Monday=day of the meaningless polls

The USCHO and USA Today polls both came out today and both have your BU Terriers at #5 in the country. Once again, these polls are meaningless. The Pairwise is how teams are seeded for the NCAA tournament (BU is t-4) and the new pairwise predictor from USCHO is helpful for fans to see how their team will rise or fall with outcomes this weekend. Here is a breakdown of the rest of the top 10.

1. Newton University (BC)- 27-10-1- They beat UMass with officiating going their way all weekend. Nothing to be bragging about.
2. Minnesota Duluth- 24-8-6- They will go as far as soon to be Hobey Finalist Jack Connolly will take them
3. Michigan-23-11-4- Red Berenson gets his red-hot team ready for another NCAA run
4. Minnesota-26-12-1- The Gophers will be a tough out come NCAA time, especially since they will be placed in St. Paul.
5. BU- This team is the grittiest team in the top 5 and keeps finding ways to dig deep and win games. Still the best team in the nation waiting their time to make a run.
6. Union-22-7-7- If they don't win the EZAC tournament, an at-large team is going to get bumped and not be a huge Union fan anymore.
7.Miami-23-13-2- They are hanging in there and can be anywhere from out of the field to a #1 seed.
8. Ferris State- 23-11-5- Their QF loss to Bowling Green is going to kill their seeding
9. Denver-23-12-4- Beat Wisconsin in 3 games as they finally seem to be getting healthy
10. Lowell-23-12-1- Losing to PC in 3 puts the NCAA tournament faith of this team in the hand of others which you never want
11.Maine- BU's opposition this coming Friday in the HE semis fresh off knocking Merrimack out of the playoffs
15. Merrimack- Look like they will miss the NCAA's barely after their HE QF loss to Maine

- Some other notes from this week....BU junior forward Alex Chiasson was name the Hockey East Player of the Week with his 6 points and +3 rating over the weekend...Kieran Millan also was the obvious choice for Defensive Player of the Week with his 150 saves and .943 save percentage over the weekend...Chris Connolly, Sahir Gill, and Garrett Noonan were also named Top Performers. Chris Connolly also played his 150th career game this weekend while Kieran Millan broke the HE tournament record with 68 saves in Game 3 of the QF series with UNH.

BU,NU split home and home- BU moves on, NU goes home

BU and Northeastern each took their home game during their 2 game series this weekend to conclude both team's regular season schedule. However, BU will continue to play as they locked up a 3 seed in the conference and will face 6 seed UNH beginning Friday in the Hockey East Quarter Final Series at Agganis Arena. Northeastern was in a fight for the final QF spot with UMass heading into the weekend but was eliminated with their loss Friday night at Agganis coupled with a UMass win over Merrimack and a BC win over Vermont.

1st Half Review: Forwards Part 1

I first would like to apologize for our slow times here. We, unfortunately, had to take finals this past week so we haven't had much time to blog. Yes, even we study for finals. Now back to hockey. This is going be the first of four posts reviewing each player on this year's BU team in our typical biased fashion. So here we go. This will be the first half of forwards on BU's current roster (7 today, 7 tomorrow)...

8 Ben Rosen- First, we would like to say Happy Hanukkah to our favorite (and only) Jewish BU hockey player. Hope he has 8 Crazy Nights Adam Sandler style. Rosen had a solid first half for the Terriers posting an 0-2-2 line while centering the fourth line, including an assist on Ross Gaudet's GW OT goal at Red Hot Hockey. His impact isn't measured in terms of points as he centers the 4th line which is a grinding line that can really change the course of the game when the top 3 lines aren't playing as well. Exhibit A of this was Red Hot Hockey where his line accounted for the winning goal and were praised by coach Jack Parker as the best line for the Terriers. He will likely see much more ice time in the second half with the recent departures at forward (Charlie Coyle to QMJHL and Corey Trivino-dismissed). I would expect to see Rosen get some special teams time as he seems capable to play both the PK, possibly with linemate Ross Gaudet and run the point on the PP with his defensive experience in previous seasons.

