By Meredith Perri/DFP Staff
When the Boston University men’s hockey team took the ice last Monday for its Beanpot opener with then-No. 2 Boston College, TD Garden filled with noise. Student sections jeered and hurled taunts at each other. The Terriers moved and played at a pace that had slowly come into form over the previous two weeks. And while BU ultimately lost to the Eagles, a point in time existed where it appeared as though the Terriers might make it to the tournament championship.
With a continued increase in effort again during its tie with then-No. 7 University of Massachusetts-Lowell, it looked as though Monday afternoon’s Beanpot consolation game might just turn into the Terriers’ (8-16-4, 3-8-3 Hockey East) second win since the end of November.
When the teams took the ice, though, there was hardly a noise from the stands and the sound of blades slicing through the ice echoed throughout the cavernous Garden. BU may have taken an early lead against Harvard University, but the team that put pressure on some of the top-ranked squads in the country last week lacked the same mental intensity. By the final buzzer, that lack of intensity put them on the losing side of 6-2 game.
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Team has no foundation in BU pride. That was a pride game and BU showed its true colors. The old time BU player alums must be sick today. As a very old BU fan from the Kelly era I know I am.
Seriously? So we lost because the players weren’t motivated? Who has the job to getting the players motivated? Or since they are players getting a free ride, shouldn’t they be motivated to defend the honor of our school? I’m furious at the embarrassment I saw on the ice yesterday.
The team showed improvement the last two games with OC in net. DQ puts Maguire in for the consolation game. Why? He might as well have started Moccia if he wasn’t going to start OC.
If we tank for the rest of the season, we will get the first pick in the next draft.
What’s with the “human nature” thing? Is that like “the dog ate my homework”?
I have been defending DQ all year, but i am afraid last night is on him. i know these players mostly suck and he did not recruit them, but his job is to motivate them. they are certainly in no positiion to turn their nose up at any game just because it is the consolation game at 430. it might be a long, long time before/if BU get back to respectability
3 years tops! That’s not a long time considering what the new coaching staff has to fix!
Is DQ playing Maguire just because he got drafted? OC is better and he has proven it the last few weeks. If Maguire played against BC in the first Beanpot game, BC would have score 10 goals easily.
If Eichel watched this game, did he think: I would have made a difference or I’d be an idiot to come into this mess?
Moran has been playing tentative ever since that BC defenseman destroyed him in the first round Beanpot game.
No student or player in the last two years has seen this team win a championship. Our best chance for a conference title is with the men’s basketball team.
They’re HE playoff bound!
What a joke!
How about Collier? all that crap about him coming out of MC. There is the difference between BU and BC in a nutshell. BU gets this stiff and BC gets Fitzgerald and down the road his brother who is very good
At MC Collier was clearly the best player on that line (and perhaps the state). BC would’ve taken him if they had the chance.
The difference between Collier and Fitzgerald’s performance is coaching. Does this send the wrong message to our recruits?
So Glenn is arguing that DQ took the better player and made him worse yet BC took the worse player and made him better? If that’s true then we might as well fire DQ right now.
If I’m Eichel, I would go to BC based on these comments.
I think he just did verbal jiu jitsu on me.
Expected this season to be bad but not this bad. Quinn is officially on the clock. If there is no improvement in year 3, say goodbye. And I mean Beanpot, HE championships and long runs in the NCAAs. .500 records won’t do it. I wanted Parker gone but this is ridiculously poor.
you people are all insane. Is there a reason you all think this game SHOULD have been won?? This team has tanked all year long. They’ve had a (VERY) few shining moments at best. Now all of a sudden you’re going to blame Quinn? Seriously? With the anger of some of these comments, I’m wondering if you ever watched any of the games before yesterday. WHY did you all have such great expectations of this team on that particular day? I’m so confused. Anyway, we all knew this year was going to be a debacle and I don’t care WHO they called in to coach this year. NOT one HE coach would’ve done much better with this motley crew.
