“The Final Word” Or
Not So Much…
Before I
go any further, I’d like to thank the guys at BSRS for giving me a chance to
rant a bit on their lovely blog, and I hope that I’ve been half as entertaining
as the guys here are throughout the year(Editor's note: He/She must want something because we all know that we aren't entertaining).
To conclude my series of posts, I decided to get everyone excited about
the upcoming 2013-2014 season. What
better way to do just than making a fool of myself and making some bold
predictions for the upcoming season? I’m not a huge fan of predictions myself,
but since there is so much uncertainty going into this new era of BU hockey I
figured I’d give it a shot. In a few
months, make sure to bash me in the comments section when none of this comes
true and you want to feel good about yourself for disagreeing with me now.
Anyway,
since everyone knows that I believe that
BU is going to go all the way this season and Coach Quinn will be an absurdly
great fit for the program, I’ll resort to some of my smaller scale predictions.
The following ideas are in no particular order, and you are crazy if you try to
figure one out:
5. In Captain Noonan We Trust:
Some BU
hockey fans might think that Garrett Noonan is the obvious pick to be a captain
for this squad, but I would disagree with all of them. I might sound a bit
hypocritical here because I do think that Noonan will ultimately be named
captain, but he is neither an obvious or easy choice. What’s obvious is the
argument against naming Noonan captain for a team with a good deal of young
players coming in next season. He led
the team in total penalties and penalty minutes last year, and even after he
received the “A” he managed to let his aggression get the best of him. Many
felt that the idea behind giving Noonan the “A” during the season was to
motivate him to play a smarter game and develop as a role model, but I just
didn’t see this happen. The “Leading by Example” argument also loses traction
when you look at his production last season.
His stats line (6-13-19) fell off quite a bit from his ridiculous season
the year before (16-11-27), and his power play production, although decent at
times, fell well below the high expectations.
Everyone
knows that Noonan’s heart is in the right place, and I would like to believe
that part of his decision to come back and play this season is because one of
his biggest regrets in life if he had left BU would have been never winning a
Beanpot. This fact alone makes me wish I
had the power to name Noonan the captain myself. My
issues is that I still cannot say with 100% certainty that he is the right man
for the job and there are other character guys on this team who should not be
looked over for the title. At the end of the day, I do think that Noonan will
get the “C”, and I really hope it inspires him to do great things in his last
year.
(Bold
“sub-predictions: “A’s” will go to Sahir Gil and Casen Hohmann, Noonan will not
lead the team in penalty minutes in 2013-2014).
4. Matt Lane Will Make the Jump,
But Is Still Human:
In case
you’ve missed it, there are a lot of people who are excited about the potential
for Matt Lane to thrive. He will
certainly be playing on the top two lines this year, and the combination of
more ice time and a position alongside some of the top guys on this squad will
give him the ability to make that sophomore year jump in production. There have been a lot of comparisons lately
being made between Lane and Casen Hohmann, and I’d be lying if I said that I
didn’t think these guys play a similar game in some regards. If you remember his goal against BC in the
Hockey East Semifinals, you know that Lane has the potential to skate circles
around some of the best in college hockey.
I’d just
like to remind everyone that this jump in production is no guarantee, and it
will certainly not be without a few bumps in the road. I think the loss of Matt Nieto will certainly
create a goal vacuum that needs to be replaced by someone, but there is a lot
of scoring talent in the incoming freshman class that could cause Matt Lane to
be lost in the mix of things. Yet his ability to take advantage of situations
that favor his style of play, combined with his high-effort style of play,
should help him develop into a better player this upcoming season.
(Bold
“sub-preditions #2: Danny O’Regan will
score at least 30 points again this season, as will an incoming freshman.)
3. Doyle Somerby and Matt
Grzelcyk Will Become A Starting D Pair (At Some Point):
Okay, so
obviously this prediction is not based as much in statistics and logic as it is
in my hopes and dreams, but stay with me here.
