Terrier Hockey vs. Merrimack Game Notes
March 4, 2000 | Men's Ice Hockey
BOSTON UNIVERSITY vs. Merrimack March 3, 2000 - Volpe Complex - 7 pm - North Andover, MA
SIX REGULAR-SEASON TITLES IN SEVEN YEARS: With their sweep of Northeastern last weekend, the Terriers won their sixth Hockey East regular-season title in the last seven years. They had won five in a row from the 1993-94 season through 1997-98. The streak ended last year when the team finished fifth with an 8-13-3 record - Prior to the 1993-94 season, B.U. had never won the league's regular-season title.
A TRIP TO THE NCAA TOURNAMENT: With the regular-season title tucked away, the Terriers will receive an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The NCAA East Regionals are scheduled for March 25-26 at the Pepsi Arena in Albany, NY. The Frozen Four will be played at the Providence Civic Center, April 6th and 8th - B.U. has appeared in the NCAA Tournament 24 times, including 9 times in the past 10 years.
DiPIETRO TO START IN NET TONIGHT: Freshman Rick DiPietro (Winthrop, MA) is scheduled to start in net tonight - He comes into the game ranked fifth in the nation in winning percentage (.773), while he is 20th in GAA (2.46). He is just shy of cracking the top-20 in save percentage. The cutoff this week was .914, while he has a .912 save percentage.
DiPIETRO VS. MERRIMACK; HOCKEY EAST: In his only previous outing against the Warriors, he had 29 saves in a 5-2 win on November 5th - In Hockey East action, he has a 10-2-4 record along with a 2.81 GAA and a .901 save percentage.
HERON NAMED HOCKEY EAST CO-PLAYER OF THE MONTH: Senior left wing Chris Heron (Mississauga, ONT) has been named the Hockey East Co-Player of the Month for February. He shares the award with BC's Brian Gionta - In the 8 games during the month, Heron had 6-612. Below are his game-by-game totals - During the month, the Terriers were 7-1-0 including a 4-1 win over BC in the Beanpot title game.
Game Score Gls Asts Pts GWG PPG UMass 3-2, W 0 1 1 0 0 Harvard 4-0, W 1 0 1 0 0 UML 5-3, W 2 1 3 1 0 BC 4-1, W 1 1 2 0 0 Prov 2-5, L 1 0 1 0 1 Prov 4-3, W 1 2 3 0 1 NU 3-1, W 0 1 1 0 0 NU 4-3, W 0 0 0 0 0 Totals 6 6 12 1 2
SECOND TERRIER TO WIN MONTHLY AWARD: Heron is the second Terrier to receive a monthly award from Hockey East this year. Goalie Rick DiPietro was named the Hockey East Rookie of the Month in November after posting a 4-0-1 record along with a 2.36 GAA and a .922 save percentage.
AUFIERO WEEKLY WINNER: Sophomore defenseman Pat Aufiero (Winchester, MA) is this week's Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week. In last weekend's sweep of Northeastern, he had 0-33 - This is Aufiero's first weekly award from the league.
20 WINS 18 TIMES: This year marks the 18th time in the 27-year coaching career of Jack Parker that the Terriers have reached the 20-win plateau. Parker had a stretch of nine straight 20-or-more-win seasons come to an end last year when the Terriers posted a 14-20-3 record. It was only the fourth time in his head coaching career that his B.U. team had finished with a sub-.500 record.
DEGERMAN, HERON, CAVANAUGH ON OFFENSIVE TEARS: Senior captain Tommi Degerman (Helsinki, FIN) along with Heron and sophomore Dan Cavanaugh (Springfield, Mass.) comes into tonight's game on offensive tears.
