March 10, 2011

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Coach Parker Video Q&A | Terrier March Madness Trivia

BOSTON - The Boston University men's ice hockey team, ranked 13th in the nation and seeded third in the Hockey East tournament, will kick off its postseason on Thursday (March 10) when it welcomes Northeastern to Agganis Arena for the opener of a best-of-three league quarterfinal series. Game time is set for 7 p.m.

Game two will take place on Friday (March 11) and a third contest, if necessary, will be on Sunday (March 13). Both of those contests will also start at 7 p.m.

BU is hosting a Hockey East quarterfinal series for the seventh straight season and will looking to extend its league record of nine straight trips to the semifinals. Each of the Terriers' last four quarterfinal series have gone the full three games.

The Terriers won two of the three meetings with the Huskies this season and are 15-3-4 against them since the start of the 2005-06 campaign. Each of the last seven meetings between BU and NU has been decided by a single goal with the Terriers going 5-2-0 during the stretch.

SERIES HISTORY
• This will be the 210th meeting between the Terriers and Huskies since they first took to the ice together during the 1930-31 season. The only team BU has played more games against is Boston College (254).
• BU holds a 149-52-8 (.732) advantage in the series and is 15-3-4 (.773) in the last 22 meetings and 10-2-2 (.786) in last 14.
• The Terriers are 6-2-2 (.700) in the 10 meetings at Agganis Arena and were undefeated in eight straight (6-0-2) before Saturday's loss.
• The two teams have played 22 overtime games in the all-time series, and BU holds a 10-4-8 edge. The Terriers have recorded 12 of the 15 shutouts in the 207-game history.

IN THE HOCKEY EAST TOURNAMENT
• BU and Northeastern have played each other seven times in the Hockey East playoffs, with the Terriers holding a 5-2-0 advantage in those contests (six of which were held at Water Brown Arena).
• This is the first time in 14 years that the teams have met in the postseason, as the Terriers skated to 6-2 and 7-1 home victories over the Huskies in the 1997 quarterfinal round.
• The rivals also met in the 1990 quarterfinals, with Northeastern earning a 4-3 road victory in game one before BU rebounded with 5-2 and 5-3 wins to capture the series in three games.
• BU topped NU, 5-2, in the 1994 semifinals at Boston Garden.
• In their first Hockey East tournament meeting, the Huskies earned a 3-2 win in a one-game quarterfinal at Walter Brown Arena in 1987.

TERRIER TIDBITS
• BU went 8-1-2 in its final 11 Hockey East contests.
• The Terriers are 15-4-5 in their last 24 home games.
• In the Terriers' last 15 games, 11 have been decided by a single goal and two others were ties.
• BU's last five losses have all been by just one goal.
• The win at Providence on Feb. 19 was the 850th of head coach Jack Parker's career and the 1,400th in program history.

SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• Northeastern secured the No. 6 seed for the Hockey East playoffs by distancing itself from the bottom of the pack with a 7-4-4 league record after the holiday break.
• Head coach Greg Cronin returns to the Huskies' bench after serving a six-game suspension. The team went 2-2-2 over the stretch, including a 2-1-1 mark against BU and BC.
• When BU and NU first met this season in December, the Huskies' offense ranked 56th in the country. Since that game, NU has averaged over three goals per contest and now ranks 31st for the year at 2.74.
• Senior Wade MacLeod has established himself as one of Hockey East's top scorers and leads the Huskies in points (38), goals (18), assists (20), power-play goals (9) and game-winning goals (3).
• Fellow senior Tyler McNeely has added 29 points (12g, 18a) and recently reached the 100-point mark for his career.
• Senior Steve Silva has contributed 24 points (8g, 16a) and freshman Brodie Reid is tied for fifth in scoring among conference rookies with 23 points (8g, 15a).
• Sophomore Chris Rawlings has started all but three games in goal this season and boasts a 2.51 goals-against average and a .924 save percentage.

HOME ICE
The Terriers earned home ice for the Hockey East quarterfinals for the seventh straight year, and enter the tournament as the third seed for second consecutive year and for the sixth time overall. BU won the tournament title as the No. 3 seed in 1991.

IN THE TOURNAMENT
• The Terriers have an overall Hockey East tournament record of 56-30-1 (.649). BU is 38-18-1 (.675) in the quarterfinals, 9-10 (.474) in the semifinals, 2-0 (1.00) in the consolation and 7-2 (.778) in the championship.
• Providence has been, by far, BU's most common opponent in the tournament with 21 meetings. The Terriers have played 14 games in the tournament against Maine and 11 against Boston College.

IN THE QUARTERFINALS
• Boston University has qualified for all 27 of the Hockey East tournaments since the league's inception in 1984 and finished lower than the fifth seed just twice (6th - 2001, 8th - 2004).
• Overall, the Terriers are 38-18-1 (.675) in quarterfinal action, including a 32-12-1 (.722) record at home (12-5-0 at Agganis, 20-7-1 at Walter Brown). • BU has won its quarterfinal series the last nine years, with an 18-6 (.750) record over that time.
• This is the 22nd time in 27 years that the Terriers will be hosting the quarterfinal series of the league tournament. Of the previous 21 home series, BU has won 17 times, with the last home series loss coming in 1998 to Merrimack.
• BU hosted the quarterfinals only twice during its final six seasons at Walter Brown Arena, but has earned the right to host in all seven seasons at Agganis Arena.

CURRENT TERRIERS IN THE TOURNAMENT
• Thirteen Terriers have played at least one contest in the Hockey East tournament. Senior Joe Pereira leads the group in games played with 13.
• Juniors David Warsofsky (1g, 5a) has six points in nine contests, while junior Chris Connolly (1g, 1a) and Pereira (1g, 1a) are the only others to have more than one point in the tournament.
• Millan was named the Most Valuable Player of the 2009 Hockey East Championship as a freshman after recording a 4-1 record, a 2.20 goals-against average and a .914 save percentage. He posted a 32-save shutout in the 1-0 victory over UMass Lowell in the 2009 title game.
• Millan is 6-3-0 all-time in the league playoffs with a .923 save percentage and a 2.22 goals-against average.

ROOKIE STANDOUTS
• BU boasts four of the top seven freshman scorers in Hockey East - both overall and in league play.
• Charlie Coyle led all freshmen in league play with 21 points (6g, 15a). Matt Nieto (7g, 11a) and Sahir Gill (5g, 13a) tied for fourth with 18 and Adam Clendening tied for sixth with 17 (3g, 14a).
• Overall, Coyle is tied for second with 25 points (7g, 18a), Gill is fourth with 24 (6g, 18a), Clendening is tied for fifth with 23 (5g, 18a) and Nieto is seventh with 21 (8g, 13a). Coyle, Gill and Clendening are tied for the lead in assists.
• Clendening is tied for fourth nationally among freshman defensemen in points with 23.
• Coyle put together seven points (2g, 5a) during a six-game point streak immediately after returning from World Juniors.
• Gill leads the Terriers in plus/minus with a plus-10 rating and enters the quarterfinals on a four-game point streak (2g, 3a).

ON THE KILL
• BU's penalty-kill unit currently ranks fourth in the nation. The Terriers are 162-of-185 on the year for an 87.6-percent success rate and have given up just one goal in their opponents' last 38 chances, including 25 straight.
• This marks the third time this season the Terriers have had a streak of at least 20 straight kills.
• The Terriers ended November on a stretch during which they were 58-of-64 (.906) in penalty kill situations, including a string of 32 straight that came to an end on Nov. 13.