Weekend Recap: BU beats BC, ties UConn

This weekend the #5 ranked BU Terriers had a set of Hockey East Games which on it's own would make for just another weekend in league play. Friday night's game was anything but another game in league play. The game was broadcast live on NBC Sports nationally to an audience looking to see the first matchup  of BU and BC this season lead by their freshmen superstars. Jack Eichel lived up to the hype once again for the Terriers with 5 SOG along with a goal and a +3 rating for the night. Noah Hanifin didn't do anything to stand out to me as a top 10 pick as he was on the ice for 4 BU goals for a -4 rating.

Weekend Recap - Blind Squirrels are Still Blind

- Actual footage of Northeastern trying to play hockey this weekend. Wobbly would have been their most effective forward. If you don't get the reference, read our preview from Thursday

The BU Terriers swept the Northeastern Huskies in their home and home series this past weekend. BU did so rolling three lines each night as numerous forwards were benched for a night(4 Friday, 4 Saturday) for a violation of team rules. The players who did play, played well as BU found the scoring touch that they seriously lacked in South Bend last weekend. The Terriers also got solid performances from both Matt O'Connor and Sean Maguire once again as both continue to put up solid numbers and play better than their numbers indicate.

On Friday night, BU celebrated senior night before the game and continued the celebration into the first period as Kevin Duane scored off of Colton Saucerman's leg to give the Terriers a lead that they would never give up. Danny O'Regan would make it 2-0 less than 30 second later. Both goals were shots that NU goalie Clay Witt would want back as both beat him 5-hole and were not difficult saves by any means.  BU would stretch the lead to 3-0 on a Robbie"Carrots" Baillargeon breakaway goal midway through the second. NU would score once to make it a 3-1 game but never got any closer as Ahti Oksanen " finnished" the game with a 200 foot goal on an empty net. BU held on for the 4-1 win and their most convincing win since an October win vs Wisconsin.

Friday night was a big win for the team as they proved to everyone that they could beat a top 10 team with 9 forwards and 5 D(the 6th D TJ Ryan was injured in the game and did not return). It was also a big win in that it was Jack Parker's number retirement night as a ceremony took place during the first intermission(video included after the jump). It was a well done ceremony and Coach Parker certainly deserves it for all he did for BU hockey. He catches so much hate from opposing fans which makes you realize what a good coach he was. Opposing fans don't hate bad coaches. For example, we love Jim Madigan. Coach Parker's #6 is now the second retired number in BU hockey history along with Travis Roy's 24.Congrats to Coach Parker and all of BU hockey.

Weekend Recap

                                                           

Photo Credit to my phone

The BU Terriers were shutout 2-0 on both nights in South Bend this weekend versus Notre Dame. The Terriers were solid(for the most part) defensively both nights(especially Friday) as was the goaltending. Matt O'Connor would most likely want the second goal he gave up back from Friday night but besides that, the work by himself and Sean Maguire once again gave the team a chance to win. BU had quality chances at the beginning of the game Friday as Danny O'Regan missed high on what would be one of BU's best chances of the night within the first 5 minutes of the game. Mike Moran also beat ND goalie Steven Summerhays but the puck was cleared off the goaline by an ND defender before Kevin Duane could knock the trickling puck in. BU only allowed 20 ND shots on net Friday night but only generated 19 of their own with very few quality chances which left them unable to solve Steven Summerhays.

BU allowed limited ND shots on Friday night(19) but were severely outshot(40-22) Saturday forcing Maguire to make many solid saves which he did. ND did not get on the board until early in the third on the powerplay(Jeff Costello) after the refs made a very questionable call on Garrett Noonan after he was crosschecked after the whistle by an ND player. The refs told Coach Quinn that Noonan said something to a ref which I doubt considering he went right over to Notre Dame defenseman/goon Stephen Johns away from the officials. The ensuing man advantage lead to be the difference maker. Notre Dame added an insurance marker late in the third on Ahti Oksanen defensive zone turnover. Overall BU played well defensively both nights besides a few breakdowns but could not generate enough offense to come away with any points on the weekend.

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

BSRS Weekly Awards 12/3

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- OC has been hot lately and Coach Quinn has rewarded him with 4 straight starts where he has given up 7 goals total in this span. He made 37 saves on 39 shots this weekend vs Cornell and was visibly pumped when BU held on for the victory. OC wins his second straight GJ

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- Mike Moran,F- Moran was flying all over the ice once again Saturday night for the Terriers. He not only tallied the first goal on a sweet pass from Danny O'Regan. His line continued to play well while also staying out of the box. It is no coincidence that the team has gone on a 4 game unbeaten streak with his line intact.

