third period of last night's BU loss at Denver, and continued until approximately 3 am. Last night's loss was, by far, the worst BU hockey I've had the displeasure to witness not just this season, but probably in at least a year. It was an absolute disaster from start to finish. I'm still too rattled to provide a fully organized recap, so here are some of the notes I took during the game, followed by a quick review at the end. I'd like to personally thank the local deli and Dunkin for providing me with an egg sandwich and coffee, without which this post could not have been possible.

Today's theme:

Weekly Pick Em Week 11

Below are the first half standing as I sit ahead of FM by one game through 98 games played. HS and HWW sit 6.5 GB of me which is very doable with the high quantity of games left. Even GW could get back into as he is only 3 back in the loss column. He is kinda in trouble since he is 31 back in wins but that's only 17 games overall which is nothing over the course of the whole second half. Maybe we will see a new and improved GW in the second half. Maybe not. Raymundo is just going to stick with .510 winning percentage all year and see if it sticks.

QQ- 57-41(.582)
FM-56-42(.571)
HS- 49-46 (.516)
MWW 49-46 (.516)
Ray 25-24 (.510)
GW  26-44 (.371)


Friday 12/28

Minnesota-Duluth vs. Maine (Florida College Classic- Estero,FL)

QQ- Duluth 4-2- Neither team had a good first half but Duluth seems to be bouncing back and are close to .500. Maine is just in chaos and can't score so I'm not picking them until they give me a reason to.
FM- Duluth 6-3
HS- Duluth 4-1- Maine is more worse than UMD, who is more better. This tournament is apparently the only one of seven this weekend with all four participating teams having made the Sweet 16 in last year's NCAA tourney. And according to USCHO they also have the lowest combined winning percentage at .443. Sucks to suck.
MWW-Duluth 3-1- Maine Sucks. MinniDuluth with the W
GW - Goddammit guys what did I say about picking Hockey East? Always pick HE out of conference!

Saturday 12/29

Princeton vs. Merrimack(Catamount Cup-Burlington,VT)

QQ- Merrimack 3-2- I think the Mack comes out hard after the break and takes care of business against an inferior Princeton team. Princeton will beat them if they play poorly though.
FM- Merrimack 3-1
HS- Merrimack 3-1- Warriors are rested and Princeton is probably tired from studying for classes that haven't started yet.
MWW- Merrimack 3-2- taking Merri since I know nothing about those smart people from NJ
Ray
GW - Merrimack 2-0

Ferris St./Cornell vs. Maine (Florida College Classic)

QQ- Ferris/Cornell 4-0- Both of these teams are far superior to Maine.
FM-Ferris/Cornell 4-1
HS- Ferris/Cornell 4-2-Obviously Maine is losing to whomever they play here.
MWW- Ferris/Cornell 4-1- anyone over Maine.
Ray
GW - MAINE 4-1 PICK HE IN OOC GODDAMMIT

 BC vs Alabama-Huntsville ( Mariucci Classic- Minneapolis,MN)

QQ- UAH 3-2 OT- No Straight, No Gaudreau, No W. Sorry Jerry. Kyle Lasaght with the GW
FM- UAH 4-2- Tonight, we are all Charger fans
HS- UAH 3-2-Bama pulls the miracle upset, Jerry York plays zamboni flooding the ice with good Christian tears, and the rest of the country celebrates til the break of dawn. As soon as this game ends though, the state of Alabama can go fuck themselves (LET'S GO IRISH).
MWW- UAH 8-0 - yeah am taking flak for this but I am in it to win it. 4-2 BC..........Just Kidding FUCK BC 8-0 'Bama
Ray
GW - UAH 2-1. Always pick HE in OOC...unless the team in question is BC

Denver Preview

The 10-5-0 BU Terriers starts off the second half against the 9-6-3 Denver Pioneers. Denver has plenty of talent but has struggled at the end of the first half. They are winless since a sweep of Colorado College in mid November. This game has huge pairwise implications for both teams and will have an impact where both teams are placed in the NCAA tournament and might decided if one makes the tournament at all.

