2011-12 Men's Ice Hockey Season Preview
October 7, 2011 | Men's Ice Hockey
Oct. 7, 2011
There are many reasons that the 90th season of Boston University men's ice hockey kicks off with plenty of optimism.
The Terriers not only return one of the best goaltenders in the country for his senior campaign, but also have 85 percent of their scoring -- including the top seven scorers -- from a season ago back on the ice this fall.
Each group (forwards, defensemen, goaltenders) lost just one player and last year's impact freshmen got better and better with experience and are excited and prepared to build on that as they shoulder an even bigger load.
The 2010-11 squad went undefeated in October (6-0-1) and put together a late 10-game unbeaten streak in Hockey East play (8-0-2), but struggled in between and in the league quarterfinals, ultimately having its season come to an early end.
Having gone back-to-back seasons without making the NCAA tournament for the first time in over 20 years, the Terriers are projected by several pundits to achieve the consistency they have strived for and return to their spot among the nation's elite teams.
"I truly think that we're going to have a solid team in many, many ways," said head coach Jack Parker, who enters his 39th season at the helm of the program. "Last year we had the youngest team I've ever coached and they all did what they had to do this summer - they got a year older and they got to the next class. That, in and of itself, is going to make us better. Our freshmen will be sophomores, our sophomores will be juniors, our 18-year-olds will be 19-year-olds and they've all had another year under their belt with [strength & conditioning coach] Mike Boyle, which is really important the first couple years."
For the first time in over 30 years, a Terrier will have a `C' on his jersey for two seasons. Senior Chris Connolly served as a co-captain last year and will be the team's lone captain for the 2011-12 campaign. Jack O'Callahan '79 was the last BU player to serve as a two-year captain.
The team waited until late September to appoint assistant captains to see how people were interacting with each other in the summer and the first month back on campus. Junior forwards Alex Chiasson and Justin Courtnall earned that honor from the coaching staff and will each don an 'A' this season.
"Chris was an overwhelming choice to return as captain and I know he'll do a fabulous job and be an even better leader," said Parker "He'll be augmented and supported very well by our assistant captains in Alex and Justin. They both bring a lot to the table in terms of leadership qualities and positive feedback. All three captains are all highly looked up to by their teammates as far as their work ethic and they are good examples of BU hockey players."
FORWARDS
12 Returning, 1 Lost, 1 Redshirt Freshman, 2 New
Terrier fans won't have to check the roster much this season with 12 forwards back for the 2011-12 campaign.
Joe Pereira, who tallied a team-best 15 goals last year as a senior captain, will need to be replaced not only in scoring output, but also in leadership. The Terriers, however, have plenty of firepower ready to ignite the offense.
"We've got almost everybody back from a team that finished in third place last year in a very, very tough league," said Parker. "In terms of our forwards, we're bringing in three freshmen (two freshmen, 1 redshirt) taking the place of one senior in Pereira. We're going to have more depth and more competition for spots. We're going to have a different look up front offensively because of that."
An expected advantage for this year's team will be the weekly competition for the last couple spots among the forwards due to the fact that a deep and talented group of 15 dots this year's roster.
Senior captain Chris Connolly is the heart of the offense and has scored 10 goals in each of his first three seasons at BU. He is as consistent of a player as anyone on this year's team and has plenty of help in the way of classmate Corey Trivino, junior Alex Chiasson and a trio of talented sophomores.
"Connolly is a really thorough player who is a great leader. We expect him to be one of the top scorers in the league and an invaluable asset because of how much ice time he's going to get," said Parker.
Chiasson took huge strides last year and ended up recording a team-best 34 points, including 14 goals. He uses his 6-foot-3 frame to his advantage on both sides of the ice and returns to campus in the best shape of his career with aspirations of a 50-point season.
"We hope that Alex can jump up into the 40-point range with 15-20 goals," said Parker. "He's a really good defensive forward when he's killing penalties, and once he brings that into 5-on-5 play, he'll be one of the most complete players in the league."
Trivino has put together stretches of strong play during his first three years, but will be counted on to make a consistent impact in his final season. He established career bests in goals (8) and assists (20) as a junior.