9 Alex Chiasson- The assistant captain had an up and down first half of the year. The junior forward hit a low point when he was a healthy scratch against UMass in October and seemed to turn it around since then. He is the second highest returning scorer on the team posting a 5-9-14 line in 15 games in the first half. If this team is going to continue to get better through the second half, they need Chiasson to become a dominant power forward on that second line. Chiasson also leads the team in +/- with a +8 and should only get better depending where he plays next semester. Rumors out there is the second line could be Nieto-Megan- Chiasson..I don't hate it for sure. I would look for big things from Chiasson in what is most likely his last semester at BU with him currently being rated as one of Dallas' top prospects.

12 Chris Connolly- The senior captain has been a difference-maker for the Terriers as his constant hustle and desire to win is something all fans can appreciate. He has been snake-bitten on the goal front but has still posted 13 assists with a 0-13-13 line in 15 games so far this year. He also has posted a +7 rating and has only taken one penalty all year for the Terriers. He has done a great job, in my opinion, of having this team ready to play since the embarrassing loss to Lowell in the beginning of November. He will continue to be tested as a leader going into the second half but if there is a reason he was the unaminous choice as the first 2 year captain since Jack OC in the late 70's. I would expect to see some goals start pouring in for the senior. Once the first one hits the back of the net, it should open the flood gates.

15 Ryan Santana- Santana never hit the ice in the first half due to offseason surgery but he seems to be splitting time on the fourth line in the second half with senior Kevin Gilroy. Despite not hitting the ice, Santana still made headlines (in a good way). Santana attempted and failed the Rhett's challenge which involved eating a triple bacon cheeseburger, a root beer float, an order of fries and an 8 scoop ice cream sundae in 30 minutes. I give him an A for effort though. I might give it a try next semester but GW can barely eat a single cheeseburger so it might be a one man adventure (stay tuned for details). Santana also made news in our interview with Garrett Noonan for having a "pretty greasy muzzy" going during Movemeber. Kid making headlines even when he is hurt. You got to love it.

16 Kevin Gilroy- The senior forward hasn't seen the ice since being benched for skipping classes in early November but still has a goal on the season in only 5 games played. I would expect more of the senior in the second half, splitting fourth line RW time with Santana. Hopefully the time watching from the stands will give Gilroy extra motivation to show what he is capable of when is out on the ice. I'm still calling that he scores the GW OT goal in the National Championship game in Tampa. He wins it after Noonan ties it up and does an awesome celly.

17 Matt Nieto- The sophomore forward leads the Terriers in points posting an 8-8-16 line in the first half in 14 games. The Terriers will be depending upon Nieto to continue to produce big numbers, assuming he has recovered from his shoulder injury that caused him to miss the last two games before break.

18 Wade Megan-The junior forward has put up solid numbers so far this year posting a 7-1-8 line in 16 games. Megan has done a great job, playing mostly with the two freshmen on the third line. It would be expected that Megan will move up to the second line for second semester which should produce more points for the junior from Canton, NY. Just change the words from Jayne to Wade in the song below and we have his goal song for next semester.

BU opens up the season with 5-0 win

Boston University Terriers came out slugged, out hit and out played UNH in their first game of the season. The 5-0 win gives the Terriers a good start off to the season as a whole while also giving them a quick head start in the conference. The first period was very physical and hard hitting but was a scoreless one. The second period was a different story as the Terriers scored twice to take control of the game. Wade Megan scored the first on a great pass from senior captain Chris Connolly. Connolly then found a streaking Corey Trivino who finished the play to make it 2-0 going into the third period. Matt Nieto then put the game out of reach with a goal 2 minutes into the third and Alex Chiasson added an empty netter with Kevin Gilroy also scoring on a wrap around to account for the 3 Terrier goals in the third. Sophomore Charlie Coyle and Sahir Gil added 2 assists for BU. The Terriers played solid throughout the game and when they(read Clendening) did make a few bad pinches, they were bailed out by Hockey East Defensive player of the week Kieran Millan who stopped all 35 shots he faced. For more info and postgame remarks follow this link. BU killed all 6 UNH powerplays and did enough to get four goals on USCHO's #1 goalie Matt "Frozen Pizza" Di Girolamo. He did make 32 saves out of the 36 fired at him. The Terriers continue their HE schedule with a visit to PC on Friday at 7 in a game that will also be aired live on NESN. BSRS will be well represented at the game so there is really no reason not to go. Go BU!