Rando Stuff Bout BU and the World Related/According to Us

So the music post isn't happening this week. The crew got lazy. GW and HTS have to study for finals, write papers, and finish off assignments. QQ is doing something. Maybe figuring out how he can go to Denver for free or something. Felizmiguel game through but just posting his music and mine isn't right. Once a crew, always a crew, if the crew sinks we all sink together. This post is just random stuff I find interesting dealing with BU, and other stuff. Hit the jump if you want to know what's happening.

First Half Review- Defensmen and Goalies

Dmen

1. Matt Grzelcyk(2-10-12,15 GP)- The freshman Bruins draft pick has exceeded expectations as he performed extremely well in his first semester of college hockey action. He has settled into a defensive pairing with classmate Ahti Oksanen and they both are seeing plenty of ice time. Both of his goals this year came against BC, which makes it even better. Grzelcyk will miss the Terriers' next game on 12/29 at Denver due to being away at the WJC with team USA. He will be missed for sure but if he helps beat those fraudulent Canadians, it will be worth it.

2. Garrett Noonan(3-7-10, 15 GP)- The freshly appointed assistant captain has had a solid first half for the Terriers even if his goal total is not quite as high as last year. Noonan finished last year with a 16-11-27 line in 38 games. He isn't quite on pace to reach that goal total again but his assists have gone up which is a positive sign. Teams have actually somewhat covered him on the backdoor powerplay this year which was the source of a majority of his goals last season. He has been nothing short of solid defensively He will need to have a solid second half for this team as he is a crucial defenseman and sees large amounts of ice time. He is on a similar pace for penalty minutes from last year. This would be nice to cut down on but penalties happen when you play with as much passion and emotion as he does.

WHY THE FUCK AM I A JETS FAN

I can't fucking believe what I just saw with my two eyes. Throw a INT into quadruple coverage. Play stop the run and get the opposing team to hit a laugher of a punt. Get the ball back with some :40 odd seconds left on the clock and the game...NO... the season on the line. Shotgun position and you screw up the snap and let it go through your legs and have the opposing team recover. It's like I am watching the Little Giants in practice before they get somewhat good/ cheat to improve their chances.

So if you want to read a expletive filled rant about how the Jets suck and have nothing better to do with your life while Mark Sanchez makes the same amount as Brady next year hit the jump.

Dear Santa: 2012 Terrier Christmas List

Rhett the Scarlet-nosed Reindeer had a very cold and wet nose
And if you saw BC play, you would say that their team blows
All of the other mascots used to laugh and call him names...
And then Rhett cross-checked them into the boards and they shut the fuck up.
Who's laughing now?
The end.

[warning: this post is long as FUCK but has media in it to spice up my stupid boring rambles]
[hopefully you pre-planned this as a study break or you're not finishing that paper tonight]

It's the second least wonderful time of the year, Terrier fans. With the break between semesters, it'll be another 26 days before before residences open up again. And because the Terriers are on the road in North Andover that Friday, it's an additional week before the best fans in cawlidge hawkey are back in Agganis to cheer on the best team in cawlidge hawkey. That is way too long. Longer than it'll take to read this fucking blog, even. For some of you, the Denver trip will provide a sorely-needed hockey fix during the break. Unfortunately, my budget excludes me from what I'm sure will be an awesome road trip.

To that end, I decided to make a Christmas wish-list on behalf of all applicable Terrier fans. If you don't celebrate Christmas, that's cool. I don't really care and you shouldn't expect a separate post for the top ten Terrier Kwanzaa prayers or something. I don't believe in the "War on Christmas" and this isn't some holy war powerplay. I'm not even religious. I celebrate Christmas commercially, taking advantage of gift-giving traditions, gratuitous partying and holidays with time-and-a-half pay rates. So if you're the kind of person that gets offended by the fact that this has to do with Christmas, do me a favor. Blow it out your ass. Happy holidays. And with all that shit in mind:

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.

