Senior Series Post #5 Danny O'Regan

This is post #5 in the Senior Series. You can find the first four posts here(Matt Lane, Ahti Oksanen, Sean Maguire, and Mike Moran)




Danny O'Regan was one of the most consistent and prolific scorers in BU Hockey History. O'Regan put 154 points on the scoreboard during his collegiate career including atleast 10 goals in each of his four seasons. Every year, members of the media would have reasons why O'Regan wouldn't succeed or wasn't as good as his numbers indicated. He was a freshman forward coming right out of HS without much international experience during his first year on Comm Ave. His sophomore year people were asking if he could carry an offense without Matt Nieto on his opposite wing. His junior year was people questioning his development because his point production decreased from freshman to sophomore year. This past season I think Danny O'Regan was referred to a "passenger" in reference to playing with Jack Eichel last year the most times ever for a first team HE all star and the MVP of BU hockey for a season. O'Regan proved these people wrong time in and time out as he continually produced goals especially in crucial moments. From the two goals vs BC in the HE semis vs BC in his freshman year to the GWG in the NCAA first round OT win over Yale last season, O'Regan was always sniffing around the net looking for a goal whether it was pretty or not. 

Weekend Recap- BU takes 3 of 4 points from UNH

The BU Terriers took 3 of 4 points from the UNH Wildcats this weekend after tying them Friday night in Durham before returning home Saturday to get a crucial league win. Friday night was a game that BU dominated in every aspect but the scoreboard. They outshot UNH 40-22 but had some crucial breakdowns that led to some great chances for UNH. Coach Quinn commented on that after the game noting that UNH's goals were too easy while BU had to work for theirs. The Terriers also dominated overtime but could not get one past UNH goalie Daniel Tirone who made some very good saves for the home team. Danny O'Regan had a hattrick for the Terriers as he continues to lead the team in points and has taken his play to an even greater level playing with freshmen Jordan Greenway and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson.

The Terriers continue to battle and gain points despite battling through a rash of injuries as of late. Senior goalie Sean Maguire was out this weekend with an upper body injury but Quinn said postgame Saturday that he should be back next weekend. Obviously not a sure thing but that will be very good news to have Maguire back who has been very good since January. Robbie Baillargeon was also out for the weekend with a lower body injury which seems to be more of a long term injury at this time. Brandon Hickey was injured Friday night on a dirty hit by UNH forward Shane Eiserman. Eiserman hit Hickey square in the back about 4-5 feet from the boards. Hickey left the game and did not play Saturday night for BU. The league still refrained from suspending Eiserman for no reason. They have every reason to suspend him for that hit. It is a hit that should not exist in any level of hockey. They were quick to suspend BU freshman D Charlie McAvoy in the fall for a questionable hit but have done nothing regarding Eiserman's. I would say that McAvoy's hit was much less dangerous as well but since PC coach Nate Leaman wanted to bitch and moan at the time, the league acted quickly. Coach Quinn didn't complain about the hit because he is more concerned with winning hockey games than whining like the rest of the coaches in the league. Hopefully the league will take another look at the hit and suspend Eiserman.

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)

BSRS First Half Awards

MVP
Matt O'Connor, Soph, G - Pretty much a no brainer here. OC has been one of the  bright spots in the first half, putting the team on his back more nights than not. Playing in 13 of 17 games (12 starts), Matt posted a 6-4-2 record with a 2.61 goals against average and .929 save percentage. He faced 467 shots and made 434 saves, good for 3rd and T-2nd in Hockey East, although he played over 100 fewer minutes than the two players ahead of/tied with him (Gillies and Mastalerz). The sophomore made over 35 saves 7 times, including 37 and 55 against North Dakota (win/tie) and 37 in an epic 3-2 win over Cornell at Red Hot Hockey.

Best Freshman
Robbie Baillargeon, Fr, F - While Nick Roberto and Doyle Somerby put up a good fight, Robbie takes this one by the length of a carrot. Bugs Bunny Baillargeon leads the team with a 5-8-13 line in 17 gp, and also has a team best plus/minus of +6. He's had 3 multi-point games, and in each of those games he registered an assist on the game winning goal. Robbie has the 2nd most face off wins (81) and the 2nd best face off percentage on the team (.482), trailing Danny O'Regan in both categories.