Degerman has 4-48 in his last 6 games - He has been the epitome of consistency this year, as he has never gone more than one game without at least one point - He has had 10 multiple-point games, while his game-high is 3 points which he has achieved 3 times - He leads the game in power play goals (8) and game-winning goals (4), while he is tied for the lead in points (38). He is tied for the lead in plus-minus (+17), while he is tied for second on both goals (17) and assists (21). Heron has at least one goal in 5 of his last 7 games and in 7 of his last 10. The totals are 8 goals in 10 games and 6 goals in the last 7 - Overall, in his last 10 games, he has 8-614, while he has 6-410 in his last 7 games - Dating back to the Minnesota-Duluth game on December 28th, he has 12-921 in 17 games - His longest stretch this year without a point in 2 games - He leads the team in short-handed goals (3), while he is tied for the lead in points (38) and tied for second in both goals (17) and assists (21).
Cavanaugh has at least one point in 7 of his last 9 games. During this stretch, he has 2-810. He leads the team in assists (25), while he is tied for third in points (32).
AN EXPLOSIVE TRIO: For virtually the entire season, Cavanaugh has centered Heron on the left and Degerman on the right. It has proved to be one of the most explosive lines in Hockey East as the three come into tonight's game with a combined total of 41 of the Terriers' 127 goals (32.8 percent) and 67 of the team's 210 assists (31.9 percent). Of the Terriers' 337 total points, these three have 108 (32.1 percent).
DEGERMAN, HERON TIED IN CAREER TOTALS: The two come into tonight tied with 107 career points - Degerman has 47-60107 in 114 games, while Heron has 48-59107 in 144 games - They both reached the 100-point total the same nightFebruary 11th against UMass/Lowell - It would seem appropriate the two have the same total as the two are not just classmates and linemates, they are also roommates.
TEN TERRIERS ENJOYING CAREER YEARS: The following Terriers have surpassed their previous best offensive season.
Name 99-'00 Totals Best Previous Totals Year
Pat Aufiero 2-1921 (32 gp) 3-47 (22 gp) 98-'99
Jack Baker 8-1725 (34 gp) 6-713 (31 gp) 98-99
Dan Cavanaugh 7-2532 (33 gp) 6-814 (36 gp) 98-'99
Carl Corazzini 18-1432 (35 gp) 15-924 (37 gp) 98-'99
Tommi Degerman 17-2138 (35 gp) 12-2032 (35 gp) 97-98
Chris Dyment 11-1728 (35 gp) 1-67 (25 gp) 98-'99
Keith Emery 1-56 (34 gp) 2-24 (15 gp) 97-'98
Nick Gillis 8-1523 (35 gp) 8-1220 (34 gp) 97-'98
Chris Heron 17-2138 (35 gp) 18-1735 (36 gp) 98-'99
Mike Pandolfo 9-1019 (35 gp) 13-417 (34 gp) 98-99
DiPIETRO IN 2000: Freshman goalie Rick DiPietro has had 13 starts since January 8th and has an 8-1-3 record. His only start in which he did not have a decision was vs. Providence College on February 19th. He played the first 24:11, allowed 3 goals on 6 shots and was lifted in place of Jason Tapp (Kelowna, BC). Tapp played the rest of the game, had 6 saves, did not allow any goals, and earned the win, 4-3. Here are DiPietro's game-by-game stats for each of the 13 games.
Date Opponent Gls Svs Sv% MP GAA W-L-T 1/8 BC 4 36 .900 65 3.69 0-0-1 1/9 BC 1 19 .950 60 1.00 1-0-1 1/15 Maine 4 25 .862 60 4.00 2-0-1 1/16 Maine 3 27 .900 65 2.77 2-0-2 1/21 Lowell 0 29 1.000 60 0.00 3-0-2 1/28 UNH 3 26 .897 65 2.77 3-0-3 1/29 UNH 2 21 .913 60 2.00 4-0-3 2/4 UMA 2 21 .913 60 2.00 5-0-3 2/7 Harvard 0 21 1.000 60 0.00 6-0-3 2/14 BC 1 31 .969 60 1.00 7-0-3 2/18 PC 5 28 .848 60 5.00 7-1-3 2/19 PC 3 6 .666 24.2 7.40 7-1-3 2/27 NU 3 23 .885 60 3.00 8-1-3 Totals 31 315 .910 759.2 2.45 8-1-3
OTHERS WHO ARE HOT IN THE MILLENNIUM: The Terriers have lost just once in 16 games during the millennium. In the meantime, they have 11 wins and 4 ties dating back to their January 8th game vs. Boston College. Below are the players who have helped spearhead the attack.
