By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff
LOWELL — The No. 13/15 Boston University men’s hockey team’s chances at hosting a Hockey East quarterfinal game took another hit Saturday night, when the Terriers to No. 12 University of Massachusetts-Lowell 3-1 at the Tsongas Center.
With the win, Lowell (18-9-2, 12-8-2 Hockey East) swept the season series with BU (14-14-2, 11-9-2 Hockey East) for the first time since 2000-01. The Terriers now sit in sixth place in Hockey East, as Lowell and Providence College moved ahead of them in the standings over the weekend.
“[Losing both games on the weekend] really hurts us in both races,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “Kills us in both races, in a lot of ways.”
Just like the night before, Lowell forward Scott Wilson opened the scoring with a blistering slap shot from the top of the circles. The goal, which was Wilson’s 10th goal of the season, was unassisted.
Lowell struck again in the second period, when UML defenseman Chad Ruhwedel flipped a rebound over freshman goaltender Sean Maguire for a power-play goal. Maguire, who made the initial save and stopped Lowell forward Derek Arnold on a 4-on-1, could not get up in time to make the second save.
The play developed at the other end of the ice though, when junior defenseman Garrett Noonan failed to hit the net on a shorthanded 3-on-1 rush. With Noonan out of the play, four River Hawks had no trouble moving the puck past freshman defenseman Matt Grzelcyk to set up the goal.
“We worked like hell to get back but we ended up covering the wrong guy,” Parker said. “If we backchecked to the weak side we would have had the rebound.”
BU, which was shut out the previous night, struggled to produce offense again Saturday night. The Terriers only produced four shots on goal in the first period and nine shots on goal in the second period.
It was not until 8:25 into the third period that BU could finally crack Lowell goalie Connor Hellebuyck, when sophomore forward Evan Rodrigues scored on a quick wraparound chance while shorthanded. Junior forward Sahir Gill and senior defenseman Sean Escobedo earned assists on the play.
However, Lowell answered Rodrigues’ goal less than five minutes later, when UML forward Joseph Pendenza chipped the puck past senior defenseman Ryan Ruikka in the neutral zone before beating Maguire five-hole.
It was the Wilmington native’s 12th goal on the season, which increased his team lead in points to 27.
The Terriers spent a lot of time in the penalty box in the game, as they took 14 penalties for 36 minutes Saturday night. However, the penalty kill was relatively successful, only allowing one power-play goal in the game and surviving three separate 5-on-3 situations.
“He played great,” Rodrigues said. “He really did everything he could to keep us in the game, so kudos to him.”
“We’re losing games, we’re not scoring goals, guys are expecting to score and they’re not, and they’re getting frustrated,” Parker said. “No question, you could pick up any number on that team. They’re real frustrated right now.”
Would someone tell Parker that this team has no chance in the post season if there is a post season for them. This is one of BU’s worst teams I can remember. No drive. Players, for the most part, only thinking of their future pro careers. Pro careers? Very poor recruiting and lack of control has done this team in this year. Time for a change and I don’t mean Bavis or Powers.
Anyone think they were not out coached this weekend?
Parker is doing a great job. I hope he never leaves. there’s only so much Parker can do with this group of unmotivated, lazy, and overrated players.
And who brings in these unmotivated, lazy, and overrated players? Coach Parker. After Quinn left he has no idea how to recruit in the modern age.Once a great coach his time has come. Sad I know.
Anyone who watched these games has to agree with both comments! It is time for a coaching change. There also has to be a talent upgrade on this roster. When Rosen, Ruikka, and Santana are playing big roles, you are in trouble. The lack of on-ice discipline is glaring. Stupid penalties continue to haunt this team.
Rosen, Ruikka and Santana are not the problem b/c they’re actually in the minority of players who seem to at least show consistent hustle and effort. The problem is that they’re fringe players who have been pushed into playing far greater roles on this team than their talents allow.
On a team that already had depth issues on their roster entering this season, losing 2 forwards and 1 defensemen to early departures kills them. 4th line forwards are now playing on the 3rd line. Guys who shouldn’t even be playing are now playing on the 4th line. 2 defensemen (Ruikka, Macgregor) who barely have enough talent to play at this level are now getting lots of ice time.
Lowell is an incredibly boring, but efficient trap team.
BU has no depth, no drive, no spark and a tired coach. If they aren’t going to try, they can’t beat a team like Lowell.