Mini Weekly Pick'EM

So I suck and forgot to add in the two more games before winter/Christmas/Hannukah/ holiday/ Kwanzaa break so here they are and the updated standings. We will be back at it the week of Christmas(and Kwanzaa) for the full weekend of games on 12/28 and 12/29.

QQ- 57-39(.593) 6-5
FM- 56-40- (.583) 5-6
MWW- 49-44(.527)  3-8
HS- 49-44 (.527) 6-5
Ray - 25-24 (.510) N/A
GW - 26-44 (.371) 5-6

Sat 12/15

UVM @ St. Lawrence

QQ- SLU 3-2- SLU's top line and goalie will win this game by themselves because UVM is too incompetent to figure out SLU's top line is really good.
MWW-SLU 4-1- UVM players are too high to focus
FM--SLU 4-2
HS- SLU 4-1
GW

Thursday 12/20

UVM @ PC

QQ- UVM 3-2- No Jon Gillies for PC due to the WJC which could very easily cost them this game. Russ Stein is the only other goalie to play this year and he allowed 2 goals in one period to Sacred Heart so yeahhh. I'm going with UVM
 MWW- PC 3-0- Prov could be the 4th best team in Hockey East. And they keep proving it
 FM--PC 4-3
HS- PC 3-2 Rough weekend for Vermont. PC is good enough to beat em without Gillies.
GW

Recap: Terrier Alumni Game

Today, most of you probably spent your afternoon recovering from 12/12/12 hangovers, preparing for finals next week, and lamenting the fact that Agganis will not be filled with screaming Terrier fans for several weeks. Unless you're me or GW or one additional Dog Pound affiliate, who snuck into the Jack Parker Rink to enjoy an afternoon of hockey scrimmaging between Terrier alumni and the current players.

Polls/Rankings

The USCHO poll  was released yesterday and has the BU Terriers 10-5-0(8-4-0) up one spot to #6 overall nationally. Here is my breakdown of the rest of the poll and weekly awards.

1. BC(11-2-1)- BU decided to throw York and company  a bone by beating UNH on Thursday night in Durham. Thankfully they returned the favor by gloriously blowing a late lead and pushing off York's 925th(record-breaking win) with a tie at PC. Apparently tying PC is good enough to move you up now.
2. UNH(11-2-2)- They are a tough team to beat especially at home. BU is just that good though.
3. Notre Dame(13-4-0)- Well this is going to get fun next year when they join Hockey East.
4. Minnesota (11-3-3)- They still haven't played anyone great as their 42nd strength of schedule indicates
5. Miami(10-3-3)
6. BU(10-5-0)- This is a team heading the right direction going into the break. It will be good to rest and recharge after a big weekend sweep of UNH and Maine. They played the toughest first half schedule in the country which leaves plenty to look forward to in the second half of the season. 30-5-0 is happening.
7. Western Michigan (10-3-1)
8. North Dakota (8-5-3)- The NoDak/Minnesota game this year is going to feature a few top 10 teams and should be great to watch.
9. Quinnipiac(12-3-2)- Might be the first team from the EZAC that I respect in awhile. They seem like a decent hockey team and their record indicates it.
10. Dartmouth(7-2-2)- They beat UVM like all decent teams should

Meme Monday: Holiday Edition - UPDATED

[update 12/10 ~8pm - Kevin Hayes Home Alone memes added - HS]

Solid week for Terrier hockey. Last Monday, we checked in after GW's alleged (ie. term-paper-induced) hangover to find the Terriers having split a series with #1-ranked BC. Not the ideal outcome but still a satisfying win at home. BU went on the road Thursday to dethrone UNH, who had assumed the spot we forced BC to vacate. 2/3 against #1 ranked teams in one week is pretty damned good, and the boys wrapped up the semester by shutting out Maine at home.

