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Tag: BU hockey (Page 1 of 4)

Terriers in Pro Hockey Update – December 28, 2010

It’s winter break – thus I have nothing else to do but write and catch up on my Google Reader and follow Twitter all day. Your benefit? Tons of updates about former Terriers around professional hockey.

Gilroy celebrates a two goal game on Monday night.

Gilroy celebrates his two goal game on Monday night. (Photo: NHL.com)

– By now you’re read up on Matt Gilroy’s two goal game for the New York Rangers against the New York Islanders on Monday night. NHL.com has a well-written write-up of the 7-2 Rangers win. Gilroy had been very quiet this season, having only played 22 games and spending a tad too much time as a healthy scratch.

Time in the press box seemingly has motivated Gilroy, who is making the most of his recent ice time. Says Kukla’s Korner’s Patrick Hoffman:

“In the last week or so, there has been a noticeable difference in New York Rangers’ defenseman Matt Gilroy’s game.

Gilroy has appeared to be more confident, poised, willing to jump into the play, make smart plays in the defensive zone and more importantly, a steady presence on the club’s blue line.”

As much as we would all love to see Gilroy repeat his two-goal game, the odds are against him. Reported the Elias Sports Bureau in its daily ESPN.com “Elias Says” piece:

“It was the first multiple-goal game of the season by a Rangers D-man, and if recent history is any indication it could be the last. The Rangers had exactly one multi-goal game by a defenseman in each of the past three seasons: by Michal Rozsival in both 2007-08 and 2008-09, and Daniel Girardi in 2009-10.”

– One of Gilroy’s 2009 teammates, Chris Higgins, started the season with Ritten of the Italian Series A pro hockey league, but is no longer on the active roster. He last played on December 11th in a 6-2 loss against Val Pusteria, and had two shots and no points on the night. On December 7th, Higgins had his own 2 goal game in a 6-5 win over Asiago (yes, like the cheese.)

Why Higgins is off the roster is a tad unclear. From my bad translation of German, here’s what Ritten’s website had to say about Higgins’ departure:

“Where’s Chris Higgins will end the season is still unclear. This player clearly has a great technique and great talent: though in the eyes of Rittner he is not yet mature enough to play in the Italian hockey league.”

Ritten only has 13 wins on the season, and they seemed to take their December 11th loss hard. Higgins finished his time in Ritten with 20 points (9 goals, 11 assists.)

– The Netherlands has a goal of fielding a men’s ice hockey team in the 2018 Winter Olympics. To achieve that goal, the Dutch Olympic Committee has created an elite hockey training center in Eindhoven, modeled after the US National Team Development Program in Ann Arbor, Michigan. The newly opened Ice Hockey Field Lab and High Tech Center at Eindhoven Ice Arena includes several cameras and video rooms to better break down plays and technique with the Netherlands’ top youth hockey players.

The IIHF was on hand for the opening of the center, which featured remarks from Gilroy and Higgins’ fellow 2009 graduate, Jason Lawrence. The alum of the USA NTDP was chosen to talk about his experiences in an elite U-18 program.

Lawrence is still raking up the points for Eindhoven Kemphanen of the Dutch Elite League, where he has 16 goals and 20 assists in 28 games played. He had a goal and an assist Tuesday night against Herentals HYC.

This Week In College Hockey Withdrawal – May 23, 2010

Just 131 days until October 2, the first day Division I men’s college hockey teams can officially practice. Continue your countdown with these links, including a whole host of schedule news.

Kevin Roeder won the ECHL Kelly Cup this weekend with the Cincinnati Cyclones. (Photo: Shawn Raecke \ Idaho Statesman)

– Former Miami defenseman Kevin Roeder would be getting absolutely sick by journalists reminding him that Colby Cohen’s winning shot in the 2009 National Championship game deflected off him, but he’s too busy winning the ECHL Kelly Cup with the Cincinnati Cyclones.

– Frozen Four participant Wisconsin announced their 2010-11 schedule on Thursday, including confirmation that they will face BU in the opening round of the Icebreaker Tournament on October 8th. This year’s Icebreaker takes place in St. Louis, MO at the Scottrade Center, and also includes Notre Dame and Holy Cross. BU won the Icebreaker in October 2008, when it was hosted at Agganis Arena; Wisconsin last participated in the Icebreaker in 2002.

