BU Skates to Another Tie, 3-3 with Merrimack

For the second straight night, your BU Terriers played to a tie with the Warriors of Merrimack. This tie, however, was a little more impressive down the stretch. The Mack put in 2 first period goals before BU's Wade Megan got BU on the board in the final minutes of the first frame. Merrimack extended its lead in the second, and BU went into the locker room down 3-1 after two. However, BU found a way to pull it together with two third period goals - one by Chris Connolly (4th in last 5 games) and the other by Corey Trivino. Kieran Millan also pulled it together in the third, turning away many Merrimack chances to extend/take the lead.

While a tie is definitely not what this Terrier squad wanted (nor its fans, if they are like us here at the blog), you have to take what you can get (shout-out to my girlfriend) when it comes to playing Merrimack at home. They always play better at home, and I'm pretty sure they are 8-0-2 in their last ten games at Lawler Arena. Even BC went into Merrimack and came away with a defeat. Plus, you have to be impressed with how this Terrier team weathered the Merrimack storm early. Even though we may not have been playing our best hockey, you knew Merrimack was going to come out firing at home to add with their usual chippy (read: cowardly) style of play. And sure enough, they come out and score 2 in the first and 1 in the second. To our guys' credit, they hung on, kept it close and then poured it on in the 3rd.

Unfortunately, we couldn't make the trek up to Merrimack to give you guys first hand knowledge of the action. QuackQuack's dad may have made it up there, in which case we will provide you with the expertise he has for us. But from the account of the Boston Hockey Blog, the officiating in tonight's game was poor. We did have more powerplays than they did, but it seems like the refs were letting all of Merrimack's post whistle pushing/shoving/etc. go. Obviously that's frustrating for our guys, and from all accounts Coach Parker let the refs have it. But somebody needs to keep Merrimack's crap in check, since their coaches clearly have no problem letting their players play dirty.

Anyways, BU skates back in action next weekend for a home and home against UNH. When the press conferences come out we will have them for you, as well as any potential notes from QuackQuack the elder.

BU, Merrimack Play to a 1-1 Tie

All I can say is, I'm surprised nobody got tossed. Friday's contest at Agganis proved to be very physical (and chippy at times), picking up right where the Hockey East Quarterfinals left off last season for our Terriers and the Warriors of Merrimack. The games two goals were scored by BU's Ross Gaudet (a rebound off his shoulder, inadvertently), and the Mack's Mike Collins (Terriers defensive breakdown). But the story of last night's game wasn't the two goals - it was the physical nature of play.  Merrimack's resident punk, Kyle Bigos, was in full force last night - cheap shots, after the whistle confrontations, etc. In fact, it seemed like most of their team was following his lead. There was a lot of hitting after the whistle and unnecessary hits to the head. One of the more blatant incidents that comes to mind was a Merrimack player skating up alongside D man Adam Clendening and pushing his head into the boards (no call, obviously). This isn't to say that BU didn't play physically, its just that most of the time it seemed like Merrimack was attempting to get BU guys into scraps and not the other way around.

The actual game play itself wasn't that great either. Both teams had bad turnovers leading to good scoring chances for the other squad. Both teams only had a handful of good looks at goals, almost all of which were promptly denied by the goaltenders. Honestly, I felt like we are a much better team than Merrimack. We just played down to their level last night.

The highlights for both teams were twofold - the penalty kill and the goaltenders. BU held Merrimack to an incredible 0-10 on the power play last night, while they held us to 0-7. Terrier netminder Kieran Millan (the game's first star) made 35 saves last night, while Warrior goalie Joe Cannata made 32.

The teams are back at it tonight in Lawler Arena, 7 pm. For now, here are the post game press conferences.

Quack Quack's Money in the bank lock of the week

So the great QuackQuack continued on his run last week going 2-0 once again to bring my overall record up to 5-3. I will take it after that rough 0-2 first week. Last week was a little too close for comfort as both games were withing three points of the spread with Oakland making a last second field goal to get to OT and then win by 3 and cover the spread by one. I apologize for the heart attack I may have caused to others there. Lets hope this week's locks are a little more comfortable in the closing seconds.

