Re: Boston University 2009-2010 Season Thread II: Still got a pulse, time for CPR
I guess what I don't understand is the thought process (or lack thereof) that allowed this season to happen. Parker was supposed to have prepared for this season well before the national championship last year. He knew who we were losing, and as a coach of one of the prominent D1 programs, he has to assume he would be losing Wilson and at least a defenseman (whether it was Shattenkirk or Strait). So it's not like he can even be resting on his laurels. If we ended up bad last year, we were already set up to be bad this year. What was he thinking the last few falls when he finished up recruiting?!? This season was set up for failure before last season even began. I just don't get how Parker and his assistants can be so incredibly incompetent and keep their jobs.
I cannot fathom why the supporters of this program and the people in charge seem to continue to think it's acceptable to have wasted first halves of seasons and game after game after game, stretching months into the season, with continued line juggling. Other top teams don't face these problems every season like BU does. They go out, set their lines and win games, from the beginning of the season.
I disagree with just about everything in this post.
1) Your first paragraph seems to suggest that the freshman class is the problem this year. I could not possibly disagree more. Chiasson's shown that he has what it takes to be a star. Megan has proved himself to be more than capable as a 3rd-liner for now, and probably a 1st- or 2nd-liner in the future. Santana's a good penalty killer and serviceable 4th-liner. Courtnall adds a nice physical presence. Do they make up for the losses of 5 of the top 6 forwards from a year ago? Of course not. But no freshman class could replace that. On defense, I think Escobedo and Nicastro have both experienced some growing pains, but they've also shown that they are and will continue to be solid players. Nicastro could be a star 2-way defender. Escobedo could be a top lockdown defender. Again, they don't replace Gilroy and Strait, but to even suggest that they should is ridiculously unfair to them.
2) "Other top teams don't face these problems every season like BU does." Given, you and most others who post here have probably been following college hockey longer than I have, but in the decade-plus that my memory stretches back, I recall programs such as BC, North Dakota, Wisconsin and Minnesota (among others) all having reputations for getting off to slow starts. Sure, there are also the Denvers, Michigans and UNHs of the world who always seem to storm out of the gates, but to say BU is the only team with that reputation is flat-out wrong as far as I'm concerned. And this is a much slower start than normal. BU doesn't start 4-8-3 every year. As for lines, everyone tinkers with lines throughout the first semester, if not longer. When did the freshman line come together last year? December? It certainly wasn't right off the bat. Minnesota-Duluth had arguably the best line in the nation this year in Jack Connolly, Justin Fontaine and Mike Connolly, but they recently replaced M Connolly with Rob Bordson. As for what Parker's doing this year, did you forget that he's had to deal with injuries/illnesses to Bonino, Connolly, Chiasson, Popko and Megan? Are those somehow not supposed to affect the lines?
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mmmmm.