But like I’ve been saying since Parker retired and thankfully Bavis decided to leave…they hired the right guys in Quinn and Greely to get this program back on track. You ALL know BU Hockey has been on a steady decline since the 2009 season. I don’t know why you’re all mad?? Look at this roster…..there are what, TWELVE guys from MA, a couple from CT and one from NY….really?? you call that quality recruiting?? when 12 of your guys can take a cab to their homes if they want to see their family?? WTH was parker thinking allowing bavis to form this kind of team?? Clearly he wasn’t. SO….with all that said….you’re all going to be eating your words in approximately 8 months. GO BU!!
All the team in front of us have plenty of local players. Why are they so “good” and we are so pathetic? It has nothing to do with where the players are from. It’s all about the leadership and coaching.
You raise a very interesting point about local recruiting from the previous coaching regime. In the late 1990s/early 2000s, BU was slow to adjust to the then-depleting pool of local talent, as they still did significant recruiting locally, but were quite inconsistent in their ability to get “A-list” recruits locally, nationally and Canada. We saw the result — 3 losing seasons between 1998-2004 — and even the better years during that time were filled with teams that had good depth, but lacked high-end talent.
The recruiting issues during those years is the main reason why Quinn came aboard in 2004. When looking back at the players whom Quinn recruited under Parker, the only local players whom committed to BU during those years were Strait, Warsofsky, Gaudet and Coyle. Warsofsky and Coyle were no-brainers b/c of family ties to BU, and Strait played prep school then the US National Team. And Gaudet was a walk-on.
In recent years the talent pool of MA players has improved, but aside from O’Regan and Grzelcyk, it’s fair to question whether the other local players BU recruited the past 2-3 years have been “A-list” targets. Are they here b/c BU failed to land more prime recruits (regardless of where they’re from) and BU had roster spots plus scholarship money available, so these players all took it even when their best offers were from lesser programs?
The reason why DQ got so few local kids when he was under Parker was because all the best ones went to BC and won multiple national championships. I’m just happy that Parker was able to take DQ’s recruits and squeeze out one national championship.
Yes, BC won many of the local recruiting battles and BU needed help with recruiting both within and outside of MA. That is why Quinn came, to help BU land elite national-level recruits like Wilson and Shattenkirk, to help BU win some key recruiting battles against the other elite programs.
But somewhere along the road, Parker’s philosophy towards recruiting and player development changed. Under York, BC has been very consistent in targeting undersized yet elite talent whom NHL teams often overlook when drafting. He bases his entire philosophy around the pressure these pint-sized forwards with high-end skill can generate, complemented by a few big forwards who can create space plus a corps of big defensemen who can take care of their own end. On the other hand, Parker has more often than not targeted pro-style forwards complemented by puck-moving defensemen who could help pace the offense (the way a point guard does in b-ball).
What we’ve seen the past 10 years or so is one style works better than the other in college hockey. BC keeps most of their top players around for 4 years, whereas BU (and N. Dakota, Denver, Michigan, etc.) often lose their top talent before their Senior year b/c they recruit more pro-style players.
LOLLL BC TROLL sighted above! That 2009 team was ALL quinn recruits doofis. Look what happened in the years previous to Quinn and the years following? He was left to clean up a debacle left to him. And by the looks of the recruits coming in the next 3 years….looks like BU will be on top once again!
I’m not sure why people are down on Maguire, who is a quality goaltender that has battled a back injury and illness this season. How soon we forget that Maguire backstopped LAST SEASON’s run to the Hockey East final, was terrific down-the-stretch and nearly stole the final in a 1-0 loss to Lowell. O’Connor, likewise, has some very good stretches, including the last couple of games. The rotation wasn’t back on because of Maguire’s illness. He was ready to play, it was consolation game, so playing him became something of a no-brainer. Moccia understands his role. If BU were not desperate for a win, they might have considered starting the No. 3 guy. But no wins can be taken for granted, at this point. BU is fortunate to have two quality goalies in Maguire and O’Connor. The rest of the team is nowhere near up to their standards. If both of them are healthy and on their game, I’d give a slight nod to Maguire, because he doesn’t give up as many dangerous rebounds. But BU fans shouldn’t have a problem with either of them. And if you do, just look what is playing in front of them.