– In other neutral game site news, Union will play Jerry D’Amigo and the RPI Engineers in Lake Placid on October 30th. Union will also be a part of the Dodge Holiday Classic, along with Ferris State, Bemidji State and Minnesota, according to the Minneapolis Star-Tribune.

– Denver joined Wisconsin and Union in releasing their schedule this week, and have already boasted/complained about how tough it is. Yes, if you lost as many players to the pros and were bounced in the first round of the NCAA Regionals after jockeying for the number 1 ranking all season, you would be complaining about everything possible as well.

– No, BU fans, you’re not seeing crazy things on future University of Minnesota-Duluth rosters. Their Adam Krause plays offense and adds a “e” at the end of Kraus. Krause will play for the USHL’s Chicago Steel next season, before reporting to Duluth in 2011.

Tales from Intermission

Your typical Chuck-a-Puck. But if a Chuck-a-Puck takes place and no one chucks a puck... (Photo: Flickr user Travis S.)

After weeks of missing live hockey because of my upcoming wedding, I am finally in the midst of a multi-game weekend. Thank goodness, because this multi-game weekend allowed me to see two of the oddest intermission events I’ve witnessed in years of attending hockey games.

Friday night, the Boston University men’s ice hockey team hosted Northeastern University in their last regular season home game. BU beat Northeastern 4-2, which would go miles towards improving their status for the Hockey East playoffs. It was a double mites team game, with both intermissions host to a youth hockey team scrimmage. The teams usually have around five minutes to show their stuff, with the announcer and music timing their scrimmage, before the waiting Zambonis rev their engines and warn them off.

During the second intermission, I was chatting with a friend and not paying attention to the mites. Around me, I vaguely heard the announcement thanking the mites for their time and congratulating them on a scrimmage well done. Briefly after, my fiance nudged me.

They won’t leave the ice.”

Continue reading

Beanpot Oops!

Late Sunday night, I was feverishly writing and researching my Beanpot preview for Beantown Athletic Supporters. I visited the official Beanpot tournament home page for a game summary from last year. Saturday night, when I looked at the site, they still had last year’s captains listed on the home page.

But tonight, they had finally changed them to this year’s captains. Or at least, who we had thought this year’s captains would be:

My screen capture of the official Beanpot website at 11:05pm, Sunday evening.

My screen capture of the official Beanpot website at 11:05pm, Sunday evening.

Did Brian Strait suddenly return from Wilkes-Barre Scranton to BU? Wow, he must have forgave all of those awful things Coach Parker said about him in that USCHO piece from the summer.

Good Dogs Gone Bad

Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.

Cesar Millan, the Dog Whisperer.

This weekend, Agganis Arena kept running promotions for an event next weekend with Cesar Millan, the “Dog Whisperer.” (Aka, a dog behavior expert that dog owners turn to once they realize that raising a dog may, in fact, take actual work.)

My immediate thought during the first ad Friday night was, “Gosh, Jack Parker could use a Dog Whisperer. He’s got a whole roster of Terriers that keep giving him trouble.”

What would happen if during his Agganis visit next weekend, Millan spent some time analyzing the problems of this year’s Terrier team? I think it might go something like this:

Parker: I can’t believe I’m turning to you.

Millan: Oprah does.

Parker: Fine. I guess I’m desperate. As I mentioned in my post-game comments after Friday’s tie to Vermont, “my team does not know how to get ready for a hockey game.” They then went on to emphasize that point with a 4-1 loss against BC on Saturday. What changed between my 2009 national champions and this team?

Millan: If you watch my television show, you’ll know I am all about owners quitting babying their dogs. If you baby your pets, they’ll walk all over you and develop behavior problems that you’ll end up paying me thousands to fix. I see you with somewhat of the same problem – this team is walking all over you.

As hard nosed as you are, you lost a huge part of your bite when a coach’s dream of a captain, Matt Gilroy, graduated. His age and superhuman-esque determination gave you an extra coach in the locker room. And let’s not forget about John McCarthy, a quiet, but impactful leader, especially among his classmates. Then you had that whole senior class – essentially, you had five or six captains.

According to many accounts (including a close reading of Burn the Boats), Gilroy and McCarthy did a lot of your coaching for you last season. They called out guys when they got lazy. They set the tone at practices. They instilled the goal-setting mindset of the team as a whole. You also allowed them much more reign than other captains had. And with this age group, acceptance by peers can be much more powerful than by authority figures, giving your captains that much more clout. Continue reading

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