by Scott Weighart, GoTerriers.com

BOSTON – Just three games into the college hockey season, it's far too soon to say whether a portrait of this year's Terrier men's ice hockey team will turn out to be a masterpiece. For now, it's very much a work in progress.

That said, one thing is clear: Any portrait of this BU team will not be a painting; it will be a sculpture.

"Every year, we try to pick something that we can live by and have our culture built around it," junior co-captain Ryan Greene said. "This year, it's 'Pound the Stone.'"

Associate head strength and conditioning coach Ken Whittier suggested the theme after reading the book of the same name by Joshua Metcalf. As first-year defenseman Cole Hutson explained, "It's about relentlessness and just battling through tough times when you don't think you really have it."

"Basically, you might not get results right away," Greene added. "You know something might not go your way right away, but you just keep pounding the stone because you know eventually it's going to crack. That's what we're trying to do here as a group."

It's an apt message for this year's team, which now awards a sledgehammer to one its top performers after each game. It also reflects the reality that reaching the Frozen Four a third year in a row is not a foregone conclusion. As often happens at BU, a ton of talent moved on from last year's Frozen Four squad, but a big group of great players arrived to take their place, too.

The upshot? The good news is that the team has had flashes of brilliance in winning their first three games, even though it's equally apparent that they are going to have to pound that stone much, much more if the final product will be worthy of a prominent place in the museum of Terrier Hockey history.

BU had a somewhat sluggish first period in the home opener against Holy Cross before breaking it open with four second-period goals to win, 5-2. The Terriers looked better hosting Union in the second game with a 3-0 lead after one and a 4-1 win.

This past Friday, they fell behind 1-0 against a stubborn UConn team before taking a 3-1 lead, only to give up a shorthanded goal. The game wasn't out of reach until sophomore Tom Willander scored in the last three minutes. Even in Saturday's exhibition game against Harvard, BU fell behind, 2-0, and never led before eking out a shootout win after a 2-2 tie.

"No question, we have talent, and we have depth," third-year coach Jay Pandolfo said after Friday's win. "I know as a team right now where we're complicating the game for ourselves, that's for sure. Very inconsistent throughout games, really need to simplify our game. When we do, we look pretty good. When we don't, it's not pretty. It's early on. I'm not panicking here, but we've got to start getting the message to start doing things the right way as a group. So that's what I'm seeing right now."

"It's all about managing the game a little better," Greene said. "When we're up a goal, down a goal, late in the period, making the right decisions and not trying to get too cute. Sometimes it's easy to get away from that."

If we go further into the good news/bad news department, consider the play of senior goaltender Mathieu Caron. The good news is that thus far he has been even better than last year with a stellar .947 save percentage in the team's first three games. The bad news is that he has needed to be great more often than anyone would like. There have been far too many breakaways, odd-man rushes, and point-blank shots than desirable. All three games could have been much closer or even turned into losses if not for his play.

"He's been unreal for us," Hutson said. "There's been times we've been sleeping, and he's had our backs for the past three games." 

"First period, there were four chances right in front of our net, which is unacceptable," Pandolfo said after Friday's win. "We just have to tighten up; we're too loose as a group right now."

Another promising development for this work-in-progress team has been the offensive production of the first-year Terriers. Everyone expected top recruit Cole Eiserman to light the lamp from the outset: After all, the left wing set the all-time record for career goals for the USA Hockey National Team Development Program with 127, including a hat trick when he played against his future Terrier teammates at Agganis Arena last season. Even so, his four goals in the first three games have exceeded expectations.

"Everyone knows him for his shot, but what I see is his compete level," Hutson said. "He's out there working his hardest every shift. When something doesn't go right for him, he just puts his head down and works even harder."

"He's just got a knack for scoring," Greene said. "He's just one of those kids where it feels like every time he shoots the puck, it's going to go in the net. Obviously, he's got an NHL-level shot already; it's the first thing I noticed about him. His shot's unbelievable, and he's just a competitor. He wants to win and he wants to score goals. I don't think he loves anything more than scoring, and he's been doing it for us, which is great."

An even more startling statistic is the fact that eight of the team's 13 goals in non-exhibition games this year have been potted by first-year Terriers.

Left wing Alex Zetterberg has two goals. Cole Hutson has one, and centerman Brandon Svoboda scored his first collegiate goal on Friday night. In fact, the fourth line of Svoboda, Zetterberg, and senior Tristan Amonte was the team's best line against UConn.

"There's a reason for them being the best line," Pandolfo said. "It's because they actually don't complicate the game. They keep it simple and they make the play that's in front of them. And they're getting rewarded because of it."

"They've all contributed," Pandolfo said of the first-year class, which also includes centerman Kamil Bednarik and defensemen Sascha Boumedienne as lineup regulars. "They're all producing for us, and that's great for them early on to get some confidence."

"Just trying to stay humble and battle our hardest every shift," Hutson said. "Obviously, it's a different game at the college level. If you're sleeping one shift like I was a few times today, you'll have to pay for it."

"Even outside of their play, they're just unbelievable guys," Greene said. "We've tried to make them feel as at home as we could to start off, and think they've been doing a tremendous job."

Now the team prepares for a four-game stretch where they are going to have be ready to pound the stone that much harder. It begins this weekend with a pair of games at No. 7 North Dakota, followed by a return home for another weekend series against a brand-name opponent in No. 10/11 Michigan.

"Two unbelievable programs," Greene said. "We didn't play Michigan last year, but I got to play them my freshman year. They were a great team, and they are again this year and the same with NoDak. We know that when we play those teams, the pace is probably going to be the best we've faced, and we're just going to be ready for that."

"Next week is going to be great for us," Pandolfo said. "We're going into a hostile environment, and if we complicate the game, it's going to be tough. If we don't, we'll be right there."

All agree that the portrait right now is of a team in the process of carving out its identity.

"There are a lot of new guys, and you come in not really knowing what you're going to get from certain guys, Greene said. "Leading up to the season, it's just trying to figure out chemistry and getting our legs under us at the start of the season. Now it's pretty evident that we have a very skilled and fast team. Once we clean up certain areas of our game, we're going to be a great team down the stretch."

If Pandolfo's message of simplicity and consistency gets hammered home, this year's Terriers may prove to be something very special. As of now, though, nothing is set in stone.