Sophomore defenseman Alexx Privitera was suspended from the men’s hockey team for the rest of the season Thursday. Privitera had received a game misconduct penalty in Monday’s game against Harvard University for kneeing. He also received a game disqualification penalty for kicking earlier in the year against the University of Denver.
BU coach Jack Parker said he’d told Privitera after that suspension that he’d be suspended if he had another on-ice incident (a deal Parker said he also has with junior assistant captain Garrett Noonan).
Parker said he waited to hand down the official ruling on the length of Privitera’s suspension because he wanted to talk with Privitera and his mother, which he did Thursday.
After the Denver game, Privitera sat out for one NCAA-mandated game and another handed down by Parker. Parker also benched him earlier in the year, after the team’s series with the University of North Dakota, for an incident in which a North Dakota fan claimed Privitera hit him with his stick.
“I wouldn’t say he was real upset [to find out] because I think he knew because of the conversation we had previously,” Parker said. “He knew this was an incident that would cause him great trouble.”
Privitera leads the team in penalty minutes with 74. He also has two goals and 10 assists to go with a conference-leading 72 blocked shots.
“He’s a good kid, a great friend of a lot of ours, but we’re just doing the best we can to move on,” senior captain Wade Megan said. “I’m sure it affected some people more than it affected others, just because his classmates, obviously they saw him every day, they were around him every day, back at the dorm and stuff like that, but we’re just going to try to move forward.”
Senior defenseman Sean Escobedo, who has been Privitera’s partner on the top defensive pairing for most of the year, will play with senior Ryan Ruikka instead on Friday.
“[I’m] obviously a little sad,” Escobedo said. “You don’t want to see a good friend like that and a good teammate go, but you hope it’s the right decision for the team.”
Parker has spoken recently of confidence and motivation issues that have worsened BU’s recent struggles, but he said he doesn’t think Privitera’s dismissal will change any of that.
“I don’t know if he is the problem in the dressing room,” Parker said. “His problems were on the ice. He was taking stupid penalties and being undisciplined. So I have no idea. I think he is a well-liked kid on the team.”
Privitera’s situation is complicated by the fact that his brother, Jarrid, is expected to come to BU next year. Parker said that if the elder Privitera decides not to return to the team next year, he expects that Jarrid won’t be coming either.
Privitera is now the third midseason “departure” from the Terriers this year, although the first two – Yasin Cisse and Wes Myron – were voluntary. That leaves BU with just one spare player on the roster, and with senior forward Jake Moscatel injured, they will dress every healthy skater they have on Friday in Maine.
“It’s very easy to stay together and be best friends and be close when things are going well, but when things are going badly it’s harder to stay together, and I think it’s times like these that you really find out a lot about yourself and a lot about your teammates,” Megan said.
So this guy is gone and it’s just a matter of time before his brother decommits. I hope he doesn’t go to BC.
Well done he’s been doin it all year so it comes at a cost but its team first… good job jack
I applaud the coach for taking a principled stand, but it does raise the question of how well the players are vetted when they are being recruited. And if they were sufficiently vetted, what’s happening to them once they get here?
There seems to be something missing with the coaching staff vis a vis players in that the control Parker had for years seems to be gone. One of the reasons BU was so good was the control Parker had on and off the ice. I have no real idea of what is going on here. Does the AD get involved here? We are starting to look like a bunch of crazy people with all of this. To the above: how are the players vetted now as in the past. Why does not BC have these problems? Bad deportment off ice = bad hockey on ice.
Seems like the only reason why this bum hasn’t been kicked off the team yet is because Parker needs his brother desperately.
Let’s see how long Alexx remains on the team after the brother decommits.
So why does Parker “need his brother desperately” ? He’s a good prospect, but not one of the top 2 forward recruits for next season. Seems followers of another team are at it again.
Have you seen the bums on this team? Jarrid is better than every current forward on this team.
Did Parker dump Alexx so he could force Jarrid to decommit because he wants to give the scholarship to another player? Pathetic if true.
Please contact Colby Cohen to get his thoughts on this.. He had plenty to say about the previous allegations.
The Parker prior to the taskforce report that bashed his lack of control of the team would have let this slide.
Anyone remember Mike Grier? He was 10 times worse than Priviterra yet was never punished by Parker.
BC has its minor share of issues but it rarely ever gets much publicity because the infractions are handled swiftly and internally.
Coach York recruits high-character kids. His staff conducts a very intensive background check on the intangibles. And when they arrive on campus, they must fit in with the system and adhere to a principled, disciplined approach in the program. Bad apples get weeded very fast.
The system works because the kids usually keep each other accountable. Teams on Campus train together, usually eat together and study together in mandatory hours. So it’s very rigid and demanding, leaving little time to explore other aspects of student life.
It’s ironic that he did the same thing to a former teammate at silver stickS when he was a batam , a zebra doesnt change his stripes and furthermore look up his brothers stats in ushl he’s hardly a stud
Can’t get over some of the stupid comments. you sound like a bunch of jealous parents who’s kids never made it. most players on BU are disgusted with parker over this and some coaches are ringing their hands because they hope privitera leaves BU