UMass Preview-Win or Lose They Still Booze

The BU Terriers face the UMass Minutmen is a conference matchup as their last game before the Beanpot begins Monday. The Terriers and Minutmen are separated by one point in the standings as BU trails UMass who has played one more games than BU. BU took the first game of the season from UMass 3-1 at Agganis Arena but that was back in October and both teams are much better at home than on the road. This game, more so than any other, will be dictated by special teams play.  UMass has the best powerplay in the conference at 21.8% while BU comes in 3rd at 20.8%. UMass is last in penalty kill at 80.2% while BU 's PK is middle of the pack(7th in the conference) at 82.8%. The team that can stay out of the box the most will win this game. This is crucial for BU especially early to take the crowd out of the game.

BU will rely heavily on their top two lines which Coach Quinn hinted would be O'Regan-Baillargeon-Rodrigues and Lane- Hohmann-Roberto when he spoke with USCHO at the Beanpot luncheon on Tuesday. He was discussing this in reference to the Beanpot(which begins Monday) but you would have to think he is going roll similar lines Friday as well if Rodrigues feels close to 100%.

BSRS Weekly Awards 1/28

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- Danny O'Regan- O'Regan made Coach Quinn look like a smart man by moving him to wing for this weekend's series with UVM as he scored a goal each night. Saturday's was a highlight reel goal no doubt as Duck showed off the high end skill he possesses.. O'Regan has been laboring as of late fighting through an injury suffered at World Juniors but seems to be fully capable at producing at a steady clip from wing for the rest of the season. O'Regan along with linemates Cason Hohmann and Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon will be counted on to produce heavily for the rest of the season and after two games, they seem to be up to the task.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Anthony Moccia, G. Now this award was going to go to Robbie Baillargeon or Garrett Noonan for the big time minutes they were forced to play both nights this weekend. That all changed once Anthony Moccia made his first career regular season appearance late in Saturday's contest. Moccia who began his career as the practice/4th goalie his freshman season before being promoted to the third goalie after the graduation of Adam Kraus after the 2010-2011 season. Moccia has practiced with the team and waited his time to play for 3.5 seasons now and finally got his chance in a regular season contest. He had a shutout period in the exhibition game earlier this season and his celly after the buzzer went off was awesome. Saturday, he made the save on the one shot he faced and maintained his perfect save percentage and goals against average. Coach Quinn spoke glowingly of Moccia after the game- "He is everything you want in a person, nevermind an athlete. If I can have him around from now until I retire I'd do it, because he brings so much to the program in so many ways."(Daily Free Press Article)

Weekend Recap- BU/UVM Split Series at Agganis, land another 2014 dman commit

The BU Terriers and UVM Catamounts split their weekend series at Agganis Arena with the home team taking Friday night's contest while UVM fought back to win Saturday afternoon's game. Friday night the Terriers got out to a lead in the second period after a scoreless first. Danny O'Regan scored the first goal as he adjusted quite nicely to wing as Coach Quinn shuffled the lineup a bit. Centerman Robbie "Carrots" Baillargeon made a great pass to O'Regan who put the puck home. UVM would later tie it up on a powerplay goal as the Terriers continued to struggle taking penalties. The Terriers would take the lead for good when sophomore Matt Lane pressured UVM defenseman Nick Bruneteau who coughed the puck up allowing Lane to race by him and roof a shot past UVM's goalie Brody Hoffman. The Terriers would open up a two goal lead on a 5 on 3 powerplay goal by Ahti Oksanen after a few near misses earlier in the powerplay. UVM would add another powerplay goal in the third but never get closer than that as Nick Roberto sealed the game with an empty net goal with less than two seconds remaining for the 4-2 win. This one was certainly a good win for the Terriers while not perfect, it was good enough. They took advantage of their opportunities when available and they will need to continue to opportunistic going forward.

UVM Preview: They came to play hockey...and then they got high

The BU Terriers host the UVM Catamounts for two games this weekend at Agganis Arena. BU looks to get back on track and pick up some much needed Hockey East points while UVM does the same. UVM is coming off a split last weekend with Northeastern at Matthews Arena. The Catamounts are 2-2-2 in their last 6 and are fighting for an at-large berth in the pairwise rankings. They are lead offensively by  forwards senior Chris McCarthy(11-14-25) and freshman Mario"I look like I need to shower" Puskarich(10-12-22) along with defenseman Chris Paliotta(3-14-17). They also have two capable goaltenders as freshman Mike Santaguida and sophomore Brady Hoffmann both post save percentages north of .915 and GAA sub 2.4.The Terriers took 2 out of 3 matchups from the Catamounts last season.

