Doyle Somerby

Last year Terriers: Where are they now?

The first round of the annual Beanpot tournament is over, which means that there are only a few weeks left of the Boston University men’s hockey regular season. Looking forward, BU will take on No. 11 Northeastern University Monday night in the Beanpot Championship. After, the Terriers will only have conference matchups during the regular season.

As this blog has done in the past, Liam and Matt thought it would be a good idea to update the Boston Hockey Blog faithful on what the members of last year’s team, who do not wear the scarlet and white, are up to.

Oskar Andrén – Ferris State University
Andrén transferred to Ferris State University and has not appeared in a game for the team this season.

Kieffer Bellows – Portland Winterhawks

The former first round pick left BU to play junior hockey for the Portland Winterhawks in the Western Hockey League. His 52 points (26g and 26a) have him third on the Winterhawks this season.

Bellows is known for his shot and it was on full display at the World Junior Championship, where he had nine goals over the seven games. He also secured a spot on the IIHF All-Star Team.

He signed an entry-level contract with the New York Islanders back in September.

Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson – Providence Bruins

The Terriers’ former assistant captain is currently skating for the Providence Bruins. He is currently tied for second with 13 goals and his 28 points are good for fourth.

Tommy Kelley – Worcester Railers

Kelley has split time this year with the Manchester Monarchs, Cincinnati Cyclones, Atlanta Gladiators and Worcester Railers.

In 13 games this year, he has two goals and two assists.

Clayton Keller – Arizona Coyotes

The former No. 7 draft pick is currently is lighting up the score sheets in the NHL. The 19-year-old rookie currently leads his team in points and is fourth among rookies with 36. He also leads the Coyotes with 14 points and 22 assists.

He is considered among the front runners for the Calder Trophy.

Connor LaCouvee – Minnesota State University

After backing up then freshman goaltender Jake Oettinger last season, LaCouvee transferred to Minnesota State University and is now their starting goaltender.

LaCouvee has appeared in 19 games this season, and has a 1.92 goals against average and .913 goal save percentage this season.

He returned to Agganis Arena in October and helped guide Mankato to a sweep of the Terriers. In his one appearance in the series, he saved 32 shots in the 6-3 victory.

Charlie McAvoy – Boston Bruins

The first year blueliner often skates among the first defensive pairing with Bruins captain Zdeno Chara. McAvoy recently returned to the lineup after missing sometime due to a heart procedure.

On the season, McAvoy has 25 points thanks to five goals and 20 assists. He is also a strong candidate for the Calder Trophy.

Johnny McDermott – Providence College

McDermott announced he will continue his NCAA career with Hockey East foe No. 9 Providence College.

Nick Roberto – South Carolina Stingrays
The Wakefield native signed to play with the South Carolina Stingrays over the summer. In 33 games, he has 11 points.

Doyle Somerby – Cleveland Monsters

Last season’s captain, Doyle Somerby, signed with the Columbus Blue Jackets in August 2017 after not signing his entry-level contract with the New York Islanders.

He is currently skating for their AHL affiliate, the Cleveland Monsters, and has six assists so far on the season.

Preview: BU hosts Notre Dame to close out regular season

One hundred and forty days later, the No. 6 Boston University men’s hockey team’s 2016-17 regular season will come to a close on Saturday night.

The Terriers will host No. 13 University of Notre Dame for a weekend set at Agganis Arena, with the action getting underway Friday at 6 p.m. and wrapping up one day later at 7 p.m.

Heading into the series, BU has a first-round bye in the Hockey East playoffs clinched, but can still capture the regular-season crown. For a full rundown of what’s set to unfold, check out Jonathan’s preview on The Daily Free Press.

Aside from playoff implications, Saturday’s game will mark the last regular-season contest of Doyle Somerby, Nick Roberto and Tommy Kelley’s careers. They’ll have their Senior Night, capping four years of throwing on the scarlet and white.

The trio means a lot to head coach David Quinn, too, because his first year at the helm was also their freshman season.

To recount their time on Commonwealth Avenue, Jonathan caught up with Somerby, Roberto and Kelley to reflect. Click here for the full story on The Daily Free Press.

Feature: BU defense bedrock of what could be a special season

With so much attention falling on BU’s talented forwards, it’s sometimes easy to lose sight of how special the D-corps is.

