BU: '22-'23 Season: Sail The Boats

[Jofa]

And despite what you're saying about Pandolfo taking over a bad team they were still expected to be very good this year. Plus, he was on the staff last year. He didn't come in totally blind.

yes agreed

[Rogie21]

Not weighing in on who was most deserving of COY. But calling last year's Terriers "hot crap" or saying Pandolfo inherited a "terrible team" is ignoring the facts. The team Pandolfo inherited was much more the group that went 15-4-1 over the last four months than the one that was 4-9-2 in October and November. A major factor in that turnaround was Albie giving Jay "a ton of responsibility" including "a lot of stuff a head coach would do." Specifically, Pandolfo said (in an interview prior to the beginning of this season):

I ran most of the meetings, the pre-scout meetings, the meetings on our structure, the way we wanted to play. Having that responsibility on a regular basis is what a head coach does. I changed the forward lines, although Albie had some say in that. Over the course of the game, I’d be the one to put our forwards out there. Typically, the head coach will run the forwards and change the lines. The helped me a lot with bench management and prepared me to be head coach.

BU's preseason ranking in Hockey East and nationally reflected that strong finish, the large senior class, the talented freshmen and Pandolfo taking the reins.

[J.D.]

Did Albie get the blame for the 1-3 finish that included losses to bad BC and Maine (8-1) teams?

[Harry Cleverly]

It is not usual, especially when a league's coaches are voting, is to have the coach of the league regular season champion as their Coach of the Year. Happens all the time.

Pandolfo did an excellent job returning the faith in BU hockey after Albie's four seasons of underachevement.

That said, Borek would have been a better choice given how much better Merrimack fared than expected. Even if half the team was ready to collect Social Security. They performed way above all expectations, and that is what should count the most.
Pandolfo was a good choice, Borek would have been a better one for the CotY award.

I think Levi is the best goalie in the country. I also think he was better last year than this one. Hutson becoming the first defenseman, let alone a freshman D, to lead the league is scoring, and lead the country in scoring by a defenseman, while also playing solid D, would have given him the nod over Levi, IMO.
Just like the coaching award, Levi was a good choice, but I think Hutson would have been a better one for PotY.
There was only one choice for RotY.

[J.D.]

It does happen but I would think typically when there's no clear choice that jumps off the page at you. I mean how many times did Jerry York NOT win COTY? A lot. I think Borek jumps out as an obvious choice especially when I add in the tragic passing of Josh Ciocco right before the season started.

[defkit]

I thought Borek would get COY, and I figured the POY could go either way. One thing to point out - it's easy to note when a goalie has a tough few games as Levi did. It's harder to know when a defenseman does. Do you look at points? +/-? Look at the game last Saturday. A Herculean effort by Hutson who must have played 35-40 minutes at, given Fensore's injury. And yet with 7 goals scored by BU, he only tallied one assist.

[BU Fan 84]

I find it interesting that everyone seems to think the measure of CotY should be the team that most out-performs their preseason poll ranking. If the team does better, that seems to automatically mean that team's coach/staff did a good job. How do we know the team in question's coach/staff didn't do a mediocre job and the league's coaches just did an awful job setting expectations at the beginning of the season? I think it's a little lazy to say a certain coach should win the award just because his team most outperformed the meaningless preseason coach's poll. If you look at the general malaise that infected this BU program for the past four years, compared to this season (and yes, Pandolfo's work began halfway through last season), it is obvious that Pandolfo should have won the award over a coach of a bubble team.

[ericredaxe]

Did Albie get the blame for the 1-3 finish that included losses to bad BC and Maine (8-1) teams?

Well, he was not re-signed at the end of the season, so I'd say so.
Has they finished off 3-1, that likely would have seen them hosting the Quarterfinals, getting to the garden and maybe even sneaking into the NCAA (I don't remember exactly where they finished in the PWR, but IIRC before the 3-1 stretch they were close to the line), in which case he just might still be here.

[J.D.]

Well, he was not re-signed at the end of the season, so I'd say so.
Has they finished off 3-1, that likely would have seen them hosting the Quarterfinals, getting to the garden and maybe even sneaking into the NCAA (I don't remember exactly where they finished in the PWR, but IIRC before the 3-1 stretch they were close to the line), in which case he just might still be here.

Ya I was sorta just trying to point out that if Pandolfo gets the credit for BUs 2nd half turnaround last year he should also get the blame for the awful finish.

BU Fan 84, do you honestly want to put it out there that maybe Borek actually did a mediocre job this year? That's just an alternate universe take. We can end all of this apparently by just awarding COTY to whoever wins RS title. If the coaches don't know what they're doing in setting preseason expectations i am all for eliminating the preseason poll. I have no use for it other than to mock the fact I knew UMass would not be good this year and the coaches got it so so wrong.

[BU Fan 84]

BU Fan 84, do you honestly want to put it out there that maybe Borek actually did a mediocre job this year? That's just an alternate universe take. We can end all of this apparently by just awarding COTY to whoever wins RS title. If the coaches don't know what they're doing in setting preseason expectations i am all for eliminating the preseason poll. I have no use for it other than to mock the fact I knew UMass would not be good this year and the coaches got it so so wrong.

No, I'm not saying he did a mediocre job, just a "what if" for the purpose of pointing out that basing the award on outperforming the preseason poll cannot be the standard.

[Scarlet]

The Freep reported that Pandolfo said Fensore is day-to-day and won't know if will play or not.

[BU Fan 84]

To further discuss my point about CotY vs. preseason poll expectations, is Carvel the worst coach in the conference because UMass fared the worst compared to preseason poll expectations? I don't think anyone would think that's the case.

[defkit]

To further discuss my point about CotY vs. preseason poll expectations, is Carvel the worst coach in the conference because UMass fared the worst compared to preseason poll expectations? I don't think anyone would think that's the case.

Well I think that is taking it a little too far. The award is for one year, not a career, so calling someone the best or worst coach is not the direction of the award - I view it as "which coach had the best season".

[defkit]

The Freep reported that Pandolfo said Fensore is day-to-day and won't know if will play or not.

To say Fensore is key is an understatement. But if he isn't at least 80%, it doesn't make sense to play him. If they can get past PC, then having him to get past the stifling UML trap or the big Merrimack defense will be huge.

[chickod]

So much for TV ruling the roost (unless they think BU is not a "draw" anymore). But for the people who think the first seed playing the first game is that important, you'll be happy. I'm not, because now I have to record the game and watch later because I'll still be at work at 4:00.