Merrimack Recap- Back on Track

                                                 Picture  from Hockey East Online-Walter Rossini


The BU Terriers recovered from a rough weekend sweep at the expense of the UMass Lowell Riverhawks to take down the Merrimack Warriors 5-2 last night at Agganis Arena. The Terriers took a commanding 3-0 lead after one period last night due to 19 shots on net. Merrimack goalie Sam Marrotta had been solid all year but struggled on the first goal as Evan Rodrigues got in on a break away and flipped a backhand through the junior goalie. Junior Sahir Gill made it 2-0 when he tipped a shot from captain Wade Megan past Marrotta less than two minutes later. The play was set up by a great pass from Garrett Noonan and great patience from Megan. The Terriers made it a 3 goal lead when Matt Nieto's rebound attempt bounced off Cason Hohmann into the net at the end of the first.This goal would chase Marrotta from the game in favor of Rasmus Tirronen. The Terriers' three goal  lead would not be relinquished as they added two more in the second on Matt Nieto goals and held on in the third despite a pair of Jordan Heywood goals. It was a great game that the Terriers needed to have, especially offensively. The penalty kill was excellent again and continues to improve. Matt O'Connor was huge in the second period and picked up his 8th win of the year, making 32 saves.

Weekly Pick Em

QQ 90-88(.506)
FM 77-76 (.503)
MWW 85-89 (.488)
HS 77-85(.475)
GW 61-88(.412)

Friday 2/22

Maine@ UMass

QQ- UMass 4-3- They suck in February but for some reason I keep picking them
FM
MWW- Maine 3-2- Loved how Maine played us last week ( not you Joey Diamond
HS - Maine 3-1 - Omellette stood on his head several times last week. Expect more of the same.
GW

NU @ PC

QQ- PC 4-1- Yeah...don't see NU beating Gillies this seasdon

FM
MWW-PC 3-2- Gillies is golden
HS - PC 4-1 - Fuck NU basically.
GW

LowHell Preview: One Shift at a Time

                                                           Still hurts eh Lowell?


The #15 Terriers of Boston University take on the #12 UMass Lowell Riverhawks this weekend in a crucial home and home series. Lowell took the first game of the year by a 4-3 margin which was marked by Garrett Noonan's "spearing" of goalie Doug Carr. Carr sold the call and that call probably cost the Terriers the game. It also got us blocked by Hockey East on Twitter but that is all in the past. This series is crucial for both teams as they fight for home ice in the conference playoffs and for NCAA tournament bids. The top 6 teams in Hockey East are all within 5 points of each other and every game left is crucial.

Now I could go on and on about how important this weekend and Tuesday's game against Merrimack is but I am not going to.  I could talk about Lowell has only lost 2 games in 2013(one to Maine) and how strong they have been charging up the standings of late. I could talk about how the Terriers need to build off last weekend's solid performance in Orono. I can give you a bunch of stats about guys who make Lowell go like freshman goalie Conor HELLebuyck(8-1-0, .936. 1.75 GAA) or Joe Pendenza(10-14-24) and Scott Wilson(8-15-23). I could also say how much of a shithole the city of the Lowell is. I could talk about how one USCHO "expert" picked BU to get 0 points in their next 3 games. 0. The other picked a 1-2 record. I could go on and on about the media disrespect and writing this team off.  I am going to avoid all of this because other people write about that already and do it much better than us.

TODAY SHOULD BE A NATIONAL HOLIDAY

Weekend Recap- Puck Don't Lie

The BU Terriers showed the resolve and determination this past weekend in Orono,Maine as they took 3 of the possible 4 points from the Maine Black Bears. The Terriers gritted out a 3-3 tie Friday night and scored a 5-4 OT victory on Saturday night. The 3 points on the weekend leave the Terriers 4th in Hockey East with 24 points but they have one game in hand on the 3 teams ahead of them(Merrimack, BC, and UNH). Needless to say, these 3 points were huge for this team in a multitude of ways. They needed 3 to keep pace in the standings for sure. More importantly, they needed to get that confidence back that had been lacking as of late. They dug and clawed throughout the weekend and earned those 3 points.

Friday night started off great for the Terriers as Matt Nieto and Wade Megan scored within the first 10 minutes of the game. Nieto's goal was off a great pass from Evan Rodrigues. That wouldn't be the last time they would connect on the weekend. Megan scored 10 seconds later off a good forecheck from Cason Hohmann. After this goal, Maine benefited from BU penalties. Maine scored all 3 of their penalties from powerplay opportunities.  Maine scored the next 3 goals and was 3 for  8 powerplay on Friday night. BU finally scored on the powerplay with 12 left in the third on an Ahti Oksanen wrister from the point. Ben Rosen set a great screen on the play. The teams went scoreless the rest of the way after a Maine goal was called back due to goalie interference with 5 left in regulation. It was a huge point for the team as they took too many penalties but they played a solid game overall.