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.

BSRS Weekly Awards 11/26

Another Week of Awesome Awards. Enjoy.

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,G- OC stole the show this weekend making 92 saves on 96 shots and frustrating Sioux of North Dakota all weekend long. This was the first time this year that Coach Quinn has broken the goalie rotation and O'Connor rewarded him with two great performances. You would expect Quinn to ride OC as the hot hand to see what kind of run the Terriers can get on for the final 4 games of the first semester. His play along with the sweet stache that he is rocking currently made his choice a no-brainer.

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- Noonan not only produced on the scoresheet with a goal and two assists over the weekend. He also was the emotional leader for the Terriers as he stood up to the goons from North Dakota without taking any stupid penalties. At one point Saturday night, he had ongoing battles with Luke Johnson, Drake Caggiula, and Stephane Pattyn. Noonan leads the team in points and knows the time and place to stick up for himself and his teammates.

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.

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 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)

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.

Beanpot preview

It is highly unlikely that we will post a UMass recap because we are quite content pretending that Friday's game never happened and moving on from there. The focus now is the Beanpot Tournament also known as the BU invitational. The Terriers have won 29 of the 60 Beanpot tournaments ever held. This is the greatest regular season tournament in college hockey and probably all of sports. The Beanpot is well known throughout the college hockey world and the only fans they don't enjoy are it are just bitter that their team isn't involved in it. All hockey fans in New England know what falls on the first two Mondays in February every year.This year is different than any other year in that no one team is the clear favorite. BC has the best record but their defense is in shambles and beating UVM at home doesn't mean all their problems are solved. Northeastern is just doing their thing which means playing as inconsistent as anyone in the conference. Harvard has been killed by the cheating scandal that rocked their athletic department last spring. The thing about the Beanpot is that any one of these 4 could easily win it despite Harvard and Northeastern's droughts. Northeastern has not won a Beanpot since 1988 and Harvard has not won since 1994. 

First Half Review- Defensmen and Goalies

Dmen

1. Matt Grzelcyk(2-10-12,15 GP)- The freshman Bruins draft pick has exceeded expectations as he performed extremely well in his first semester of college hockey action. He has settled into a defensive pairing with classmate Ahti Oksanen and they both are seeing plenty of ice time. Both of his goals this year came against BC, which makes it even better. Grzelcyk will miss the Terriers' next game on 12/29 at Denver due to being away at the WJC with team USA. He will be missed for sure but if he helps beat those fraudulent Canadians, it will be worth it.

2. Garrett Noonan(3-7-10, 15 GP)- The freshly appointed assistant captain has had a solid first half for the Terriers even if his goal total is not quite as high as last year. Noonan finished last year with a 16-11-27 line in 38 games. He isn't quite on pace to reach that goal total again but his assists have gone up which is a positive sign. Teams have actually somewhat covered him on the backdoor powerplay this year which was the source of a majority of his goals last season. He has been nothing short of solid defensively He will need to have a solid second half for this team as he is a crucial defenseman and sees large amounts of ice time. He is on a similar pace for penalty minutes from last year. This would be nice to cut down on but penalties happen when you play with as much passion and emotion as he does.

Weekend Recap

HS has your interesting Maine recap from Saturday night here. BU knocked off #1 UNH back on Thursday night by a 3-2 score. BU jumped out to a 3-0 lead behind goals from Wade Megan, Sahir Gill and Sam Kurker. Megan's goal was a typical goal for the captain as he kept poking and jabbing at a rebound from a Matt Grzelcyk shot and eventually put it past Casey DeSmith. It remained 1-0 until Sahir Gill scored his 2nd goal of the season off a great pass from Cason Hohmann on a 2 on 1, which was set up by a nice pass by Garrett Noonan.  BU made it 3-0 later in the second when freshman Sam Kurker bounced a shot past DeSmith to give BU a 3-0 lead. This was exactly what they needed as I said in my preview. They needed to get out to a lead because UNH just doesn't allow goals in the 3rd this year.  UNH added 2 goals from Kevin Gouma and John Henrion but could not score over the last 8:06 as BU killed 8 of 9 powerplays including one with 2:07 remaining. The team competed extremely hard and has to be happy to get out of Durham while handing UNH their first home loss of the season.  Matt O'Connor was once again huge for this team and together with Sean Maguire's second consecutive shutout on Saturday, there is alot to like about this goalie tandem. O'Connor has been seeing more time but I would think it is going to become a true rotation for the second half as it has become a healthy rivalry.