After all, the group allows 2.08 goals per game, tied for the fourth fewest in the nation. The penalty kill enjoys an 87.1 success rate, the NCAA’s fourth best total. And lastly, it has pitched five shutouts through 26 games, more than the last three seasons combined.

Perhaps most notably, the starting sextet – senior Doyle Somerby, juniors Brandon Hickey and John MacLeod, sophomore Charlie McAvoy and freshmen Chad Krys and Dante Fabbro  – are all drafted by NHL teams.

Mindful of all that, Jonathan wrote a longform feature about the contingent and explored what makes the pairings so successful.

Here’s a brief snippet:

“It goes back to us playing for that year together in high school and just getting familiar with tendencies,” MacLeod said. “Now when a certain play goes on I’ll know where he’s going to be and vice versa. It helps a lot because we’re roommates, good friends off the ice and we can always talk about what worked, what didn’t work.”

For a full version of the story, click here.

Thoughts from the Beanpot luncheon

The 65th annual Beanpot Tournament is less than a week away. Tickets are selling, fans are rejoicing and the teams are preparing. The Boston Hockey Blog got thoughts from head coach David Quinn and senior players about the Feb. 6 faceoff between No. 3 Boston University and No. 6 Boston College.

Senior forward Nick Roberto said his biggest fear going into the tournament is beating BC a third time, as the Terriers already defeated them twice this season.

NR: “Beating them a third time is going to be extremely hard. Hopefully we’re focused for that game, and come out and work hard just like we did the first two games.”

“Oettinger for sure,” Roberto immediately answered when asked what he considered his teams secret weapon. “Ah no, secret weapon … I think our compete level is probably our secret weapon. When we out compete teams, we’re very good. When we play down to teams or let teams hang in with us it’s a close game.”

Senior Captain Doyle Somerby wants his team to have fun with it, but knows how difficult the game will be on Monday.

DS: “I don’t think you realize how special [the Beanpot] is until you actually take the ice for it. Local guys understand it because they grew up coming to it but when you’re not from around here it definitely takes the first 10 minutes or so of the game to grasp the full concept of it. It’s really unique and special because no one else has this.”

What do you tell your team to get them in the right mindset for such a big game?

DS: “Honestly, just have fun with it as much as you can. If you grip the stick too tight, you’re too nervous and thinking too much about it, it’s going to be a long night. Especially playing BC. We already have that rivalry. People comprehend that and understand how special that is to play against them. They just need to enjoy it as much as they can on Monday night.”

This could be one of the last big games of your college hockey career. What’s going through your head as your senior season winds down?

DS: “Just trying to enjoy it as much as I can. Being a local kid – I’m about 35 minutes away – so this is something I grew up coming too every single year since I was 4 or 5. With this one you just need to enjoy it. This might be the last time I ever play BC, so on top of the big games you got your last rivalry game. I’m just trying to have fun with it, hoping to come out on top and play for the championship the next Monday.”

How hard will it be to beat BC a third time this season?

DS:  “It’s really hard. When you play a rival like that it doesn’t matter what the stat sheet says. It doesn’t matter what your record is. Especially in the Beanpot. It’s going to be a one-goal game no matter what. It’s going to be a lot of fun to play them but it’s also going to be pretty interesting. It’s going to be a tight game.”

Head coach David Quinn agrees it’s going to be a close game.

DQ: “Obviously anytime BU and BC get together, in any situation it’s an exciting game. It draws a little extra attention from both fan bases, and usually the college hockey world pays a little extra attention to it. But when you put that game in the Beanpot it’s even more special. Usually you get great competitive games. Someone has a goalie pulled at the end of the game. Both teams have talent. Both teams compete hard. Both teams are at the top of the league and in the national rankings. It’s going to make for an exciting Beanpot, as it usually does.”

How hard will it be to beat BC a third time this season?

DQ: “It’s always hard to beat BC. I don’t care whether you’ve beaten twice or not. I’ve got an awful lot of respect for them. It’s been such a great rivalry for so long. We still understand what’s ahead of us. We’re not thinking about the two games that happened three weeks ago. We’re going to focus on Monday night.”

Quinn, Somerby and Roberto all agree that although the Terriers are the youngest team in college hockey, they won’t appear to be on the ice.

NR: “Maybe for the first five minutes the crowd will get into it, the atmosphere will be good. We’ve played in some hostile environments out in Denver, Michigan and at BC, so [the freshman] will be all set. And a lot of them played in the World Juniors as well. Especially USA-Canada. That was a loud game for them.”

