Month: January 2010

Jack Parker Postgame Transcript

Transcription by Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff


General comments:
First of all, I really thought we would come out and play really well tonight because we had an unbelievably great practice yesterday. There seemed to be a monkey off our back or what have you. It seemed like they all exhaled and were ready to play. We gave up a lot of shots, but we didn’t give up a lot of grade-A shots. That’s a pretty quick team. They can generate offense. I was pleased with our overall effort.


Obviously Kieran Millan had a great night. He made a couple of huge saves. I thought the biggest goal of the night was Saponari’s power-play goal at the end of the second period. They make it 3-1 and we come right back and make it four. A little over a minute later, we get the power-play goal. It was a great pass by Colby Cohen, a great pass. Ross Gaudet is a pretty good story for us, a redshirt freshman, didn’t play a game last year for us, gets two tonight to get his seventh goal. And Nick Bonino gets his 100th point, which was pretty nice.

All in all, I felt we had a very, very solid effort in a lot of ways. Hopefully we’ll feel good about our effort tonight and continue that. I have a feeling this team can go on a run here now because more than that, it was nice with the BC game, but after what happened to us last week with a great game against BC and a not-so-great effort against UNH, to come back tonight and play . . . you can almost feel attitude. Attitude is everything, we tell our team, and it sure was great this week.

How did they get the monkey off their back?
We had a team meeting with the coaches, and the players had a team meeting after that. Accepting responsibility was one of the reasons. Coaches accepting responsibility for being too negative at times on the bench and in their minds – and I think they’re correct – not supporting them enough. After the BC game, they felt like we didn’t have confidence that we could come back and win against UNH. They said a lot of good things to us in the dressing room at the meeting, and then I think we had some things to talk about too, as coaches. And then I think they had some, I don’t know what they said, but what was going on with our meeting when we were with them together was pretty good. I think it was probably even better what was going on with them. It wasn’t very long. I think they got together.

I thought Shattenkirk played extremely well tonight. I thought Bonino played great tonight. I thought Gryba played well tonight. I thought David Warsofsky really gave us a solid game. In general, the big guys stepped up for us, and they stepped up well, and then we got great support. I thought Chris Connolly looked like Chris Connolly with the energy and speed and on the puck, just being a pain in the neck to play against. He was really good tonight, and that’s what he brings to the game. That line played pretty well. Saponari had a great night. A lot of guys played well, but it was more team than individual. The other thing that was nice was they made it 4-2 and then we got two more.

On the line shuffling:
There was just one change. Bonino and Megan switched lines, so them being on the lines made all the lines look really different, but it wasn’t. It was just two changes. I just wanted to get some different looks. I thought Trivino’s line has been playing very well lately, so I didn’t want to change that line. The easiest thing to do is just disrupt the centers and see what happens, and I liked what happened.

On Bonino as a catalyst:
He’s a terrific offensive performer. He’s had his struggles. He got hurt earlier in the year and that set him back. But when he’s skating, when he’s moving his feet . . . his skill is his biggest enemy because he’s so talented with the puck that he wants to play with his hands and beat guys dangling, and he can do it, but he’s much more effective when he’s dangling while he’s moving his feet. He’s much more effective when he’s getting into people and getting the puck instead of reaching for it. There were three or four instances tonight where he was five feet away from the guy and decided to go right through the guy and get his stick right on the puck instead of trying to be cute with it, trying to grab it. I think that pays off for him and it obviously pays off for us.

On playing Bonino with Pereira and Gaudet:
I think he’s the type of guy where he needs some energy guys to play with and I thought the three of them together –– Saponari, Connolly and Bonino –– were trying to get too far in and make too many pretty plays. And I think it slowed Chris down and got Saponari thinking too much out there, and they were both trying to get it too much to Nick. By giving Nick the two other guys, he’s playing with a lot more pace. Certainly, it puts pressure on Nick to be the guy on the line, he doesn’t have to make too many pretty plays, and he got a lot done tonight.

On moving Trivino’s line up:
This is a nice turn of events here. Corey Trivino has been playing pretty well. He’s becoming a real solid defensive centericeman, so I felt comfortable playing that line against Marcou’s line all night, and they did for the most part. I think Bonino’s line got out there a couple of times against them, which is another good defensive line, but for the most part, I would say Trivino’s line played probably 90 percent of the time against them. And we were fortunate a few times, they missed a couple of opportunities, but those guys played pretty hard against him. One of the reasons why they didn’t get as many opportunities as they ordinarily do is that we had the puck down. That line can keep the puck down on their end too.

