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One year ago there was uncertainty.

The security blanket of Walter Brown Arena, where the Terriers had thrived for over three decades, was being lifted in a few short months. The new home to BU hockey, Agganis Arena, was slated to open in January, but a question remained: would it give the Terriers the same home-ice advantage they had enjoyed for so many years?

The team???s confidence was shaken after not making the NCAA tournament for just the third time in 15 years. On top of that, there was a growing anticipation over who would replace four-year standout Sean Fields in net and how the team would cope with 11 of its 26 players being rookies.

Now, amid the settling dust around all that is different for Terrier hockey, a new team has emerged.

The Terriers no longer question their talent in goal with All-America candidate John Curry backstopping a team of 21 returnees who last took to the ice in the NCAA tournament in March. Even more exciting is that the Terriers no longer play in front of crowds of less than 6,000 rousing pro-BU spectators and Agganis Arena is not just Coach Jack Parker???s dream, it is his home.

The ice has been laid for a bright future and the Terriers are ready to continue showcasing one of the nation???s finest college hockey programs, both in talent and facilities.

Although the Terriers fared well in the 2004-05 season despite the changing landscape of the program, and were able to meet their regular-season goals, the post-season was a bit of a disappointment.

???I think the [2004-05] regular season more than met our expectations,??? said Parker, who is the reigning Hockey East and New England Coach of the Year, and enters his 33rd season at the helm. ???I thought we played extremely well in many phases of the year. To finish one point out of first place in the conference, to win the Beanpot and win as many games as we did to guarantee ourselves a spot in the national tournament before the regular season was over met all of our regular-season goals.

???I would say overall it was a good year with a disappointing finish because we didn???t go deeper into the playoffs,??? he added.

Looking to expand further on the impressive 23-14-4 record the Terriers held last season, Parker sees this year???s team as plenty capable of achieving its goals due to strength in every area. From Curry in net, to seven returning defensemen, to last year???s first line back for more action, the Terriers have all of the key elements for success in place.

GOAL

With Curry stepping in to fill the goaltending void by posting a 1.97 goals-against average and .923 save percentage in 33 games last season (ranked ninth in the nation), the Terriers may have their biggest strength in net, which Parker refers to as ???the most important position.???

???We???re certainly deep and experienced now in goal with Curry playing as well as he did last year,??? said Parker of the junior who was a runner-up for the 2004-05 Hockey East Player of the Year and currently sits second behind NCAA championship goaltender Tim Regan (1970-71) in the BU record books in both save percentage and GAA in a season. ???Plus, [Stephan] Siwiec stepped in and played well when Curry was hurt and we still believe that [Karson] Gillespie will be a great Division I college goaltender.???

Siwiec jumped in after Curry sustained a shoulder injury mid-season and held a 5-2-1 record in nine total games, which is exactly the type of trustworthy back-up goaltending the Terriers need. Add to the mix Gillespie, a sophomore who has the background and potential to become a top starting netminder down the road, and the BU goaltending unit may again be one of the best in the nation.

DEFENSE

The next big positive is the fact the Terriers only lost one defenseman, albeit an all-league selection and probably the best offensive blueliner on last year???s team, Bryan Miller. But there remains much talent and experience returning in the vital position.

???We need to be able to create offense by getting the puck quickly out to our forwards and by having the defensemen jump in the play a little bit more,??? said Parker. ???I think we have enough talent and confidence in those skill areas to be able to do both those things, and that should be a big plus for us.???

The two anchors will be seniors Jekabs Redlihs and Dan Spang, who have played a combined 209 games for the Scarlet and White over the past three years. Spang has also provided some offensive flair, as his point totals have increased on a yearly basis, reaching a career high of 16 points (3-13) while playing in all 41 games last year.

???[Redlihs and Spang] both appear to be as healthy as they???ve ever been coming into the season,??? said Parker. ???It would be great to have them for the full year and I think they will be the leaders of our defensive corps.???

A trio of juniors, Sean Sullivan, Kevin Schaeffer and Tom Morrow, add depth to the blue line. ???They are capable and have all played a lot for us already and certainly have proven that they can play in this league and be important players,??? said Parker, adding that Sullivan and Schaeffer will provide offensive prowess on the power play.

At the younger end are Kevin Keilt, who walked-on as a freshman last year, along with classmate Dan McGoff, and newcomer Matt Gilroy to round out the list of eight blue liners who will compete for the six spots.

