A few notes from media at Fenway Park:
-BU took the ice at 3:45, and after a few minutes of warmups, scrimmaged for 10 minutes or so. After the scrimmage, Parker ran them through 2-3 drills and worked them until around 4:20, then were joined on the ice by coach Mike Bavis’ son and Scott Lachance’s kids/Parker’s grandchildren. The team spent the rest of the practice session goofing around on the ice. Certainly seemed like a good time was had by all.
-Joe Pereira practiced in full, and indications are that, barring something unforeseen, he’ll be good to go for Friday’s game.
-David Warsofsky was not back from Saskatoon, where he helped the US capture gold at the World Junior Championships last night. The Marshfield native is expected to fly back to Boston tonight.
-BU coach Jack Parker said after practice that the ice was “fair,” adding that there were some soft spots he believed were caused by the sun. There were other activities on the ice before BU practiced today (there was a men’s league game going on when I arrived at 3), and Parker said he thinks the ice will be pampered a bit more between the women’s game and the men’s game Friday night than it was before practice today, when they just ran the zamboni once around.
-Kieran Millan will get the nod in net. Parker cited his solid performance against UMass last weekend as a reason why. Millan is actually very familiar with the outdoor game, and said he was a member at an outdoor rink in his hometown of Edmonton, Alberta. Millan mentioned he thought the conditions for Friday would be relatively warm, to which I told him he should expect to be playing in the low teens, to which he reminded me that it gets to 30º-below pretty regularly in Edmonton. The lesson learned here, of course, is that you should just not bother talking winter weather with a Canadian…
-Talked to Millan about the sightlines, and he said that he actually feels more comfortable outdoors than he does in Agganis or other indoor rinks. Parker said he thought it felt weird because there was space behind the boards –– not seats –– but Millan said that wouldn’t be a problem for him at all.
-Neither Parker or Millan seemed to think the lights would give them much trouble, but I stepped outside and took a look around once the sun was down, and there is a light pole located perfectly at each end of the ice, meaning pucks dumped into the air could be tough to pick up. For those who have played baseball, picture trying to track a flyball in centerfield with a light right behind home plate –– then factor in that it’ll be dark and the puck is black. Of course, this shouldn’t cause too many problems with shots or passes, but when teams dump a puck into the zone, things could get dicey. Considering the rink is NHL-sized (smaller than a college rink, especially behind the cage), there’s potential for some bloopers as goalies play dumps into the zone.
Wraps up everything important I have to say. Scott will have a preview up for you guys in the next day or so, so keep an eye out for that.
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