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

[buoldtimer]

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

Offensively: I really liked Cohen and Popko...

Which aspects of Luke's game offensively did you like?

 

[BU Hammer]

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

Which aspects of Luke's game offensively did you like?

He did have a sweet one-time finish on a pass from Bonino at the tail-end of one of BU's better games this year. He put that in and I think we all did a double-take, looked at each other, at Popko, then at Saponari, and all just kind of thought the same thing...

 

[BU Fan 84]

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

after reading this, I am not feeling very confident about next season.

can anyone give me some reason for optimism?

How much optimism did you have for the 08-09 season in the beginning of April, 2008? #1 goaltender removed from the team, our season riding on the shoulders of two freshmen, one of them recruited in a hurry. Same awful defensemen, and a group of forwards who, besides Wilson, Bonino and Higgins, weren't really looking too good. We were looking at having three lines of: completely untested freshmen (including Connolly, who wasn't exactly a big time recruit); Popko, Periera and one of not good Glass, Gilroy, or waste of space Z. Cohen; and offensive juggernauts Lawrence and Yip, and McCarthy. Look how that turned out.

 

[slurpees]

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

How much optimism did you have for the 08-09 season in the beginning of April, 2008? #1 goaltender removed from the team, our season riding on the shoulders of two freshmen, one of them recruited in a hurry. Same awful defensemen, and a group of forwards who, besides Wilson, Bonino and Higgins, weren't really looking too good. We were looking at having three lines of: completely untested freshmen (including Connolly, who wasn't exactly a big time recruit); Popko, Periera and one of not good Glass, Gilroy, or waste of space Z. Cohen; and offensive juggernauts Lawrence and Yip, and McCarthy. Look how that turned out.

and the underperforming Yip and Lawrence who both couldn't score...

 

[25 N Countin']

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

How much optimism did you have for the 08-09 season in the beginning of April, 2008? #1 goaltender removed from the team, our season riding on the shoulders of two freshmen, one of them recruited in a hurry. Same awful defensemen, and a group of forwards who, besides Wilson, Bonino and Higgins, weren't really looking too good. We were looking at having three lines of: completely untested freshmen (including Connolly, who wasn't exactly a big time recruit); Popko, Periera and one of not good Glass, Gilroy, or waste of space Z. Cohen; and offensive juggernauts Lawrence and Yip, and McCarthy. Look how that turned out.

I told my buddy that preseason that if either goalie could play, we were looking at a Frozen Four/National Championship contender...I swear that's true.

I just looked at our defense, Wilson, Bonino and Higgins and thought we had enough possible offensive power and defense to be a monster team.

Man, it felt good to be right about that.

 

[BU Fan 84]

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

I told my buddy that preseason that if either goalie could play, we were looking at a Frozen Four/National Championship contender...I swear that's true.

I just looked at our defense, Wilson, Bonino and Higgins and thought we had enough possible offensive power and defense to be a monster team.

Man, it felt good to be right about that.

Until I saw them play North Dakota, I figured they'd lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament, typical mediocre BU. That's what I'm thinking about next season, too.

 

[slurpees]

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

Until I saw them play North Dakota, I figured they'd lose in the first round of the NCAA tournament, typical mediocre BU. That's what I'm thinking about next season, too.

I remember people on here wondering after we thumped Michigan if we would make the tournament or not.

 

[Federal League]

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

I remember thinking they were a definite NCAA tourney team and a possible Frozen Four team before the season even started. After the Michigan game, I told my friends (and probably even posted it on here) that I thought they were a legitimate national title contender.

 

[mookie1995]

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

i'll admit it certainly wasn't the first game that i pronounced them the team of destiny and awarded them the NC (it was sometime after that )

 

[srsterrier]

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

that has held true for a long time... i guess the 80s was probably the last time we missed the ncaa tourney twice in a row...

i'm usually overly optimistic about BU hockey - i thought before the season that this was a team that would at least win one game in the ncaa tournament and had a good shot at the FF

i just don't see any way the team won't be mediocre next year, unless this year's troubles were solely due to attitude and not the talent drain. i mean, after 09 we lost 5 of the top 6 scorers and the top two defensemen, and looks like we're losing a bunch of underclassmen again this offseason. ugh...

Recruiting is always a little speculative but BU has 3 of the top forward recruits in the country committed for next season, Coyle, Nieto, and Gill. I can't remember the last time BU had this many top forwards coming in at once. I think it will be tough to ride to the Frozen Four on the backs of Freshmen. But they are all considered highly skilled and, assuming they all come [a fourth, Cisse, has already deferred to 11'], it is fair to expect that they will contribute right away. That should give you a little optimism ...

 

[Terrier520]

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

Remember that in spring 08, BU had put up a good run, and the major problem wasn't our offense, but sub-par defense and horrible goaltending.

I think the consensus was that BU would make the tournament.

 

[buoldtimer]

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

After last season, JP said his defense corps was the best he's ever coached.

This past season, with 4 of these defensemen returning, BU allowed the most goals in HE, including better than a GAG more than our friends up the street.

