BS(R)S Weekly Awards 10/29

Here is this week's edition of our weekly awards. If you think of another award we could give out each week, leave a comment or shoot us an email at baystateroadsports@gmail.com

The Greg Jennings Award-given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM)




Winner: Matt O'Connor/Sean Maguire, G- This was an easy one this week as both goalies put the team on their back during their starts in Michigan and gave them a chance to win. They carry fantastic save percentages of .936 and .941. The Terriers have not allowed more than 3 goals in a game yet this season and these two are the biggest reason why.


The Joe Pereira Trophy- -given to the Terrier who through grit, hard work and determination helps the team to victory both on and off the scoresheet.  Just like Joey did it. (BSRS interview with Joe Pereira here)

Interview with Joe Pereira

Former Terrier captain and current UConn assistant coach Joe Pereira sat down with us recently and answered some questions about his new coaching gig. Can't thank him enough for taking the time to talk to us. Hope everyone joys some gems from the Bulldog.

                                          -Photo credit to the Boston Hockey Blog/DFP

JP- You guys watching the Sox right now?

Us- Yeah of course. You a Yankees guy?

JP-Yeah, that's why I got the Jeter stall when we played at Fenway(Frozen Fenway 2010).  I was the best looking guy on the team. Somebody had to do it.

On how his coaching career got started:
I think it's something I've always wanted to do. You know growing up, prep school, and college. It's something that keeps you doing something that you love. It is so fulfilling that you get to recruit a kid, bring him into your program, win with him, and hopefully watch him play pro hockey. It's easy to sit at a desk and work 9-5 but it's awesome to do something that you love and have a passion for. Nobody is getting rich coaching college hockey unless you are a head coach.  You got to have the passion and it's a pretty neat job.

On how this opportunity arose and working for a former rival:
I really didn't know Coach Cav much. I talked to him when my brother (UMass senior Michael Pereira) played at Avon. That's probably the first time we ever talked and we had a good conversation. After BU/BC games, we always shook hands and talked after the game, say 'Good game Coach', ' Good game Joe'. A lot of it was looking him in the eye and having respect for one another. At the end of the day, BU or BC guys, for those 60 minutes we really don't like each other. You grow up with a lot of these kids so it's a little different. We joke around about BU-BC stuff but I keep quiet since he has a few more national championship rings than me. At the end of the day, we're not BU or BC guys anymore, we're UConn guys. That's the most important thing.

HE Pick Em Week 3

Standings
1. FM 12-6(.667)
2. QQ  24-13(.649)
3. GW   21-16 (.568)
4. MWW 19-18 (.514)
5. HS 1-0


Week 3

Friday 10/25

#3 Miami @ #8 PC
QQ- Miami 4-3- 5 o clock start on a Friday is not ideal to take advantage of home ice.
MWW- PC 2-1- Gillies is playing okay haha I am taking Providence since they are home too
GW- Miami 4-2
FM-PC 5-4
HTS- Miami 4-2 - PC is gonna have a good year. This game will be an exception.

UMass @ Maine
QQ- Maine 3-2- Don't think UMass has the team to win up at Alfond early in the season
MWW Maine 3-2- Sneaking by Bentley isn't a good look but i am taking them since they are home
GW- Maine 3-2
FM- UMass 3-1
HTS- Maine 3-2 - Alfond.

#20 NU @ St. Lawrence
QQ- SLU 4-3- Sorry NU fans, the quest for the undefeated season ends here
MWW- NU 3-2- Hate to say it but NU is playing pretty well right now
GW- SLU 3-1
FM- SLU 4-3
HTS- SLU 3-0 - MWW needs to wake up.

#13 BU @ #4 Michigan
QQ- BU 5-4- No brainer here. BU is just better than Michigan
MWW- BU 4-0-  BU uses this away trip to Michigan as a platform to tell college hockey they are here and ready to make a big run
GW- BU 2-1
FM- BU 4-2
HTS- BU 5-2 - The young Terriers continue to show off their offensive talent in Yost.

