Senior Series #4 Matt Lane

This is post #4 in the Senior Series. You can find the first three posts here(Ahti Oksanen, Sean Maguire, Mike Moran)

Matt Lane is the exact type of player that college hockey teams need to be successful. He came in as a freshman that was a bit outshadowed on his U-18 team that included the likes of Seth Jones and Jacob Trouba amongst others. Lane arrived at BU and from day one he could skate with anyone in college hockey. He was a similar type player with Cason Hohmann in that he was a small, fast skater who had to work hard to develop his scoring touch during his time at BU. Lane's points, goals, and time on ice increased over each of his four seasons ending with him playing a crucial Top 6 role this past season as an assistant captain. Current coach David Quinn mentioned Lane as a hard working leader numerous times throughout the last season even going out of his way to mention Lane's improved shot which resulted in 14 goals this season.

Senior Series Post #3- Ahti Oksanen

This is post #3 in the Senior Series. You can read Sean Maguire's here and Mike Moran's here.

Ahti Oksanen came to BU an unknown Finnish defenseman recruited to fill the void left by Colby Cohen signing a professional contract. He left as a fan favorite forward who lead the  NCAA in shots on goal as a senior. He is now one of the most sought after undrafted free agents in the NHL and will certainly have his choice of team when he feels ready to make his decision.

Oksanen continued to improve despite changes through his career. After his freshman year, the coaching staff was changed from legendary Jack Parker and associated head coach Mike Bavis(who recruited Ahti) to current head coach David Quinn. Quinn kept Ahti on defense for a full year before making the switch to have Oksanen play at forward for his junior and senior seasons. Oksanen was hesitant at first and even went as far as practicing on defense the entire summer before his junior season despite Coaches Quinn and Steve Greeley reinforcing to him that he would be a forward.

Senior Series- Sean Maguire

This is post #2 of the annual BSRS Senior Series. You can read Mike Moran's post here.

                                       Photo by Jackie Riccardi - www.bu.edu
                                   - Classic Maguire throwing BC over his shoulder



Sean Maguire was a critical part of BU hockey from the time he arrived on campus. The netminder from Powell River, British Columbia contributed from the get go as he appeared in 62 games over the course of career on Comm Ave. Maguire sat out last season due to a concussion suffered in 2014 but still held atleast a .919 save percentage in each season that he was healthy for the Terriers. Maguire is a fourth round 2012 draft pick for Pittsburgh who will either sign with the organization before 8/15 or become a UFA at that point and be eligible to sign with any organization. He always gave me the feeling that he could stand on his head for BU at any moment to keep them in a game. This happened in the Beanpot this past year. He also was fantastic in the 2013 Hockey East championship vs Lowell in Jack Parker's last game at the garden giving BU every chance to beat Connor Hellybuyck(I don't care enough to look up how to spell his name).
       

Senior Series Post #1 Mike Moran

This is the first post in the 2015-2016 Senior Series. Posts on Matt Lane, Ahti Oksanen, Danny O'Regan, Matt Grzelcyk and Sean Maguire will follow.

Mike Moran may seem like your typical fourth line grinder but he certainly is not. Moran was destined to play on Comm Ave since he was born into a family full of BU hockey players including both of his uncles Mike and Mark Bavis. Mike, who he would play for during his freshman season and Mark, who he would honor with his jersey number.

Moran came to BU as a 21 year old freshman when most of his classmates were 2 or 3 years younger than him. He had to play a year after graduation from high school in the BCHL and EJHL for three different teams to convince the BU coaching staff including his own uncle that he belonged. his 46 points in 39 BCHL games certainly proved that. He wasn't given a spot because of his uncles. He earned it and was a critical player for BU over his four year career. He was a stable presence on the fourth line always finding a way to make a positive play whether it was a goal, a chip out of the zone or a faceoff win. Moran arrived on campus in the fall of 2011 and contributed to the team from the very beginning. He wasn't the offensive scorer of some of his classmates like Danny O'Regan or Matt Gryzelcyk but he certainly found his niche as a fourth line grinder who could play the defensive style of the game very well. His 25 career points certainly are not going to jump out at you but he always seemed to find a way to score in the biggest games. His biggest goal scored  was probably in the Beanpot Final last year to open up the game that BU would eventually win in OT. He also scored from below the goalline on BC's Thatcher Demko last season in a BU win at BC.

Weekend Recap: Terriers Season ends in Saint Paul

The Terriers 2015-2016 season ended at the hands of the Denver Pioneers this past Saturday in the West Regional of the NCAA Tournament. The Terriers had a good start to the game but couldn't bury any chances they got early on. The first line(Greenway, JFK, and O'Regan) were effective their first 3 or 4 shifts but didn't have anything to show for it. Denver scored two goals at the end of the opening period and never looked back on their way to a 7-2 victory. It was a disappointing way to end the season for the Terriers but in all reality, it is always a win a title or bust mentality every season on Comm Ave(either end of it).  So while this does suck, it doesn't change how I view the team this year or when I look back on the season. This is a top 10 team in the country as their record shows but unfortunately, they didn't play like it after the regular season ended.

It is always easy to point out the flaws in a team or a coach after a bad season ending loss but every other fan in the world does that so I'm going to avoid doing that here. The truth is that BU Hockey is in very good shape moving forward to build off of this season. They have 49 wins over the last two seasons and have made the NCAA tournament in both of them. This is just the beginning of a long run of NCAA tournament appearances as when you look at the recruiting trail and this team is only going to get more talented as time goes on in the Quinn era.

Now that the season is over, it will be interesting to see what members of the team sign professional contracts. We will be doing a post on each individual senior in the next few weeks but for now the attention is on where they will continue their hockey careers. Seniors Ahti Oksanen and Matt Lane are undrafted free agents and are free to sign with any team of their choosing. Oksanen is one of the more sought after college free agents and will have his options of teams. My gut tells me he will sign with NYR(and former associate coach Steve Greeley) but there will be plenty of teams interested in his services after he lead the NCAA in shots on goal. A dark horse to sign him could be Arizona as former BU associate coach Mike Bavis is an assistant coach for their AHL affiliate in Springfield and recruited Ahti to BU from Finland. Lane will have his options of suitors as well and will most likely sign an ATO with an AHL team in the next few weeks. Mike Moran will have options to pursue his career as well in either the ECHL or AHL.