DS: “I think Christmas break definitely helped [the freshman], playing in the World Juniors. Playing in Canada against Canada is a pretty chaotic place to play. They definitely learned a lot from there. We learned a couple lessons last week. Definitely I’ll just tell them to enjoy as much as they can because you don’t get this experience too often.”

DQ: “We’ve been fortunate this year, whether it be at Denver or Michigan or up in Vermont or up in Maine, we’ve played in some very very big atmospheres. The guys who played at the World Juniors certainly played for 20,000 people up in Canada so we can draw from experiences. I don’t think nerves will be an issue for us.”

Three Thoughts: BU, with shorthanded roster, beats Union in OT

Freshman Gabriel Chabot centered BU's third line. PHOTO BY JONATHAN SIGAL/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Freshman Gabriel Chabot centered BU’s third line. PHOTO BY JONATHAN SIGAL/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

In case you missed it, Thursday night was a special one at Agganis Arena.

With seven Terriers off competing in the gold medal game of the World Junior Championships, the No. 5 Boston University men’s hockey team hosted No. 10 Union in a high-stakes clash. The game would have massive implications on the Pairwise Rankings, and it was hard not to wonder if BU truly stood a chance without so many of it’s top players – Clayton Keller, Jordan Greenway, Charlie McAvoy, Dante Fabbro, Jake Oettinger, Patrick Harper and Kieffer Bellows.

However, doubters were proved wrong, as BU stormed back from two different deficits to win, 5-4, in overtime. Now that the dust has settled, we offer several thoughts on the crucial victory.

1.) History –  It’s hard to think of a more satisfying regular season win in the last two years that this one for head coach David Quinn’s side. The 2016-17 season has brought about some great ones, including ones on Nov. 22 over now-No. 4 Harvard University and on Oct. 22 over now-No. 15 Quinnipiac University. Stretch back to the 2015-16 campaign, and the only ones that come to mind are an overtime win over Denver and an away stomping of Quinnipiac that snapped its unbeaten run. Sure, the debate can rage on either side here, but every player and coach had an ear-to-ear grin after this one vs. Union. Quinn even went as far as to say it felt like a playoff game, and that speaks volumes to the collective belief in the locker room.

“It feels like a playoff win in a lot of ways. I couldn’t be prouder of our guys. They believed, all week in practice you could kind of feel it, it was an excitement to play. I don’t want to say [we] shocked the world, but it was more, not only the coaches but I’m sure the players were being asked, ‘How are you going to play a game with all these guys gone?’ I think they felt a little bit slighted, and it was a great win. A great, great win for us.” – Quinn

2.) JFK – Wow. What a night it was from Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, BU’s first-line center and sophomore assistant captain. He figuratively carried the Terriers on his back throughout the contest, doing so many of the little things right. It’s sometimes jaw-dropping how fast he crosses the blueline, using his body to protect the puck and create space for himself to operate. He even won 17 of his 27 draws and logged crucial minutes on the penalty kill. Oh yeah, the Swede netted a hat trick, too, with one tally in the first period, another to tie it up late in the third and then an overtime game-winner. It was a performance for the ages.

His first goal:

His second goal:

His third goal:

3.) LaCouvee – It got lost in the shuffle a bit last night, but Connor LaCouvee had another solid outing in what marked his third start of the 2016-17 season. He of course let up four goals, but that was with a depleted defensive corps in front of him, with two strikes coming on broken plays and two more on power plays for Union. By the night’s end, he stopped 35 of the Dutchmen’s 39 shots, and did his part in largely quieting Mike Vecchione and Spencer Foo, the nation’s top two scorers.

The Small Five

a.) Switzer – Shane Switzer, BU’s sophomore defenseman who’s honestly been lost in the thicket of immense talent on the blueline, had himself another positive outing. He scored BU’s opener on the power play, giving him three goals in his last two games. Then he spent the better part of the game in the locker room, with Quinn saying he suffered a concussion. He’ll likely be out for a couple weeks.

b.) Hickey – Another game, another outing in which Brandon Hickey keeps doing so much right for BU. The junior defenseman snagged an assist on JFK’s second goal of the night, but he was everywhere from start to finish. Due to Switzer’s concussion, the Terriers spent most of the game with five blueliners, and Hickey filled the gap and then some.

