B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

[Federal League]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

How can you watch BC this year and then look at BU and say it was just coaching?

There was a vast talent disparity between the two teams, especially at forward. BC's third line would rival our first.

Maybe that's coaching philosophy and our talent is closer to BC's...but it sure doesn't feel like it. It seemed like every time a BC player had a one on one to enter the offensive zone they got it done. BU couldn't enter the zone against Maine with any sort of ease on Friday.

BC had the speed, the playmaking, from three lines. We barely had one line that could do that.

BU could skate with BC when those two played. The only team BU couldn't skate with this season was UNH, and those 2 losses against UNH were 2 of those "We didn't show up, we weren't ready to play" games. The talent was there; the effort wasn't.

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

BU could skate with BC when those two played. The only team BU couldn't skate with this season was UNH, and those 2 losses against UNH were 2 of those "We didn't show up, we weren't ready to play" games. The talent was there; the effort wasn't.

BU got up for BC, fine. But when you watch BC playing at their best can you really honestly say BU at their best wouldn't have been blown out of the building?

I'm not really sure the talent was there. Maybe enough talent to make the tourney but not enough to make any sort of noise. I think BC's third line was about equal to our first line. How can you not say there wasn't a disparity in talent?

 

[northeastern]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

TBA.. Maine seemd to hang pretty tough last night (along with their 2nd or 3rd string goalie).. was their talent up there with BC s?

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

TBA.. Maine seemd to hang pretty tough last night (along with their 2nd or 3rd string goalie).. was their talent up there with BC s?

It's not over the course of one game, but over the course of a season. Also BC could have and should have scored 5 goals in the first period against Maine.

 

[mookie1995]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

ah, last year's team played these aforementioned UNB team and beat them 4-1 a week before opening our eyes vs the sioux and sparty.

at no point last year did i feel that they needed an excuse. an, "hey, it's only an exhibition game." or "they haven't even practiced yet".

at every point last year i expected them to score when they needed to. late when behind. early when tied.

at some points last year players took stupid penalties, sure. at no point was it one of the captains in the final minutes with a one goal lead.

luckily, for us and some of them, we know how things go when the team is serious and plays with a purpose from day 1. we also know how things go when teams treat games as "exhibitions" and will 'work on things later'.

will i change my tune after a run of BU 4-1 v USNDT, BU 5-1 @UMass, BU 4-2 v Notre Dame, & BU 4-3 v UMich?!?! yep.

but i'm too old. fool me once, shame on you. fool me twice...

(and that's pretty cool that our boys also knocked off the Canadian National Champions too )

i'll channel Bomber...

BU Hockey: Not your father's terriers (er, even your recently graduated brother's terriers)


......tonight was probably both the best and worst outcome imaginable.-----

-i thought the defense had a strong game. i liked all three freshmen. rosen had that "i'm gonna hip check you, oh-wait, i'll just skate under you and steal the puck and turn up ice" move that was beautiful. not big (though playing with eric that may alter perspectives a bit). nicastro though does look big out there. poised. escobedo had one iffy moment, but played strong every other minute. i could live with these six (i would seriously consider playing ccohen at fwd).

-trivino is gonna score 20 this year. he grew. stronger on the skates. more confident. lot to like.

-big game by megan. liked everything i saw.

-other freshman forwards played well.

-nice to see bulldog is the same old bulldog.


-----however.....

-the final 40 faceoffs went 31-9 in favor of the X-men.

-there is no way that any of matt/mccarthy/strait take a hooking minor at center ice with a 2-1 lead and 2 minutes left.

-kgilroy has to be ready. too many missed chances when the chance was there.

-skill level isn't what it was (though they may think otherwise). yes there were 100 sog, but all of them were in the goalies belly.

-crisco needs to make a pass as though he wants it to get to the person he is intending it reach. i lost count of all the times he half-azzed a pass that was able to be deflected or stolen or knocked away. lazy.

-too many "employee #6 all star" passes.

-where's popko?!?!

