Terriers Take Home Denver Cup

In two very impressive outings this past weekend, the Boston University Terriers captured the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, defeating RPI 6-2 and Denver University 4-1.  The tournament marked the opening of the 2009 half of the Terriers’ ice hockey campaign, and if this is indicative of what we can expect from BU in 2009, things are looking very good.

On Friday, BU took on RPI at Magness Arena in Denver, CO.  RPI never really got going, as BU used their superior team speed and skill to generate a ton of opportunities against the Engineers.  Zach Cohen opened the scoring just 5 minutes into the game.  Kevin Gilroy added another tally less than two minutes later.  RPI did manage to tie the game in the second, when captain Matt Angers-Goulet won a footrace to the puck and skated in alone on Rollheiser, beating him 5-Hole.  Late in the second, Lawrence gave BU the lead back, tipping in a rebound at 18:06.  In the third, BU really opened it up, scoring three unanswered goals, holding a huge territorial advantage over the Engineers, cruising to a 6-2 victory.

Admittedly, I didn’t have a chance to catch the first game, but you can read more details with the USCHO recap, and the Hockey East Online Recap.

The host team, Denver, were not without trouble when making the championship game.  They needed a shootout to defeat a pesky Holy Cross team that held their own very well.  Despite the Denver victory, the game was highlighted by an amazing shootout goal by Everett Sheean of Holy Cross.

Image Credit: Candace Horgan, from USCHO.

That being said, the victory by Denver set up a Marquee matchup for the Denver Cup Championship.  It was a the title game that most college hockey enthusists were hoping to see, featuring the #3 Boston University Terriers and the #5 Denver University Pioneers.  The game did not disappoint, at least from my biased point of view

George Gwozdecky, coach of the Pioneers, noted that the beginning of the game would likely determine the outcome.  Unfortunately for him, he was right, but it was BU that would get off to the quick start, with Vinny Saponari sniping a shot from the faceoff dot to Cheverie’s left, beating the goaltender far side.  Less than 5 minutes later, BU would double their lead on the power play when Matt Gilroy blasted in a shot from the point.

Denver did get on the board in the second, when forward Andrew Miaiani found Senior forward Rhett Rahkshani in front of the net. Millan would thwart Rahksahani’s first attempt, but Rahkshani followed up well, putting in his own rebound.  The gap was lowered for only a short time, as Brandon Yip would blast in a shot off a faceoff win by Nick Bonino less than two minutes later.  The Terriers would head into the locker room with a 3-1 lead.

The third period put BU into lockdown mode.  Despite giving up a large territorial advantage, BU managed to keep most of the Pioneers’ shots to the outside and made sure Millan got good looks.  Gwozdecky pulled Cheverie with over two minutes remaining, but it would be for naught, as Zach Cohen put the puck in the empty net with a little over a minute remaining.  The two teams would skate out the rest of the game, and BU would lay claim to the Denver Cup, one of the few holiday tournaments the Terriers had yet to win.

Additional Game Recaps Available: USCHO - Hockey East Online

BU would also load up on the All Tournament Team:

Forwards:

Everett Sheen - Holy Cross
Andrew Miaiani - Denver
Jason Lawrence - BU

Defensemen:

David Warsofsky - BU
Matt Gilroy - BU

Goaltender:

Kieran Millan - BU

Matt Gilroy would also be named tournament MVP for his efforts.

The Good:

• Exhibited excellent play despite the absence of Colin Wilson and Kevin Shattenkirk
• Offense is still on a very good pace.
• Good goaltending from both Millan and Rollheiser
• Beat Denver…. always good to take out a top 5 team.

The Bad:

• A little rust during the RPI game, but not much else to complain about.

This is a very good sign for this year’s edition of the Terriers.  I was impressed with the poise displayed from top to bottom.  They played extremely well, and with a strong non-conference record, look to be in very good shape to make the tournament.  It’s too early to read into RPI and all the ranking systems, but BU is near the top in each, which is a good sign.  It’s been a very long time since BU has boasted such a good out of conference record… 1992 according to a lot of what I’ve read.

BU is next in action against the University of Maine on Saturday, January 10th.  Game time is set for 7pm at Agganis Arena.  Can’t wait to try out my new camera… I will hopefully have some great shots to post here!

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