After the second-half success enjoyed by last year’s Boston University men’s ice hockey team, it’s easy to see why head coach Jack Parker is looking forward to his 34th season behind the Terriers’ bench.

A well-balanced team from a year ago returns 21 of its players, including 14 who appeared in at least 31 games. Each one of the returners has a good idea of what of it takes to build a contender after last season’s conference title and consequent rise to the top of the national rankings

"We lost a lot of key individuals from last year’s senior class - six very, very important guys that played a lot of hockey for us," said Parker. "However, we think we’ve done a pretty good job of replacing them as far as overall talent is concerned. Replacing their experience will, of course, be the challenge."

With several talented and experienced returners back, the goal for each member of this year’s squad will be to build off last year’s development and make sure that each and every position in the lineup is highly contested.

"Our strengths will be on defense and in the goal," said Parker. "We lost some firepower up front and it remains to be seen how we’ll replace that."

Senior Sean Sullivan has inherited the role of captain for the 2006-07 Terriers, while classmates Kenny Roche and John Curry will serve as assistant captains.

"I think we’re going to get great senior leadership. Our captains are proven leaders already," said Parker. "Sully will be a great captain. He’s a vocal guy who’ll show you how to do it as well as tell you how to do it. Curry and Roche are respected by their teammates for how hard they’ve worked to get better here and how much they’ve produced for us."

"Looking at our team, I feel that we have depth, experience, size and quickness, which means we should be pretty good," said Parker. "You can be pretty good, but being better than everyone else in Hockey East is the real challenge. That’s what makes this such a tough and exciting league. We could finish anywhere from first to sixth [in Hockey East], but I’ll bet that the sixth-place team in this league is going to be a real good college hockey team."

Last season, the Terriers filled their trophy case with three pieces of hardware, including the team’s first Hockey East tournament title in nine years. However, falling short of their ultimate goal – a national title – will easily serve as motivation to be one of the few teams that are still practicing when the calendar turns to April.

The BU coaching staff can rest assured that the team’s goalkeeping is in good hands as All-American John Curry returns between the pipes for his senior season.

"When you have a guy like John Curry, you know you’re going to be good in goal," said Parker. "He’s one of the premier goaltenders in the country and we’re sure he’ll give us a great senior year."

Curry posted a 24-8-4 mark as a junior with a goals against average of 2.24 and a .918 save percentage – numbers that earned him a spot on the RBK All-America Second Team. The Minnesota native was the runner-up for Hockey East’s Player of the Year award for the second consecutive season and was voted to the league’s All-Star First Team.

However, Curry’s presence is not the only reason Parker is very optimistic about the position, as junior Karson Gillespie and freshman Brett Bennett will round out a goaltending unit that is as deep as the Terriers have had

in quite some time. "Gillespie showed flashes of brilliance last year and Bennett is a very talented freshman," noted Parker. "The two will be vying for the second spot and, in reality, ice time to spell Curry, which will be good for the team and for John to keep him sharp and give him some rest."

Gillespie’s first career win was a memorable one, as he posted a 31-save shutout of two-time defending national champion Denver last November. The following month, he came within a few minutes of another shutout in a 5-1 victory at Dartmouth to further impress the coaching staff.

Bennett is one of three incoming recruits from the U.S. National Under-18 program with strong credentials, having posted a 1.69 goals against average in 16 games with the national team last season.

"It’s Curry’s job to lose, but we need to ask ourselves if we want to play other people," added Parker. "And if so, do we play both or just one? Do we give Curry more rest? Do we need to give somebody else more time to establish our goalie for the future? All of that remains to be seen. But in general, it’s a nice situation. Like pitching in baseball, you can never have too much goaltending."

The Terriers’ goaltending surely won’t be the only reason their opponents have a tough time scoring this season.

With five veteran upperclassmen returning along with a sophomore who made a surprise impact as a rookie, the BU defense is in great shape heading into the preseason. Add that to the fact that two highly-recruited newcomers enter the mix and this group’s potential becomes quite evident.

"On defense, we’ve got a great core coming back," said Parker. "Although we lost [Dan] Spang and [Jekabs] Redlihs, we’ve got six guys coming back that played a lot of hockey for us and bringing in the two freshmen makes it very competitive from a depth point-of-view."

The defensemen will undoubtedly be anchored by Sullivan and fellow senior Kevin Schaeffer. The two were paired up for the final 23 games of last season and were a huge reason for the team’s second-half success, combining to tally 30 points.

Their classmate, Tom Morrow, has played in 100 games during his career and completes a well-accomplished senior trio.

"Sully is a proven leader and Morrow and Schaeffer have had real solid years for us," said Parker. "Schaeffer has been a regular since day one and once Morrow found a regular spot in our defense, he’s played extremely well."

One of the most pleasant developments from last year was the play of walk-on Matt Gilroy. Primarily a forward in junior hockey, Gilroy’s only fit with the Terriers was as the team’s eighth defenseman. He quickly adjusted to his new position and surprised everyone, making immediate contributions and finishing the year tied for second on the team with a +21 rating.

"Gilroy surprised us all," said Parker. "When we brought him on, we figured he might be able to help us down the road. Once he got in the lineup, we couldn’t take him out."