c.) PK – For long stretches of the 2016-17 season, BU has thrived itself on its penalty kill. Union seemed to finally crack the code so to speak, as it beat LaCouvee on two of its four extra-man opportunities. Quinn said in his post-game press conference that the problem will be remedied, but it goes to show that even one of the nation’s best units isn’t always perfect.

d.) JFK part 2 – When JFK walked in for his post-game interview, he was wearing a walking boot and linemate Bobo Carpenter helped him along at some points. JFK gave us the thumbs up and said he’ll be OK, so I wouldn’t take too much stock into it for the time being. After all, he played the whole game, so it’s likely a precautionary measure.

e.) Role players – Guys like a Gabriel Chabot or a Brien Diffley logged far more ice time than they normally would, as the aforementioned seven missing players normally eat up minutes for BU. In other words, role players stepped up and the Terriers are showing they’re a selfless bunch. These quotes from my 1-on-1 interview last with Doyle Somerby speak volumes to that phenomenon.

“There was some guys that weren’t used to playing in roles that they were about to play in, so you never know how someone is going to step up. We kind of did something like this my freshman year when guys had to sit, and we battled. That’s something you can come together with and use it as a positive.” – Somerby

 

“I think everyone has accepted their roles at this point. Everyone wants to be scoring goals and do big things, but it shows a lot of maturity and a lot of positives that guys are willing to sacrifice their own benefit for the better success of the team.” – Somerby

From The FreeP: BU earns top spot in Hockey East preseason poll

The Boston Hockey Blog crew swung by TD Garden on Tuesday for Hockey East’s media day.

Coaches and captains were in attendance, and the league announced the Boston University men’s hockey team took home the top spot in the preseason poll. For BU’s purposes, that meant we got some reactions from head coach David Quinn, captain Doyle Somerby and the assistant captains in Nikolas Olsson and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson.

Here’s our article on the poll, as well as some thoughts on Hockey East as a whole. You can also find the complete poll below:

A couple quick housekeeping items, too:

  • We’re looking to start a BU hockey newsletter. If that’s something you’re interested, feel free to provide some brief information here.
  • The Terriers get their season underway this Saturday with a scrimmage against the University of Prince Edward Island. The game is at 7 p.m. at Agganis Arena.
  • Our annual Hockey Preview goes live next Thursday, Oct. 6. Keep an eye out for a complete, in-depth look at this year’s scarlet and white.

BU officially announces 2016-17 roster, three new staff members

Doyle Somerby will serve as the team's captain this season.
Doyle Somerby will serve as the team’s captain this season. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

Get excited, Terrier fans. BU hockey is just around the corner.

The Boston University men’s hockey team released the official 2016-17 roster on Wednesday, as well as announced the addition of three new staff members.

The 26-man roster consists of 15 forwards, eight defensemen and three goaltenders. A whopping nine freshman will don the scarlet-and-white jerseys this season. Senior defenseman and Marblehead, Mass. native Doyle Somerby is this year’s team captain, while junior forward Nikolas Olsson and sophomore center Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson have been named assistant captains.

The roster announcement comes with just over three weeks until the Terriers host an exhibition against the University of Prince Edward Island on Oct. 1, and exactly a month until the season opener at Colgate University.

As far as staff goes, former team manager Brittany Miller has been named the director of hockey operations, Kyle Czech is the team’s new strength and conditioning coach and Brian Eklund was named a volunteer assistant coach. He’ll focus on the program’s goaltenders.

Miller served as team manager for the last five seasons, focusing on analyzing statistics and ice-time during games. She also made travel accommodations for the team and managed ticket requests. Miller even helped out with the team’s social media accounts.

The first female to receive a full-time role on a Division I men’s ice hockey program, Miller earned both her undergraduate and graduate degrees at Boston University. She received a bachelor’s degree in business administration and management from the Questrom School of Business last year, and earned a master’s degree from the College of Communication this year. She will replace Chris Dyment, who spent one year at the position.

“We have known Brittany for a long time and she has really helped this program run efficiently over the last five years,” Terrier head coach David Quinn said in a GoTerriers.com release. “When the director of hockey operations job opened up, it was an easy decision to make. She is incredibly smart and driven, and she gets along well with people. Brittany loves BU and we’re very fortunate to keep her here with our program.”