We all know what an amazing talent like Matt Grzelcyk brings to this BU
team, and there is a huge potential for “Grizz” to facilitate scoring at any
point in a hockey game. His 20 assists
were the most by BU defensemen last season, and his +/- (+12) was well ahead of
the rest of the pack as well. What Grizz
didn’t have was a steady D-Pairing that would allow him to take advantage of
his scoring abilities and possibly light it up even more.
I think
that Doyle Somerby, the Islanders 5th Round pick in last year’s
draft, could eventually become that foundation on which Grizz builds a more dangerous
game. Yes, I admit that a lot of my bias
toward Somerby has to do with his size (6’5”, 228 lbs) and his pro potential,
and every college hockey fan knows that there is a lot more to our game than
these measurable factors. However,
Somerby was a converted forward who likely needs a few more years to develop
his skills and adjust to the collegiate game. Why am I so excited about the
potential for “Grizzby” or “Somerlcyk” (tweet @Burntboats for more creative
name suggestions)? I just love the idea of two local boys (Somerby is from
Marblehead) getting a chance to play together.
Their games have the potential to mesh really well, and it would be interesting
to see the scoring opportunities that could come from having these two guys out
there on the power play as well.
(Bold
“sub-predictions #3: Ahti Oksanen will
not surpass his scoring numbers from last season. Also, Ryan Ruikka will not
manage to use his multiple degrees to find a way to get back on the BU squad)
2. Boston University Will End Up
With A Better Home Record This Season Than Last Season:
Again,
this prediction is less based in logical thought, but it just seems strange
that BU has lost it’s home ice advantage in the past few seasons. The record at
home hasn’t nearly been as abysmal as it feels at times, but let’s look at the
last few seasons for a second. BU went 9-5-5
at Agganis in 2010-11, and the program lost a lot of it’s casual home fans to
the wave of ties that occurred early on in the year (4 of the 5 ties in the
first half of this season were at home). Then in 2011-12, BU managed a mediocre
record of 10-8-0 at home. This number
was almost matched exactly in 2012-13 with their 11-7-1 record, and there is
honestly a reason for concern with this loss of a home ice advantage that
previous Terrier teams have cherished.
I think
a combination of two factors will kick start BU into a much better home record
in 2013-14. The first thing to consider
is the fact that BU will play a plethora of high stakes non-conference games at
Agganis this year. Eight of BU’s
fourteen out of conference games will be at home, and there are more OOC games this year than years past
because of the adjusted Hockey East schedule. I think that the marquee matchups
with North Dakota (2 games) and Wisconsin will draw large crowd into Agganis
that will certainly light a spark under the BU players, and the games against
region teams like Bentley, Holy Cross, Dartmouth, and UConn cannot be
overlooked even though they should be manageable games to say the least.
Playing the same Hockey East opponents can be an issue as well for teams
because it is easier to scout teams in your own conference and make the right adjustments
throughout the season, and for BU it has been apparent that they are losing
traction in this regard. A change in the
amount of times they are playing familiar teams at home may seem bad from a
fan’s standpoint, but it can be a good change for BU.
Playing
fewer Agganis games against the same HE rivals and more against OOC teams
should benefit the Terriers, but the second factor that really has my hopes up
for this season is the fact that BU has Coach Quinn. Before I continue, I do not believe that
Coach Parker was at all separated in any way from his players in the past few
seasons, and I think it is ignorant to claim such things like this without
being in the locker room and on the ice with these guys on a daily basis. However, I think that a change is always a
good thing, and it can have an immediate impact on a team that is fully up to
the challenges of transition. I think
this team is ready for the change and up to the challenge, and the home record
should demonstrate this by the end of the season.
(Bold
“sub-predictions” #4: BU will lose to at least one of these teams this
year: Holy Cross, Bentley, Dartmouth).
1. Boston University Will Win A
Tournament This Year
I
cannot/will not name a specific tournament in fear of jinxing everything. In
fact, I’m going to leave it right here and end my post. Peace.
CAPTAIN MOCCIA PLEASE
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