What? The two goalies are good but everyone else is bad? I don’t think so. Good goalies steal a game even with a bad team. neither Maguire or OC has stolen a game this year. And this game group of players were coached up to the HE championship game last year. DQ has taken this championship caliber team and guided to #46 in the PWR. Way to go DQ!
Anon 9:07 AM.
Are you kidding? — game group of players? — Championship caliber team? NOT. There are no All American caliber players on this team. :There is no one who can be counted on for a goal a game. They do not have a twenty goal scorer let alone a 30 goal scorer. What they do have is a very few good players who will complement the quality recruits coming in during the next two years.
It’s not all on DQ. He deserves a chance to coach his own players. Take a look at the first year records of other coaches in HE. One of the best, Jerry York, did not have a great year his first year at BC. He had to rebuild and whether you think so or not, DQ has to rebuild. The bulk of the current BU players just are not top quality players.
What season have you been watching? With out OC s great play this team would have about 2 or 3 wins. The old staff has left a mess. How many of our players would be playing up the street?
That says it all.
LOL – you’re comparing DQ to York? Didn’t York come in to a losing team whereas DQ was handed a HE championship runner up team? If York would ever consider coming to coach our team, I say we pay him whatever he wants. Give him ownership of all of our dorms and half of the land our school sits on if it will get him to come. No price is too high for a good coach.
LOL – get with it. I did not compare DQ to York. I stated a fact to make a point. Gerry York has been coaching for a life-time. No one would try to compare a first year coach with no record to a 40 year coach. Engaging in a conversation with you must be great. You are 50% negativity, 40 % rediculousness and 10 % just plain stupid.
Don’t argue with a TROLL!! especially one with no hockey knowledge whatsoever. He keeps insisting this is the same team and they were an HE championship team. so obviously he’s clueless.
Great discussion going on by long time and real BU fans. Like me, they have DQ on the clock and expect him to improve his poor coaching or be shown the door. His 5 year contract means nothing. He can easily be bought out and sent packing if he doesn’t perform. So far, he has not performed.
Poor coaching? Lol….if you only knew….anyone who blames this season on the coach is just plain ignorant.to the process. Yes, quinn is on the clock… as of the first game in oct. Why do u think bu gave him a 5 yr contract? I’ll answer this since most of you are confused…they gave him a five year contract because they knew it would take that long to rebuild the BU MENS HOCKEY program and pull it out of the embarrassment it became after tge 2009 season…and as much as I loved Parker, its on HIM….teams HE led became a disgrace to the sport. He slowly let this program sink and tge powers that be KNOW all that is not “fixed” in one season, especially with the lack of quality hockey players they handed to the next coach. THAT is why Quinn got a 5 yr deal and not 2 or 3. You can say ALL you want, but the guy knows talent when he sees it, greely clearly knows talent when he sees it and it will turn around. If you are a HOCKEY fan, a BU hockey fan you will also understand this. So all these posts criticizing the coaching, blaming them, you only tell me you are not a hockey fan and you are here for an ulterior motive, which is fine, free speech right? For those of you who get it…patience….its coming.
(Forgive any typos, didn’t feel like checking)
What’s this about Greer coming early? He is being set up to be the next Kurker except Kurker is better in every area of his game than Greer.
A lot of people bashed Kurker for coming in “too early”. Will these same people do the same to Greer or support him (as they should) just because he’s a DQ recruit?
I do not like to bash any BU player, current or former, but Kurker did have 45 games under 2 different coaches at BU to show what he could do and he just did not do anything. Saying that he came too soon last year when he was scheduled to come this year is not bashing him. Best to him in his future endeavors.
It looks like DQ’s system is taking place as we get deeper in the year. Early in the year, the record produced by the team was the result of what Parker taught them. As the year progressed, we can see the results that DQ’s system produced. Way to go DQ!
We need to go back to Parker’s system. That system produced winning team.
Anyone see the sickening picture of the BC team after the Beanpot in the Boston papers? The players are holding up fingers representing the number of Beanpots they’ve won. The seniors are holding up 4 fingers, the freshmen are holding up one, etc. Makes me want to puke!