Chris Connolly named captain of 2011-2012 BU hockey team

Chris Connolly will be the only captain of the BU Terriers mens ice hockey team next season. This was announced last night by Coach Jack Parker at the Friends of Boston University hockey banquet. My guess is it does not remain this way going into the season but Coach Parker sees no clear-cut leaders left on the team and will leave the assistant captain jobs open to who earns them.

It was also announced that the season opener will be against conference foe UNH on October 8 in Durham,NH. This is usually reserved for a non-conference games but must have been moved around depending on the non-conference opponents availability. Coach Parker also announced the following awards for the players.

Bennett McInnis Award for Spirit
- Joe Pereira for the second consecutive year. No surprise here as the captain was always the hardest working Terrier on the ice stopping at nothing to try to lead his team to victory.
Albert Sidd Unsung Hero Award
- read above

Ed Carpenter Award: Alex Chiasson-leading scorer
Most Improved Player Award: Justin Courtnall
Regina Eilberg Scholarship: Ryan Ruikka
Clifford P. Fitzgerald Scholarship: Sean Escobedo

Parker spoke at length about both seniors(Kraus and Pereira). He mentioned how great of a supporter Kraus was for Millan. He then spoked about Pereira and his work ethic while also joking he has been lobbying for a job on the coaching staff for next season.

BU wins in mens' hockey and hoops

BU mens' basketball opened up the night with a 70-67 win in Albany. Hockey finished it with a 5-2 win over those smart bastards from across the river at Harvard.

First, the basketball team came over a 16 point halftime deficit to gain their largest come from behind win under coach Pat Chambers. Senior guard John Holland lead the team with 27 points and eight rebounds. Darryl Partin added 16 points to help BU refuse to lose this game to the Great Danes of Albany. The loss drops Albany to 1-4 in America East play while BU improves to 3-1 as they improve from their loss in to Maine in their first AE contest. Albany was lead by guard Tim Ambrose with 18 points in a game that Albany lead throughout until 4:00 to go when BU took over the game for good. BU continues AE play Monday in Baltimore at 7:00 p.m.

Next, the hockey game was the type of game BU hockey fans enjoyed as the team rose to #1 in the nation early in the season and the type of game the team needed before the toughest regular season week of the season. The captains lead the way with the scoring in a 5-2 win over (3-12-0) Harvard. Chris Connolly had two goal while fellow co-captain Joe Pereira tallied another as BU cruised once the game was tied up 1-1 early in the second. Wade Meagan and Justin Courtnall added the other goals for the Terriers. The goal was Courtnall's first and also was Pat MacGregor's first career point as he had an assist on the play.

MacGregor filled in for a suspended Max NiCastro and looked solid out there. He seemed to have grown since his last shot at action November 27th against Brown. The only flaw I noticed at the game was his failure to get on the ice. He was almost always the last guy on the ice for his line which may have been the plan to limit his ice-time but also due to inexperience doing so. I will give him the benefit of the doubt and attribute it to inexperience. Overall, a good night for the freshman.

The whole team played well and "very thorough" to quote the great Jack Parker after the game. I was at the game and liked what I saw overall from the team. This was a big game with 3 ranked opponents looming this week(#12 Merrimack, #3 BC, #4 UNH). Kieran Millan looked solid in goal while not being forced to make any great saves out of his 31 that he made before Adam Kraus took over with five to go(he leads the Terriers now with 1.00 save% and 0.00 GAA). All four of the lines were skating well tonight and looked ready for a big week ahead of them. This was a must after the weak performance up in Vermont last weekend despite the 4-2 win. The Terriers had 21 more shots than the 16 they put up in Vermont. That tells it all as they got the puck on net early and often.