-and WHO IN THE HELL TAKES A CENTER ICE HOOKING PENALTY WITH TWO MINUTES LEFT IN THE GAME HOLDING A ONE GOAL LEAD?!?!?!?!

-----------------HAA.........

-anyone order nachos?!?! there were seriously 15 chips in each bowl. i laughed and ask the girl if that was a 'small'. she giggled an embarrassed laugh and dumped another bowl in my tray. it was still well less that the usual amount you've come to expect.

-nice to see students there while the school is obviously on break... since the back end food stands were closed .

-we replaced the ice cream next to the men's room corner with a beer stand???

-and the early renewal list is somewhat incomplete. my name was missing. the girl gave me a slip with email instructions...OFF OF A STACK OF NEAR 100 SIMILAR SLIPS. (gee, did someone realize a f'up was occurring??)

.............................................

we know that we can tie a team of big, under talented, overaged canadians. tonight merrimack college and the university of maine-orono sleep well.

..............................................

i don't exactly have a good feeling about the 09-10 season.

----went and found my thoughts after the first exhib. nostramookie

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

----went and found my thoughts after the first exhib. nostramookie

I expected a let down, but to be honest I didn't expect it to be a let down in this way.

My pleasant surprises:

Ryan Santana
Ross Gaudet

By the way, did CrisCo accumulate the quietest increase in points in some time? He scored one more point in 9 less games, and if anything he never looked as good as he did last year. I love his hustle and it was always there.

He finished second in points with 31.

Bonino finished with a disappointing 38 (for him), but that shoulder injury definitely had an effect on him.

Who else were people happy with and who were people disappointed by?

 

[Cross Check]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Next year should tell a lot about where BU's program is. If they have a good year, then this year will look like post-championship malaise, like BC last year. If not, then last season starts to look like an aberration, a random magical year where everything went right for the Terriers.

Honestly, I have no idea and wouldn't even begin to predict what BU will look like next year. I do like me that Warsofsky fellow though. He's welcome to be an Eagle anytime.

 

[Jacques Joubert]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Any guesses as to what the line up will look like next year? I know it's early but with the likely losses of Bonino, Shatt, and Colby Cohen the roster is looking pretty thin. Warsofsky will be the likely leader but will they be hungry?

 

[Jacques Joubert]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

I was very pleased with Chiasson and Nicastro. I thought Courtnall was a total bust. Did he ever get a point? He was highly touted, he's big, and obviously has talent in the family.

This season was a bit of a dissapointment but if they went .500 in 2009 or managed to beat PC they'd probably be in. I know they all count but I think this team was content with last year. Hopefully next year is a different story.

Good luck to UNH, UVM, and BC the rest of the way.

 

[btg1204]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

BU could skate with BC when those two played.

Thanks I needed a good laugh.

 

[BU Hammer]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Bonino finished with a disappointing 38 (for him), but that shoulder injury definitely had an effect on him.

Bonino's points per game in 2008-09: 1.136
Bonino's PPG in 2009-10: 1.152

I thought Courtnall was a total bust. Did he ever get a point? He was highly touted, he's big, and obviously has talent in the family.

Courtnall's not a scorer –– he's a big-bodied checking liner who, with more reps, should become a very good 3rd or 4th line checker, and whose ultimate ceiling is probably in the same role with an NHL team.

Kid jumps on the ice and looks to hit everything that skates his way. If he can develop into a good penalty killer and learn to harness his "hit everything that moves" persona a bit, he should have a lot of value to BU down the line, and maybe sooner rather than later.

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

I was very pleased with Chiasson and Nicastro. I thought Courtnall was a total bust. Did he ever get a point? He was highly touted, he's big, and obviously has talent in the family.

This season was a bit of a disappointment but if they went .500 in 2009 or managed to beat PC they'd probably be in. I know they all count but I think this team was content with last year. Hopefully next year is a different story.

Good luck to UNH, UVM, and BC the rest of the way.

I liked Chiasson's start to the season but he tapered off.

