Month: February 2014

Live blog: Seniors, Jack Parker share spotlight as BU hosts Northeastern

Time/location (TV): 7 p.m., Agganis Arena (NESN)

BU lines:
Evan Rodrigues – Robbie Baillargeon – Danny O’Regan
Brendan Collier –  Cason Hohmann – Kevin Duane
Tommy Kelley – Dillon Lawrence – T.J. Ryan
Matt Lane – Mike Moran – Jake Moscatel
Garrett Noonan – Matt Ronan
Ahti Oksanen – Patrick MacGregor
Doyle Somerby – Dalton MacAfee
Sean Maguire
Matt O’Connor
Anthony Moccia
Northeastern lines: 
Kevin Roy – Mike Szmatula – Zach Aston-Reese
Mike McMurtry – John Stevens – Braden Pimm
Adam Reid – Dalen Hedges – Torin Snydeman
Mike Jamieson – Tanner Pond – Ryan Belonger

Mike Gunn – Dustin Darou
Dax Lauwers – Colton Saucerman
Jarrett Fennell – Jake Schechter

Clay Witt
Derick Roy
Bryan Mountain

Referees: Ryan Hersey, Geoff Miller
Assistant Referees: Chris Aughe, Bob Bernard
Live blog:

Sources: David Quinn to suspend players for Friday’s game vs. Northeastern

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

A number of Boston University men’s hockey players will be suspended for Friday night’s game with Northeastern University, sources confirmed to The Daily Free Press.

The exact number of players being disciplined is unclear, but sources indicate at least three players will be benched Friday.

The highlights of the game were supposed to be a pregame senior ceremony and the first-intermission Jack Parker number retirement ceremony. It’s also a crucial Hockey East game as the 10th-place Terriers jostle for seeding during the final weekend of the regular season.

The BC Hockey Blog was the first to report the news.

UPDATE, 4:43 p.m.: BU’s official lineup is as follows:

Evan Rodrigues – Robbie Baillargeon – Danny O’Regan
Brendan Collier –  Cason Hohmann – Kevin Duane
Tommy Kelley – Dillon Lawrence – T.J. Ryan
Matt Lane – Mike Moran – Jake Moscatel
Garrett Noonan – Matt Ronan
Ahti Oksanen – Patrick MacGregor
Doyle Somerby – Dalton MacAfee
Sean Maguire
Matt O’Connor
Anthony Moccia

From the FreeP: Men’s hockey wraps up regular season with Northeastern home-and-home

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

If there is anyone in Hockey East who can empathize with David Quinn — struggling to find any consistency in a young team during his first season as head coach — it might be the man running the opposing bench this weekend.

Jim Madigan suffered a similar poor start in his tenure as the Northeastern men’s hockey coach, guiding the Huskies to a 13-16-5 record in 2011-12 after being hired the summer before. That regressed to a 9-21-4 mark last year.

Then, seemingly out of nowhere, the No. 9 Huskies are one of the top teams in the conference this season, and it will be that team Boston University wraps up its regular season against this weekend. The team’s open up a home-and-home series at 7 p.m. Friday at Agganis Arena — featuring a senior night ceremony before the game, then the Jack Parker number retirement ceremony during the first intermission — followed by a 7 p.m. matchup at Matthews Arena the next night.

For more, read dailyfreepress.com

Scoreless in South Bend: BU shut out in weekend at Notre Dame

By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — Seventy-two years.

That’s how long it has been since the last time the Boston University men’s hockey team was shut out in back-to-back games. The 1941-42 Terriers lost 8-0 to Yale University before dropping a contest with Princeton University 3-0 three days later.

That was until Saturday night, when BU generated 22 shots and no goals against the No. 15 University of Notre Dame goaltender Steven Summerhays in a 2-0 loss at Compton Family Ice Arena. It marked the second consecutive game that BU was held to fewer than 25 shots.