The biggest key for the Terriers success this weekend is health. They need Evan Rodrigues and Jake Moscatel to get back in the lineup after both suffered injuries on 1/4 at Harvard. This is even more important as it is evident that Dillon Lawrence is less than 100% and Coach Quinn alluded to Danny O'Regan being less than 100% as well in press conference after Lowell on Saturday. Ahti Oksanen went down in what looked like an ugly injury at Lowell but there is always a chance, it could just be a bad bruise or something minor.  I would expect to see both goaltenders get a game this weekend but Maguire could possibly get both starts if he performs well Friday night. He was an absolute stud in net last weekend and will be huge for this team going forward if he continues that play.

BSRS Weekly Awards 1/21

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- Sean Maguire,G- The sophomore goalie played like the goalie who backstopped BU on a run to the Hockey East Tournament Final last year. Maguire seems to be over the back problems that plagued his first half as he was amazing both night this weekend. He gave up 5 to BC on Friday but anyone who was at that game, knows BC could have scored more than that. Maguire robbed Benedict Bill Arnold twice in the second period. Mags backed it up with another great game against Lowell Saturday night. While he did not face as many quality chances, the quantity was still there as he was forced to make 40+  saves. If Maguire keeps playing this well, BU is going to have a chance to win every game they play for the rest of the year.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Garrett Noonan,D- Noonan easily lead the Terriers in ice time this weekend as he was taking every other shift with only 5 healthy dmen available each night(4 after Oksanen went down on Saturday night). He has been an absolute workhorse for this team when they have needed him most. As the injuries continue to pile up, Noonan has picked up his own play along with his minutes. There is no chance he was under 30 minutes of ice time either night. Despite the recent struggles, he continues to battle every shift out there and he is a great example for the rest of the team to follow. 

Weekend Preview: How Badly Do You Want It?

BU Celebrates A Win Over BC in the Hockey East Semis. Copyright Boston Globe, 2013

Coming off of a disappointing 7-4 loss to Maine last Saturday at Frozen Flooded Fenway, your BU Terriers look to rebound this weekend against two tough opponents - BC and then UMass-Lowell. While UMass-Lowell is a quality opponent and will be a tough challenge for BU, we're not going to spend any time previewing that game. Shocking, I know.

Previewing Boston College (14-4-3, 8-1-1 Hockey East)

BC enters the game on Friday riding a 7 game unbeaten streak, including an impressive 8-0 win over Penn State, a renowned hockey powerhouse (currently sitting 51 in RPI). BC's last game was on Saturday, a 3-3 tie with ECAC powerhouse Brown. BU enters the game headed in the opposite direction, having lost 5 of their last 6 games. 

Sam Kurker Leaving BU - Does BUMIH Have a Problem with Mid Season Departures? (You be the Judge)

Sam Kurker. Copyright Daily Free Press, 2013

According to @smclaughlin9 , Sam Kurker has left BU, Indiana owns his rights in the USHL, where he is expected to go too. #BUMHocket
— WTBU Sports (@WTBUSports) January 14, 2014

No surprise, but Sam Kurker has been officially removed from the BU roster.
— Mike McMahon (@MikeMcMahonCHN) January 14, 2014

Power Play with CJ: Sam Kurker Leaving BU http://t.co/IjXEHSKqg1
— Power Play With CJ (@powerplaywithCJ) January 14, 2014

News broke last night that BU sophomore forward Sam Kurker left the program to play elsewhere. The prevailing sentiment is that Kurker will be going to the USHL, where the Indiana Ice own his rights. Other possible destinations include Quebec Major Juniors, where the Remparts own his rights, or the USPHL. Through 12 games this season, Sam had 1 goal, 7 penalties for 14 penalty minutes, and was a -2. As a freshman last year, he posted a 3-2-5 line in 35 games played to go along with 61 penalty minutes. Kurker was a 2nd round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2012 right out of St. John's Prep.

BSRS Weekly Awards 1/14

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- Cason Hohmann,F- The junior forward is on a heater after returning from his shoulder injury. He now has 3 goals in 3 games since the beginning of the second half and continues to produce for the Terriers. It is really not a matter of if he scores Friday at Conte , it's matter of how many.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Winner- Sean Maguire- Mags came in to a 4-0 deficit against Maine with over two periods to go at Flooded Fenway and only allowed one goal the rest of the way to allow the Terriers a comeback opportunity. That combined with the fact that his pads may have weighed 200 pounds from soaking in the rain for two hours and we had no choice but to give the JoeyP to Mags this week.

Flooded Fenway BU-Maine 3rd Period Recap

BU played Maine this weekend in Frozen Flooded Fenway. It is customary to recap the whole game but we really have no desire to relive Fenway's mismanagement of the weather anymore than we have to. The game had to withstand an hour rain/lightening/thunder delay in the first period and then teams were given ten minutes notice of when they will return to the ice. There were reports that Hockey East wanted to postpone the game until Sunday because the forecast was for sun and 40 degree temperatures as opposed to the slop that the teams were forced to play in Saturday night. Fenway obviously disagreed with re opening again the next day. Fortunately no players were seriously hurt as a result of the conditions. You can find your third period recap after the jump.