Weekend Recap: BU/BC split

The first weekend of December is always a big weekend for college hockey in Boston. It is the weekend that BU and BC face off in their home and home series. It is usually an evenly matched weekend as the teams are 37-37-4 now since Jerry York took over at BC in 1994. Both teams came into the weekend ranked top 10 nationally and both seem destined for the NCAA tournament once again this season unless they collapse in the second half. From the puck drop Friday night until the final whistle Saturday, there was no love lost between the teams and the fans. There were was plenty of shoving before and after the whistle and it made for a great atmosphere both nights.

Friday night, BU played one of their best games of the season. The first period went scoreless and I thought the chances were pretty even for both sides. Both goalies played very well at the beginning of this game and that showed as the first goal was not scored until 9 minutes into the second period when BU's Garrett Noonan did his best baseball swing impression and knocked a puck out of mid-air into the open net after an Evan Rodrigues rush. Evan Rodrigues made it 2-0 seven minutes later with a snipe from the right slot that beat Parker Milner high glove side. BC responded less than 40 seconds later with a Pat Mullane goal. BC wouldn't generate much more for the rest of the night until they had a 6 on 3 late in the game. BU sealed control of the game early in the third when freshman dman Matt Grzelcyk took a rush into the zone and just kept skating scoring on a wrap around. He literally out-skated the entire BC defense and goalie Parker Milner. Wade Megan scored his eighth of the year late to seal the game for the Terriers and hand Jerry York his 559th career loss. The final ended 4-2 as Johnny Gaudreau added a late goal and Ben Rosen had an empty net goal taken away because the referees could not figure out the right amount of guys on the ice.

North Dakota Recap- To hell and back

I made my first ever trip to Grand Forks, North Dakota this weekend and it looks exactly how you would expect it to. Something like the picture above. The rink itself was huge and really nice. Every North Dakota fan will ask you if you like the rink because they know that it is awesome. The atmosphere was crazy as 12k packed in Saturday night to see the BU 4-2 win while slightly less(due to the opening of hunting season..not a lie) packed in Friday to watch the North Dakota 4-2 win.  First, I'm going to cover some comments on the experience watching a game in the Ralph and then get to the actual games.

The Ralph is quite large, nice and sells beer. All of these things are necessities for North Dakota. If you saw the view of the bar between periods, you would understand what I mean. There is a HIGH demand for beer. The crowd was a sellout Saturday night and it was loud during introductions and when North Dakota scored. Besides, the goals and intros, the arena itself was awfully quiet both nights besides when music was piped in or Alexx Privitera was touching the puck and therefore booed. This goes back to an incident Friday night where it is reported that he had an altercation with fans while in the penalty box. I didn't see anything myself but I'm sure the fan deserved whatever happened because UND fans suck. They did not start any chant on their own. Music had to be piped in or BU fans were loud enough to rile up the fans to start a "Let's go Sioux" chant. This is not to say they don't care about the game because they do and let me know on many occasions what a crazy liberal I am because I am from Boston. They are just too stupid to start any different chants or use their brains at all. Their goal song is pretty cool/funny as these small firecrackers/bombs go off over the goal they just scored on.  Overall, enjoyed my time there and for all the idiotic students, there were just as many welcoming fans who seemed glad to have us there. Now to the hockey.

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.

Terriers Freshmen Preview Part 3

This is the third part of the freshman preview I have been working the past couple of weeks. Today I will preview the two incoming goalies and a Finnish defensemen. Since my last preview, the school has finally officially released the 9 man incoming class officially with quotes from Coach Parker on each player. You can find the link to that here. I will try not to repeat anything from there besides the quotes from Coach Parker.

7. Sean Maguire, G- Powell River, B.C. (Powell River Kings(BCHL) 17-12-1, 2.33 GAA, .913 s %) 6-2, 202lbs, left shot

- Maguire is one of two incoming goalies this year and would be my pick of the two as more likely to become the primary starter in the second half of the year. We are still very far away from there but the 4th round pick in this year's draft is a good one, according to reports throughout North America. I would expect Maguire to end up with about 20-25 starts this year and be able to post respectable stats somewhere around 2.7 GAA. His success will depend highly on the defensive effort in front of him as former Terrier Kieran Millan posted a 1.94 GAA his freshman year on his way to a 29-2-3 record but every single dman who played in front of him regularly is atleast in the AHL right now.

Coach Parker on  Maguire "Maguire's a big guy who fills a lot of the net and he's got a lot of talent. He had a real good junior career in Canada. We've known him for a couple of years and really like him. We knew we were coming to this point where we were losing two senior goalies and we were very fortunate to get him."