Our players can hold up a fist with no fingers showing to represent their accomplishments in the Beanpot.
That picture is on the USCHO and Hockey East websites as well.
Quinn and Greeley have done a great job winning the recruiting war. Some hockey publications are saying that BU has the best recruiting classes for the next three years. Give the guy a shot at coaching his players. If there isn’t marked improvement next year I’ll be shocked. I’ve been going to BU games for 48 years and this is by far the LEAST TALENTED team I have ever seen. Quinn and Greeley didn’t recruit any of them. I love Jack and he was a phenominal coach but it was time. What is on the ice now is a lack of recruiting effort for the past several years.
DQ recruited Roberto and Kelley. They have both been terrible.
What publications would those be? So far, none of them have arrived yet and until they do, they are not BU hockey players.
Anonymous 2/13/14 @ 10:57am. Quinn did not recruit Kelley. Click on this link, then click on “Listing By College” and go to “Boston University”. https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0AoPLTHefMmmTdGt1bWNTcUNqRm1SaUNZbG5jMi1PS2c&gid=1
Kelley committed to BU in November 2012. Quinn was hired in March 2013.
Here’s the read on Kelley courtesy of USHR News from November 2012: https://www.ushr.com/news/20121101
Sat. 11/24/12
A Pair of Commitments
St. Sebastian’s 5’10”, 185 lb. senior forward Tommy Kelley has committed to Boston University for the fall of ’13.
A 9/15/94 birthdate from Natick, Mass., Kelley was the Arrows’ second-leading scorer last season, playing 28 games, and posting a 19-15-34 line, 20 points behind team leader and current BU freshman Danny O’Regan.
Kelley is a hard-working, well-rounded player who has proven that he can finish at the prep level – his shot and nose around the net is his strong asset. At the D-I level, he projects more as a solid third/fourth line winger.
Holy Cross was recruiting him hard early, along with St. Lawrence, Providence College and, of course, BU.
ANON 11:55, you can’t argue with stupid. The poster above you says a lot of dumb stuff, none of which is true. My favorite is that Quinn was fired from Colorado. His hockey knowledge, for lack of a better term is laughable. But THANK YOU for proving him wrong, yet again!!
Just took a look at the PWR rankings – we are now below UCONN, Bentley, Mercyhurst, Airforce, etc. This is a complete disgrace and should be unacceptable to every BU fan.
Interesting how “BU fans” are not giving Parker credit for closing the deal with Eichel.
Eichel did not come for parker because parker told him he would be gone before he arrived at BU. But i will give parker credit for closing the deal with him.. if he shows
if anyone thinks this year’s record would be different with parker or any other coach, they are delerious
i agree with a previous poster that the current state of BU hockey is a disgrace … of course that does not include the nicastro and trevino scandals
i am willing to give quinn a chance to rebuild, although, as i said in an earlier post, i was very disappointed in how he got the team ready for that beanpot game against harvard. no excuses
personally, i think the magnets that will attract other good players are greenway and keller. if they come, others will follow and greenway’s younger brother is the real deal too
although it is callous to say, i think quinn needs to take a tough stance with some of these kids and tell them he is not going to play them with the hope, aka kurker, that they pack up and go elsewhere. you gotta do it if you want to return to preeminence in college hockey
thankfully, my last game that i bought tix for is this sat against unh. then i don’t have to witness the first hand bumbling of the bad news bears for the rest of this year. fair weather fan? whatever. if this is supposed to be entertainment, well quite frankly, i am not entertained. watching this current team is like watching an elementary school play.. actually i recant that… this team is more inept than those grade schoolers fumbling over their lines
my next game will be the opener next year to see eichel
I predict Agganis will be empty for the rest of the year. Outrageous parking prices, expensive and lousy food, and a terrible team all mean that no one will show up.
there is an interesting article on the USCHO website about vermont and how the change in culture there has brought them back to some measure of respectability. there’s hope, i hope
The problem with us is that we hit rock bottom this year. We did pretty well last year.
Yea I guess that’s expected when you get 9 mediocre freshmen in and lose a few others. Duh