BSRS Weekly Awards

We are a little late this week with the Wednesday night game so we apologize as we know many people plan this weeks around this post...

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- Cason Hohmann, F- Hohmann has potted goals in his first two games since returning from a first half shoulder injury. He certainly makes a difference in this offense as he has posted 2-1-3 in the first two games of the second half.  Hohmann may not be the biggest guy on the team but he certainly knows to put the puck in the net even with a bad shoulder. He is just like Greg Jennings except he has a broken shoulder instead of a broken leg but still finds a way to put the team on his back.

Joe Pereira Trophy- Given to the Terrier who, through grit, hard work, and determination helps the team to victory on and off the scoresheet. Just like Joey did. (Interview can be read here)

Dartmouth Preview

The BU Terriers look to get back on the winning track after dropping 3 of their last 4 games dating back to the beginning of December. The Terriers take on the Darmouth College Big Green in a rare weeknight matchup tomorrow night at 7:00 at Agganis Arena. The Big Green are 2-11-2 on the season. However, they have tied their past two games against Hockey East teams in very different fashions(8-8 tie with Northeastern and a 1-1 tie with UVM). Dartmouth is lead by junior forward Eric Neiley who leads the team in goals with 9 and points with 13. Sophomore Charles Grant ( .859 save %, 3.59 GAA) is the starter in net.

While Dartmouth got off to a very rocky start to their season, they have played better as of late as their last two ties indicate. The Terriers look to bounce back from a disappointing loss at Harvard this past Saturday. They could be without forward Evan Rodrigues and Jake Moscatel who both suffered knee injuries in the game. Rodrigues was injured in a knee on knee hit late in the second period while Moscatel had trouble putting pressure on his knee after being boarded late in the third.

Without those guys in the lineup, even more responsibility to score falls on the underclassmen on this team such as Roberto and Robbie "I Like Carrots" Baillargeon. One of the things to like from Saturday night was the resiliency from the team while almost crawling out of a 3 goal deficit and snapping out of their scoring slump. Now they just need to combine the intensity on the offensive end when trailing by 3 to that on the defensive end along with stellar goaltending. O'Connor struggled by his standards Saturday night but I would expect goaltending to continue to be the strength of this team going forward as both him and Sean Maguire can get red hot at anytime and put the team on their back(and rack up some Greg Jennings awards in the process).

BU gets back on track tomorrow night at Agganis. You heard it here first. 5-3 BU

Hockey East Pick Em

We missed a week last week because quite frankly, we didn't care about any of those games. The Terriers are getting back to action this weekend so we are back making mediocre picks.

Standings
GW-61-43(.587)
FM- 47-36 (.566)
QQ- 65-69 (.485)
MWW- 48-64 (.429)
HS- 21-31 (.404)

Friday 1/3

Maine @ Quinnipiac
QQ- QU 4-1- Still reluctant to pick Maine on the road. This is a completely different game if it was being played at Alfond.

Dartmouth @ UVM
QQ- UVM 4-3- Dartmouth tied NU 8-8 after losing to PC this past weekend so I'm not really sure what to think about them.

Clarkson @ Lowell
QQ- Lowell 3-1- Lowell beat Clarkson last weekend and I would expect more of the same this weekend

UNO @ UNH
QQ- UNH 4-1- Taking UNH at the Whitt even though they kinda suck there this year.

Harvard Preview

The BU Terriers return to action this coming Saturday 1/4 with a non conference road game at fellow Beanpot school, Harvard. The 7-8 Terriers limped into the break losing 2 out of their last 3 and look to get the second half off to a good start. The season will certainly swing one way or another during the month of January as BU starts with two ECAC teams in Harvard and Darmouth before facing four top tier conference foes in Maine, BC, Lowell and UVM. The Terriers need to find a way to finish about .500 this month and should have more bodies to be able to do it as it is hoped that Mike Moran(upper body),Cason Hohmann(shoulder), and Sam Kurker(mono) have all recovered from the various ailments they suffered in the first half. Goalie Sean Maguire also hopes to return from the back injury that bothered him throughout the month of December. I would expect Maguire to get one of the first two games if he is healthy enough to do so.

Harvard comes into the game at 4-7-2 but they always play tight games as 6 out of their 7 losses are by two goals or less. They are lead up front by sophomore forwards Jimmy Vesey and Kyle Criscuolo, who both have double-digit points through 13 games.  Harvard has played BU tough in the past 5 years and certainly should not be overlooked at all. They are backed by senior goalie Raphael Girard, who has given the Terriers problems in the past. This will be a big game for the Terriers as they want to begin their second half in a positive fashion to gain some momentum as they head into the heart of the schedule.