BS(R)S Weekly Awards 10/22

Another week of college hockey means another week of the soon-to-be famous BSRS Weekly Awards. If you don't like who we picked for a certain award, feel to whine about it in the comment section. You should be warned that we don't value anyone opinions but our own though. If you think there is another award we should be giving out each week, we are open to suggestions. Enjoy...

The Greg Jennings Award- given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM)

Winner: Garrett Noonan, D- Noons posted a solid 1-2-3 line and +1 rating on the weekend. He also stood out multiple times in the defensive end of the ice and made some great plays on the PK. Noonan is getting plenty of ice time right now and he certainly has earned it. Noonan put the team on his back when he scored the go ahead goal against Wisconsin and took charge of the game. Ahti Oksanen and Cason Hohmann both made cases for this award this weekend but Noonan won out by achieving the Cane's Challenge on Saturday night(a senior scoring goal). With a race this tight, the guy who got us free chicken wins 9 times out of 10.  

The Joe Pereira Trophy- -given to the Terrier who through grit, hard work and determination helps the team to victory both on and off the scoresheet.  Just like Joey did it.

Weekend Recap- BU splits pair with non-conference foes

The #15 BU Terriers split their pair of weekend home games with non-conference opponents this weekend. They dropped their Friday night affair to a physical, hungry RPI team who played a solid 60 minutes to withstand BU's surges. Saturday's game was much different as Wisconsin played very little defense allowing 7 BU goals as the Terriers gained a big non-conference victory at home in front of a raucous crowd at Agganis.

The Terriers struggled to have a sustained effort Friday night against the RPI Engineers as they put themselves in a quick 2-0 hole and never full recovered as they suffered a 3-1 loss.. Defensive miscues cost the Terriers two early goals along with a few shots that goalie Sean Maguire clearly wanted back. BU picked up play in the second period but had trouble getting in the back of the net until Ahti Oksanen made a great pass to spring freshman Kevin Duane who potted his first collegiate goal. That gave the team a big jump heading into the second intermission. An early RPI goal and penalties derailed any BU comeback effort which resulted in the first loss of the David Quinn era.

Be(er) Merry

The most important drink in the world is beer. Disagree? The opinion you formulated doesn't matter. I decided to impart on to you some of favorite beers as of right now. I am certainly no beer connoisseur or try to be one but I enjoy drinking beer. Plain and simple. With the hockey season getting into full swing and the chances of pre-/post- game parties happening, I want to get the information out there before you decide between a PBR, Bud Light, Bud Light Lime (barf city), and Mexican piss beer called Corona.

Hockey East Pick Em Week 2

Standings
QQ 14-6
GW 13-7
MWW 11-9
FM 1-0
HS 1-0


Week 2

Friday October 18

#2 Wisconsin @ #7 BC

QQ- Wisconsin 5-3- BC is overrated as Michigan has already let everyone know. Wisconsin, on the other hand, is not.
MWW- Wisconsin 4-3- HMMMMMM BC SUCKS and GO Badgers!
HM- BC 5-4
GW- Wisconsin 6-2


 NU @ Holy Cross 

QQ- NU 3-2- No clue who to take so I'm just going with the HE team
MWW- HC 3-2- Holy Cross played well last week against BU. BU is better than NU hence I am taking Holy Cross
FM- NU 4-3
GW- NU 3-2


Mercyhurst @ Merrimack

QQ- Merrimack 2-1- Merrimack can't score much but I think they score enough this weekend
MWW Merrimack 4-3- I think Merri will turn off last weeks jitters and turn it into a positive.
FM- Merrimack 2-0
GW- Merrimack 3-2

Michigan State @ UMass

QQ- Sparty 3-2- UMass just isn't very good and I think Michigan State is better than people give them credit for. Sparty here.
MWW-  MSU 3-2- Pretty sure they are both suppose to suck this year. That being said I am taking MSU cause UMass sucks
FM- MSU 4-2
GW- tie 4-4

Weekend Preview- #17 RPI, # 2 Wisconsin visit Agganis

This weekend, the #15 Terriers look to improve on their 2-0-0 record on the young season as they host two ranked non conference this weekend. As Coach Quinn said in his presser last weekend, this team will get better each practice and each game they play as the younger players grow and develop over the course of the season. This certainly should be a telling weekend for how the team stacks up against top teams throughout the country.