-Live footage of Baillargeon when he runs across some carrots in the dining hall

Weekend Recap: Terriers take home piece of hardware with RHH win over Cornell

The BU Terriers fought through adversity and found a way to remain undefeated at the biannual Red Hot Hockey event at Madison Square Garden vs the Cornell Big Red with a 3-2 victory Saturday night. Despite being outshot 39-11 and being on the wrong end of some bad officiating, the Terriers gutted out the victory behind goals from Mike Moran, Robbie Baillargeon and Nick Roberto. Matt O'Connor stopped 35 of 37 shots he faced.

Despite the shot totals, I thought the Terriers played well defensively and were great on the penalty kill as Cornell was 0 for 7 while BU was 1 for 2. You would like to seem more sustained zone time offensively and obviously more shots on net but they made the most of their opportunities. Danny O'Regan made a sweet pass for Mike Moran's tap in goal with 2:10 left in the first. The Terriers would extend that lead with goals from Robbie Baillargeon off a great centering pass from Evan Rodrigues and a Nick Roberto powerplay goal off a nice pass from Kevin Duane. The freshmen are starting to score regularly and produce which is no coincidence as BU is now 3-0-1 in their last 4 and 7-6-1 overall.

Weekend Recap- Terriers win,tie vs North Dakota

                                           

The Terriers welcomed the North Dakota {Redacted}  this weekend to Agganis Arena  for a pair of nonleague games and came out with a win and a tie. The Terriers were lead by sophomore goalie Matt O'Connor who made 92 saves on 96 shots over the weekend. Friday night he made 37 saves on 38 shots as he frustrated North Dakota all night long. BU got on the board in the first period off of a 2 on 1 rush where Cason Hohmann froze the lone defender and NoDak goalie Clarke Saunders before ripping a wrister low short-side. Hohmann, who is typically a pass-first guy, used that to his advantage as everyone in the rink though he was going to try to feed O'Regan who was flying to the far post. BU would make it 2-0 before the end of the first on a greasy ,power-play  O'Regan goal that just got tucked in the near post off a deflected pass from Noonan. BU had a goal called back early in the second as it was ruled that Mike Moran tipped the Doyle Somerby wrister with a high stick. I honestly couldn't tell if he did or didn't but there certainly didn't seem like there was enough evidence there to overturn it but the refs, Benedetto and Miller, disagreed with me.

BSRS Weekly Awards- 11/19

You know your weekly awards are good when they start to sneak into actual journalist's articles. We won't name any names but you know who you are using our Denny Green award...


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- Danny O'Regan, F- O'Regan had the highlight goal of the weekend to get BU on the board early against UConn. He made his way through 3 Huskies on the way to tucking the puck past goaltender Matt Grogan and moved into the celebration seamlessly. Nick Roberto, Kevin Duane and Matt Grzelcyk all put in good efforts the GJ but the celly puts O'Regan a step ahead.

The 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- Kevin"Know your role" Duane (Nickname credit to @BurntBoats)- Duane is a back to back winner of the Joey P now after his performance this weekend. Duane logged solid minutes on the third line with Mike Moran and Dillon Lawrence as they played solid all night and were given more ice time because of this. They cycled the puck great every shift of the first period and continued it throughout the night. Duane also was a force on the powerplay as he is a big body in front of the net who knows who to take hits and use his stick to create opportunities for himself and his teammates. This resulted in a powerplay goal off of a Grzelcyk shot late in the second period Sunday.

Weekend Recap- BU takes care of business against UConn

BU played at Maine Friday night. They lost. End of Maine recap.

 No members of BSRS were in attendance for this one because we are saving our vacation days for Philly in April. The last game no member of BSRS attended was last year at Denver(6-1 loss)...so basically we can't miss anymore games ever. This loss falls on us. Feel free to destroy us in the comment section.

On Sunday, UConn faced BU for the first time ever. BU played well for the first 40 minutes to jump out to a 3-0 lead through 2 and held on for a 4-1 win. With the win, BU improves to 5-6-0 on the year.  The first period went scoreless but BU dictated the pace of play after goalie Matt O'Connor made a few huge saves early in the game. They also out shot UConn 17-8 in the first which Coach Quinn has to be happy with with after a few weeks of stressing more of a shooter's mentality.

BS(R)S Weekly Awards 11/5

Another week. Another set of awards. 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- Danny O'Regan, F- O'Regan put the team on his back this season when they needed him most. With the Terriers trailing 3-2 to PC Friday night, O'Regan told the rest of the team to jump on for the ride because they had a hockey game to win. O'Regan potted the game-tying(on a sweet pass from Baillargeon) and game winning goals on PC sieve Jon Gillies. 

