All Eyes on Terriers Seeing 2020 in the Second Half

All Eyes on Terriers Seeing 2020 in the Second Half

January 2, 2020 | Men's Ice Hockey

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By Scott Weighart, GoTerriers.com Staff Writer

BOSTON – Given how much injuries decimated the Boston University lineup in the fall semester, second-year Terrier coach Albie O'Connell probably had to wonder what he had done to end up on Santa's naughty list this year.

But by the time the holiday break came around, O'Connell ended up receiving the most important gift on his list—the greatest level of depth he's enjoyed since taking the helm. In addition to having junior winger Logan Cockerill due back soon after suffering an early-season injury, the team has added two new freshmen for the second semester. Swedish-born center Wilmer Skoog and Canadian goaltender Ashton Abel both made their debuts in Sunday's 3-0 exhibition win over Concordia, and both seemed poised to be valuable pieces in the puzzle.

The Terriers' lineup woes began in the offseason, when Joel Farabee signed with the Philadelphia Flyers after leading the team in points as a freshman. Standout defenseman Dante Fabbro left a year early to sign with Nashville, while classmates Chad Krys and Jake Oettinger went pro with the Chicago Blackhawks and Dallas Stars organizations, respectively. Likewise, centerman Shane Bowers bolted to start his pro career with the Colorado Avalanche after his sophomore year, and Bobo Carpenter graduated.

If that weren't enough, rising junior Ty Amonte—who was fourth in scoring among those returning—suffered a summer injury that resulted in him being out for the year. Then incoming centerman Sam Stevens got hurt after playing only in the season opener. He didn't return until the November 22 weekend series. Making matters worse, Cockerill got hurt just three games in.

The upshot was that the team often fielded a lineup in which more than half of those dressed were new to the program this season, with a particularly thin number of options at center. "It was already worrisome going on when we lost Amonte from the start—how guys were going to react with a lot of freshmen playing center and with freshmen D playing a lot," O'Connell says. "Over the course of the semester, guys got a lot better, a lot more comfortable. They were able to figure out where they would slot in better. And I think we'll be that much better in the second half for that."

Meanwhile, there were a handful of players who really stepped up to lead the team in the first half. This includes two possible Hobey Baker contenders in junior defenseman David Farrance and senior winger Patrick Harper. Farrance has a gaudy 10 goals and 12 assists for 22 points in his first 17 games. His goal total and points-per-game average both lead all D-1 defensemen nationally. Harper has 21 points in 15 games and ranks seventh in the nation in points per game.

Senior captain Patrick Curry has built on his breakout season last year and is averaging a point per game, while freshman Trevor Zegras is already centering the top line and dazzling fans with his playful, inventive approach to the game. Zegras has lived up to his billing after being selected ninth overall by the Anaheim Ducks, and as of this writing he's leading all skaters in scoring with nine points - all primary assists - at the World Junior Championship in the Czech Republic.

"I missed his four assists against Germany because we had the game on Sunday," O'Connell says. "I know that he had the crazy spin-o-rama assist on Monday night. That's Trev. Just seeing his energy and excitement to play out there, and his playmaking ability is about as good as anyone we've had here."

Despite some great contributions, O'Connell admitted that some nights he had to scrape together a lineup during the fall semester. That's what led to holiday greetings for the two new arrivals.
"Right when Ty went down, Wilmer Skoog was hoping to be here this year, and it just got to be a little too late to get him in," O'Connell said. "So he opted to play another year of juniors, but we talked about potentially bringing him in at Christmas time. He's a potential top-six, top-nine forward that we're all of sudden adding at midyear. It fills a hole, especially in the middle."

The Tyresö native looks to be a player who can contribute in many ways. "Skoog is a big, strong 200-foot center with a good stick," O'Connell said. "He's 6-2, 200 pounds, and can play a solid, skilled game with good hockey sense. He should be a really good addition to the program. He may not show up on the scoresheet every night, but he'll show up in the game and add value to the team. Over the past couple years, he's been a prolific scorer in the North American league, which is not an easy league to score in. We're excited about the way he's looked so far."