                                                      Photo Credit to Kenshin Okubo(link)
#17 RPI(1-1)

Rensselaer comes into their contest Friday night at BU on an even 1-1. They took care of business with a 6-0 victory over Sacred Heart in their opener before getting trounced at BC this past Sunday 7-2.  They were one of the pre-season favorites in the ECAC and always give the Terriers a tough test. Last year's game was a 3-2 BU win in OT at Agganis Arena thanks to a late Cason Hohmann OT goal.

RPI will be without starting goalie Jason Kasdorf who was hurt in practice Tuesday on a freak play. The Terriers will face junior Scott Diebold in his place. Kasdork is coming off a game where he was pulled at BC so I'm not sure it is a good thing that he will miss this contest. No matter who is in net for the Engineers, BU must build on last week's performances and get the shots on net.  They are lead up front by their junior trio of  Matt Neal(8-22-30), Ryan Haggerty(12-14-26) and Jacob Laliberte(11-17-28). Sophomore Milos Bubela and senior Matt Tinordi. The Terrier defense will be faced with the task of keeping these forwards in check. RPI lost to BC 7-2 last weekend but controlled the majority of the game before a few fatal errors

Premature 2014 World Cup Drawing

Today FIFA released the the October 2013 FIFA World Rankings that will be used for the drawing for the World Cup 2014 in Brazil. Right now the USA is ranked 13. If the trend stays consistent with how FIFA worked in the past with basing teams from the different confederations into the same pot, the USA should be in Pot 2. Pot 2 usually consist of the Asian confederation and Concacaf (USA confederation). Still with only 21 spots out of the 32 taken so far, I decided to see if I can predict or give idea who the USA will face in the group stage using a simulator. [Use a translator for this site].

BS(R)S Weekly Awards 10/16

In a new recurring series, the fine bloggers here will attempt to boil down our incisive commentary and vast knowledge of college hockey into a few weekly awards which we believe will summarize some of the highlights and lowlights of this upcoming hockey season.  Check back weekly for this feature to see who the heroes, goats and belligerent coaches of the past weekend were.  And now to begin...

The Greg Jennings Award--given to the Terrier who best exemplifies the qualities of Greg Jennings through doin' shit and putting the team on his back. (YOU CAN'T STOP HIM)

Winner: Ahti Oksanen, D--for a player who at the beginning of the year might have been the biggest question mark among returning D-men for the Terriers, Ahti certainly had an enormous first weekend by assisting on every single goal against UMass and adding another apple on Roberto's goal.  Very steady in his own end too.  Probably the single player who did the most to carry the Terriers this past weekend, especially on Friday.

The Joe Pereira Trophy--given to the Terrier who through grit, hard work and determination helps the team to victory both on and off the scoresheet.  Just like Joey did it.

Weekend Recap- Terriers sweep opening weekend

                                         -It is funny because UMass sucks


The Terriers started the Quinn era the ideal way this weekend, earning victories over UMass and Holy Cross at Agganis Arena. Friday night, the Terriers got out to a 3-0 lead during a 7 minute span in the second period thanks to goals from Garrett Noonan, Tommy Kelley(his first collegiate goal) , and Evan Rodrigues. The Terriers were badly outshot in the game and Coach Quinn was clearly not thrilled(presser below) with the team's play overall. He certainly seemed relived to get the victory. The older guys carried the team with the freshman chipping in such as Kelley's powerplay goal which was a great shot from the slot. Captain Garrett Noonan had gotten the scoring started on a nice pass from sophomore blue liner Ahti Oksanen(+3, 4 assists on the weekend). Noonan beat UMass goalie Steve Mastarlez high blocker which is where all three goals beat him on Friday night. Kelley's powerplay goal gave BU a two goal cushion that they would not give up. Evan Rodrigues added the third goal in a seven minute span with a sweet toe drag and top shelf snipe which reminded everyone how dangerous of a scorer he can be for this team. The third period was mostly uneventful as Maguire made save after save(39 in all). Maguire certainly made it easy on his freshmen defensemen(Somerby and MacAfee) on Friday night.