I know it's only December 10th but next week is finals, when myself and GW will be too busy for this nonsense, and after that is Christmas Eve, where everyone will be too drunk and merry to make a post. So this might be the last Meme Monday for a little while. So that's why it's holiday-themed. I'm not clever or cultured enough to make meme jokes about Hannukah or Kwanzaa, so if that's a big deal to you, make something and tweet it @bsrs_blog you pussies.

Let us begin.

First, some holiday Terriers to get us in the mood:

Weekend Recap

HS has your interesting Maine recap from Saturday night here. BU knocked off #1 UNH back on Thursday night by a 3-2 score. BU jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind goals from Wade Megan, Sahir Gill and Sam Kurker. Megan's goal was a typical goal for the captain as he kept poking and jabbing at a rebound from a Matt Grzelcyk shot and eventually put it past Casey DeSmith. It remained 1-0 until Sahir Gill scored his 2nd goal of the season off a great pass from Cason Hohmann on a 2 on 1, which was set up by a nice pass by Garrett Noonan.  BU made it 3-0 later in the second when freshman Sam Kurker bounced a shot past DeSmith to give BU a 3-0 lead. This was exactly what they needed as I said in my preview. They needed to get out to a lead because UNH just doesn't allow goals in the 3rd this year.  UNH added 2 goals from Kevin Gouma and John Henrion but could not score over the last 8:06 as BU killed 8 of 9 powerplays including one with 2:07 remaining. The team competed extremely hard and has to be happy to get out of Durham while handing UNH their first home loss of the season.  Matt O'Connor was once again huge for this team and together with Sean Maguire's second consecutive shutout on Saturday, there is alot to like about this goalie tandem. O'Connor has been seeing more time but I would think it is going to become a true rotation for the second half as it has become a healthy rivalry.

Mister WorldWide Favorite Xmas Movies

So sorry for not posting NFL Pick Em this week people. I was running on little sleep and adrenaline this morning after my soccer team beat our heated rivals, kind of like BU vs BC. I decided that I want to help you all do really well on your finals, papers etc if you are still going to school. For us alumni, I guess watch it while you make cookies or something. Okay I really mean I want to help you procrastinate. So I decided to make a list of my Top 5 favorite Christmas Movies. So if you want to see which movies make my list, click the jump.

Maine Recap: Almost Blacked Out Edition

Is this Terrier screaming or yawning?
Doesn't matter: both are warranted.

TERRIERS AND FRIENDS. Last night was an interesting night. It was, in my 4+ years of watching BU hockey, the worst win ever. Almost everyone who was at Agganis should be ashamed of themselves. Those of you who are exempt from this statement know exactly who you are. If you're ambivalent about your inclusion in that category, shut the fuck up and lower your head in shame. It was one of the worst nights I've ever spent in Agganis arena. Then I left, got stupid drunk and wrote this recap at four in the morning. It's basically unedited since. More of a rant, less of an analysis.

Maine Preview: Start Your Houses Edition

Last night, your #7-ranked Terriers traveled to Durham, NH and dethroned the UNH Wildcats on their home ice, averting a sweep of the regular season series. It'll be recapped on Sunday along with the Maine game. The win marks the second time this week that the Terriers have defeated a #1 ranked team. The first, of course, came last Friday at Agganis when BU beat BC, forcing Jerry York to wait at least another week to claim a record of exaggerated importance. HUUUUUUGE win for the Terriers last night. You all should still be hungover from celebrating.

For its second game of the weekend, the Terriers will host the Maine Black Bears tomorrow night at Agganis Arena's Jack Parker Rink. Hit the jump for a breakdown of tomorrow's match-up.