GP Goals Assists Points Chris Heron 16 11 9 20 Tommi Degerman 16 8 10 18 Jack Baker 16 5 8 13 Carl Corazzini 16 8 4 12 Chris Dyment 16 3 9 12 Pat Aufiero 15 0 12 12 Dan Cavanaugh 16 3 9 12 Freddy Meyer 16 1 7 8 Brian Collins 16 6 2 8 Nick Gillis 16 3 5 8 John Sabo 16 4 3 7 Mike Pandolfo 16 1 6 7
TERRIERS IN THE NATIONAL POLLS: After slipping to third in the national polls following their weekend split of Providence College on February 18-19, the Terriers moved back up to second this week in both national polls after last weekend's sweep of Northeastern - Both polls had the University of Wisconsin as the number-one ranked team - In the USA Today poll, the Terriers finished with 202 points, 23 points behind the top-ranked Badgers. In the U.S. College Hockey Online poll, B.U. finished a first-place vote and 341 points, while the Badgers garnered 39 first-place votes and 399 points - Second place is the Terriers' highest ranking this year.
BY MONTH: Below is how the Terriers have fared each month thus far.
October (3-3-0) November (6-0-2)
For Against For Against
Goals 22 21 33 18
Shots 189 129 221 230
PPGs 4/38 7/36 14/49 5/59
PP% 10.5 19.4 28.6 8.57
December (2-3-0) January (4-0-4)
For Against For Against
Goals 16 20 27 15
Shots 93 143 209 223
PPGs 1/23 5/22 8/37 6/41
PPG% 0.04 22.7 21.6 14.6
February (5-1-0)
For Against
Goals 29 18
Shots245 234
PPGs 11/49 3/32
PPG%.224 .094
HAVE SURPASSED LAST YEAR'S TOTAL: With the Terriers' 4-2 win over New Hampshire on January 29th, B.U. surpassed last year's entire season win total. A year ago, in 37 games, B.U. had 14 wins, while this year, they have 22 wins through 35 games.
THREE SHUTOUTS FOR TERRIERS THIS SEASON: The Terriers have blanked three opponents this year4-0 over Denver on November 26th, 5-0 over UMass/Lowell on January 21st, and 4-0 over Harvard in the Beanpot opener on February 7th. The last time B.U. has had three or more shutouts in a season was 1997-98 when they blanked RPI, 6-0; Maine, 6-0; Clarkson, 4-0; and Providence, 1-0.
TERRIERS ON THE ROAD: The Terriers are 10-7-3 on the road this year. They are 5-2-3 vs. Hockey East teams on the road and 5-5-0 against non-conference foes - The statistical leaders are senior Tommi Degerman, junior Carl Corazzini (Framingham, MA), and Dan Cavanaugh.. Degerman leads the team in points (22). Corazzini is first in goals (11), while Cavanaugh leads the way in assists (13) - In all 8 Terriers have scored in double figures headed by Degerman (22), Corazzini (20), and Chris Heron (10-919) - In the net, Rick DiPietro has an 8-3-3 record along with a 2.39 GAA and a .915 save percentage, while Jason Tapp has a 2-4-0 record with a 4.05 GAA and an .850 save percentage - As a team, the Terriers have outscored their hosts, 71-60, and converted on 21-of-114 power-play chances (18.4 percent). By contrast, the 20 opponents have converted on 15-of-99 man-advantage situations for a 15.2 percent efficiency.
