By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff
Consolation games are not fun to play in, but they are not insignificant either. The No. 15 Boston University may not have had a Beanpot trophy to play for in their game against Harvard Monday, but beating the Crimson would have helped the Terriers as far as the NCAA tournament selection is concerned.
Despite this, BU came out flat with minimal effort and thus fell to Harvard 5-4 on Monday night. BU has not finished last in the Beanpot since 1980, and this year’s team will hold the embarrassing place in program history as one of only four BU squads in the 59 years of the tournament to not win a Beanpot game.
“We didn’t compete anywhere near as much as we should have,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “It was a shock to be in this game for one thing and we should have responded better because of that.”
Effort was the issue for BU as it was obvious throughout Monday night’s game that the Terriers simply did not care to compete hard enough to win, They did not care to respond to their first round loss by performing in a consolation game.
The effort on Monday night was laughable compared to the opener, when BU looked like an NCAA tournament-worthy team. This Monday, they looked more like they were attending the game rather than actually playing in it.
“It was nothing really in particular that was any different than any other day,” junior co-captain Chris Connolly said. “We just for whatever reason didn’t come focused tonight. That hopefully won’t come back to bite us, but that was our last out-of-conference game. We’ll see.”
The Terriers threw pucks lazily around the ice, struggled to penetrate the offensive zone, and gave up five goals to the worst offense in the country. Even junior goaltender Kieran Millan, who had been a stalwart in net recently, looked porous.
In the second period, the Terriers were sitting on a 1-0 lead and Harvard pounced. The Crimson potted three goals in 1:13, two of which should have been somewhat routine saves for Millan. The second Crimson goal came off a shot from the right face-off dot while the third was a throw-away shot from the corner that somehow eluded Millan.
“My club wasn’t ready to make sure they got that W,” Parker said. “I was extremely disappointed in just about everybody on my club.”
The blame for the loss rests on everybody’s shoulders, and Connolly was not making excuses for his role in BU’s poor attitude.
“I take it personally,” Connolly said. “I think it’s a reflection of myself, Dave and Joe as being leaders that the team isn’t ready. It starts from the top down with us, and it filtered all the way through. It’s tough to see and hopefully we can do a good job this week to turn that around.”
Junior assistant captain Dave Warsofsky is the epitome of players who need to turn things around. After being benched on Friday night for not playing up to his capabilities, Warsofsky responded on Monday night by posting a team-worst minus-3 rating. He bumbled a few plays at the blue line and was lucky to get an assist when Alex Chiasson tipped a soft shot from Warsofsky at the point behind Harvard netminder Ryan Carroll.
It is easy to dismiss the lack of effort from the entire team as a part of playing in a consolation game, but the Terriers took Harvard for granted. With a somewhat easy stretch in their schedule coming up, the Terriers will need to make the mental adjustments necessary in understanding that every game is important, no matter the opponent.
“We didn’t come out ready for a big game, and like I said, it was our last out-of-conference game so these last six are very important,” Connolly said. “We’ll take them one at a time and we can’t look past any of them. That message has to be sent starting tomorrow.”
The only players showing lack of effort were Warso and Clendening.
The loss was more the lack of coaching from Jack Parker. When is Parker going to finally retire and let someone competent take over?
The Curse of Andrew Glass strikes again.
Jay Parker continues to rue kicking off a kid who delayed an OPTIONAL workout just to study for a final.
Warso is playing like he’s already given up on the season, team, and Jack Parker.
Interesting to see the Parker Suck Ups disappear now that we finished up in last place in the Beanpot and the season is all over.
Warso came in as a good player but let Parker ruined him.
Why is it that BC’s recruits improve while BU’s regress in their college years?
Looks like the Jack Parker Suck Ups have realized the season is OVER!
Does the 1 goal loss to Harvard prove that we can “play with Harvard”?
Hey Jack, way to build a team that can “play with Harvard”!
The Jack Parker sideshow has become far more entertaining than the BU team on the ice. I can’t wait to see what Parker does next – boot someone, throw someone under the bus, bench someone, make someone come here to defend his actions, etc…
What does Colby Cohen think about the Beanpost last place finish?
He seems to have a useless opinion about everything…
Why do I get the idea that the first nine posts in this thread were all written by the same person?
Someone with an obvious ax to grind with Jack Parker?
Someone who wants to downgrade David Warsofsky and Adam Clendening at every opportunity?
Why do I know that whether BU wins or loses, this “Anonymous” voice is still a real loser!
I don’t have an axe to grind with parker, but I will agree that his actions this year are a disgrace to my university. I don’t know Glass, but I definitely feel he didn’t deserve to be dismissed and parker’s actions are pathetic; which makes him pathetic. parker constantly pumps players up in the press and then berates them when they don’t stand up to his unrealistic expectations. BU needs a new coach, not a phony negative guy that constantly degrades his own team and players. Warso is a great offensive player, but a poor defensive player. So was Shatty. The right coach would find the right combos. parker is horrible, not the players. clenedening is way overrated and over his head on a typical night, but if parker is going to constantly play him, then it’s not clen’s fault. you will see that next year clendening will be punished by parker for playing poorly and clen will not see what hit him. mark my words.
andrew glass strikes agin yes no nhl
I’ve been a season ticket holder for 15+ years and over that time I have missed only a handful of home games.
Parker lost control of this team several years ago. For at least the last 6-8 years the players have repeatedly quit on him. He just doesn’t seem to be able to relate to them or get through to them any more.
The Frozen Four championship was more due to the leadership of the captains and not Parker. He would have done his team and his reputation a favor if he retired on top in April 2009.
It’s hard watching a legend hang on past his expiration date.