NCAA:
Michigan@Purdue(+13.5)
- There are two aspects of this game that are a lock. The fact that Michigan will not cover and that the over/under will be over all day everyday. The o/u is 61.5 points so doing the intense math you figure each team needs to put up 31. First glance and you think that is a tough task. Then you look at both of these teams this season. Michigan averages 38 points a game. They give up 34 a game. That just makes this too easy. One could make the argument that Purdue only puts up 18 a game and gives up 28. Michigan gives up points with two freshman corners starting. They just can't stop people and try to win games by outscoring teams. They gave up 35 points to an 0-5 Indiana team. This is Indiana football not basketball so they blow. Thankfully their QB leads the nation in rushing or this team would be awful instead of just extremely inconsistent. Lets take a look at Michigan's season so far. They have beaten zero teams in the Big Ten by more than ten points. Forget about thirteen points. This team does not blow Big Ten teams out. Now they are going to Purdue and you expect them to win by two scores? I think not. Michigan loser or wins by one score but Purdue covers for sure.

On the O/U Michigan games have gone over the 61.5 points 6 out of their 9 games this season. That is ridiculous but just how high scoring these games are. 2 out of the 3 that didn't were the first two games of the season before teams gain some continuity and experience together. This is just way too easy.
The Pick- Purdue(+13.5)
O/U- O(61.5)



NFL:
Carolina@Tampa Bay(-6.5)
- The fact that Carolina is favored to come within one score of anyone in the NFL is ridiculous. Nevermind the 6-3 Bucs who are coming off a tough loss to Atlanta. They know they need to win to keep pace in the playoff race while the Panthers have two injured running backs,a rookie QB and a coach on the way out the door. To top it off, the game is in Tampa. Game,set,match. Tampa wins big and keeps pace in the NFC South.
The pick- Tampa (-6.5)

Pats sign new kicker Graham,longsnapper Katula

The Patriots have signed kicker Shayne Graham and longsnapper Matt Katula for this weekend's game with the Steelers. Graham is replacing Stephen Gostkowski who is out two or more weeks with a quad injury. Katula is replacing second-year long snapper Jake Ingram(Hawaii) who just sucked this season. The guy has shorthopped five to ten long snaps on punts to rookie Zoltan Mesko who has had to play like Jason Varitek back there to get punts off. This move was a long time coming and one I thought should have been made two weeks ago. He also has been inconsistent on field goals making Mesko work to get the holds down. Katula played for the Baltimore Ravens from 2005-2009 and has signed a 2 year deal with the Pats.

Graham was in for a workout in October and high on the Pats' emergency list that they keep all season long. Graham has plenty of experience in Heinz Field as he kicked for the Cincinnati Bengals from 2003-2009 with a 85% in Pittsburgh. He also has a fuckin' sweet house look above so he must be a good kicker right?

UPDATE- Gostkowski was placed on IR later this week so your kicker for the remainder of the season is Graham.

Denver's Martin OK After Surgery

UDenver center Jesse Martin, who suffered two broken vertebrae after a hit from North Dakota's Brad Malone, had successful surgery yesterday afternoon to repair and stabilize his neck and spine. You can read the Vancouver Sun write up about it right here. Although this has nothing to do with BU or even Hockey East, I felt it was a story every hockey fan should read about.

For the hit, Malone was issued a 5 minute charging major and a game misconduct. He was later suspended two games by the league. Reports from UDenver indicate that Malone has reached out to Martin since the hit, and that Martin was nothing but gracious in talking to him. While accidents clearly happen, as Martin has more or less said the hit was, the league kind of did what it needed to in disciplining Malone. While Malone made no legitimate attempts to hurt Martin, the hit was a hit to the head and at full speed (you can watch the video here. Be forewarned, it isn't fun to watch), both of which are illegal - and dangerous when combined. To his credit, Malone had started gliding well before the hit on Martin in an attempt to lessen the hit/not draw a penalty. Martin had also unfortunately put his head down in search of the puck, always a bad idea (especially when you're about to get hit). At the end of the day, though, it's Malone's job as the checker to avoid Martin's head regardless of whether it's lowered or not.

Anyways, we here wish Martin the best in his recovery, and hope that he makes a full recovery and is able to return to the ice, someday.