Czech will serve as the team’s strength and conditioning coach, replacing Sean Skahan, who joined the Minnesota Wild this offseason as head strength and conditioning coach. Czech comes from Prentiss Hockey Performance in Connecticut, a prestigious training facility that has helped train NHL athletes like Jonathan Quick, Torey Krug and James van Riemsdyk. He has previously worked at both Clemson University and the University of Wisconsin.

“In the short period of time he has been here, our players have found him to be incredibly smart and personable,” Quinn said in the release. “He works incredibly hard and will be a great addition to our staff.”

Lastly, Eklund joins the program after serving as assistant goaltender coach at Harvard University for three seasons. He owns Massachusetts Crease, a goalie school that has mentored goalies both in college and at the professional level.

A 2004 Stanley Cup Champion with the Tampa Bay Lightning, Eklund played college hockey at Brown University before signing a two-year deal with the Lightning. The team’s third goaltender during their title run, he made his NHL debut in the 2005-06 season before playing two seasons in the AHL.

“He has a great reputation as one of the best goalie coaches around and will be a valuable addition to our staff,” Quinn said in the release. “Based on his coaching experience and his professional hockey career, we are looking forward to having him work with our three talented goaltenders.”

Eklund replaces Mike Geragosian, who was the goaltending coach at BU for 17 seasons and helped the Terriers reach 10 NCAA tournaments.

Click here to see the entire 2016-17 Terrier roster.

How many NHL draft picks does Boston University have rostered?

Somerby will be BU's sole senior drafted by an NHL team. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF
Somerby will be BU’s sole senior drafted by an NHL team. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DAILY FREE PRESS STAFF

This past weekend’s NHL Draft in Buffalo, New York was undoubtedly historic for the Boston University men’s hockey team. A whopping six Terriers heard their name called at First Niagara Center, speaking volumes to the youthful talent that will soon grace Agganis Arena for the 2016-17 season.

It’s important to take a step back, though, and ponder this: Just how many NHL selections does head coach David Quinn have at his disposal? As it turns out, quite a lot.

On any given weekend in Hockey East or out-of-conference play, it’s likely 11 skaters will have been drafted. The numbers break down to five forwards and six defensemen, altogether coalescing into what is – on paper – one of the NCAA’s most talented rosters.

Forwards: The Terriers have nearly two lines NHL scouts have tabbed as ready for the next step. It’s impossible to predict who will pan out as hoped, but potential is abound.

  1. Kieffer Bellows – Freshman – New York Islanders  – First round, 19th overall in 2016
  2. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson – Sophomore – Boston Bruins – Second round, 45th overall in 2015
  3. Jordan Greenway – Sophomore – Minnesota Wild – Second round, 50th overall in 2015
  4. Patrick Harper – Freshman – Nashville Predators – Fifth round, 138th overall in 2016
  5. Clayton Keller – Freshman – Arizona Coyotes – First round, 7th overall in 2016

Defenseman: Lineup decisions and injuries notwithstanding, Quinn could field an entire defensive unit of NHL draft picks. Somerby, the team’s captain, leads the contingent.

  1. Dante Fabbro – Freshman – Nashville Predators – First round, 17th overall in 2016
  2. Brandon Hickey – Junior – Calgary Flames – Third round, 64th overall in 2014
  3. Chad Krys – Freshman – Chicago Blackhawks – Second round, 45th overall in 2016
  4. John MacLeod – Junior – Tampa Bay Lightning – Second round, 57th overall in 2014
  5. Charlie McAvoy – Sophomore – Boston Bruins – First round, 14th overall in 2016
  6. Doyle Somerby – Senior – New York Islanders – Fifth round, 125th overall in 2012

Here are some remarks from Quinn following the 2016 Draft about the NHL picks that’ll be wearing scarlet and white.

Also, be sure to read this article by Alex Prewitt of Sports Illustrated. He was on location in Buffalo last weekend, and has some interesting tidbits from McAvoy, Quinn and Jack Eichel.

Here’s a brief preview:

“Just talking about it and thinking about it,” said Charlie McAvoy, the only one of the quartet who skated for the Terriers last season. Not the upcoming first round of the draft, mind you, but the prospect of playing together in the fall. “It’s surreal, the class that we’re coming in with. It’s going to be special.”