Saturday night saw changes to the lineup as Coach Quinn wanted to see all of his guys in real game action. Defenseman TJ Ryan came in for fellow freshman Doyle Somerby who was a late scratch after being real good Friday night against UMass. It appears to be a lower body injury for Somerby and hopefully he will be ready to go for this weekend against two ranked teams. Ryan was joined by forwards Mike Moran and Keith Duane in their first action of the season and both looked quite good for the Terriers. Duane had his first collegiate point with a second period assist on Nick Roberto's first collegiate goal for the Terriers in the second period. It will be huge if Roberto and Kelley can regularly contribute scoring from the third line for the Terriers.

The Terriers first goal of the night was on a great stretch pass from Noonan to sophomore Danny O'Regan who got in and made Holy Cross goalie Matt Ginn look silly as he crossed him up and easily scored. Cason Hohmann added the third goal on the powerplay which was good to see that those top 6 forwards are ready to contribute in a big way. Sam Kurker struggled Friday night but I thought he was much better Saturday night. He was at the top of the crease multiple times working hard and drew a penalty with his strong play. While he didn't register a point, he certainly improved from Friday to Saturday night. Matt Lane also played better Saturday night with an assist on Hohman's goal along with being one of your best if not the best penalty killing forward you have. Matt O'Connor was very good in net as well making 21 saves on 23 shots. It is great to see both goalie start their season strong as they will each have a stiff test in RPI and Wisconsin this weekend.




3 stars of the weekend
1. Garrett Noonan 1-2-3 , +2 - Noonan was the force defensively and offensively that this team needed
2. Ahti Oksanen 0-4-4, +3- Ahti was passing the puck well and has improved in his own zone as well which could make him one of the best two way dmen in the league by the year's end.
3. OC/Maguire- The goalies were all you could have asked for in the opening weekend for a young team. They are a comfort to have back there for sure.

UMass/Holy Cross Preview

                                                        Photo Credit to Matthew J. Lee/Boston Globe Staff

UMass(Friday)

The BU Terriers open the regular season and career of 1st year head coach David Quinn this Friday night against the UMass Minutemen. The Terriers went 2-1 last year vs the Minutemen with  5-2 and 3-2 wins in October before getting beaten 5-1 in February. UMass returns its top 3 scorers(Gracel,Pereira and Sheary) under second year coach Micheletto. The Minutemen finished last season at 12-19-3 and miss the conference playoffs. They figure to struggle again this season being picked 10th in the conference but they do have enough talent to give a young BU team problems.

BU needs to limit the top line of Connor Sheary, Brendan Gracel and Mike Pereira who put together 87 points last year combined. After those top 3, UMass doesn't return the firepower to scare you but you still need to be solid defensively in your own end to lead to your own scoring chances. UMass' situation on the back end is even shakier than up front as they return only one goalie from last season. Steve Mastalerz figures to be the starter and while his career .894 save % and 3.13 GAA doesn't scare anyone, you need to make the most of your opportunities on him. The first period will be extremely important for BU to dicate the tone of the game. They need to establish a defensive game that will lead to UMass' offensive opportunities and squash any idea of an upset by the Minutemen. I would expect them to test Mastalerz early and often.

Hockey East Pick Em

It's that time of year where we all embarrass ourselves making picks for each Hockey East regular season game. MWW is the defending champ as he took down the title in the HE QF series last year.
Anyway here is the first week of our picks.


Thursday 10/10

#4 BC @ #11 Michigan

QQ- Michigan 4-3- Too much returning talent for the Wolverines, especially at home. I don't read much into their exhibition game loss this past week. BC will be starting a freshman goalie along with many others in the lineup. I expect some early struggles for consistency.
MWW-Michigan 3-1- See I cannot waste my good material this early in the season. Sometimes you need the foresight when and when not use the material. You cannot be blinded by the light of future chances.
GW-Michigan 4-1
HTS- Michigan 5-2 BC sucks. We all know it. They think because they watched Parker and Gears raise a filthy freshman goaltending tandem that they can start a kid named Thatcher and expect the same level of play. Yeah right. Expect Jerry to be blindsided to the tune of a 5-goal night for our new favorite sieve.