WHAT A DIFFERENCE A YEAR MAKES: At this point last season, the Terriers were 13-19-3 overall and 8-13-3 in Hockey East action. They went on to finish with a 14-20-3 overall record and an 8-13-3 mark in the league. The problem was not on offense as the team had scored 108 goals through its first 35 games of the year. There was a concern on defense, though, as the 35 opponents had scored 125 goals. This season, the team has scored 19 more goals, 127, than a year ago at this time, while the defense has allowed 30 less goals, 95.
NOT THE SHOTS THAT COUNT: The Terriers have outshot their opponents in 16-of-35 games this year, and they are 11-4-1 in those games. The four times they have outshot their opponent and lost was vs. RPI on October 15th, Vermont on October 23rd, Ferris State on December 27th, and Minnesota-Duluth on December 28th. B.U. outshot the Engineers, 33-21, but lost, 3-2, while they had a marked advantage vs. the Catamounts, 44-20, but lost, 7-4. Finally, against Ferris State, the Terriers held a 34-26 edge but lost 4-3, and against UMD, B.U. held a slight advantage, 37-36, but lost, 8-5By contrast, the Terriers have been outshot 17 times and are 9-3-5 in those games. Twice, this year, the Terriers and their opponents have had equal number of shots, and the Terriers are 2-0-0.
OFFENSIVE DEFENSEMEN: The Terriers' nine defensemen this year have combined to score 20 goals and add 62 assists for 82 points in 35 games or an average of 2.34 ppg. Last year, in 37 games, the seven defensemen had 10 goals and 52 assists for 62 points, or an average of 1.7 ppg. The leading goal scorer among the defensemen this year is Chris Dyment (Reading, MA), who is fifth on the team with 11. John Cronin B (Duxbury, MA), who has missed 12 games because of injuries, remains second among the defensemen in goals scored with three. Last year, Pat Aufiero and Juha Vuori led the defensemen with 3 goals each. Aufiero, who missed the first half of last season with a broken wrist, played in 22 games, while Vuori, who alternated between forward and defense a year ago, played 29 games on the blue line.
TEAM BY CLASS: The Terriers' 25-player roster includes Seniors (5): Forwards (4): Tommi Degerman, Bobby Hanson, Chris Heron, Greg Quebec
Defense (1): Juha Vuori Juniors (5): Forwards (3): Carl Corazzini, Nick Gillis, Scott Perry Defense (2): Keith Emery, Colin Sheen Sophomores (7): Forwards (4): Jack Baker, Dan Cavanaugh, Mike DiMella, Mike Pandolfo Defense (2): Pat Aufiero, Chris Dyment Goalie (1): Jason Tapp Freshmen (8): Forwards (3): Brian Collins, Ryan Priem, John Sabo Defense (3): Mike Bussoli, John Cronin, Freddy Meyer Goalie (2): Ricky DiPietro, Andy Warren
SCORING BY CLASS: The five seniors represent the most productive class in terms of goals, while the six sophomore skaters have the most assists and points. The seniors come into tonight's game with 39 total goals as Tommi Degerman and Chris Heron are tied for second on the team with 17. Junior Carl Corazzini leads the team with 18 The sophomores have 89 assists with Dan Cavanaugh leading the way with 25. As a class, the sophomores have 126 points. Here is how the breakdown goes by classSophomores: 37-89126; Seniors: 39-4887; Juniors: 28-3765; Freshmen: 23-3659.
TEAM LEADERS: Senior left wing Tommi Degerman is the team captain, while senior center Chris Heron and junior right wing Carl Corazzini are the assistant captains. Corazzini is the first underclassman to serve in one of the captain's roles since Chris Drury was an assistant captain as a junior during the 1996-97 season. The following year, in 1997-98, en route to being voted the Hobey Baker winner as college hockey's premier player, Drury was the team's co-captain along with Chris Kelleher.