???Kielt was a big surprise for us,??? said Parker. ???He earned a lot of ice time and played extremely well and gave us a physical presence. As for McGoff, he struggled to get in the line-up because he didn???t play with a lot of confidence, but I think that???ll change this year. We think he???s a very talented guy and that he???ll be fighting for a position no question. If he???s in the line-up, he???s going to be a solid player.???

FORWARD

The biggest question up front is who the goal scorers will be. With no 20-goal scorers last year, and only one player to reach the 15-goal plateau, the Terrier offense will need to crank it up a notch to front the skilled defensive unit if the hopes of playing deep into April are to stay alive.

???We???ve got to have some 15- or 20-goal scorers and we have four or five guys who are perfectly able to do so,??? predicted Parker. ???Certainly [David] Van der Gulik, our leading scorer last year, is capable of getting us 20 goals and I expect that he will. If he???s healthy, he???s going to be a star in this league and one of our most important forwards.??? Van der Gulik is a senior co-captain who has been struggling in the off-season with a pelvic bone injury sustained in last year???s playoffs.

Complimenting Van der Gulik will be fellow senior co-captain Brad Zancanaro, along with another three-year standout in John Laliberte, both of whom played on the first line alongside Van der Gulik last year. The three combined for 84 points on 40 goals and 44 assists.

Other point producers are likely to be junior Kenny Roche and sophomores Peter MacArthur and Bryan Ewing. After a solid freshman campaign in which Roche tallied 18 points (9-9) in 38 games, he fell off the scoring list in the opening half of last season, but was able to pick it up in the latter half and is skilled enough to be a 15-goal scorer.

???How [Roche] plays is going to be real important to us,??? said Parker. ???We need him to produce offensively for us and we think he can because he???s already proven it in the past.???

Although MacArthur had the most stand-out season of last year???s freshmen and earned a spot on the Hockey East All-Rookie Team, the other four sophomores including Brian McGuirk, Ryan Monaghan, Craig Sanders and Ryan Weston each had an impact on the team. ???I think the sophomores of this year had real solid freshmen years,??? said Parker, who hopes that they will continue to develop into key elements of the Terrier offense. ???I think MacArthur could easily be the leading scorer on this team because he???s got the capability of putting numbers up,??? said Parker. ???He???s going to see a lot of ice time and will be very important to us. Along with him, Ewing played extremely well last year and showed the ability to produce. It wouldn???t surprise me to see him be a real important offensive contributor for us.???

In addition, junior Eric Thomassian, who turned things up and the end of the regular season last year with three points in the final five contests, could play an important role up front for the Terriers.

Complimenting the returnees, the Terriers add five freshmen forwards in Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence, John McCarthy, Steve Smolinsky and Brandon Yip. Parker has confidence that two or three of the rookies will be able step in and get a lot of ice time from game one, despite the high level of competition among the talented group of forwards.

???It???s the first year in a long time that we???ll have a group of forwards where anybody could play on any given night in any one of the positions,??? explained Parker. ???There???s going to be healthy competition to get in, and stay in the line-up.???

SCHEDULE

Being in one of the top conferences in college hockey, the Terriers will not have an easy time with any opponents they face. Now, with the addition of Vermont to Hockey East, the number of non-conference games, excluding the two Beanpot matches, has dropped to five.

After opening the season and the Hockey East schedule versus UMass Lowell at Agganis Arena on Oct. 15, the Terriers will face off against Rensselaer and conference foes Maine, New Hampshire, UMass and Providence, before Thanksgiving. After crossing the Charles River to play Harvard on Nov. 22, the excitement will move to Agganis Way as BU hosts last year???s NCAA Frozen Four participant Colorado College, along with back-to-back defending national champion Denver.

???[Denver and Colorado College] will be a big part of the schedule for us because they are both national powers,??? said Parker. ???We had two tough games with them in Colorado last year and it???s important for us to bounce back and have good games against them. They will be huge games in the NCAA selection process.???

The following weekend, the Terriers will take on cross-town rival Boston College in a home-and-home series starting in Chestnut Hill on Dec. 2.

With no Christmas tournament this year, the Terriers will break from Dec. 10-30, before moving into league play for the remainder of the season???except in early February when they look for their 27th Beanpot title, and 10th in the last 12 years.

The Jack Parker Rink at Agganis Arena will play host to its first full season of Terrier hockey, after opening its doors on Jan. 3 in a 2-1 BU upset over then top-ranked Minnesota.

One thing that is sure to come out of the 2005-06 season is excitement. The old is out, the new is in and everything is in place for another great year of BU hockey.

While one year ago there was uncertainty, today there is promise.