1. Why are we concerned about the departures of any of these guys?

2. Gilroy and Strait must've been much better d-men than anybody thought.

 

[BU-Grad]

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

How much optimism did you have for the 08-09 season in the beginning of April, 2008? #1 goaltender removed from the team, our season riding on the shoulders of two freshmen, one of them recruited in a hurry. Same awful defensemen, and a group of forwards who, besides Wilson, Bonino and Higgins, weren't really looking too good. We were looking at having three lines of: completely untested freshmen (including Connolly, who wasn't exactly a big time recruit); Popko, Periera and one of not good Glass, Gilroy, or waste of space Z. Cohen; and offensive juggernauts Lawrence and Yip, and McCarthy. Look how that turned out.

good point... i hate to be a downer, but i don't think we have anyone like gilroy and wilson returning though. gilroy was a 2-time all american heading into 08-09 and wilson was obviously a great one too.

 

[BU Hockey x2]

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

Which aspects of Luke's game offensively did you like?

Good point. I titled the that incorrectly. Should have been "on offensive". Popko in my mind was a great fourth line center, with some special skills that were valuable. I liked him as a player, not necessarily "offensively" though.

 

[BU Hockey x2]

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

Recruiting is always a little speculative but BU has 3 of the top forward recruits in the country committed for next season, Coyle, Nieto, and Gill. I can't remember the last time BU had this many top forwards coming in at once. I think it will be tough to ride to the Frozen Four on the backs of Freshmen. But they are all considered highly skilled and, assuming they all come [a fourth, Cisse, has already deferred to 11'], it is fair to expect that they will contribute right away. That should give you a little optimism ...

Agreed. I would place a little more uncertainty on Coyle and Gill simply because of the level of talent they played against this year. Doesn't Gill play in the same league Trivino lit up the year before coming to BU? It's taken him a little while to adjust to the speed and size of the college game. Nieto on the other hand is probably about as can't miss as you're going to get. Look at the top scorers on the USNDPT over the past 4 or five years (Kessel, Kane, Van Rem, Wilson) and your going to find extraordinary talent. I might be being overly optimistic comparing him to these players, but I don't think it would be too big a stretch to expect him to be playing on the first of second line and end up in the top 5 in scoring in his freshman year.

 

[Terrierbyassociation]

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

Agreed. I would place a little more uncertainty on Coyle and Gill simply because of the level of talent they placed against this year. Doesn't Gill play in the same league Trivino lit up the year before coming to BU? It's taken him a little while to adjust to the speed and size of the college game. Nieto on the other hand is probably about as can't miss as you're going to get. Look at the top scorers on the USNDPT over the past 4 or five years (Kessel, Kane, Van Rem, Wilson) and your going to find extraordinary talent. I might be being overly optimistic comparing him to these players, but I don't think it would be too big a stretch to expect him to be playing on the first of second line and end up in the top 5 in scoring in his freshman year.

Trivino never played in the BCHL, he played in the OPJHL. The BCHL is still an open higher scoring league.

Question remains to how much freedom the freshman will be given, regardless BU's going to have to score a whole mess of goals to even be competitive with what's left of the defensive corps.

We need to bring in several defensemen stat.

 

[BU Hockey x2]

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

Obviously I don't feel like working today. To further sell my confidence in Nieto. Top two scores for USNDTP from 08-09 were Morin and D'Amigo, who both put up similar stats as Nieto did this past year. Morin lit up Major Junior this year with 70+ points and D'Amigo finished third in scoring for RPI averaging a point a game. My argument being that it is completely reasonable in my mind to expect him to big a contributor on the score sheet his freshman year.

 

[Stories]

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

1. Why are we concerned about the departures of any of these guys?

2. Gilroy and Strait must've been much better d-men than anybody thought.

Because Millan looked nothing like he looked like in 08-09. That was a huge reason.

 

[candycanes99]

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

After last season, JP said his defense corps was the best he's ever coached.

This past season, with 4 of these defensemen returning, BU allowed the most goals in HE, including better than a GAG more than our friends up the street.

1. Why are we concerned about the departures of any of these guys?

2. Gilroy and Strait must've been much better d-men than anybody thought.

1. I'll take Gryba, Shattenkirk, and Colby (yes, even Colby) over unproven guys like Rosen, Ruikka, and a freshman being forced into the everyday lineup. In my opinion, that necessity exposed Escobedo this year, who we shouldn't forget was accelerated. I hope that a full season will have helped him and Nicastro. Cohen and Shattenkirk should have shown improvement after another year and filling bigger roles, but they regressed in my opinion.

2. That pair was a perfectly oiled machine. Gilroy did whatever he wanted, and Strait was lockdown, positioned perfectly. And defensively Gilroy really was no slouch either. I don't think anyone underestimated their importance, but we were just overly optimistic in the effort we'd get from the existing guys and how quickly the freshmen would adjust.

 

[Terrier520]

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

I'm really looking forward to the offseason thread. Let's put this year behind us (but fresh in the memory of the players. Rebound!)