"Corey enters his senior season hoping to come into his own. He's been a solid player for us, but his skills should make him a terrific player for us. If he gets a fire in his belly, he could be one of the top players in the league this year - no question."
BU also returns reigning Hockey East Rookie of the Year Charlie Coyle and classmates Sahir Gill and Matt Nieto. All three were among the top five freshman point-scorers in Hockey East play last year and all of them bring a different style of the play to the ice to create a versatile offense for the Terriers.
"Coyle could certainly be a superstar in this league," said Parker. "He played much better than his scoring totals looked last year (7g, 19a) and we those numbers will make a big jump this year.
"I thought Nieto was our best forward for the last 10 games last season. He was the youngest kid in the league last year and really got better each month. Gill also had a real solid freshman year, but, like Coyle, has the talent to put up much bigger numbers on the offensive end."
Senior Kevin Gilroy has been in and out of the lineup since his freshman year and will attempt to cement his spot on one of this year's lines.
"Kevin has had his ups and downs, but when he's playing up to his capabilities and not relying on his skill, he can be very effective."
Junior Wade Megan has the ability to be a bigger contributor on the scoresheet as an upperclassman.
"Megan has matured and has started to take responsibility for his skill. He's a very talented player that can and will, I think, contribute a lot more offensively this year."
Fellow juniors Justin Courtnall, Ross Gaudet and Ryan Santana have proven to be valuable skaters on the third and fourth lines.
Courtnall was at his best last March and will attempt to carry that into this season.
"We're really happy that Courtnall has evolved into a player for us," said Parker. "He brings some size and some physical play that we don't have enough of and he's a real good teammate.
"If Gaudet gives us a real intense effort every night as he did two years ago, he'll fill a role for us that we really need. Santana will miss the beginning of the season due to injury, but he's a hard-nosed guy that works hard and always is in the mix for a spot on the wing."
Junior Ben Rosen was a fourth-line center for the majority of last season after starting off his collegiate career as a defenseman. He'll probably move back to the blueline with the depth at the forward position.
"We asked Ben to move up to forward last year, and he did a very good job for us," said Parker. "We think we'll need him to move back to defense this year and he very well might need to be our fifth or sixth defenseman depending on how people play."
Among the faces battling for spots are freshmen Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues, along with redshirt freshman Yasin Cisse, who suffered a season-ending injury in last year's opener, and sophomore Matt Ronan.
"Cisse is a question mark since he really hasn't played in two years," said Parker. "We know that he's talented and can be an impact player for us, but it may take a while for him to get acclimated.
"Ronan will have to fight his way into the lineup. He does bring us speed and great work ethic, and those are certainly attributes we could use."
Unlike last year, when the freshman forwards were forced to play big roles, this year's newcomers will have the luxury of learning while gaining the experience.
"Both Hohmann and Rodrigues have the capabilities to get into the lineup and stay there," said Parker. "They are smart players with good speed."
DEFENSEMEN
7 Returning, 1 Lost, 1 New
With the exception of David Warsofsky, who left a year early to sign with the Boston Bruins, a solid Terrier defensive corps remains intact. However, there is certainly room for improvement after a season in which the Terrier defense struggled to find consistency.
"The biggest question mark entering this season will be how much we can improve on the defensive end," said Parker.
Whether it's creating offense from the point or providing the physical play necessary to contain opposing offenses, the BU defensemen have the necessary parts to be very successful.
For the second straight year, the Terriers are without a senior defenseman, as last year's young group now consists of three juniors (Sean Escobedo, Max Nicastro, Ryan Ruikka) and three sophomores (Adam Clendening, Patrick MacGregor, Garrett Noonan). In addition, Rosen may return to his original position as a defenseman after spending last year with the forwards.
"On the plus side, we've got almost everyone back and they are all a year older," said Parker. "The bad way to look at it is that we have the same group back and we weren't good enough on defense last year. We gave up too many shots, we spent too much time in our own zone, and we didn't break out as well as we should. Despite that, I'm confident that we will be improved."
Escobedo has emerged as arguably the team's top defensive defenseman, while Nicastro has been capable on both ends of the ice.
"Nicastro and Escobedo have been through two Hockey East seasons and should have the experience to be much more productive and much more reliable," said Parker.