Junior Dan McGoff was in and out of the BU lineup as an underclassman and looks to play a more consistent role this season.

"Dan’s a very talented kid and he’s been building his confidence," said Parker. "He’s has the talent to step it up and be a real solid player in this league."

Rounding out the group of six returners is junior Kevin Kielt, a hard-nosed defenseman who saw playing time in 27 contests during his first two seasons.

"Kevin brings a little something extra to the table in terms of physical play," said Parker. "He’s a very determined player and he’ll be in the running for more ice time as a junior."

The two newcomers on the defense are Brian Strait, who helped the U.S. National Under-18 squad capture the world championship, and Eric Gryba, a Saskatchewan native who excelled in the USHL playing for the Green Bay Gamblers. Both were drafted in the third round of this summer’s NHL draft.

"If we just played our six returners, we’d be in pretty good shape," noted Parker. "But it will be hard to keep these two freshmen out of the lineup. It’s always interesting to see how line combinations shake out over the course of a season. There could be some different looks in the defense by January as opposed to how we start the season."

When the BU offense found its rhythm last season, good things happened. After battling inconsistency in the first three months of the season, the Terriers figured out their optimal line combinations and reeled off 11 consecutive wins, scoring at least three goals in each victory.

Many factors contributed to the forwards’ success, including the mid-season return of senior co-captain David Van der Gulik following a preseason injury. The offensive production from Van der Gulik and his classmates, fellow co-captain Brad Zancanaro and John Laliberte, will be missed, but one thing that the Terriers proved during their run was that they could get scoring production from any of their lines.

"The best part of our game last year was that we had a real balanced attack the second half of the year," said Parker "We led the league in scoring for the first time in quite a while and I think we can continue that."

One reason to believe that the goals will keep coming at a high rate is the chemistry that was built last season between senior Kenny Roche and juniors Pete MacArthur and Bryan Ewing. MacArthur tallied a team-high 39 points, while Roche and Ewing finished 1-2 in goals with 17 and 16, respectively.

"If the MacArthur-Ewing-Roche line builds off what it accomplished last season, it can be as good of a line as there is in our league," said Parker. "Roche had a spectacular turnaround last year with a great second half and a lot of that had to do with his two linemates."

While that line will be counted on to spearhead the offense, a trio of sophomores who quickly gelled last year as freshmen are on the fast track to becoming proven veterans. Formed in early January, the rookie line of Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence and Brandon Yip proved to be a lethal combination.

Each member of the freshman trio had at least eight goals and 13 assists, and the three executed the Terriers’ overtime goal against Boston College in the Hockey East title game as Higgins and Lawrence assisted on Yip’s game-ending tally.

"That line contributed an awful lot last year considering they all were adjusting to the college game," said Parker. "It’s safe to say their offensive output was instrumental to our success."

Not to be forgotten in last year’s rookie class is John McCarthy, a defensive forward who found his niche on the fourth line with two players a year older than him - Brian McGuirk and Ryan Weston.

"The line of McCarthy centering for Weston and McGuirk gave us a different, more physical look on the ice," said Parker. "It was a real energy line for us."

Senior Eric Thomassian tallied four goals in 15 games last year and is vying to get more ice time as he enters his final season at BU.

"We’re hoping Thomassian can make some good contributions in his senior year," said Parker.

Two more upperclassmen who are in a position to see more consistent roles are juniors Craig Sanders and Ryan Monaghan.

"Sanders and Monaghan have a good amount of experience between the two of them," said Parker. "They’re great guys and they work hard to fight for their spots. They give us a lot of depth up front."

Sophomore Steve Smolinksy was hampered by injury during his first year with the Terriers, but is nearing full health and should be available by the season’s commencement.

"Steve has an unbelieveable amount of speed and we could certainly use him to become a quicker team," added Parker.

Two forwards, Zach Cohen and Luke Popko, will join the forward corps in 2006-07. Cohen, an Illinois native, was a standout for the USHL’s Tri-City Storm, while Popko is the Terriers’ third freshman from the U.S. National Under-18 Team.

"We’re extremely happy to have Cohen and Popko here," said Parker. "The two of them are solid both offensively and defensively and they’ll play important roles at some point this season."

Despite having just five games to fill on their slate outside of conference play and the Beanpot, the Terriers have continued their long-standing rivalries and will also play in a holiday tournament for the first time since claiming the Great Lakes Invitational during the 2002-03 campaign.

BU’s group of non-conference opponents will feature no fewer than four ECACHL squads, including yearly rivals Harvard and RPI, along with Yale. The Terriers will travel to Dartmouth on Dec. 29-30 for the Ledyard National Bank Invitational, facing St. Lawrence in the first round before taking on either North Dakota or the host Big Green the following day.

"It’s a good non-league package with the usual suspects in RPI and Harvard in addition to the Dartmouth tournament," said Parker. "In all, it’s a pretty demanding schedule considering the fact that our in-league games seem to get tougher and tougher each year."

Following the season opener at RPI on Oct. 14, the Terriers will open their second full season of play at Agganis Arena on Oct. 20 with a Hockey East match-up against Northeastern. Six of the Terriers’ final seven contests of the fall semester will be at home, featured by a four-game homestand, the team’s longest since a five-game stretch at Walter Brown Arena in December 2002.