“BU not being able to beat a team like Lowell” is an absolutely sin.
This team gave up and packed it in after the first semester.
The free knit caps, hockey jerseys and tee-shirts are nice. But soon they won’t be able to give away tickets to watch this listless collection of players who in general aren’t playing anywhere near the value of their scholarships (goalkeepers aside).
Losing to Lowell is no sin. They are a very sound fundamental team. In fact, we should be so sound! Why would the team pack it in after a strong first semester? This is about talent. If we didn’t have so many players leave early, do you think Santana would be on the power play or Ruikka would get so much time? These are great kids who give it their all, but they’re limited on the ice.
Out attendance is terrible this year. If it weren’t for all the freebies, it would be even worse. Even when we were doing well, attendance was down. This needs to be addressed ASAP.
The word on campus is that a group is organizing the students to wear paper bags over their head to send the team a message. Let’s see if that works.
I know i saw my last game of the season on friday night. what an awful performance. then i read that parker said if was a great game. are you serious? no one in the athletic department has the balls to get rid of this dead wood – all three of them. parker, with his enormous ego, will coach until he gets his 900 win which at this rate might come in 2 years. i just hope he is not so delusional that he thinks he can surpass jerry york’s record.
Anonymous #4, When discussing the talent “upgrade”, don’t diss the players that are actually filling their roles well, Both Santana and Rosen are performing very well in the positions that they play. Every team has to have those kind of players. The ones NOT performing are the high profile, heavily recruited “big time” scorers that not only aren’t putting the puck in the net for BU, but they are the ones GETTING scored on when they are out there. BTW, both Rosen and Santana are excellent penalty killers, can’t say that about many others on this team.
Direct your displeasure in the direction of those other guys, not with the players that are doing what they are supposed to do and doing it very well.
just wondering and just saying – did parker ever think of suspending himself?
let me know when the paper bag protest is happening. i would love to bring my bag
I don’t see this as a lack of effort as much as a lack of talent. You can’t lose so many talented players with eligibility left – including Chiasson, Clendening, Coyle, Courtnall and Privitera – and expect to maintain a high level of play. Early departures have become routine, and that hardly leads to the kind of continuity that is key to maintaining a high level of performance. I think this falls on the coaching staff. Are they recruiting players who want the total BU experience, or are they getting guys who view BU as two years of minor league hockey? Do the players feel as if they’re being well coached and developing? Are they enjoying the experience? Why do so many players seem to be in a hurry to leave? Other schools have players leave early, too. But the number of players leaving BU early — especially when you consider that most college players are hardly sure shots for long NHL careers — is more than other schools. With all due respect to Coach Parker, a change is in order. The team will now have missed the NCAAs three out of the last four years, and the trend is not going in the right direction. This is not a question of unrealistic expectations. There’s more parity in D1 hockey than ever before. I don’t expect great results every season. But I do expect to see a team that plays hard and smart, demonstrates some discipline, and, most importantly, is proud to wear the BU sweater.
You hit the nail on the head. As great as Coach Parker has been throughout most of his BU tenure, there has to be a time where the long-term health of the hockey program has to be the top priority. This means the coaching staff must have a clear vision for the direction of the program — specific goals, well-defined recruiting strategy, student-athlete development (on and off-ice).
BU hockey will be great again, but the unfortunate reality is in order to get there, a wholesale change is needed throughout the program – soon. Ideally it would be best to see Coach Parker exit/retire gracefully and to much respect for his accomplishments as a whole. Sadly this may not be the case if things continue in this direction.
We need David Quinn. We have been going in the wrong direction every year since his departure
Quinn should be on the short list of candidates when the time comes. My only concern w/ Quinn is that he was the primary recruiter who brought in the guys who had off-ice issues (Saponari, Trivino, Nicastro). However, it’s Parker who ultimately signs off on the recruits.
It can be awkward for a player when he’s recruited by one coach, yet that coach is gone right before or during the player’s time with the program. The player develops a good relationship with said coach, but may not have the same relationship with his successor (Powers).
To support your case, team defense was much more stout under Quinn’s tutelage. In Quinn’s 5 years, BU allowed 2.36 goals/game (483 goals in 205 games). Since Quinn left, BU has allowed 3.02 goals/game (441 goals in 146 games). No team at this level will be consistently successful giving up over 3 goals/game on average.