"Escobedo has grown up right before our eyes and really put things together at the end of last year."
"Nicastro needs to recognize what he can do for this team and what he can't do so that he can be as effective as he's capable of being. He's got to be a physical defenseman who makes it tough to enter our zone and tough to play in our zone."
Clendening made an immediate impact on the offensive end as a rookie with a team-best 21 assists, including 12 on the power play. His partner, Noonan, is a two-way blueliner who can mix physical play with spurts of offensive production (4g, 11a as a freshman).
"Clendening certainly made a name for himself as a freshman," said Parker. "Sometimes his skills get him in trouble, but he looked really sharp the second half of last season and we expect him to have a great sophomore year.
"Noonan may have been our top performer last year when you look at the season as a whole. He's got to stay out of the box, but we think he's going to be a terrific player in this league."
After two years of injuries, Ruikka earned a regular spot in the lineup with his steady play and should only get better. MacGregor is the team's tallest skater at 6-foot-4 and saw time in 13 games last year.
"Ruikka finally got on the ice last season and I though he gave us a great first half, but a midseason injury seemed to hold him back down the stretch" said Parker. "He enters this year snakebitten once again with another injury, but once he's back to full strength we hope can be an important player for us.
"MacGregor came in fighting for a position after coming to us straight from prep school. His energy, intensity and size are all assets and he gives us a really physical style of play that we really need."
Also joining the mix is freshman Alexx Privitera, who brings a strong offensive game to the corps.
"Privitera is a solid puck-moving defenseman who we think will make an impact right away," said Parker.
GOALTENDERS
2 Returning, 1 Lost, 1 New
There's no doubt that Terriers have been pegged as a preseason top-10 team because of their strength in goal.
Senior Kieran Millan enters his final year at BU with hopes of firmly establishing himself as one of the best goaltenders to ever don the scarlet and white. He rediscovered his groove the second half of last season (9-3-2, 1.82 GAA, .947 save percentage in final 14 Hockey East games) and is just one win shy of tying the program's all-time wins mark of 62, set by Sean Fields `04. The Edmonton native set a single-season school record with 1,085 saves as a junior and was named runner-up for Hockey East Player of the Year honors.
"In goal, we're as good as anyone in the country," said Parker. "We've got two seniors who are proven guys. Millan will again get the brunt of the work and he's in the best frame of mind he's ever been in. We're looking forward to having solid goaltending all year long and, in a lot of games, spectacular goaltending.
"Kieran has really matured and presents himself well on and the off the ice. He'll be a leader on this team because he's a senior and a great guy, but he knows his main job is to stop the puck and hopefully lead us on another long postseason run."
Classmate Grant Rollheiser is the other half of one of the premier goaltending tandems in the country. Despite being held back due to both injuries and Millan's play, Rollheiser remains a steady option between the pipes and has shown the ability to become part of a regular rotation if necessary.
"Rollie's been in a very tough situation playing behind a classmate," said Parker. "He could be playing for a lot of teams, no doubt, but he allows us to have quite a duo with him and Millan."
This year's goaltending corps will be rounded out by sophomore Anthony Moccia, who joins the official roster this year after serving as a practice goalie last season.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Special teams were night and day for the Terriers' last season, as they sported the fourth-best penalty kill in the nation but had one their lowest power-play conversion rates in recent history. BU led all Hockey East teams by killing off 86.6 percent of its opponents' power plays. On the other end, however, the Terriers cashed in on just 14.9 percent of their power plays.
"We'd obviously like to continue being the best in the league at killing penalties. Unfortunately, we had a lot of practice after taking too many penalties last year," said Parker. "Kieran was outstanding in the penalty kill, but we'll need to tighten up in front of him so he doesn't have to do it all himself."
BU killed off at least 20 straight penalties last season on three different occasions, including a stretch of 33 consecutive kills. The power play was in a funk for the majority of the season, but showed some life down the stretch with 15 man-up goals over the last 10 contests.
"Hopefully we can move the puck better on the power play and get to where the goals are scored, which is the crease," added Parker. "I'm confident that we have the right type of players to convert at a much higher rate this season."