And I thought Zach Cohen did a real good job tonight. Didn’t get a point. I told him, ‘How many points did you get tonight?’ ‘None.’ I said, ‘I thought you played great.’ So, there’s an example, one point doesn’t show how you played.

Who will get the start Monday?
Kieran Millan will.

Nick Bonino, Ross Gaudet and Kieran Millan Postgame Transcripts

Transcriptions by Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff


Nick Bonino

On his 100th career point:
It’s exciting. I mean, it’s an honor to join the other guys who have gotten the 100 points already. Making the play is half the battle. You need guys who can put it in the net. Ross was big tonight getting the goals, and then Popko added it for the 100th. So, it was good that they were there and shoving it in I guess.


On if they’ve turned a corner:
Yeah, I think so. I mean, we don’t want to get too comfortable yet. We’ve had a few games like this and then we’ve reverted back to past ways. We’re happy with tonight, but we have to get just as prepared tomorrow and Sunday for Monday’s game as we did this week.

On what was said in the player’s meeting earlier this week:
Basically that we’re in it for each other. We’re playing for the 26 guys in the locker room. That we don’t have a lot of time left. We’ve kind of been saying that the whole season, and now it rings more true than ever. That there’s 11 games left in the regular season, and if we want to do something with this year, it’s got to start now and it’s got to continue through the next game. So, guys I think are starting to finally realize that and we’ll see what we can do with it.

Ross Gaudet
On if not looking past tonight was emphasized in practice:
I think it was. We all had to concentrate on the game ahead. It was a league game. We knew we needed two points and it was two big points for us. Every game matters at this point. We have to take it one game at a time. Beanpot game wasn’t on our mind tonight. It was just the Massachusetts game tonight and getting two points.

On playing with Bonino:
Whenever you play with a guy like Nick, you know you’ll be seeing the puck. He’s a great playmaker, so he told me before the game, ‘If you get the puck just shoot it,’ and I think I tried to do that pretty well tonight. Anytime the puck is on his stick, you have to be ready to receive a pass and get the shot off. Also, it was great playing with Joe again, as usual. He worked hard tonight and he made plays for us tonight as usual, and it all turned out pretty well.

On if he’s exceeding his own expectations:
I’d say a little bit. I came into the year just wanting to get into the lineup, and then hoping to work my way in. The fourth-line player is a grinder, and that’s how I started out. Things have been working out for me. I’ve been fortunate enough to get a few goals here and there, just been able to put the puck in the back of the net.

Kieran Millan
On if he’s in a different place after break:
I think that having a break from hockey every once in a while is a good thing, not just for me but for the entire team. Just having those couple weeks off where you don’t have to worry about the next game or anything like that really helped us change our attitudes and helped us refresh ourselves and get back to the way we know we need to play. For me personally, I just try to keep it simple. For the most part, I think our team is playing a lot better in front of me, and it makes it a lot easier for me.