Even a lineup shakeup that moved freshman forward Kevin Duane to the first line, sophomore forward Danny O’Regan back to center and sophomore winger Matt Lane down to the third line could not spark an offense that has scored 2.29 goals-per-game this season – the third worst in Hockey East.

“I’m trying everything right now,” said BU coach David Quinn. “It’s been frustrating for everybody and it’s just, I just want to shake it up because we’re not generating a lot. It’s been frustrating.”

Perhaps the most frustrating thing for the Terriers was that the offense did not kick in when the team needed it most. While BU was outshot 11-7 in the first period and 12-8 in the second period, the shot differential spiked up to 17-7 in the third and final frame. Grade-A scoring chances in the third period were 10-2 in favor of the Fighting Irish.

Part of this has to do with the fact that BU struggled to get the puck anywhere near the front of the goal on the weekend. Notre Dame played five defensemen that were 6-feet or taller – four of which were over 200 pounds. BU only had three forwards at 6-feet or taller in its top-nine forwards – two of which were over 200 pounds.

Plus, BU simply could not get the puck out of its own zone. Notre Dame attempted 66 shots Saturday night compared to BU’s 39 shots and most of the Terriers’ shot attempts were on the initial rush instead of after sustained puck possession.

Senior captain Garrett Noonan said that the key to getting more offense was to improve upon the team’s play in its defensive zone.

“I think defending with our feet a little better,” Noonan said. “I know coach touched on that in the room and it’s something we need to work on, we keep working on. Again I think we defended pretty well we just didn’t sustain any zone time and that happens.”

The BU offense has even struggled when it has had the man advantage as of late, as it has failed to score a power-play goal in seven of its last eight games. It has gone 2-for-35 during that span, including a five-minute stretch with the man advantage in the third period where it only managed one scoring chance. The rest of the time, BU was chasing the puck back into its own zone.

“Obviously it has peaks and valleys and right now we’re in a little bit of a valley,” Noonan said. “We need to get out of it quickly because you get a chance like that you can win a hockey game like that if our power play’s going so it’s just frustrating.”

The Terriers have only scored one goal in its last three games, which is a trend it will have to break if it wants to be competitive against Northeastern University in the final series of the season. BU will be facing goaltender Clay Witt, who has the best save percentage in the league (.940) this season. It will also have to outscore a Northeastern team that is second in Hockey East in goal scoring (3.28 goals-per-game).

A win against Northeastern would give BU a good chance of facing Notre Dame, the team that just shut it out twice in a row, in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament.

“I want to win a game, so yes I hope to come back here,” Quinn said. “I’d like to win two games.”

UPDATED: Terriers suffer sweep at hands of Fighting Irish

By Meredith Perri/DFP Staff

SOUTH BEND, Ind. — With 33 seconds left in the second frame, senior captain Garrett Noonan skated out onto the ice for his shift. What happened after he got out there, though, is something the Boston University men’s hockey team (8-20-4, 3-12-3 Hockey East) will need to check the tape to answer.

Regardless of what the video shows, though, Noonan wound up in the penalty box and the No. 15 University of Notre Dame capitalized en route to a 2-0 victory Saturday evening at the Compton Family Ice Arena.

Throughout the first two periods, the Fighting Irish consistently held onto possession, outshooting the Terriers 22-15, with only four of BU’s shots coming from within the perimeter.

Even those chances were not much of a challenge for Notre Dame netminder Steven Summerhays who teamed up backup goalie Joe Rogers for the Fighting Irish’s second shutout of the weekend.

For every shot that Summerhays blocked, sophomore netminder Sean Maguire responded, stymying Notre Dame throughout the first two-thirds of the game.

At end of the second, though, Noonan made his way across the ice toward two Notre Dame (19-12-2, 8-9-2 Hockey East) players and one of the referees. Seconds later, after Fighting Irish defenseman Stephen Johns had bumped into the Terrier captain, Noonan received a penalty for unsportsmanlike conduct.

According to BU coach David Quinn, the referee told him that Noonan received the penalty for making a remark to the referee, but Noonan claimed he did not say anything.

