Tuesday night was a dour one if you’re a fan of the Boston University men’s hockey team.
Fresh off being ranked the nation’s newest No. 1 team, the Terriers traveled to Merrimack College and fell, 3-1. In head coach David Quinn’s four years at the helm, BU is now 0-3-1 at Lawler Rink.
There are myriad excuses that can be made – tired legs, the small neutral zone at Lawler, an aura of pompousness – but the Terriers were simply outplayed against Merrimack. The compete wasn’t there. For more thoughts on this, check out Jonathan’s sider over on The Daily Free Press.
As poor as the game was from a BU perspective, the night started off bright, with freshman defenseman Chad Krys netting on the team’s first shot of the game. It all went downhill from there on out, and junior netminder Connor LaCouvee was bested three times, all unanswered. For a full account of the game, check out Shelby’s recap over on The Daily Free Press.
Highlights
Last but not least…
The highlights from tonight's historic win!#GoMack pic.twitter.com/KTqu0WwGYX— Merrimack Men’s Hockey (@MerrimackMIH) January 25, 2017
Postgame Remarks
Looking down the road, BU next plays on Friday night against Merrimack at Agganis Arena. Revenge will be on the line.
Ahead of that clash, we want to hear your thoughts below!
Lawlor rink has been a house of horrors the last few years. I was nervous about how we would play as you have to adapt to a different style of play in that rink. What I saw was a team that got caught sitting on its heels. Merrimack did clog up the middle very well. The BU puck carrier would be buzzing cutting and turning and getting no where if he held on long enough to the puck it was dumped into Merrimacks end , I never saw a BU player win a foot race all night. Every puck race ended with BU chasing the puck. Some dumb penalties cost us again. Coach said the team had its worst practice the day before. I have all the faith in the world in this team and coach . I chalk this up to a bad game bump in the road. One great thing about this team is they learn from there mistakes. I see a big win coming Friday Go BU . I would not question coaches decision making but was Nick Olson a healthy scratch. He is playing great. If he was I’m sure coach has his reasons.
Colin,
Nik Olsson was out with an upper-body injury. I saw him around campus today and he wasn’t in a sling or anything like that, so I don’t think it’s overly serious. We’ll know more on Thursday afternoon if he’ll play this weekend.
Thanks,
Jonathan
In my first set of comments I did not realize how many people had trashed coach Quinn and his staff and some players. This morning there was only one comment from last night. let me first say I have been a BU fan for 30+ years Coach Quinn could play this game he was a hard nosed gutty hockey player. He is a great coach his staff is the best in the country. His team plays hard for him the kids he puts on the ice give it everything they have. They had a bad game, I’m sure he let them know that. BU has a deep bench not everyone can dress. If you go to BU you assume the risk of that. it’s easy to knock him for moves from your couch or desk but he is there at the practices, I trust his judgement. No one is a bigger fan of Jake oettinger then me but last night was a good night to give him a break Connor played ok. The other thing that bothers me is the constant bashing of bellows he is a kid who needs to get confidence. Hopefully he does not look at this website but if he does as a person who knows hockey I have faith in you and your ability. Your a great player and good things are coming. this team is led by the best coach in the country who will put them in a position to win. Go bu?
Thanks for the info Jonathan you guys do a great job with this blog. I always enjoy reading about my terriers?
I was at the game and after the first 10 mins we couldn’t get anything going bu had trouble adjusting to the smaller rink with no room and we had few costly penalties. .. IT’ not the end of the world they know how they played so move on fix and let’s get back it friday. .. Bu wins by 3 goals friday alot more room to move and we have quicker guys then they do… Pretty sure Jake will get both starts this weekend.
Let’s go bu..
Nobody is saying Quinn is a terrible coach but that doesn’t mean some moves shouldn’t be second guessed. Tuesday night should have been a perfect opportunity to showcase BU’s deep bench..you rested your best player between the pipes but had 2 rested defenseman in the stands. They can play and win against the #6 and #10 ranked teams in the country but not against the last place team in Hockey East in the 3rd game in 5 days?…tired legs indeed