Friday 10/11

UMass @ #19 BU

QQ- BU 4-2- This will be a tight one until the very end. I think BU seals it late with an empty netter.
MWW- BU 4-1- First hockey east game of the season. Cannot afford to lose easy points
GW-BU 5-2
HS
FM

Clarkson vs #13 UNH(@Minnesota)

QQ- UNH 4-3- It is a UNH game and it is the first half of the season so I expect a win from Dick Umile's squad in this one. He might go down as the best college hockey coach to never win anything of importance.
MWW-UNH 4-1-  UNH is a wise pick in my opinion. They always come out of the gates and suck when it counts. It will happen again this year.
GW-UNH 4-1

Hungover Recap- BU beats SFX 2-1 in exhibition game

The BU Terriers took a 2-1 victory in an exhibition game(highlights) against St. Francis-Xavier last night at Agganis Arena in front of 3,627 fans.  Nick Roberto got the scoring started off with a rebound PP goal in the first period and Tommy Kelley scored the game winner on a deflected slapper with less than 3 minutes remaining.

Every player on the roster got into the action last night and helped contribute to the 2-1 win. In net, Sean Maguire, Anthony Moccia, and Matt O'Connor each took a period. Maguire gave up the lone goal on a rebound that he should have controlled better but that was the only blemish defensively. Moccia saw his first career playing action and was perfect with the help of the crossbar and some great defense in front of him. O'Connor was solid in the third making 16 saves to get the win. I am a big fan of his new pads as well(white with red at the bottom of the pad).

Garrett Noonan and Patrick MacGregor named captains of 2013-2014 BU Terriers

                                          

                                                         -photo credit to Steve McLaughlin

                                                  -photo credit to Matt Dressens/BU Hockey Blog
Senior defensemen Garrett Noonan and Patrick MacGregor were named co-captains of this year's team this morning. According to the news release, they were selected after a team vote. Both have strong leadership qualities with Noonan seemingly being the more vocal while MacGregor has worked hard and made huge improvements to his game since arriving on campus. No assistant captains were named at this time but it would be expected that one or two could be added throughout the season as Coach Quinn sees it earned.

St. Francis-Xavier Preview

It's the wonderful time of year again where actual college hockey games will be played. Granted that they will not count in the standings until next weekend but they will give fans things to talk about for the next week until the regular season begins a next Friday. The BU Terriers host the St. Francis-Xavier Xmen this weekend in an exhibition game which, will be their only tune-up for the regular season. I don't know much about the Xmen besides that their nickname might be the worst of all-time. Xmen just sounds awful and doesn't roll off the tongue at all but hey, they're a canadian school, you can only expect so much from them. If you want to learn more how college hockey works in Canada, you can read this solid interview from our fellow BU blog Bloggin' on Babcock.  It is better written than anything we throw out there and is good to explain the differences between college hockey in the US and America's hat also know as Canada.

For the regular season game previews,  I will be focusing mostly on why the other team sucks and the areas where BU can take advantage of them in each game. For this game, I am going focus on what Terrier fans should be looking for from the team this weekend as they prepare for the regular season.

Pre-season polls recap

Both the USA Today and the USCHO national polls came out in the past few days for men's hockey. BU, under first year coach David Quinn, went unranked in the USA Today poll and came in at #19 in the USCHO poll.

*-Represents Hockey East school

1. Lowell(19)*- The Riverhawks should be good throughout the regular season again this year but just remember what they do when it counts in the NCAA...
2. Miami(14)- Miami is another team that always succeeds during the regular season and this year should be no different.
3. Wisconsin(2)- Bucky has the most talent returning out of the top 10 teams in the country. Their success is going to be dependent on their goalie Rumpel being consistent in net for them. FYI- Wisconsin comes to BU on 10/19(only single seats/SRO available)
4. Newton Community College*- Most overrated team in the nation. Freshman goalie, 3 returning forwards, 2 returning defensemen but America believes in pirate coaches apparently.
5. Minnesota(1)