‘08-’09 Mid-Year Report Card: Defensemen - Part I

Continuing with our ratings for the Terriers for the first half of the season, we take a look at some of the defensemen. If you haven’t already, check out our mid-year report card for the goaltenders as well.   The Boston University defense has been a very integral part of the overall team success this year, limiting opponents to just under 23 shots a game.  This is especially helpful to the freshmen goaltenders, who face less pressure with BU’s stifling defense.  BU has 8 defensemen on the roster, so let’s take a look at a few of them right now.  For simplicity, we’ll go in numerical order based on the numbers they wear:

#2 Eric Gryba (16 GP 0-1-1, 24 PIM, +5)

Eric Gryba has always been the Terriers’ big, stay at home defenseman.  This year, he has continued on that trend, and is doing an ok job.  He is good at laying down big hits and playing the body.  I’ve also noticed that he is drastically improving on breaking the puck out of the zone.  However, my criticism of him (as it has always been) is that he doesn’t use his size to his advantage.  He does not play smart with what he has, and instead is often called for holding/boarding penalties when he plays in the corners.  He should instead use his size to push guys off the puck instead of killing them into the boards (as fun as that is to watch).  Being paired with Warsofsky, he must be more defensively minded and take care of his own end.  He is +5, which shows that he has been successful in this so far, but I think he can be better.

Grade: B-

#3 Kevin Shattenkirk (16 GP 3-8-11, 14 PIM, +9)

After a first half freshman year which left much to be desired, Shatty has really come into his own this year.  Shattenkirk and Colby Cohen make up one of the best offensively minded d-men pairings in the nation, which is great considering they’re both Colorado Avalanche draft picks.  He has played very cool and collected, manning the point well on the PP.  He has also gotten much better defensively, and while he is still primarily offensive minded, I feel ok with him coming back on defense.  He plays the puck well, is able to disrupt passes, breakaways,  and has great vision when passing.  I hope that his time at the WJCs will help him further develop his confidence, and continue with his excellent play thus far.

Grade A-

#4 Ryan Ruikka (0 GP 0-0-0, 0 PIM, Even)

Here’s one of the defensemen that we will likely be seeing at the Denver Cup.  Ruikka has yet to play in a game this season, and has been nursing an injury for a majority of the first half.  He has decent size at 6 feet and 187 lbs, but will need to adapt quickly.  I’ll be very interested to see how the defensive corps will look if Ruikka is successful in his play.  Like Adam Kraus though, you can’t really judge him after not seeing him play yet, so he gets a passing grade/

Grade: C

#5 David Warsofsky (16 GP 0-6-6, 10 PIM, +6)

Coming into BU very highly touted, and a high draft pick of the St. Louis Blues, Warsofsky has been very impressive.  He plays much bigger than his small frame seems to allow.  Very good at controlling the puck and breaking out of the zone, he has shown great tenacity on the shorthand, often controlling the puck back into the offensive zone all on his own, and setting up some great shorthanded opportunities for the Terriers.  It’s been said that his size is all that’s keeping him from going to the NHL next year, and I’m very grateful for that.  I would like to see him get some more time on the PP, as I think he would excel there.  Overall though Warsofsky has been very impressive, and has fit right into the BU system.  An offensive defenseman, he still does manage to take care of the defensive end as well.

Grade: A-

Let’s take some time to digest what we have here, but I can say with confidence that the Terrier defensive corps is a solid bunch.  However, with just 8 defensemen on the roster, it will be tough if there are any injuries.  It’s been shown that having hurt defensemen really hurts.  It happened with Michigan when they came to Agganis, most of their defensemen were hurt and it really showed.  That being said, the loss of Shattenkirk for the WJCs will really show how deep the d-men are.  I’m excited to see what will happen.

Stay tuned for Part II of the Mid-Year Report Card for the defensemen!

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