PENALTY KILLERS: All season, the Terriers have done an outstanding job killing penalties. In fact, in 18 of the 35 games to date, the Terriers have not allowed a power-play goal. What's more, in the last 25 games, 15 of the opponents have been 0-for-the-game. The group includes New Hampshire (0-for-8), Denver (0-for-7), Colorado College (0-for-4), UMass (0-for-4) on December 3rd, Ferris State (0-for-3), BC (0-for-6) on January 9th, UMass-Lowell (0-for-4) on January 21st, and Yale (0-for-2) on January 23rd, New Hampshire (0-for3) on January 28th, and UMass/Amherst (0-for-7) on February 4th, Harvard (0-for-5) in the Beanpot opener on February 7th, UMass/Lowell (0-for-4) on February 11th, BC (0-for-3) on February 14th, and Northeastern in both games last weekend0-for-4 last Friday night and 0-for-1 last Sunday afternoon - The most power play goals allowed by the Terriers this year is 3 by Maine (3-for-8) on January 15th and Minnesota-Duluth (3-for-7) on December 28th.
AN IMPROVIING POWER PLAY: In the last 12 games, the Terriers have shown a marked improvement on their power play as they are 17-of-67 (25.4 percent). The stretch began with a season-best 4-for-7 (57.1 percent) vs. UMass/Lowell on January 21st - Prior to this eight-game stretch, B.U. had gone through a nine-game span during which it was 3-for-42 (.07 percent) on the power play
FRESHMEN MAKING MARK ON OFFENSE: Six of the seven freshmen skaters have scored at least one goal this year. The most recent freshman to join the goal-scoring fold is Freddy Meyer, who notched his first collegiate goal in the 3-2 win over UMass/Amherst on February 4th. In addition, it proved to be the game-winner - The top goal scorer among the freshmen is Brian Collins, who is fourth on the team with 12. The only freshman without a goal is Ryan Priem, who has played in 20-of-35 games. As a group, the freshmen have accounted for 23 of the team's 127 goals.
TERRIERS IN HOCKEY EAST STATISTICS: The following Terriers are listed among the Hockey East leaders. These statistics are through games of February 20th. Dan Cavanaugh: Tied for13th in scoring in all games (7-2532) and tied for 8th in scoring in league games only (4-2024).
Carl Corazzini: Tied for 13th in scoring in all games (18-1432) and tied for 14th in league games only (11-819).
Tommi Degerman: Tied for 5th in scoring in all games (17-2138) and tied for 3rd in league games only (13-1326).
Rick DiPietro: In all games3rd in GAA (2.46), and 3rd in save percentage (.912)In league games only6th in GAA (2.80) and 9th in save percentage (.901) Chris Dyment: 16th in scoring in all games (11-1728) Chris Heron: Tied for 5th in scoring in all games (17-2138) and tied for 3rd in scoring in league games only (12-1426).
TEAM STATISTICS IN HOCKEY EAST: Below is how the team ranks in key statistics both in overall games and in league games only.
Overall Games League Games
Goals Per Game: Third, 3.63 First, 3.64
Goals Allowed Per Game: Third, 2.71 Third, 2.73
Power Play: Second, 38-of-196, .194 Second, 24-of-119, .202
Penalty Killing: Fourth, 154-of-180, .856 Fourth, 101-of-117, .863
79th YEAR OF COMPETITION: This is the 79th year of intercollegiate play for the Terrier hockey team. Including this year's 22-7-6 start, the Terriers have compiled a record of 1166-659-88 for a .633 winning percentage.
DECADE OF THE TERRIERS: Since the 1989-90 season, B.U. teams have amassed an impressive 289-110-33 mark for a .706 winning percentage. They have played in the NCAA Tournament in 9 of the 10 years and advanced to the Finals in seven of those years. They won the Division 1 championship game in 1995, while they played in the title game in 1991, 1994, and 1997. Below is how the Terriers have done during the decade.