I have been a season ticket holder since 1970 and have seen an awful lot of hockey and I seldom miss a game. I sometimes think that the 2009 title was an anomaly and happened only because Gilroy and Wilson decided to stay in spite of Jack telling them they should leave. There have been way too many times that the team has not showed up for games over the last several years. They do not play that many games for this to happen. This is the fault of the coaching staff I believe. I am not happy!!!Maybe it is time.
Does anyone notice how convenient it is that the pro-Parker people are always giving Parker credit for 2009 and his titles but don’t hold him responsible at all for the rest of the past 13-14 years which have been absolutely terrible? And I’m not talking just results. I’m talking about keeping guys on the team that should be in jail, kids getting kicked of the team, kids failing out, etc. There have been a lot of very uncomfortable situations lately in this program that are just forgotten conveniently by these same people.
I just thought I would point that out.
It’s his program, the buck stops with him, and he never has to answer for this stuff. He’s got the BU world on a string wrapped around his finger.
Maybe the person that this team really misses is David Quinn?
Maybe Mike Bavis isn’t a real No. 2?
Maybe ex-head coach Buddy Powers hasn’t brought enough back in this role?
Maybe Parker can’t get them up for every game like he used to? Or maybe his health is an issue?
Who knows?
But it is the players that play.
They are at a great school with facilities second-to-none.
If they can’t get up for every game, given the number of games that they play, shame on them.
But one thing that everyone seems to be forgetting. This is an extremely young team.
The biggest issue for young teams, no matter how talented, is consistency.
Consistent effort and consistent production are separate issues.
Lack of consistent effort is a bigger problem of the two.
Ahh, the “young team” excuse now.
The Parker Suck Ups never run out of excuses…
This is a young team. That is a fact. It is not an excuse to lay eggs like they did last night but that blame falls on the players, the captains, and all of the coaches not just Parker. You blame the bad on Parker and the good on the players. That is awfully inconsistent in your argument there. You make it obvious that you just hate the guy and can’t put any bias aside to make a valid argument.
I think what makes this game all the more stunning is that it’s one of the few times all year that consistent effort has been as much of an issue as last year. This team has put forth a consistent effort for the greater part of the year, and a lot of heart in some games they were not favored in.
In case you missed it, we came in last place in the women’s Beanpot too.
What was with all the talk about the great women’s team we had? Just another smoke and mirrors job by our athletic department.
Pathetic!
What happens to Warso now?
He went from a benching for poor play to a -3 on the ice in his next game. Is he the next one to be booted from the team?
Why is going to take the fall for this year’s failure?
Parker thought he could get Andrew Glass to get the blame for the big fail but that move backfired and the team got far worse without Glass.
Now, Parker needs another scapegoat or two or even three. Who will get tossed under the bus next?
Tying the No. 9 team in the country, playing two one-goal games against the No. 1 team, beating the No. 8 team on the road and taking three of four points from the No. 19 team on the road is getting far worse? Interesting.
Losing to an unranked Harvard team in the most critical PWR game of the year?
Yep, Parker is getting worse since kicking Andrew Glass off the team for study for a final.
Will Connelly still be on the team next year?
He can enter the BU record book as the oldest senior ever. Most people his age are finishing up grad school yet he still hasn’t “graduated” from undergrad yet.
The fastest fading member of this team is Coyle.
What a disappointment this bum is. Not only is he arrogant, he has no real talent.
Very disappointed with my fellow BU students at the last place game. I was actually able to count the number of BU “fans” at the drop of the puck for the third period with just one hand.
Where were our “great” fans?
Did the women’s coach bash his team after the last place Beanpot finish just like Parker did?
The team got worse after kicking Glass off?
Who are you kidding?
Glass was a NONENTITY for three years.
He added next-to-nothing!
He was a figure skater wearing a helmet and carrying a stick.
BU fans miss the steak & cheese subs at HAA more than anyone misses Andrew Glass on the ice.
Parker has no one to blame but his incompetent self…after all, he was the one who recruited Glass just like he recruited Saporani, Sabo, Bourque, Yip, Bartlett, Warso, and the rest of the bums who couldn’t cut it on the ice and/or in the classroom and/or in life.
We had 7 fans there for the last pace Beanpot game. I counted all the BU jerseys I could see and I got to 7 including the 3 in my group.
The only this team gets better is to bench Warso or kick him off the team.
The team played better with him off the ice (win against UMASS) than with him on the ice (loss to BC and Harvard).
1) Coyle is the exact opposite of arrogant.
2) BU played better against UMass than against BC? That’s news to me.
3) Any time you want to stop littering our blog, SteveF, that would be great.
UMASS can “play with BU” and they are a really young team.
Who is the most arrogant player on the team – Coyle or Warso?
Yet they are struggling to make the HE playoffs…BU has home ice all but locked up.
scott i don’t think it’s fair to pin it all on stevef, what about TimP and slasher? you know he had help haha
Who is SteveF?
Is he one of Andrew Glass’s many friends at BU or is he a Warso hater?
SteveF is a BC troll who’s probably responsible for at least half these comments.
Hey Scott, you should check out USCHO. Some idiot named Federal League went nuts when someone accused him of being QuackQuack.
You’re doing the same thing with SteveF.
Actually, the person who sent me that neg rep (a BC fan) already emailed me, apologized and said they sent it to the wrong person. The person who sent it knows who I actually am. And my SteveF comments are partially tongue-in-cheek. I’m quite certain he’s responsible for at least some of these comments, but obviously I have no way to prove that.
Yeah I’m not Scott just to clarify haha
Did Warso get benched again for his terrible play?
A -3 against Harvard is like a -7 against an average team.
Any predictions on who Parker will throw under the bus after a loss to Providence?
Will it be an individual or the entire team?