Asked which NHL player he most tries to emulate, Skoog chose a fellow countryman. "I like Gabriel Landeskog. He plays with an edge but combines that with his skills and a good ability to score goals, plus a great guy off of the ice, too," Skoog said.

If Skoog was a near-miss in suiting up for the fall semester, Ashton Abel represents a far more recent development. "It all happened pretty quick," Abel said after Tuesday's practice. "I probably got a phone call about a month ago bringing up the idea of coming after Christmas. It was just out of nowhere."

"With goaltending, we wanted to add depth," O'Connell explains. "I wanted to add a guy who's pretty experienced and he's played a lot of junior hockey. From the start of the year, I think that the goaltending has improved. Tucker was statistically not great at the start, but it wasn't as if he was playing bad. He had some misfortune. And then as the year went on, he's played well and taken control of the starting role. We just felt more comfortable bringing in someone now because we're bringing in another guy next year, so we wanted to get a guy with some experience now, so we don't have two freshmen next year."

What should BU fans expect from Abel? By today's collegiate standards, he's not enormous: He's 6-0 and very lean, but he moves very well and looked quite composed in Sunday's exhibition. "Ashton is pretty athletic," O'Connell says. "He's got really good feet and hands and he anticipates plays well. The one area he's going to have to get used to is the speed of the passing at our level on the plays from side to side. Then he's going to have to get out on shots because he's not 6-5 to look around some bigger bodies. The other night he had five or six tie-ups just because he had quick hands and didn't leave a lot of crumbs."

"I like to think I have a bit of a Carey Price style of play," Abel said. "That seems like high expectations, but just his calmness in the way he moves in the net. I like to play like that: technically sound, very calm, moves around the crease well."

O'Connell is not about to project how much playing time Abel will get in the second half. "I think we'll just see what happens. Tucker will play the U18 exhibition, and we'll play that like a regular game. We'll start with Tucker, but there are always spots to give a guy rest or change things up. It's a wait and see, but it's nice to have the option."

The BU coach opted against playing many of his top players in Sunday's exhibition. He came away impressed with the play of freshmen Robert Mastrosimone ("the best player on the ice") and Ethan Phillips. "It was nice to see those guys elevate their game."

The game also provided some competitive ice time for guys who have not necessarily been able to crack the lineup as much as they would like. O'Connell was especially pleased with the play of Markus Boguslavsky but also cited Jake Witkowski for a good night, and 6-6 freshman John Copeland made a terrific pass on a goal by Stevens.

Perhaps the happiest moment for the team on Sunday was the fantastic third-period play by long-time backup goaltender Nico Lynch, who earned No. 1 star of the game honors and many roars from the crowd with a whopping 16 saves and no goals allowed. This was just the second time that Lynch had appeared in even an exhibition game, so his teammates were banging their sticks on the boards enthusiastically with every save—and there were three real gems.

Freshman Jamie Armstrong may miss a few weeks due to injury but soon O'Connell's biggest headache might be figuring out who cracks the lineup for each game. Soon enough, some talented players are going to have to sit.

"I think it's a good problem to have," O'Connell says. "We're excited about getting everyone healthy and having a full complement to see how good we can be as a group. If we have to sit a guy or two, it's not the end of the world; it just makes it more competitive. Last year at times we were just scraping a lineup together, and early this season, too."

Perhaps the best news of all is that the top teams in the league have not left the Terriers in the dust during the first half. Although some Hockey East teams have played several more league games than others, there is only a four-point differential between first-place Providence and eighth-place Maine.

"I think our league's wide open. It's not like anyone's lighting the world on fire," O'Connell reflects. I think BC's proven that they can go on a stretch run, and UMass is good. I don't think anyone is bad. No one is like UMass last year, where they had stretches when they were way better than anyone else. If you look at the standings, it's really tight.

"It's not unrealistic to think if you can get healthy and play the right way and guys continue to get better, why not us?"

Terrier fans should keep their eyes on this team, now very much looking forward to seeing 2020.