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(Interview with Joe Pereira)

First half review- Forwards

Now that the first half of the season is over and the Terriers sit at 10-5-0(8-4-0) , it is a good time to look back at individual player's first halves. For reference last season, BU finished the first half at 10-5-1. Obviously, two very different teams but similar results. This year's team is much younger and have more reason to be excited for the second half of the season as the underclassmen develop and execute even better. Here is the review of each forward still on the roster.

1. Cason Hohmann (4-12-16, 15 GP) "Texas Toast" has had a hell of a first half for the Terriers. He has been noted by Coach Parker on numerous occasions as a guy who needed to make a jump this year for the team to succeed. He certainly has met that challenge. He leads the team in points and has doubled his point total from last season(35 games played). He is the top line center and has been producing all season.  He is usually the fastest guy on the ice when he is out there but that might only because Nieto plays on a different line. That is a race I would love to see.

2. Wade Megan(9-6-15, 15 GP)- The Captain from Canton, NY leads the team in goals in the first half and they have come in a variety of ways. He sniped against his hometown St. Lawrence Saints and he had one of the greasiest goals of all time against UNH. The team is 9-2-0 when he records a point and 8-1-0 when he scores a goal. He is obviously a big part of this offense and on pace to do even better than his 20-9-29 line in 39 games last year.

3. Danny O'Regan (5-6-11, 15 GP)- The freshman from Needhman, MA and St. Sebastian's stepped in right away and contributed for BU. He has been the second line center all season and has done it very well. The Sharks' fifth round pick has been responsible on both ends of the ice and has scored some big goals for this team in the first half. Specifically, I am talking about the final goal against UND to finish the game and put it out of reach. He has a great ability to set up in front of the goalie and put pucks away. Very Jason Lawrence-like in that aspect.

UMass recap Game 2- BU sweeps, gets all 4 ponies(points) on the weekend

The BU Terriers finished off the home and home sweep of the UMass Minutemen with a hard-fought 3-2 victory at the Mullins Center in Amherst. The game was played in front of a hostile 7,300+ fans. BU put itself in an early 2-0 hole after a power play goal by Shane Walsh and a penalty shot goal by Rocco Carzo. On both of the goals, BU goalie Matt O'Connor was in position and got a piece of each shot but was unable to make the save. It certainly is promising to note how well he is consistently positioned. He made a great glove save late in the first to keep the team in the game at a time when UMass had momentum. Walsh's goal came on a powerplay, which was a result of a weak call on Ahti Oksanen.

BU bounced back quickly after the penalty shot goal by Carzo when the top line of Evan Rodrigues, Cason Hohmann, and captain Wade Megan produced once again. Megan banged the puck in the net in the middle of a pile as the self-proclaimed "leader in greasy goals" banged in another one to cut the UMass lead in half in the middle of the second. BU tied it up at the end of the second when Matt Nieto made a great tip off a pass from freshman Danny O'Regan who had a coming out party this weekend. O'Regan posted a 2-2-4 line over the two games over the weekend. He really has played well on that new second line with Nieto and Sahir Gill who is playing the off-wing. This line was on the ice for the game-winning goal which defenseman Sean Escobedo banged home off a rebound over UMass goalie Kevin Boyle with 1:22 remaining.

Freshmen Preview part 1

This is the first of 3 number of previews on the incoming 2012 class for BU hockey. While there have been rumors of another dman being added(perhaps an international recruit), I will only preview the freshman who we know will be on campus this fall.  There are currently 8 incoming freshmen if I can count correctly which isn't always the case.

1. Matthew Grzelcyk, D- Charlestown, MA (USNTDP- 56 GP, 2-20-22, 20 PMs) 5-9, 170lbs left shot

-Grzelcyk has been compared to former Terrier David Warsofsky due to his smaller size but expert puck-moving ability. He has put on 20lbs since leaving Belmont Hill for the USNTP and continues to work with BU strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle over the course of the summer. I would expect "Grizzy" to put similar numbers to Warsofsky and Adam Clendening's freshman years. Warsofsky posted a 3-20-23 line in 08-09 on a National championship team while Clendening posted a 5-21-26 line in 10-11. According to our poll thus far, fans are excited to watch Grzelcyk play this season. He is a local kid and a draft pick of the Bruins, which really is the perfect storm for me anyway to pull for the kid. I could see him reaching as high as the second d-pair this coming season and would expect him to see extensive special team ice time, especially on the power play. Here is what other website have thought of Grzelcyk

