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B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
- Thread starter ericredaxe
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Jacques Joubert
Registered User
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Ugh. I really dislike Merrimack. They are a bunch of cheap shot artists and divers. They flop more than the Italian National Soccer team.
Total goons. A Tier IV team for a Tier IV school.
Their gimmick of "basket hanging" is also annoying.
Can someone explain how a Merrimack player slaps the puck into his own net and that's not a goal? God Awful!
We also got Tier IV refs tonight.
The whole thing was a joke with BU being the punchline in OT.
Glad Nicastro is OK. That was terrible.
Millan played well. He stopped about 4 breakaways, no?
What the heck is going on with Bonino? He doesn't seem to be skating or shooting. I'm willing to bet his shoulder is tweaked again.
Our power play was awful. Shoot the puck already!
So...do we play with 5 D-men or give Rosen a try? I vote for the 5 man rotation.
I hope the Terriers grind that team to dust tomorrow...
Ugh. I really dislike Merrimack. They are a bunch of cheap shot artists and divers. They flop more than the Italian National Soccer team.
Total goons. A Tier IV team for a Tier IV school.
Their gimmick of "basket hanging" is also annoying.
Can someone explain how a Merrimack player slaps the puck into his own net and that's not a goal? God Awful!
We also got Tier IV refs tonight.
The whole thing was a joke with BU being the punchline in OT.
Glad Nicastro is OK. That was terrible.
Millan played well. He stopped about 4 breakaways, no?
What the heck is going on with Bonino? He doesn't seem to be skating or shooting. I'm willing to bet his shoulder is tweaked again.
Our power play was awful. Shoot the puck already!
So...do we play with 5 D-men or give Rosen a try? I vote for the 5 man rotation.
I hope the Terriers grind that team to dust tomorrow...
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
2 pieces of good news:
He will be alright and he wont play Sunday night. He has been awful and was having another clunker prior to the injury.
2 pieces of good news:
He will be alright and he wont play Sunday night. He has been awful and was having another clunker prior to the injury.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Bonnino looked like absolute crap tonite. San Jose/ Anaheim (whichever) looks like a long way away for him right now.
Bonnino looked like absolute crap tonite. San Jose/ Anaheim (whichever) looks like a long way away for him right now.
buoldtimer
The social ramble ain't restful
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
A study in ineptitude for BU tonight, apart from #31.
Bonino line was brutal tonight.
Chiasson works hard and will be a fine player, but right now he doesn't belong on the PP. He doesn't know what to do. The PP grinds to a halt while his teammates watch him skate with the puck trying to figure things out.
A study in ineptitude for BU tonight, apart from #31.
Bonino line was brutal tonight.
Chiasson works hard and will be a fine player, but right now he doesn't belong on the PP. He doesn't know what to do. The PP grinds to a halt while his teammates watch him skate with the puck trying to figure things out.
mookie1995
there's a good buck in that racket.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
i am going to write it up to being a freshman and not used to the difference in speed, but he is a full second slow on all his decisions. the strength is there, but nothing else.
i'm hoping next year he'll be playing along everyone else.
i am going to write it up to being a freshman and not used to the difference in speed, but he is a full second slow on all his decisions. the strength is there, but nothing else.
i'm hoping next year he'll be playing along everyone else.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
I agree with everything here. My thoughts exactly.
Are you serious? He's been our best freshman, by far, since the first month of the season (when Chiasson was). I think Nicastro is going to end up a pretty good player. He's far superior defensively than Gryba or Shattenkirk were their freshmen seasons, and they've ended up okay. He's not quite as good offensively yet. Ultimately, I bet he has a Dan Spang-esque career, but a bit better. Our defense, aside from Millan, hasn't been a problem for quite some time.
I agree with everything here. My thoughts exactly.
Are you serious? He's been our best freshman, by far, since the first month of the season (when Chiasson was). I think Nicastro is going to end up a pretty good player. He's far superior defensively than Gryba or Shattenkirk were their freshmen seasons, and they've ended up okay. He's not quite as good offensively yet. Ultimately, I bet he has a Dan Spang-esque career, but a bit better. Our defense, aside from Millan, hasn't been a problem for quite some time.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
I'm not sure where supporters of the second-most penalized team in Hockey East get the justification for calling the most-penalized team in Hockey East "goons". Likewise, I'm not sure how 11 powerplays for BU and 5 for Merrimack adds up to lots of diving. If Merrimack did a lot of diving and still only got five calls, that would seem to indicate that the refs did their jobs-- but you don't seem to believe that, either.