“I don’t know why I got a penalty to be honest with you, but he called it and that’s the way it works,” Noonan said.

With the Terriers on the penalty kill, Notre Dame left wing Bryan Rust sent the puck over to his linemate, Sam Herr. From there, Herr set up Fighting Irish captain Jeff Costello with a pass to the slot. Costello, who was honored along with 10 other Notre Dame seniors before the game, then sent the puck into the bottom corner of the net by Maguire.

The Terriers had an opportunity to get back into the game after Johns hit senior defenseman Matt Ronan from behind and was sent off the ice with a game misconduct. As they have done for the past month, though, the Terriers struggled to maintain possession with the man advantage and could not capitalize on the five-minute power play.

“Seven minutes of power of power plays and we do absolutely nothing with them and it’s just, it’s been the theme of the last three weeks other than the [University of New Hampshire] game where we got two power-play goals, 5-on-3 goals,” said Quinn. “Maybe tonight I was the sixth period of a long weekend. You get worn down a bit, but it’s just frustrating.”

Saturday’s contest marked the seventh time in eight games the Terriers failed to convert on the power play.

With 2:31 left in the game, Notre Dame found the back of the net to defeat the Terriers 2-0 in each contest of the two-game series. After a turnover behind BU’s net, Notre Dame wing Austin Wuthrich had a clear path to the goal, and his slap shot from the slot rang in off the crossbar for his sixth goal of the season.

Due to the Terriers’ inability to get by Summerhays, BU was shutout in back-to-back games for the first time in 72 years.

If BU takes at least one game against Northeastern University next weekend, the Terriers will likely return to Notre Dame for the first round of the Hockey East playoffs. Despite the negative outcome of the weekend and the challenges the team faced getting out to South Bend, Ind., the team looks forward to a potential rematch.

“Bring it on,” Noonan said. “We’re ready, so wherever we play in the playoffs we’ll be ready. We’re excited.

The Return of the Live Blog: Terriers look for weekend split at Notre Dame

Time/location: 7:05 p.m., Compton Family Ice Arena

BU lines:
Evan Rodrigues – Danny O’Regan – Kevin Duane
Nick Roberto – Robbie Baillargeon – Cason Hohmann
Brandan Collier – Mike Moran – Matt Lane
Tommy Kelley – Dillon Lawrence – Jake Moscatel
Garrett Noonan – Matt Ronan
Ahti Oksanen – Patrick MacGregor
Doyle Somerby – Dalton MacAfee
Sean Maguire
Matt O’Connor
Anthony Moccia
Notre Dame lines:
Sam Herr – T.J. Tynan – Bryan Rust
Jeff Costello – Steven Fogarty – Peter Schneider
Mario Lucia – Vince Hinostroza – Austin Wuthrich
Mike Voran – Thomas DiPauli – Garrett Peterson
Kevin Lind – Stephen Johns
Shayne Taker – Andy Ryan
Eric Johnson – Jared Beers
Steven Summerhays
Joe Rogers
Chad Katunar 
Referees: Barry Pohcmara, Mark Wilkins
Assistant Referees: Tom Cronin, Jeremy Lewis
Live blog:

 

Terriers offense sputters again in 2-0 loss to No. 15 Notre Dame

By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff

SOUTH BEND, Ind. – The Boston University men’s hockey team took 22 hours to finally get to South Bend, Ind., but they were not welcomed with open arms at No. 15 University of Notre Dame as the Fighting Irish shut out the Terriers 2-0 at Compton Family Ice Arena Friday night.

“I thought we played pretty well tonight,” said BU coach David Quinn. “After everything we went through yesterday, we were ready to play. Just disappointing. Tonight was another snapshot of what our season has been all about unfortunately.”

With the loss, BU (8-19-4, 3-11-3 Hockey East) is now mathematically eliminated from hosting a first round of the newly formatted Hockey East Tournament. The best it can finish at the end of the regular season is ninth if it can leapfrog the University of Massachusetts in the standings.