The Bay State Road Sports Fuck Bucci Regulation Challenge

So we took advantage of some company's screen printing sale and got some BSRS t-shirts for cheap so we decided we are going to give one away for a little competition. Since John Buccigross hates us, we are going to have a knockoff of the Bucci overtime challenge. We are going to use regulation because BU hockey doesn't go to overtime this year (only team in Hockey East). For tomorrow's game against Maine, you must predict the correct score of the game. You also must submit which player will score the first BU goal as a tiebreaker. All entries must be submitted to our twitter account(@bsrs_blog) or emailed to us at baystateroadsports@gmail.com. If we have multiple winners, then we'll give away multiple shirts or find some other way to break the tie.  It close at 8:00 p.m. eastern time on Saturday night. Don't be a loser and tweet at us from 3 different accounts to help your odds. Also, we realize about 4 people are going to enter but we think the shirts are awesome and so should you. BC fans are ineligible to enter because they suck.

Weekly Pick Em

QQ 51-34(.600) 6-6
FM 51-34(.600) 8-4
MWW- 46-36 (.561) 7-5
HS 43-39(.524) 7-5
Ray 25-24 (.510) N/A
GW 21-38 (.356) N/A


Friday 12/7


BC @ PC

QQ- PC 4-3- I don't actually think PC is going to win but I'm going with my heart and not my head here. York will break the record against Alabama Huntsville in Minnesota. That is the fitting setting for that. You also couldn't pay me enough to go to this game. It is going to be nauseating.
FM- BC 6-2
MWW- PC 4-3- The Catholics vs the Catholics. I like the Catholics from RI
HS-4-2 PC-...fuck BC. Who does God love more: Friars or Eagles? HINT: NOT JERRY YORK
GW - PC 5-1. I hate BC. Also Feliz Miguel is daaaaaaangerously close to getting kicked out of the blog if he keeps picking BC...

Colgate @ UMass

QQ- UMass 3-1- This series has split all over it. Both team are right around .500 and seem to be pretty evenly matched. They currently sit at 23 and 24 in the pairwise.
FM- UMass 2-1-
MWW- UMass 3-1-UMass play very well at home
HS - UMass 3-1- UMass take it at home but these two look kind of close on paper, so this is your toss up series for the week.
GW - UMass 4-2. Crest is Better.

Harvard @ Merrimack

QQ- Harvard 4-2-Tough game to call but I like Harvard in this one just because Jimmy Vesey can play.
FM- Harvard 4-1
MWW- Harvard 3-2- Harvard get a big win out of conference
HS-Harvard 3-2- I'm still dumbfounded how WBIN is televising this fucking game but not BU vs UNH. HOW DOES THAT WORK? Anyway, Finkle sucks and my boys ah wicked smaht.



GW - Mack 3-1. Always pick HE teams. Always.

UNH Preview- Taking on #1 Round 4

For the fourth time this season, BU will take take on the #1 team in the country. This is the first time that it will not be Boston College though. Thanks to a Terrier win over BC on Friday, UNH jumped BC in the polls this week and is the new #1 in the weekly polls. This is a typical UNH start where they race out of the gate and will most likely suck by February and March. That is just how Umile runs things up there in New Hampshire.

They do have the stats to back up the #1 ranking so far this season. They have beaten BU twice already by scores of 4-1 and 3-1. The second game was very close after BU came out flat in the first and were down 2-0 quickly. They were only able to put one past UNH goalie Casey Desmith the rest of the game and UNH added an empty netter for a 3-1 win.  UNH's only loss of the season came at UMass on an overtime powerplay goal. This game is critical for BU to stay in the hunt for the Hockey East regular season title as the first half of the season concludes. You simply can't get swept by any team in conference, especially all in one half of a season.

A Roller Coaster Tuesday

Whew.  What a day for BU hockey and it's only 6 pm.  Hopefully I can bang out this blog post before something else happens...