Somerby named 2016-17 captain, team awards presented at Friends of Hockey Banquet

Pluses and Minuses: Late goal sinks No. 12 BU at No. 15 Yale to start Connecticut weekend

Jordan Greenway. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DFP FILE PHOTO
Jordan Greenway. PHOTO BY MADDIE MALHOTRA/DFP FILE PHOTO

NEW HAVEN, Connecticut — Late in the third period of Friday night’s game against No. 15 Yale University, there was some confusion among the skaters on the ice for the No. 12 Boston University men’s hockey team.

The Terriers had already pulled sophomore goaltender Connor LaCouvee for an extra skater, but there was a slight issue.

BU had seven skaters on the ice when there should’ve been six.

After some discussing and finger pointing, the problem was sorted out and the Terriers (8-6-3, 4-3-2 Hockey East) had the correct number of skaters to finish the game, although they probably wished they could’ve gotten away with sneaking in an extra, extra forward.

They made it close in the end, but the Terriers fell to Yale, 3-2. Bulldogs (6-4-2) forward John Hayden scored twice, including the game-winner in the third period to propel Yale.

It wasn’t BU’s best effort by any stretch, so here’s a breakdown of the loss at Ingalls Rink.

Minuses 

Slow Start

Honestly, we could have just copied and pasted this section from a bunch of other stories we’ve written, but it really held true again.

It wasn’t like the Terriers got severely outplayed from the outset, and they even got on the board first with senior forward Ahti Oksanen’s ninth goal of the season, but there just seemed to be a flow missing. Part of that could be attributed to Yale’s strong defense and goaltending from Alex Lyon, who had a 1.78 goals-against average coming into the game.

Any way you slice it, BU was outshot 28-19 after two periods, and trailed by a goal after those 40 minutes.

It was the eighth time since Nov. 13 at Providence College that BU has entered a third period either trailing or tied.

“Too little, too late,” said head coach David Quinn. “You can’t beat yourselves, and we just beat ourselves tonight.” 

Major penalty

Yale was already crawling back into the game, and freshman forward Ryan Cloonan did his team no favors by taking a five-minute major and game misconduct penalty on a hit he threw in the neutral zone at 19:03 of the second period.

Thirty-seven seconds into that major penalty, Hayden scored the first of his two goals on a perfect passing play set up by the Bulldogs that started down low from the right-wing boards and eventually to Hayden in the slot.

It would be the only goal the Bulldogs would get on this man advantage, but having Cloonan out of the picture meant an already shorthanded BU group was forced to play down a man for the entire third period.

Missed coverage

Without senior captain Matt Grzelcyk and sophomore defenseman Brandon Hickey, it was going to be a challenge for the remaining BU defensemen to step up to contain Yale. But, much to their credit, the blue liners played well for most of the game.

Although they made smart plays a majority of the time, when they did mess up, it directly cost the Terriers.

The goals, most notably the first one, all appeared to involve a missed assignment or failed coverage.

BU had just called a timeout after it iced the puck in the middle of the second period, and off the ensuing faceoff, forward Ryan Hitchcock somehow snuck open near the net and beat LaCouvee on a rebound to tie the game at one with 1:47 left in the second period.

“Coach reiterated all week that they’re not going to beat themselves and unfortunately their first goal and that power-play goal wasn’t great plays on our part, you can’t let them get a lead like that because it’s tough to score goals against them,” said junior defenseman Doyle Somerby.

“Unfortunately it came back to bite us.”

Pluses 

Greenway continues improvement 

Like other highly touted recruits from the U.S. National Team Development Program, freshman forward Jordan Greenway had his fair share of hype coming into his first year on Commonwealth Avenue.

But the first month-plus of his season was relatively quiet, at least points-wise. Quinn reiterated that he liked the potential he saw from Greenway, but there a lack of “killer instinct.”

The faith in Greenway seems to finally be paying dividends. Greenway has five points (one goal, four assists) in the last four games, upping his point total to seven on the year.

On Friday, he had the primary assist on Oksanen’s second-period strike on a pass set up from behind the goal line and to the slot.

“Well he’s getting older, he’s getting more mature, he’s starting to understand how to play the game at this level,” Quinn said after the game Friday. “And I thought that line was really good tonight, that line really possessed the puck and had some great chances. And I really liked the way Jordan played tonight.”

End of penalty kill

Playing down a skater is never easy, but when it’s even more difficult when it’s for five minutes.

But BU, despite giving up one power-play goal on the major penalty, clamped down for the final 4:23 of the penalty, and didn’t allow Yale to again find the back of the net while on the man advantage.

Judy has you covered on this part of the game in her sidebar.