" Excellent skater. Has superb first few steps and explodes from a standstill or glide in just a few, effortless strides. Has top gear and the lateral, four-way agility that is ideal for position. Changes direction quickly and able to prevent opponents from attacking his net with speed. Very good passer and puck-mover with a deft touch on the puck. Advances the biscuit confidently and has the stick skills to elude checkers and lug it out of the defensive zone on his own. Has superb offensive and defensive hockey sense; sees the ice beautifully and inherently understands when to attack and when to stay home. Very good in puck retrieval; will take a hit to make the play. Plays with tremendous passion and desire. Grew up in the shadow of the Boston Garden and FleetCenter/TD Garden dreaming of being a Boston Bruin, so he will exert the utmost effort to be a player even with the physical limitations. A respected and popular teammate." -Kirk Luedeke and Jesse Connolly Link to the rest of the article and interview with Grzelyck is right here from New England Hockey Journal.

BU Hockey Line Projections Take 1

So posting has been a little slow around here which is typical of the summer months. I figured I would take this chance to take a stab at some new line combination for the coming season. Technically, the recruiting class is not filled and has not been officially announced because Adam Clendening's scholarship has not been officially filled. The 2012 recruiting class as of now looks like this:
Forwards: Sam Kurker(2nd 2012 Stl) , Matt Lane ,Wes Myron(6th 2012 Van), Mike Moran, and Danny O'Regan(5th 2012 SJ).
Defensemen: Matt Grzelcyk(3rd 2012- Bos), TBD(Marc Hetnik?- wouldn't require a scholarship since his father is employed by BU)
Goalies: Sean MaGuire(4th 2012-Pitt), Matthew O'Connor

So now that the incoming class is as established as we could hope here is what I think the lines will look like on opening night vs PC without having seen most of these guys play yet.

1- Nieto-Gill- Cisse  - Cisse is obviously the guy who I have jumping from the 4th line to the 1st so he has to have a big summer  but I think since this is his first healthy summer in 3 summers, he certainly is a guy capable of making this type of jump. Gill seems like the best option at center with his hands and Nieto is the fastest guy in Hockey East and I would expect 40-50 points from him this year.

2 Megan-O'Regan-Kurker  - This line has the captain with two very skilled freshmen who I think can compete in Hockey East right away and will need for success. Megan can make their lives much easier with how hard he drives to the net and opens up space for his linemates.

3 Lane- Hohmann- Myron  -This line could easily include sophomore Evan Rodrigues on right wing depending on how Myron looks in camp along with Lane but I see both of them being successful collegiate players.

4- Courtnall- Rosen-Santana - This is really the only line that is set in stone in my mind. This is going to be the most experienced, grinder line in Hockey East easily. They will give this team depth as they are able to roll 4 lines in important games.
Extra forwards: Evan Rodrigues, Mike Moran,  Matt Ronan, Jake Moscatel,

D-Pairs
1 Noonan- Privitera - This d-pair is going to be a force throughout Hockey East as Privitera had a strong second half minus the wrist injury and Noonan will be all Hockey East first team.
2. Escobedo- MacGregor- Coach Parker usually puts one offensive D and a "stay at home" dman together but I don't see him forcing that this year unless he wants to break up Noonan and Privitera. Escobedo will be one of the most steady dmen in Hockey East this season and I think MacGregor will have a coming out party as an upperclassman(maybe even score a goal...nah).
3. Grzelcyk- Ruikka- This pair will be solid to begin the year as Ruikka is a veteran to help lead Grzelcyk as he gets accustomed to the speed of the college game.

Extra dmen- Marc Hetnik, TBD?

Goalies
1a. Sean MaGuire- These top two goalies are going to split starts fairly regularly until winter break and probably beyond unless one of them separates themselves as the clear starter.
1b. Matt O'Connor
3. Anthony Moccia

From The 108: BU Inks Local Legacy Recruit

Adding another member to an already strong 2013 incoming class, the Terriers and Jack Parker's staff picked up a commitment this past week from Needham's Danny O'Regan, the Boston Hockey Blog reported. O'Regan, a forward at local prep school St. Sebastian's, chose to attend BU over Harvard, Yale, Dartmouth and Northeastern. His father, Tom, played for the Terriers from 1979-83, serving as a co-captain as a senior. After scoring a goal and assisting on one in a game against Thayer at Walter Brown Arena on Saturday, he boasts a 24-24-48 line in 26 games this season. According to scouts he will be a competitive, tough and committed player who is able to find others and distribute the puck well to them, to which I'd add that his statistics bear out the fact that he is quite capable of potting goals himself. In any case, another solid pickup and it's good to see that he can still snag some in-state talent, which seemingly has been a recent issue (compared to BC in particular).