It's probably not necessary to comment on BU's propensity for producing hyperaggressive cheap shot artists and graduating them into the NHL.
As for diving or taking penalties-- sometimes it is the best play you can make, especially if your team is decent at killing penalties. Sometimes embelleshing to draw attention to an infraction that would otherwise go unnoticed is also the best move. I tend to think BU's players know this at least as well, if not better, than most.
Some seasons Merrimack's team was comprised almost entirely of excellent people, committed atheles, and good students. They played clean and hard even though they were not particularly talented. They committed the fewest infractions during the season, won the league's sportsmanship award (and little else).
The idea of a BU fan-- any BU fan-- saying that it's not worth committing infractions, including embellishment, in order to win, is pretty amusing, since doing just about anything to win is de rigeur for BU's program. Except when it comes to recruiting violations; that's Maine's territory.
Good thing there's nothing against that in the rulebook, then. I tend to think that Coach Parker's attempts to parlay his role as the elder statesman in Eastern college hockey to intimidate officials is annoying, but apparently there's no rule against that, either. I'm also not a fan of the designated hitter, but hey, these things happen.
According to at least one person not a Merrimack fan-- in this case, the USCHO reporter-- the high stick was a BU stick:
<blockquote>
One minute after Madsen intercepted a BU breakout pass only to be denied on the breakaway try, the Terriers had a goal waved off on a clear high-stick deflection by Megan.
Read more: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20092010/m/03/13/mc-bu.php#ixzz0i9FcSPvr
</blockquote>
The on-ice officials as well as the video replay judge seemed to agree-- or at least agreed that the video replay did not conclusively override the on-ice call, which is the way these things are supposed to work. Sure, it bites when one's own team is on the wrong end of a call like that, but oddly enough, this does not always signify an active conspiracy or even widespread incompetence.
Well, it was Bennedetto. Not sure what anyone is supposed to say.
Certsinly surprised me. The BU goal being waved off surprised me about as much as the Bruins getting a similar call in Montreal would. I expected a game at Agganis to end well for Merrimack in OT about as much as I expect the same from Boston in Montreal-- and for the same reasons.
Again, no argument there. Always a shock when those rare events lead to a potentially serious injury. Glad to hear he's OK.
About that many; and 32 saves altogether. Almost as many as Cannata's 38 in an identical 3-2 loss for Merrimack the night before.
I was saying the same thing about Merrimack's powerplay the night before. It seems to me like both teams are doing a good job of adjusting to what the other is doing. It'll be interesting to see how BU adjusts tomorrow.
Actually that'd be fine with me. Shattenkirk and Cohen can only be on the ice for so long, so playing five out of six dressed defensemen on the powerplay might just increase the chances of Merrimack getting its first SHG of the season.
Likewise! Except, just the other way around.
Tell you what. BU won everything last year. They can win everything again next year if you like, I won't object. Somebody else winning things for a while might be entertaining, or at least provide some variety.
I'm not sure where supporters of the second-most penalized team in Hockey East get the justification for calling the most-penalized team in Hockey East "goons". Likewise, I'm not sure how 11 powerplays for BU and 5 for Merrimack adds up to lots of diving. If Merrimack did a lot of diving and still only got five calls, that would seem to indicate that the refs did their jobs-- but you don't seem to believe that, either.
It's probably not necessary to comment on BU's propensity for producing hyperaggressive cheap shot artists and graduating them into the NHL.
As for diving or taking penalties-- sometimes it is the best play you can make, especially if your team is decent at killing penalties. Sometimes embelleshing to draw attention to an infraction that would otherwise go unnoticed is also the best move. I tend to think BU's players know this at least as well, if not better, than most.
Some seasons Merrimack's team was comprised almost entirely of excellent people, committed atheles, and good students. They played clean and hard even though they were not particularly talented. They committed the fewest infractions during the season, won the league's sportsmanship award (and little else).
The idea of a BU fan-- any BU fan-- saying that it's not worth committing infractions, including embellishment, in order to win, is pretty amusing, since doing just about anything to win is de rigeur for BU's program. Except when it comes to recruiting violations; that's Maine's territory.
Good thing there's nothing against that in the rulebook, then. I tend to think that Coach Parker's attempts to parlay his role as the elder statesman in Eastern college hockey to intimidate officials is annoying, but apparently there's no rule against that, either. I'm also not a fan of the designated hitter, but hey, these things happen.
According to at least one person not a Merrimack fan-- in this case, the USCHO reporter-- the high stick was a BU stick:
<blockquote>
One minute after Madsen intercepted a BU breakout pass only to be denied on the breakaway try, the Terriers had a goal waved off on a clear high-stick deflection by Megan.