Grading the Terriers: 1/29 vs. UMass


By Scott McLaughlin/DFP Staff


Photo by Sarah Gordon/DFP Staff

Offense: A
What’s not to like? Six goals, 37 shots, 18 grade-A chances. Particularly beastly was the Ross Gaudet-Nick Bonino-Joe Pereira line. Gaudet had two goals, Bonino had three assists to reach 100 points for his career and the trio was a combined plus-7 on the night. The Chris Connolly-Wade Megan-Vinny Saponari line combined for what Parker called the biggest goal of the game — Saponari’s power-play tally that came on a redirect of a Colby Cohen slapper just 1:06 after UMass had cut the lead to 3-1. Parker also mentioned that he thought the Zach Cohen-Corey Trivino-Alex Chiasson line played great even though they didn’t score because they were matched up against Casey Wellman and James Marcou most of the night and did a good job limiting their chances. That Minuteman duo finished a combined minus-6 in the game.
Defense: B
UMass actually outshot BU, firing 41 shots on net. Although a lot of those shots came from pretty far out, the Minutemen were still able to create plenty of chances against the Terrier D, recording 19 chances from grade-A areas. BU was pretty good against the initial rush, but struggled to clear the puck out of the zone at times and was bailed out by Kieran Millan on a number of occasions. Parker did say that he thought Kevin Shattenkirk, Eric Gryba and David Warsofsky all had solid games. For forwards, Parker said that he thought Trivino was particularly impressive defending against the Wellman line, saying that he’s “becoming real solid as a defensive centerman.”
Special Teams: B+
The special teams numbers for BU probably look a little better than they actually were — 2-for-5 on the PP while holding UMass to a 1-for-4 showing. The Terriers only had five shots in their five chances, though, while the Minutemen had 10 in their four. The Terriers struggled to get in the zone and get set up throughout the night, but when they did, they did a great job of getting traffic in front, resulting in two goals. Saponari was in perfect position to get a stick on Colby Cohen’s slapper late in the second, and Paul Dainton never even saw Max Nicastro’s slapper from the point late in the third.
Goaltending: A-
As mentioned above, Millan bailed out his defense time and again Friday night, making 39 saves in the game. He was great stopping first shots, as he was constantly squared up to the shooter, but he gave up a lot of big rebounds. Just like Millan saved the defense a number of times, the defense helped him out several times, too, including when Nicastro blocked Marcou’s shot at an empty net midway through the first to preserve a 0-0 game. Brian Keane’s goal to make it 3-1, though, was a direct result of a juicy rebound. There wasn’t a whole lot Millan could’ve done about UMass’ second goal, though. Martin Nolet banged home a loose puck in the crease after the BU D struggled to clear the puck and bodies away.
X-Factor: Keeping the foot on the gas
When the Terriers got up 3-0, it looked like they let up a little, allowing UMass to answer just 36 seconds later. But BU didn’t sit back after that, as Saponari answered right back to regain the three-goal lead. The Terriers didn’t relax or get conservative after the Minutemen cut it to 4-2 midway through the third, either. Instead, they scored the game’s final two goals, drawing two penalties on UMass in the process, to choke the breath out of the Minutemen’s comeback bid. BU has been the second-worst team in Hockey East in the third period this season, often letting teams back into games it was leading or letting teams pull away in games it was trailing, but the Terriers didn’t let up at all in the third Friday night.

Terriers top Minutemen, 6-2

By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff

Led by a pair of goals from sophomore Ross Gaudet, the Boston University men’s hockey team rolled to a 6-2 win over the No. 14/15 University of Massachusetts-Amherst Friday night at Agganis Arena.

BU junior Nick Bonino added three assists for the Terriers, giving him 100 points for his career. Junior Colby Cohen added a goal and an assist for BU, while sophomore goalie Kieran Millan made 39 saves.

Gaudet picked up his first goal after Bonino took in the puck in the right corner of the UMass zone and brought Minuteman junior Chase Langeraap to he’s knees with some fancy puck work. From there, Bonino passed to senior Eric Gryba at the right point, who ripped a shot at net.

UMass goalie Paul Dainton (31 saves) stopped the initial shot, but couldn’t control the rebound, which bounced out to the low-slot. Gaudet found the puck there, and with Dainton stuck to the right post, fired a shot into a wide-open cage for his sixth goal of the season.

Gaudet picked up his second tally with 4:33 left in the second period off a faceoff win by Bonino. The draw came back to Gaudet in the upper third of the left faceoff circle, where the Burlington rocketed a shot off the crossbar that bounced down into the goal area.

Friday night marked the first time that Gaudet and junior Joe Pereira joined Bonino on BU’s second line. Gaudet and Pereira finished the night with plus-2 ratings –– Bonino finished at plus-3.

Gaudet’s second goal jump-started a barrage of goals late in the second period. The Terriers scored again just 48 seconds later on the power play. From the right point, junior Colby Cohen wound and fired a shot at the left post. The shot was tipped at the top off the crease by UMass defender Martin Nolet, and snuck by Dainton to put the Terriers up, 3-0.

UMass responded 36 seconds later when senior captain Justin Braun’s shot bounced hard off Millan’s pads and kicked to Brian Keane. The junior had the entire net to look at on the rebound chance and didn’t miss, netting his second goal of the year.

The Terriers finished off the scoring spree with 1:39 left in the period with another power-play tally. C. Cohen, working from the left point, wristed a low shot at net, where sophomore Vinny Saponari was waiting. Saponari got his stick on the shot and tipped it by Dainton for BU’s fourth goal.

The Terriers dodged a bullet midway through the first period when sophomore netminder Kieran Millan was pulled out of his cage by a shot from UMass sophomore Casey Wellman. The rebound from Wellman’s shot skipped to junior Minuteman and the nation’s leading scorer James Marcou, but Marcou couldn’t sneak his shot by BU freshman Max Nicastro, who blocked the attempt with his shin guard and kept the game scoreless.