The Terriers had a chance to take the lead in the first minute, when sophomore Danny O’Regan had an open net on a two-on-one. O’Regan failed to convert on the opportunity though, shooting the puck high.

“Really, the best opportunity we had was 25 seconds into the game wide open net and he just wasn’t able to bury it,” Quinn said. “If you get a goal that early it really changes the momentum in your mind.”

Without earning many other scoring chances, BU was limited to just 19 shots in the contest, which was not enough to trouble goaltender Steven Summerhays. The senior earned his Division I-best seventh shutout of the season.

Mid-way though the first period, the Fighting Irish got on the board when fourth-line winger Austin Wuthrich picked up a rebound on a two-on-one and shoveled it past sophomore goaltender Matt O’Connor. It was his fifth goal of the season.

Before BU had a chance to establish any momentum in the second period, Notre Dame found the back of the net again. This time, it was defenseman Stephen Johns coming in from the right side on the rush and snapping it past O’Connor.

“Obviously, [O’Connor] would like to have the second goal back,” Quinn said. “It was a tough way to start the second period, but he made some great saves and made them miss the net because I thought he was square and big.”

Two second-period Notre Dame penalties and a third-period roughing call to Johns gave BU multiple opportunities to finally get on the board. However, the Terriers continued to struggle with a man-advantage, and have now been held scoreless on the power play in six of their last seven games. They are 2-for-33 (6.1 percent) on the power play during that span.

“Our power play killed us, really struggling right now,” Quinn said. “We had some great chances. Just didn’t capitalize.”

One of BU’s best chances of the game was on a shot from sophomore center Mike Moran that sat in the crease before being cleared away. Even without the goal, though, the third line of Moran, freshmen forwards Brendan Collier and Kevin Duane had another productive game in terms of offensive zone puck possession.

“They’ve been playing well,” Quinn said. “They were probably our best line last Monday. I thought they played well up in New Hampshire.”

Now that the team is finally settled into its hotel, perhaps a bit of rest will do it some good as it tries to avoid a weekend sweep at the hands of the Fighting Irish. Sophomore goaltender Sean Maguire will start in net tomorrow and he will be looking for more offense in front of him than O’Connor got Friday night.

“We get some rest and take care of ourselves and be ready to go tomorrow night,” Quinn said. “It’s this late in the season, we should be ready to play back-to-back games.”

From the FreeP: After travel nightmare, BU set for 2 at Notre Dame

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

If the Boston University men’s hockey team is going to revive its season, give itself a fighting chance of making any noise as the Hockey East prepares for the postseason, it will have to do it 800 miles from Boston.

This weekend the Terriers will visit South Bend, Ind., where they will play two games against No. 15 University of Notre Dame at Compton Family Ice Arena. Both games will be at 7 p.m., with Friday’s contest airing on NBC Sports Network.

Winning may prove to be easy compared to BU’s travel day Thursday. After taking off from Boston around 9 a.m., the team’s flight could not reach its destination of Chicago — from which they would bus to South Bend — due to heavy fog. The plane landed in Louisville, Ky., and Indianapolis before finally settling on St. Louis. As of Thursday night, the Terriers were trying to find a way to get to Chicago to finally catch that bus.

For more, read dailyfreepress.com

Westminster forward Johnny McDermott commits to BU for 2016

By Kevin Dillon/DFP Staff

The future of the Boston University men’s hockey team is becoming increasingly clear, as Westminster forward Johnny McDermott announced his committment to BU via Twitter Thursday night.

Proud to announce my commitment to Boston University! Couldn’t be happier with my decision. #terriers
— Johnny McDermott (@jmachockey) February 21, 2014

McDermott, who is a Darien, Conn, native, becomes the second recruit set to arrive for the 2016 season along with ’98-born Clayton Keller. The 6-foot-2, 178-pound winger, who was born in 1997, had reportedly drawn interest from Boston College, Providence College, the University of Connecticut and Union College.