Read more: http://www.uscho.com/recaps/20092010/m/03/13/mc-bu.php#ixzz0i9FcSPvr
</blockquote>
The on-ice officials as well as the video replay judge seemed to agree-- or at least agreed that the video replay did not conclusively override the on-ice call, which is the way these things are supposed to work. Sure, it bites when one's own team is on the wrong end of a call like that, but oddly enough, this does not always signify an active conspiracy or even widespread incompetence.
Well, it was Bennedetto. Not sure what anyone is supposed to say.
Certsinly surprised me. The BU goal being waved off surprised me about as much as the Bruins getting a similar call in Montreal would. I expected a game at Agganis to end well for Merrimack in OT about as much as I expect the same from Boston in Montreal-- and for the same reasons.
Again, no argument there. Always a shock when those rare events lead to a potentially serious injury. Glad to hear he's OK.
About that many; and 32 saves altogether. Almost as many as Cannata's 38 in an identical 3-2 loss for Merrimack the night before.
I was saying the same thing about Merrimack's powerplay the night before. It seems to me like both teams are doing a good job of adjusting to what the other is doing. It'll be interesting to see how BU adjusts tomorrow.
Actually that'd be fine with me. Shattenkirk and Cohen can only be on the ice for so long, so playing five out of six dressed defensemen on the powerplay might just increase the chances of Merrimack getting its first SHG of the season.
Likewise! Except, just the other way around.
Tell you what. BU won everything last year. They can win everything again next year if you like, I won't object. Somebody else winning things for a while might be entertaining, or at least provide some variety.
Jacques Joubert
Registered User
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
All fair points. Well said, sir.
All fair points. Well said, sir.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Goons? Did you see the 2 goals BU scored in the first game off of cheap shots? Didn't think so. Tier IV refs? Keenan caved to the Parker affect and called 6 more penalties on MC than BU. And the delay of game call with 4 mins left in a 2-2 game in the 3rd? Really?
Goons? Did you see the 2 goals BU scored in the first game off of cheap shots? Didn't think so. Tier IV refs? Keenan caved to the Parker affect and called 6 more penalties on MC than BU. And the delay of game call with 4 mins left in a 2-2 game in the 3rd? Really?
Federal League
I like hockey.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Agreed.
That was the way I saw it as well.
Agreed.
That was the way I saw it as well.
mookie1995
there's a good buck in that racket.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
i wish i could have seen the replay on that snazzy big tv screen...
i wish i could have seen the replay on that snazzy big tv screen...
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Can we use this post as a training tool on how to respond to, for lack of a better term "fanboy" comments? Well done dmjossel.
I do want to comment on your comment about the "basket hanging." First of Jacques, I believe it's "cherry picking." dmjossel - these comments probably belong more in the series thread but since it was brought up here, here is where I shall comment. I noticed that Merrimack did it more Friday night. Well, I noticed that BU has someone cover the cherry picker more last night. I would think a team with an excellent powerplay could really take advantage of that because the Merrimack player would literally be so far out of the zone it was like a BU powerplay, which, um, really isn't saying much. It definitely is a gamble. I do not think any of Merimack's 47,328 breakaways, odd-man rushes last night were as a result of the cherry picking, though. Just bad play on the Terriers' part.
Yesterday was like that day in May when the Bruins' season ended, the Celtics lost a playoff game and the Red Sox lost. I knew when the basketball team and the women's hockey team lost BU had no shot last night. *sigh*
Can we use this post as a training tool on how to respond to, for lack of a better term "fanboy" comments? Well done dmjossel.
I do want to comment on your comment about the "basket hanging." First of Jacques, I believe it's "cherry picking." dmjossel - these comments probably belong more in the series thread but since it was brought up here, here is where I shall comment. I noticed that Merrimack did it more Friday night. Well, I noticed that BU has someone cover the cherry picker more last night. I would think a team with an excellent powerplay could really take advantage of that because the Merrimack player would literally be so far out of the zone it was like a BU powerplay, which, um, really isn't saying much. It definitely is a gamble. I do not think any of Merimack's 47,328 breakaways, odd-man rushes last night were as a result of the cherry picking, though. Just bad play on the Terriers' part.
Yesterday was like that day in May when the Bruins' season ended, the Celtics lost a playoff game and the Red Sox lost. I knew when the basketball team and the women's hockey team lost BU had no shot last night. *sigh*
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Not to beat a dead horse, but if they haven't put it together after 36 games, it's time to just admit that they "are what they are." We won it all last year and lost a LOT of talent as a result. There is a reason why there have only been three "repeat" champions since 1971. Even if we win tonight, we will have BC waiting at the Garden to end our season like we ended theirs last year. Tonight we will see if what is on the "snazzy" scoreboard before each game is anything more than lip service..."Desire...the will to win....