I would say the disappointment of the night(if there was one) was the Coyle-Chiasson-Nieto line. Coyle played physical but didn't do anything great with the puck and Nieto was trying to develop some stuff but it just wasn't there. Chiasson had a good first period but seemed to lose his head a bit in the second and third as he looked to retaliate for a hard hit in the second by hitting any Harvard player he could find. This isn't a bad mentality to have when you're up 5-2 and I love the agressiveness but QuackQuack the elder and myself noticed he seemed to lose his offensive mindset in the third. I expect this line to bounce right back as all three of these guys looked real good up in Vermont while the rest of the team struggled.

With the win, BU moves up to t-12 in the Pairwise rankings as Miami(OH) and company took some losses this weekend as teams enter the grind of their conference schedules as BU does this week. BU's next five games are against ranked teams as they play @#12 Merrimack,#3 BC,@#4 UNH, and two @#13 Maine. The game Tuesday is the game rescheduled from last Wednesday when it was snowed out. Merrimack may be missing enforcer(read: goon) Kyle Bigos as he was hurt in their game today @ Alabama-Huntsville. The injury seems serious enough to keep him out Tuesday but this will depend on how those tests come out when the team returns home because there is no way they have the right equipment to do that shit down south.

BU rebounds at home with a 4-2 win

BU only scored a goal in one period tonight(the one going towards the 108) but they scored four times. One time was shorthanded by Alex Chiasson and the other three were by freshmen including Adam Clendening's first career goal. Matt Nieto and Sahir Gill contributed the other two goals and junior goalie Grant Rollheiser was excellent(41 saves) after giving up two first period goals and BU hung on against those hicks from UNH 4-2 for their first win in the last five games and a split with #7 UNH. Tonight was a totally different game and effort by the Terriers.

There was bad news to the game though as junior forward and co-captain Chris Connolly left the game and had it heavily bandaged after the game and said he thought it was a break or fracture which means the junior forward will most likely be out for the remaining of the first half and possible beyond. Stay tuned for more on the game and our junior co-captain.

UPDATE- Connolly out 4-6 weeks with broken finger
- This puts his return right in the middle of the winter break which works out nicely for the Terriers as they can ease their junior co-captain back into the lineup

BU completes sweep of Lowell with two goals in last five minutes

This is a game the 2009-10 BU Terriers panic and lose after going down 1-0 in the third to a team they should beat at home. This year's team is much different. Trailing 1-0 with four minutes left in the game, an ugly loss seemed to be looming but once again the Terriers dug in and tied the game up with 3:43 left on Alex Chiasson's third goal of the season on a great pass from Warso to Coyle who put it on net for Chiasson to finish. The Terriers then got the winning goal from junior captain Chris Connolly with 27.5 second left to give the team a scrappy 2-1 win in front of a packed crowd. The Terriers' defense were tested as they were forced to use a five man rotation the whole game once Max Nicastro received a 5 minute major and game misconduct for hitting from behind. It was a dumb penalty to take especially so early in the game. Junior goalie Grant Rollheiser played well in his first game action since the Ice Breaker. He made some solid saves and rarely let up rebounds. He earned some more playing time with his start last night but still expect Kieran to get the nod against Maine and their high powered attack next weekend.

This was a huge win for the Terriers to get all four points this weekend and lengthen the lead in Hockey East as BC fell to Merrimack in their first student sell-out in ten years. I am sure everyone is going to jump on the Merrimack bandwagon now but I will take BU just doing what needs to be done even if its not pretty wins. The Hockey East standings still need time to pan out with BU playing 5 games already and most other schools only having played two or three out first place standing is premature. BU has done what it needed to do against some weaker opponents coming out with 9 out of a possible 10 points which I will take everyday of the week. Bu is one of three teams left undefeated in Hockey East and the only undefeated team in the conference. Hopefully this team continues to work and stick together as Chiasson has taken the role of the enforcer on this team(scary I know) getting a penalty for hitting after the whistle Friday Night and getting thrown out of the line last night after a scrum after the final buzzer went off.