Senior Luke Popko added his first goal of the year in the final minute with BU shorthanded.

The Terriers put the icing on the cake with 4:53 left in the third. Freshman Max Nicastro netted his second of the year with a slap shot from center point into traffic. It appeared Dainton never saw the shot, which beat him straight through stick side. The goal was Nicastro’s second of the season.

Joubert to be inducted into BU Hall of Fame

Jacques Joubert, captain of the 1995 BU hockey team that won the Beanpot, Hockey East title and NCAA championship, will be inducted into the BU Hall of Fame this summer.

Joubert is 32nd on the BU all-time scoring list with 131 points (66 goals, 65 assists) in three seasons with the Terriers –– Joubert transfered in from Princeton after his freshman season.

Among others in this year’s class are football players Marc Fauci and Chris Helon, soccer standout Ben Okaroh, and softball players Robyn King and Michelle White.

Inductions will take place on May 22 at the Trustees’ Ballroom on the ninth floor of the School of Management.

The full press release can be read here.

From the FreeP: Two steps back

By Cary Betagole/DFP Staff

After his team’s blood, sweat and tear stained win over Boston College on Friday, Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker was asked who among his players had stepped their game up the most.

“I thought they all did,” he said.

It’s safe to say lightning didn’t strike for the second time at Agganis Arena on Saturday night.

University of New Hampshire senior goalie Brian Foster stood taller than any of the Terriers (8-11-3, 6-9-2), making 34 saves including a few big ones during a one-minute stint of 6-on-3 in the third period to carry the Wildcats (12-7-4, 11-2-3) to a 4-1 victory.

Read more at www.dailyfreepress.com

From the FreeP: Parker calls out team leaders

By Jake Seiner/DFP Staff

Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker didn’t have much to say after Saturday’s 4-1 loss to the No. 16 University of New Hampshire. The list of positive things he had to say was even shorter.

“It’s hard to comment on this game, because I don’t want to take away from how well New Hampshire played,” Parker said. “I thought they played very well.”

That’s about where the positivity ended.

Read more at www.dailyfreepress.com

Jack Parker Postgame Transcript

Transcriptions by Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

General comments:
It’s hard to comment on this game because I don’t want to take away from how well New Hampshire played, because I thought they played very well. But I thought we absolutely stunk. I saw Craig Janney, who announced the games last night and tonight, and he said, ‘Hey, you laid an egg tonight, but you had a good game last night.’ And that’s exactly what we did. We laid an egg tonight.

It’s obvious to me that leadership is lacking. Our juniors and our seniors had horrible nights tonight, in general. I’m worried about our freshmen and sophomores thinking this is how you are supposed to play, especially our freshmen.

I thought we had a pathetic emotional effort tonight. Our team was not ready to play. I could tell it from two minutes into the game. It’s a sad statement that our team, my team, was not ready to play hockey. They’re just easily satisfied or it’s not that important to them.

On UNH’s first breakaway:
We don’t give a damn. That’s what it seems like.

On if there could be a drastic change in how team is run:
I haven’t thought of that.

Is this the hardest team he’s ever had to mentally figure out?
No, it’s not hard to figure out. It’s sad that that’s what we have though. It’s sad that we have so many guys whose give-a-[expletive] lever is way down. We got too many guys whose give-a-damn lever is way down. They can bring it up once in a while, but in general . . . So, I would say that that starts from the captains. It absolutely starts from the captains right now. The captains can’t understand that they don’t know how to get themselves ready to play a game, never mind get the rest of the team ready to play a game. That’s very frustrating.

On the freshmen’s penalties:
I think Alex [Chiasson] is playing really well right now. I think Megan is playing his best hockey so far. I think Courtnall and Santana were just getting . . . they played really well tonight, I thought. Santana’s penalty was a stupid penalty, hitting from behind. Megan’s penalty was a stupid penalty. It was a slashing penalty. I haven’t seen them take a step back. I haven’t seen them take stupid penalties, but I haven’t seen them take a step back as far as . . . they’re getting pretty good. And I thought Trivino played really well tonight, too. I thought he had a hell of a game.

On Millan possibly pulling away as the number one starter:
I didn’t think Rollheiser was as sharp as he could be, but we left him out to dry, too. He stopped two breakaways. He made some big saves for us. He’d like to have a couple back. We got pummeled pretty good in that second period.