Strong Play?

Hi everyone, I guess it’s time for another update at the ol blogerroo here.  I have to say that again, I’m impressed with the level of play that BU has exhibited recently.  While the results haven’t been spectacular (2-1-2) in the last 5 games, things are definitely looking up.  I would’ve posted earlier, but I was actually pretty upset about the Dartmouth loss, and decided to hold off for a bit.

Anyway, since I’ve last posted, the Terriers have lost to Dartmouth College (3-2), Defeated Merrimack (6-4), and tied Boston College (2-2).  I’ll try to reflect a bit on each game, as well as what’s been going on recently.

First, some news… Karson Gillespie is out for the long run, and I think this could end up being a pretty good thing for us.  Brett Bennett has displayed decently strong play in the past few games.  Dartmouth was a bit of a downer, but he played very well against Boston College.  It will help his development to know that the team is playing better in front of him.  I just hope it continues.

Dartmouth

This one really ate at me.  We dominated play for a majority of the game.  Boomer Ewing scored one of the sweetest goals I’ve seen in a while.  After two periods, we had the lead, and I couldn’t have been happier.  Then it started to fall apart.  A good PK by Dartmouth and some hard work from them tied the game.  They then took the lead when defenseman Brian Strait wasn’t able to control a puck in the defensive zone, leading to a puck that got stuffed between the pads of Bennett with only a minute and a half left in the game.  It was terrible.  A game that should have been a win turned into what should have been a tie, then a loss.  Blah.

I didn’t get to see the Merrimack game, so I can comment on that one too much.  I am concerned that after taking a 5-1 lead, we gave most of it up and needed an empty net goal in order to ice the game.

Boston College

This was a very good game, though I’m not happy with the tie.  From the get go, BU was the stronger team.  We won all the battles to loose pucks, and kept the puck in the offensive zone for extended periods of time.  It looked like a very dominant team, a team that shouldn’t be 7-11-2.  However, BC’s fresman phenom goaltender John Muse kept them in the game.  I’ll give him credit, he played an incredible game.

Boston College also played hard, and scored some good power play goals.  That was the difference between a win and a loss.  BU didn’t have what it took on the power play, a problem that has persisted for several seasons now.  We need to have a much stronger showing on the power play.  Besides moving the puck really well, we’re not getting anyone in front of the net, and not placing our shots well.  If we can improve on this, we should be able to make a turnaround.

Besides this, I thought that BC played  pretty dirty game overall.  Their players were pulling on sticks, taking cheap shots, and doing whatever they could to instigate problems.  I’m not sure if this is the way that Jerry York is training his team to play, but it’s not a style of hockey that I enjoy watching.  Yes, hitting and contact are parts of the game, and it can get emotional, but it gets pretty ridiculous when players go out there intentionally trying to draw penalties.  I’ll take Nathan Gerbe as an example.  He is one of the most talented players on the ice by far, but for some reason he still feels the need to play dirty.

Just take a look at what he did to Kevin Schaeffer last year as an example.  Cmon… pulling a guy on top of you just to get a penalty call?  Joe Bertangna, why don’t you review these things?

Huge series against UNH this weekend.  More to come.

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Opposing Arenas: Alfond Arena

The Terriers head up this weekend to Cold Maine to take on the Black Bears of UMO.  I’ve always wondered why they called themselves the Black Bears, yet their fans always say “M-A-I-N-E Go BLUE!”.  It doesn’t make sense to me… perhaps a Maine fan can explain it to me?

Anyway, the Black Bears play in historic Alfond Arena, and I figured I’d give a bit of background on this great facility. I really like the way it looks from the outside, like a bunch of snowy mountains.

Seating 5712 fans, this arena definitely gives the Bears an advantage, especially since their fans are such Maine-iacs.  I’ve seen their fans come out for the Hockey East Tournament, and I’ve been very impressed.  Their band is also pretty good, with a lot of energy.

Open in 1972, they increased the seating to its current capacity in 1992 in order to bring the basketball teams back to the Alfond.

The Alfond also offers great views, and additionally has 13 skyboxes which are available for their games.  There are virtually no obstructions to the ice.

I’ve never personally been to the Alfond, but I’ve heard great things about it, and how hostile they can be towards opposing fans.  I love it.  I can’t wait till the day I can make the trip, and I will make it one day. Until then, I hope BU takes them down this weekend.  Should be a very interesting matchup.

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Hockey Bloopers….

Some of you have probably seen this before… there is one college hockey game in there. Enjoy :-).

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I Guess we can Take a Tie

I’m still in shock about this one, which is why I didn’t write anything for it yet. I thought that we had this one in the bag, but a fluke goal makes it a tie. I don’t know how many of you were at the game, or had the angle on the shot that I did (Sec 102, Row 3). The shot was taken pretty much in front of me. Here’s the culprit: Read more

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A Big Return

BU Hockey has started up again, so I should probably try to get back to a more regular posting schedule here.  There has been one game, which was on Sunday night.  I know that I probably should have posted then, but a lot of things have come up, like the New Year… I was too busy out there celebrating.  Of course, for Terrier fans, there was more to celebrate, as the boys managed to pull out a win in their first game of the second half of the season.

BU 5, Merrimack 2

A big win by the Terriers showed us a lot of what we’ve been used to so far this year.  A lot of offensive capability, and some still shaky goaltending.  There’s not a ton to complain about, as a win is a win, but there is still a lot of improvement to be made if this team is to make it in the postseason.  Coming into this game, BU and Merrimack were tied for last place in Hockey East, so we knew that one of the teams was going to come out with a bit more confidence, and luckily, it was the Terriers.

Before I go on a bit more about the game, a note about the cancelled Dartmouth game.  That really messed things up for me, haha.  I ended up having the wrong tickets, and had to run back to the car in order to get the right ones.  I figured that I would only miss about 3 minutes of the game when I arrived.  Having to run back for the tickets made me about 10 minutes late.  As I was rushing to get in, I heard the crowd roar.. a good indication that BU has scored.  OK, so it’s going to be 1-0, right?

Wrong.  When I got there, the score was 3-0 and I have to say that I was thoroughly shocked.  Not so surprised that they scored that many goals, but that the team seemed to come out with some kind of fire after the disappointing first half, and the suspensions that they had to deal with.  The returning “Tiger 4″ looked extremely good in their return, as did Jason Lawrence.  I think he is playing the best hockey of his career at BU, and is very welcome after a disappointing 2006-2007 season.

On to something that did piss me off.  The hit from behind called on Ryan Weston.  This really made me angry for a couple reasons:

• It wasn’t Weston.
• The hit was not that vicious.
• The Linesman, behind the ref, was the one who made the call.  And he made it late, after he saw the player on the ground.

This is something that needs to be addressed.  I know that sometimes you have to make the call, but this was not one of those times.  I am glad that the penalty was changed from a DQ to a Misconduct, but it was still excessive.  Good thing Weston will be back for Vermont this weekend.

I won’t be late this week, I promise.

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