Weekly Pick Em

QQ 86-82(.512)
FM 77-76(.503)
HS 73-81 (.476)
MWW 79-85 (.479)
GW 58-81 (.416)
Ray 25-24

Friday 2/15

Lowell @ UMass

QQ- UMass 4-3- Taking the home teams in this rivalry matchup of state schools.
FM
MWW- UMass 4-3- For some reason I like to take UMass at home. So yeah
HS - LOL 4-2 - Because reasons.
GW - UMass 5-2. Ehhh we'll see what they've got

UVM @ NU

QQ- NU 4-2- NU takes this one coming off another Beanpot disappointment
FM
MWW- UVM 3-2- UVM travels to the worst area in Boston. Survives and takes the dub
HS - UVM 3-2 - I am picking the opposite of QQ nearly every pick for the rest of the season.
GW - NU 5-4 If Rawlings plays like he did during the Beanpot, NU is going to be a good club down the stretch

BC @ Merrimack

QQ- Merrimack 5-2- Merrimack is red hot right now and Dennehy leads the Warriors to take down his alma mater.
FM
MWW- Merrimack 4-1- FUCK BC
HS - Abstention -
GW- Merrimack 4-1. I mean, obviously

Maine Preview-Heading North

 The BU Terriers look to rebound from a less than stellar performance in the Beanpot as they travel to Orono, Maine for two with the Black Bears this weekend.  The trip comes a tough time for the Terriers who are winless in their last 4 games. If you want to take a negative spin on it(as most people are), you could say going on the road to a hostile environment isn't going to help the confidence. You could point out that Maine is playing better as of late because they are at a 3-1-1 rate in their last 5. You could say that Tim Whitehead is a great coach and will take them to the promise land...just kidding. That's a little too much but the general attitude among fans is not one of positivity to say the least. I literally will never give up hope though so I am going to put a different view on this weekend.

Note- There is an awesome video clip after the jump so you should keep reading even if you think I'm unBEARable(see what I did there?)

Recap: Reading Between the Lines

Last night, the Terriers dropped an abnormally large mound of fecal matter (estimated by sources to be approximately 9 Courics in measurement) in various increments across the ice at TD Garden. As a result, they fell to a pretty lame Harvard team to the cringe-worthy tune of 7-4. That's the Terriers' third straight loss, none of which was to a team in the PWR Top-30. That also means BU has won one of its last seven contests and has won just 3 of 10 in the year 2013. On the season the Terriers are now one game over .500. And because we aren't talking about batting averages, these numbers are really, really shitty.

Afterwards BU Head Coach Jack Parker sat down with Assistant Captain Ryan Ruikka for a standard postgame press conference. Being that the team at BSRS is a group of individuals enlightened not only with a formidable insight into hockey strategy and theory but also in our ability to read people and psychologically deconstruct their actions, we decided to break down Parker's postgame presser to help you read between the lines and figure out what Jack is really thinking when he speaks to the media.

Weekly Pick Em

QQ 84-78(.519)
FM  76-75(.503)
HS  71-77(.479)
MWW 76-82 (.481)
GW 55-78(.399)

Wed 2/13

UNH @ Providence

QQ- PC 3-2- I'm done picking UNH on the road for the year. Second half swoon in typical fashion
FM
HS - UNH 4-2 - Fuck this game too. Split.
MWW-PC 3-2- UNH are still one of the teams to beat in the conference this year BUT it is the 2nd half of the season...slump.
GW - PC 3-1

Terrier Alumni Update

This is my foolish attempt to think about Terrier hockey without having to think about the Beanpot. So, uh yeah. Enjoy. Obviously this isn't a comprehensive list of recent Terrier alumni. Just the ones I felt like writing about.

Former Terrier Nick Bonino (left) after registering a hat trick on Sunday. Photo Credit: AP

Kevin Shattenkirk - The pride of New Rochelle, NY has been making a name for himself with the St. Louis Blues. Shatty played in all but one game with St. Louis last year, amassing 9 goals and 34 assists. Kevin is off to a torrid start with the Blues this season, posting 1 goal and 8 assists in 8 games played.

Nick Bonino - After bouncing between the NHL and AHL for his first few seasons as a pro, Nick has stuck with the Ducks so far this season. He's played in 8 games for Anaheim, with 3 goals and 2 assists.  The 3 goals came during one game as Bonino registered his first professional hat trick a few days ago. During the NHL lockout, Nick played overseas in Italy for Neumarkt, registering a ridiculous 52 points (26-26-52) in only 19 games played. Absolutely silly.

Twas The Night Before the Beanpot

The Only Thing That Matters in February

Twas the night before the Beanpot, when all through the city

Meme Monday: EXTENDED Beanpot Edition

It's finally here! Wake up people! THE BEANPOT STARTS TONIGHT!

That's right, Shocked Terrier. It's already Beanpot time.

Yes, really. It's Beanpot Monday. Which means your regularly scheduled Meme Mondays post is going to pay special attention to the other three teams participating in cawlidge hawkey's best annual tournament.

[NOTE: This is the longest BSRS Meme Monday post ever, so get comfortable.]

Beanpot preview

It is highly unlikely that we will post a UMass recap because we are quite content pretending that Friday's game never happened and moving on from there. The focus now is the Beanpot Tournament also known as the BU invitational. The Terriers have won 29 of the 60 Beanpot tournaments ever held. This is the greatest regular season tournament in college hockey and probably all of sports. The Beanpot is well known throughout the college hockey world and the only fans they don't enjoy are it are just bitter that their team isn't involved in it. All hockey fans in New England know what falls on the first two Mondays in February every year.This year is different than any other year in that no one team is the clear favorite. BC has the best record but their defense is in shambles and beating UVM at home doesn't mean all their problems are solved. Northeastern is just doing their thing which means playing as inconsistent as anyone in the conference. Harvard has been killed by the cheating scandal that rocked their athletic department last spring. The thing about the Beanpot is that any one of these 4 could easily win it despite Harvard and Northeastern's droughts. Northeastern has not won a Beanpot since 1988 and Harvard has not won since 1994.