Courtnall, I don't know what happened. He was huge, strong, and very physical when he played Bernie seemed happy with his play.

Don't know what happened with him.

 

[buoldtimer]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Here's a question for the Boston Hockey Blog guys. What's your take on the absence of David Quinn and it's effect on this season's team?

 

[Jacques Joubert]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Ok. But Justin should be able to get a few point here and there though.
Where will the goals come from next year?

 

[Jacques Joubert]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

He had a large impact, no question. Let's not all overreact to this year's results though. The fact is this team lost a Ton of talent and did OK. Am I happy? No but the program will be fine. What do you guys think hurt more: losing Quinn or Wilson and Strait. If we ha those two this team would have won 25 games. I know all programs deal with his but this is a young team. Jack and co. Are to credit for last year. It wasn't an abberation or a miracle. It was the team he built and coached. Don't forget that.

 

[BU Hammer]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Here's a question for the Boston Hockey Blog guys. What's your take on the absence of David Quinn and it's effect on this season's team?

Tough question. This was my first year on the beat, so I didn't get to observe BU under Quinn any closer than most of the folks here.

From what I understand, Quinn did a lot of work with the defensemen, and considering BU's struggles with defensive responsibility, it's easy to say, "If Quinn was here, that wouldn't happen."

In actuality, there were a lot of things emphasized by this year's staff that were, at best, practiced with a lot of inconsistency (getting bodies to the front of the net is the one that really stands out). When BU played well, they were awesome in these areas (D-zone coverage, getting to the net, good transition D). When they weren't, those were the first things that seemed to go out the window.

My point is, I don't think the problems this year were strategical, and as an assistant, that's where I'd assume Quinn would have the greatest influence. The problem was execution, and the problems executing seemed to fall into this whole, "Championship hangover," category, where BU wasn't hustling, wasn't focused, etc etc.

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

He had a large impact, no question. Let's not all overreact to this year's results though. The fact is this team lost a Ton of talent and did OK. Am I happy? No but the program will be fine. What do you guys think hurt more: losing Quinn or Wilson and Strait. If we ha those two this team would have won 25 games. I know all programs deal with his but this is a young team. Jack and co. Are to credit for last year. It wasn't an abberation or a miracle. It was the team he built and coached. Don't forget that.

I asked this earlier but no one seems to know, exactly what does Buddy Powers do?

Bavis worked with the forwards before and during Quinn's tenure. You'd assume that Powers worked with the defense. Everyone besides Gryba and Warsofsky seemed to regress on defense this year.

 

[Jacques Joubert]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

One more thing. The motivation question of "Jeckyll and Hyde" I think is pretty clear. It seemed this team got up for games against BC, games on big stages (HE semis notwithstanding), and teams that riled them up (MC). So unless the game was at Fenway or agianst a team that hit them in the mouth, they seemed to cruise around. Is that NC hangover? Maybe. How does a coach fix that if they all have that attituted? I have no idea.

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

One more thing. The motivation question of "Jekyll and Hyde" I think is pretty clear. It seemed this team got up for games against BC, games on big stages (HE semis notwithstanding), and teams that riled them up (MC). So unless the game was at Fenway or against a team that hit them in the mouth, they seemed to cruise around. Is that NC hangover? Maybe. How does a coach fix that if they all have that attitude? I have no idea.

Totally agree. It's hard to blame anyone in particular but this team from all accounts (freep beat, fans, Bernie+Tom) just seemed less focused and found it hard to get up for anyone besides BC.

 

[defkit]

Re: B.U. Season Thread 4. From a weekend that will determine playoff seedings on....

Good luck to Nick. It wouldn't surprise me if he became an NHL regular by this time next year.

Now that we've had a bad year, we'll be picked low, have a good season and Parker will get COTY Seems to be a pattern over the last decade. Since they don't take away the trophy for poor years, he's been racking them up.

It is a little scary how little talent at forward is left on this team. Needless to say, we need Trivino, Connolly and Saponari to keep improving.