Don't get me wrong...I want to win, but it's been one good game, one bad game all year long. Not good enough...don't jump all over me!
Not to beat a dead horse, but if they haven't put it together after 36 games, it's time to just admit that they "are what they are." We won it all last year and lost a LOT of talent as a result. There is a reason why there have only been three "repeat" champions since 1971. Even if we win tonight, we will have BC waiting at the Garden to end our season like we ended theirs last year. Tonight we will see if what is on the "snazzy" scoreboard before each game is anything more than lip service..."Desire...the will to win....
Don't get me wrong...I want to win, but it's been one good game, one bad game all year long. Not good enough...don't jump all over me!
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Merrimack has been interfering with BU on practically every dump and chase the entire weekend and to my recollection has only been called for one penalty on the hip check. All year the interference calls were automatic but that doesn't seem to be the case now.
Merrimack has been interfering with BU on practically every dump and chase the entire weekend and to my recollection has only been called for one penalty on the hip check. All year the interference calls were automatic but that doesn't seem to be the case now.
ericredaxe
Veteran
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
They are what they are yes... and clearly not last years team. But the coaching staff has done a great job turning the season around. At one point in December, I was posting about the possibility of them not even making the hockey east playoffs!
I think we can win tonight... and then... well, we are 2-2 against BC this year, with the last 3 games being one goal games.... so no reason we can't go into the Garden and compete for the championship. Not an easy task by any means of course... but not totally unreasonable to talk about either.
Let's start by getting a win tonight.
They are what they are yes... and clearly not last years team. But the coaching staff has done a great job turning the season around. At one point in December, I was posting about the possibility of them not even making the hockey east playoffs!
I think we can win tonight... and then... well, we are 2-2 against BC this year, with the last 3 games being one goal games.... so no reason we can't go into the Garden and compete for the championship. Not an easy task by any means of course... but not totally unreasonable to talk about either.
Let's start by getting a win tonight.
Federal League
I like hockey.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
We were still posting about not making the playoffs as late as last Friday. Also, keep in mind that if BU wins tonight and UVM beats UNH, BU would play the Maine-UML winner in the semis, not BC.
We were still posting about not making the playoffs as late as last Friday. Also, keep in mind that if BU wins tonight and UVM beats UNH, BU would play the Maine-UML winner in the semis, not BC.
ericredaxe
Veteran
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
Exactly... and not to scoreboard watch, but should we win tonight, I'd like our chances even better against the Maine / UML winner.... which would also give us a chance to avoid UVM or UNH altogether if BC were to beat them in the semis...
Anyway, all of that is useless speculation... lets get a win tonight.
Exactly... and not to scoreboard watch, but should we win tonight, I'd like our chances even better against the Maine / UML winner.... which would also give us a chance to avoid UVM or UNH altogether if BC were to beat them in the semis...
Anyway, all of that is useless speculation... lets get a win tonight.
mookie1995
there's a good buck in that racket.
Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....
could have bc-uvm & lowell-mack (some old d2 playoff history there \/).
"Allll riiiighty then.
If someone is crazier than a bedbug, does is make sense to examine his ancestors?
Of course. Especially if the ancestors are even more gonzo than the progeny.
Onward, then, to a Feb. 4, 1978, game held at Skate 3 in Tyngsboro, Lowell’s home rink prior to the move to Tully Forum for the 1980-81 season.
For some time, the University of Lowell (as it was then called before merging with other schools and becoming UMass-Lowell) had cast envious stares down Route 495 toward its more successful Division II neighbor, Merrimack College. Merrimack had just won its third ECAC Division II championship and would, later that season, crush its opposition in the first NCAA Division II championships, defeating Mankato State 6-1 in the semifinal game and Lake Forest 12-2 in the final.
“They were what we wanted to become,” says Bill Riley, Lowell’s colorful coach during those years. “We could never seem to catch them.”
Merrimack had dominated the series, winning 11 out of 12 games. Obsessed with the Warriors, Riley had personally scouted their last three games in search of weaknesses.
“Every game I went to, one of their defensemen got hurt,” says Riley. “So I was licking my chops figuring that this was our year. I think they played us with three healthy defensemen.”
On the verge of a breakthrough, Riley pulled out all the stops.
“At the time, we had a fan support group called The Wild Men,” he remembers. “The manager of my team was also the president of The Wild Men. They used to like to get things rocking and rolling.