Matt Grzelcyk (pictured here) had a pretty good day

First off, the good news.  This morning, USA Hockey announced their preliminary roster for the World Junior Championships (also known as the U20s), set to begin December 26 in Russia.  Among the 27 players was one of BU's own, freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk.  Matt's inclusion on the roster means he has been invited to the USA's preliminary camp in New York City, where they will whittle the roster down to 23 players.  Grzelcyk, who has posted a 2-9-11 line in 13 games played for BU, is one of two Massachusetts players on the roster - the other being Harvard's Jim Vesey.

Polls recap

Here is the updated USCHO poll


1. UNH(31)- BU travels to Durham on Thursday for a big matchup with the WildCats trying to avoid getting swept.
2. BC(19)- Their split with BU moves them out of the #1 spot for this week but they could easily move back in if BU takes down UNH Thursday night. Oh yeah, they still suck.
3. Miami
4. Minnesota, eh?- They have had a cupcake schedule so far but you can only beat the teams you play
5. Notre Dame- They seem to be a typical Jeff Jackson-coached team and going to be back in the NCAA's this year.

Meme Monday: I'm Still Hungover Edition

This weekend was insane, and my head ache is a constant reminder of that.  Forgive me if I don't write too much in this week's post.  Side note - we really nerded out this week.

First up: Terrier-minator/Space Terrier

Weekend Recap: BU/BC split

The first weekend of December is always a big weekend for college hockey in Boston. It is the weekend that BU and BC face off in their home and home series. It is usually an evenly matched weekend as the teams are 37-37-4 now since Jerry York took over at BC in 1994. Both teams came into the weekend ranked top 10 nationally and both seem destined for the NCAA tournament once again this season unless they collapse in the second half. From the puck drop Friday night until the final whistle Saturday, there was no love lost between the teams and the fans. There were was plenty of shoving before and after the whistle and it made for a great atmosphere both nights.

Friday night, BU played one of their best games of the season. The first period went scoreless and I thought the chances were pretty even for both sides. Both goalies played very well at the beginning of this game and that showed as the first goal was not scored until 9 minutes into the second period when BU's Garrett Noonan did his best baseball swing impression and knocked a puck out of mid-air into the open net after an Evan Rodrigues rush. Evan Rodrigues made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a snipe from the right slot that beat Parker Milner high glove side. BC responded less than 40 seconds later with a Pat Mullane goal. BC wouldn't generate much more for the rest of the night until they had a 6 on 3 late in the game. BU sealed control of the game early in the third when freshman dman Matt Grzelcyk took a rush into the zone and just kept skating scoring on a wrap around. He literally out-skated the entire BC defense and goalie Parker Milner. Wade Megan scored his eighth of the year late to seal the game for the Terriers and hand Jerry York his 559th career loss. The final ended 4-2 as Johnny Gaudreau added a late goal and Ben Rosen had an empty net goal taken away because the referees could not figure out the right amount of guys on the ice.

NFL Pick 'Em

Welcome back, hope ya'll had a good week. As of right the 4 divisions in the AFC can be wrapped up and 1 division in the NFC as well. So let's get at it. As always aim for perfection.
Pats vs Fins: Pats are home but the Fins have been giving the Pats fits for the last few years. On the other hand Brady wants the division wrapped up. Pats 35-28

Vikimgs vs Green Bay: Vikings will get to Rodgers like the Giants did. Expect Rodgers to be knocked down often. Also expect a win from the Vikings. 27-21.

Jets vs Cardinals: Larry Fitzgerald is going to have a field day with no Revis on the field. 35-17 Cards.

Giants vs Redskins: these 2 teams had one of the better games to watch this year. I expect more. Eli again proves he is the top of the QBs in the NFC East and win 31-24

Seahawks vs Da Bears: taking the Seahawks on the road. clock management, running the ball and above average QB should out do a overrated team. 21- 17

Tampa vs Denver: high scoring game here. Always take Manning in those games. 35-28