Per Mike Anthony of the Hartford Courant, once-BU recruit Maxim Letunov is expected to play at the University of Connecticut. According to Anthony, the switch comes as a result of issues with the admissions process at BU.
Letunov is waiting on official word from the UConn admissions office, but Anthony’s report says there shouldn’t be an issue there. However, there’s still some uncertainty as to whether Letunov will be eligible for 2015-16 or will have to wait until 2016-17.
The 6-foot-3 center was drafted by the St. Louis Blues in the second round of the 2014 NHL Draft, before his rights were traded to Arizona in March.
BU will still welcome top forward recruits in Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, Jordan Greenway, Bobo Carpenter and Ryan Cloonan this fall.
A few other notes and links:
-Former Terrier Chris Drury will be inducted into the USA Hockey Hall of Fame on Dec. 17.
-This happened a while back, but for those who don’t know, looks like Sean Skahan will replace Anthony Morando as the team’s strength and conditioning coach. Skahan has a pretty impressive resume, having previously worked with the Anaheim Ducks.
-Good stuff on Brandon Hickey from the Calgary Flames website.
-In other Hockey East news, former Northeastern forward Michael Szmatula is expected to play for Minnesota.
Extremely Disappointing News to lose a top recruit at such a late date. In my opinion it is typical of the admission department and the anti-athletic B.U. administration.
I just got back from Ireland and this is the news that greets me? Oy vey!
Sorry for the tough welcome home 🙁 Hope you had a great trip otherwise! I’m very jealous.
Larry, you are so correct. The administration and the board of trustees would like to make BU into NYU. Until someone with big bucks decides to support the hockey program, it will not change.
Something wrong with BU Athletic department. Need major changes at all levels at BU.
Thanks Sarah. It was a beautiful road cycling tour of Ireland’s West Coast. It was magnificent … breathtaking scenery and the Irish people are so charming, patient and courteous. You seem to be of Irish decent. I would definitely add this to your list of must-visit places … including the island of Inishmore. As for Letunov, it seems that this could have been prevented if there was a higher level of communication between Letunov, the hockey team brass, and the admissions department … from the very beginning. I was a transfer student when I came to BU. At my local college, I would always make sure that the courses I was taking would be acceptable to BU admissions … early on in the process.
A very week and passive Friends of Hockey , controlled by the athletic development office certainly does not help the cause ! This would have never have happened in a different era. They must be laughing up the street.
I wonder if it is too late for DQ to bring in someone to replace ML this season?
Glad that you had a great vacation ! All top notch talent is gone, however Austin Mathews decision has been delayed due to problems obtaining a work visa in Switzerland. He is considered as good or better than Jack Eichel. I would been very surprised if he chose the college route.
I doubt that is an option. I do not think that this coaching staff will continue to tolerate these types of decision by admissions. The anti- athletic sentiments starts at the top. As long as he remains , B.U. athletics is in trouble! I hope B.U. hockey does not take a step backward this year. The loss of perhaps your top freshman forward recruit has to hurt.It is hard to believe that admissions did not have this information prior to this decision. Where is the communication between admissions and the coaches? At least give Max an opportunity to succeed in academics.
Thanks Larry! I wonder if it is too late to get MacTavish back?
Larry, once again you are correct. The Friends of Hockey organization has been intentionally eviscerated by the university. DQ now has his work cut out for him next year with Letunov and Mactavish gone.
— And, if Auston Matthews does decide to go the college route this year, which is unlikely, a good guess is North Dakota.
I do not believe Mactavish is a big lose. When I was a young man during the Jack Kelly era, the program was built by Jack who believed that a strong Friends Group was essential to the success to on the ice. I know for a fact that Jack Parker believed in the same philosophy. Unfortunately, the current coaching staff does not share the same vision. It is extremely disrespectful to the memory of my mentors Al Sidd, Bud Daniels, Jerry Eilberg and Meryl Herman not to fully utilize the Friends room, especially after games. The reason given are made up excuses that are not logical and do not make sense. Typical of a clueless uptight development office that could only manage two sold out games with the best player in the country.
Good morning. As for Matthews choosing the college route, I read that he has definitively ruled out going in that direction and that if things don’t work out with him going to Switzerland, he will play in the WHL for the team that owns his rights.
TYPICAL BU! their admissions dept rejects this guy because they feel they are some top notch university rather than the middle of the road educational institution that costs tons of $$$$$ to attend
this loss is huge. don’t blame DQ and his staff if they quit some day just because they don’t want to put up with this kind of bull crap.
all of a sudden, they see his resume is deficient. really? i think they are sending a message to the entire athletic dept – we don’t want big time sports in anythng
austen matthews…. dream on
I agree with your comments. Austin Mathews is a long shot and not realistic. However he stills allegedly not made a decision.
BU is clearly a top-tier academic and research university … particularly at this point in time. That’s not debatable. So, I have no problem with admissions rejecting Letunov if he was deficient. What I have a major problem with is how it couldn’t have been determined at a MUCH earlier point. We are talking about classes in Russia that were taken a while ago. Couldn’t BU Athletics have shared that syllabus with BU admissions so there would have been no surprises?
losing a second round pick. still can’t get over it
it is too late in the year to pick up a quality player. this another reason why this loss stings. one thing if it happened in the spring, but now…. In terms of limiting our manpower, it is similar to the Coyle situation. i realize the circumstances are very different but the end result is pretty close – top quality player leaves and we are left holding the short end. Not the kid’s fault unlike Coyle so i get that
I agree with your assessment . The coaching staff must be pissed ! Do not be surprised if we take a step backward this year as this is a major lose. I hope there is no more surprises.
In my opinion this is clearly an over reaction by admissions. If Max was that deficient, he would not have received a scholarship offer. It appears to be a chicken little mentality by admissions. I am sure these records were available before he was made or accepted a scholarship. I do blame the coaching staff for not being aware and not communicating with admissions.
Would it help to bomb the Athletic Department with calls/ letters? All the comments above are on point. Why can U Conn. take him in if there is a academic problem ? Damn.
In my opinion the only person that could change this philosophy is the coach. He would need co-operation from trustee and the president to change the admission policy. Unfortunately
this will not occur under the current anti-athletic administration. The Athletic Department is very weak and bows to any policy the administration dictates.
All, I also agree with almost everything that has been said. But, the loss of the Friends as a viable independent group started long before DQ became head coach. With no effective alumni group supporting the hockey program with time, effort and above all money we are left with a group of trustees and a president who just don’t care about athletics. They want to take from the alumni but do not want to give them anything. Essentially, we have regressed to the days of asceticism when Methodist ministers ran the university. Until someone with real money supports BU hockey it will just be a pain in the butt to the current administration. The days of Al Sidd, Gery Eilberg, Bud Daniels, and those of us that followed their lead are gone.
Your assessment regarding the status of the Friends is very sad but could not be more accurate.
Doubt Auston Matthews will be playing any NCAA hockey this year. He only completed his Jr year in HS last June. That’s why Switzerland is such an attractive option for him. Done with NTDP, but has a year of HS left, has to play somewhere — either OHL or Switzerland.