“It was around Thanksgiving and the manager kept sending Thanksgiving pictures to the Merrimack goalie in his dormitory. The pictures were of turkeys and feathers with the goalie’s face superimposed on top.
“So I gave him twenty bucks and told him to go up into New Hampshire and get me a live turkey and we’d tie it to the net when Merrimack came onto the ice. The goalie would get the message.
“They tied the turkey to the goalpost, but the minute it touched the ice, it passed out or something. That wasn’t the show I wanted to see. It wasn’t running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
“Meanwhile, all it did was keep going the bathroom all over the ice. There was [excrement] everywhere in the crease. So now the Merrimack players had to go over there and scrape the stuff off.
“This girl, an animal rights advocate, ran onto the ice and untied the turkey and started holding onto him and clutching him to her chest. Meanwhile the turkey is still going to the bathroom all over her.”
The outrageous prank, however, backfired.
“We outshot them something like three to one because they were so weak on defense,” says Riley, “but wouldn’t you know, they still tied us, 3-3. It was all our own fault because the goalie was ****ed if he was going to let the puck in the net.”
A postscript to the story occurred at a practice the next week when two men showed up and flashed a badge at Riley.
“You the coach here?” they asked. “You Bill Riley?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Well, we’ve got a live turkey down at the dog pound,” they said. “You’ve got to get it out of there.”
“Oh, that’s not my turkey,” replied Riley. “That’s [Merrimack coach] Tom Lawlor’s turkey.”
The two men shook their heads and walked away."
-dave hendrickson's work above.
could have bc-uvm & lowell-mack (some old d2 playoff history there \/).
"Allll riiiighty then.
If someone is crazier than a bedbug, does is make sense to examine his ancestors?
Of course. Especially if the ancestors are even more gonzo than the progeny.
Onward, then, to a Feb. 4, 1978, game held at Skate 3 in Tyngsboro, Lowell’s home rink prior to the move to Tully Forum for the 1980-81 season.
For some time, the University of Lowell (as it was then called before merging with other schools and becoming UMass-Lowell) had cast envious stares down Route 495 toward its more successful Division II neighbor, Merrimack College. Merrimack had just won its third ECAC Division II championship and would, later that season, crush its opposition in the first NCAA Division II championships, defeating Mankato State 6-1 in the semifinal game and Lake Forest 12-2 in the final.
“They were what we wanted to become,” says Bill Riley, Lowell’s colorful coach during those years. “We could never seem to catch them.”
Merrimack had dominated the series, winning 11 out of 12 games. Obsessed with the Warriors, Riley had personally scouted their last three games in search of weaknesses.
“Every game I went to, one of their defensemen got hurt,” says Riley. “So I was licking my chops figuring that this was our year. I think they played us with three healthy defensemen.”
On the verge of a breakthrough, Riley pulled out all the stops.
“At the time, we had a fan support group called The Wild Men,” he remembers. “The manager of my team was also the president of The Wild Men. They used to like to get things rocking and rolling.
“It was around Thanksgiving and the manager kept sending Thanksgiving pictures to the Merrimack goalie in his dormitory. The pictures were of turkeys and feathers with the goalie’s face superimposed on top.
“So I gave him twenty bucks and told him to go up into New Hampshire and get me a live turkey and we’d tie it to the net when Merrimack came onto the ice. The goalie would get the message.
“They tied the turkey to the goalpost, but the minute it touched the ice, it passed out or something. That wasn’t the show I wanted to see. It wasn’t running around like a chicken with its head cut off.
“Meanwhile, all it did was keep going the bathroom all over the ice. There was [excrement] everywhere in the crease. So now the Merrimack players had to go over there and scrape the stuff off.
“This girl, an animal rights advocate, ran onto the ice and untied the turkey and started holding onto him and clutching him to her chest. Meanwhile the turkey is still going to the bathroom all over her.”
The outrageous prank, however, backfired.
“We outshot them something like three to one because they were so weak on defense,” says Riley, “but wouldn’t you know, they still tied us, 3-3. It was all our own fault because the goalie was ****ed if he was going to let the puck in the net.”
A postscript to the story occurred at a practice the next week when two men showed up and flashed a badge at Riley.
“You the coach here?” they asked. “You Bill Riley?”
“Yeah,” he answered.
“Well, we’ve got a live turkey down at the dog pound,” they said. “You’ve got to get it out of there.”
“Oh, that’s not my turkey,” replied Riley. “That’s [Merrimack coach] Tom Lawlor’s turkey.”
The two men shook their heads and walked away."
-dave hendrickson's work above.
- Status