Year Record .Pct NCAA Tournament 1989-90 25-17-2 .591 Lost to Colgate in semis, 3-2 1990-91 28-11-2 .707 Lost to No. Mich. in title game, 8-7 (3 OTs) 1991-92 22-9-4 .686 Lost to Mich. St. in Regional, 4-2 1992-93 29-9-2 .750 Lost to Lake State in semis, 6-1 1993-94 34-7-0 .829 Lost to Lake State in title games, 9-1 1994-95 31-6-3 .813 Won NCAA title vs. Maine, 6-2 1995-96 30-7-3 .788 Lost to Michigan in semis, 4-0 1996-97 26-9-6 .707 Lost to North Dakota in title game, 6-4 1997-98 28-8-2 .763 Lost to UNH in East Region, 4-3 (OT) 1998-99 14-20-3 .418 Did not qualify 1999-2000 22-7-6 .714
A MILESTONE FOR PARKER: Terrier head coach Jack Parker, who marked the 600th win of his illustrious coaching career in the Terriers' 5-1 win over Colorado College on November 27th, is in his 27th season as the head coach at his alma mater. He comes into tonight's game with a lifetime record of 613-292-57 for a .667 winning percentage - He is currently tied with Wisconsin's Jeff Sauer for fourth on the all-time win list - Below are the coaches in terms of wins. Mason, Peters, and Jeff Sauer are still coaching, while Ceglarski has retired.
Coach School Years Wins Ron Mason Lake State, Bowling Green, Mich. State 66-SA 859 Bob Peters North Dakota Bemidji State 64-SA 740 Len Ceglarski Clarkson, Boston College 58-92 674 Jack Parker Boston University 73-SA 613 Jeff Sauer, CC, Wisconsin, 71-SA 613
MOST WINS AT SAME DIVISION 1 PROGRAM: While Parker is tied for fourth in total wins, he is first in Division 1 in victories at the same institution. Mason has 570 victories at Michigan State. Peters has 698 victories at Bemidji. However, they have been Division 2 prior to this season. This is their first year with a full Division 1 schedule, and they are 12-15-1. Bemidji is one of the seven teams in the newly-formed College Hockey America (CHA) league. The other members are Wayne State of Detroit, Niagara, Air Force, Army, Findlay of Ohio, and Alabama-Huntsville - Sauer has 445 wins at Wisconsin.
PARKER VS. NORTHEASTERN, HOCKEY EAST: Including this year's two wins over the Warriors, the veteran coach has an all-time record of 41-6-2 (85.7 winning percentage) against Merrimack - His overall record against Hockey East teams is 336-147-40 (.681).
SERIES HISTORY: In a rivalry that dates back to the 1964-65 season, the Terriers hold a commanding lead, 48-7 with 2 ties - The Warriors' last win was on January 10, 1999 when they skated to a 4-2 win at the Volpe Complex - Merrimack had a successful year vs. the Terriers last season with a win and a tie in three meetings - Including this year's two wins over Merrimack, the Terriers are only 4-3-1 against Merrimack in the last eight meetings.
DAYS OF THE WEEK: Below is how the Terriers have fared on the different days of the week this year.
Friday: 8-3-2 Saturday: 8-2-2 Sunday: 3-0-2 Monday: 2-1-0 Tuesday 1-1-0
RECORD BY MONTH: Below is how the Terriers have fared during the months of October, November, and December this year.
October 3-3-0 November 6-0-2 December 2-3-0 January 4-0-4 February 7-1-0 MISCELLANEOUS STATISTICS: When scoring first: 14-3-3 When ahead after first period: 11-2-4 When trailing after first period: 6-4-1 When tied after first period: 5-1-1 When ahead after second period: 15-0-3 When trailing after second period: 5-3-2 When tied after second period: 2-4-1 Record in overtime games: 1-0-6
