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BU 2021-22: Albie's Great Adventure

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Terrier86 said:
I feel like Eichel's effort level while here was also a couple of levels higher than some of the other one/two-and-dones and he set the tone for the entire team whereas some of the others weren't and it cascaded down the lineup.
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In reverse chronological order (starting with most recent), here are the 1-and-done / 2-and-done players in the post Jack Parker era. I've excluded players who transferred to other programs, left for Major Juniors or USHL/BCHL, only listed players who left BU after their Freshman or Sophomore year to sign NHL contracts.

2021-2022: Boucher (0.5-and-done)
2020-2021: None
2019-2020: Zegras (1)
2018-2019: Farabee (1); Bowers (2)
2017-2018: Tkachuk (1)
2016-2017: Keller (1); McAvoy (2); JFK (2)
2015-2016: None
2014-2015: Eichel (1)
2013-2014: None

Out of these players, the players whom I feel made the correct decision (based on their NHL success to date) are Eichel, McAvoy, Keller, Tkachuk, Farabee, Zegras. It's clear JFK and Bowers didn't make the right hockey decision; it remains to be seen for Boucher.

In terms of level of impact (on and off-ice) and engagement with the BU Hockey program during and after their time at BU, I strongly feel Eichel and McAvoy are BU guys thru and thru. I feel Keller, Tkachuk and Zegras were very engaged during their respective 1-year stints at BU, but have pretty much left BU in the rear view mirror. Metaphorically, Farabee never had more than 1 skate on the ice for BU during his time here.

As for JFK, despite leaving after 2 years, he graduated from BU in 2020. I believe Bowers has also continued his studies towards completing his degree at BU.
 
Friend_of_BU_Hockey said:
In reverse chronological order (starting with most recent), here are the 1-and-done / 2-and-done players in the post Jack Parker era. I've excluded players who transferred to other programs, left for Major Juniors or USHL/BCHL, only listed players who left BU after their Freshman or Sophomore year to sign NHL contracts.

2021-2022: Boucher (0.5-and-done)
2020-2021: None
2019-2020: Zegras (1)
2018-2019: Farabee (1); Bowers (2)
2017-2018: Tkachuk (1)
2016-2017: Keller (1); McAvoy (2); JFK (2)
2015-2016: None
2014-2015: Eichel (1)
2013-2014: None

Out of these players, the players whom I feel made the correct decision (based on their NHL success to date) are Eichel, McAvoy, Keller, Tkachuk, Farabee, Zegras. It's clear JFK and Bowers didn't make the right hockey decision; it remains to be seen for Boucher.

In terms of level of impact (on and off-ice) and engagement with the BU Hockey program during and after their time at BU, I strongly feel Eichel and McAvoy are BU guys thru and thru. I feel Keller, Tkachuk and Zegras were very engaged during their respective 1-year stints at BU, but have pretty much left BU in the rear view mirror. Metaphorically, Farabee never had more than 1 skate on the ice for BU during his time here.

As for JFK, despite leaving after 2 years, he graduated from BU in 2020. I believe Bowers has also continued his studies towards completing his degree at BU.
Click to expand...

Regarding Zegras. I'm sure you all saw his goal last night. *Eye Bulge* - My God is this kid fun. We really got cheated out of seeing what he might have done in the post season in 2020. Fucking COVID.
 
First of all, I hate to say it, but I don't think we have to worry about any One-and Done recruits for awhile, and I mean that in a negative way. It seems to me the recruiting has been slipping. Lane Hutson looks like he could turn into a Farrance-type, and if he were bigger, he would likely be ranked higher by the NHL. But our USNTDP guys otherwise look to be less impactful. Maybe I'll be proven wrong and Wilmer, Legault, etc. will be major impact players. We know Albie was a great recruiter, but it's hard to recruit if the program seems headed in the wrong direction.

On our previous guys, obviously Eichel was in a league of his own. Never (in my time watching) has a player looked like such a lock to step right into the NHL. Amonte was close, but not quite at the same level. I feel that all the others (Keller, Tkachuk, Farabee, Zegras) could have benefited from another year on Comm Ave. Are they in the NHL? Sure. But I see a lot of inconsistency in their games in their first couple years (primarily Keller and Farabee). Zegras is emerging into a special player, and Tkachuk plays a game that doesn't focus on just getting points.

And I wouldn't lump Boucher into the "left for the NHL" group. He signed a contract, but I'm pretty sure that has happened before when guys decide to go the MJ route from college.

I see the new guy has Boucher's number (at least he was wearing it in the photo that was released). Calling Sean Pickett: when was the last time two guys wore the same number in the same season? I realize that if he doesn't actually play in a game, it might not qualify.
 
I don’t get the slam on Farabee he had the exact same stat line as Zegras though not quite as flashy or charismatic. I do like how Zegras went out in that referee screwing in the Beanpot final. Bowers was a head scratcher he was trending as a nice 4 yr player.
 
defkit said:
First of all, I hate to say it, but I don't think we have to worry about any One-and Done recruits for awhile, and I mean that in a negative way. It seems to me the recruiting has been slipping. Lane Hutson looks like he could turn into a Farrance-type, and if he were bigger, he would likely be ranked higher by the NHL. But our USNTDP guys otherwise look to be less impactful. Maybe I'll be proven wrong and Wilmer, Legault, etc. will be major impact players. We know Albie was a great recruiter, but it's hard to recruit if the program seems headed in the wrong direction.

On our previous guys, obviously Eichel was in a league of his own. Never (in my time watching) has a player looked like such a lock to step right into the NHL. Amonte was close, but not quite at the same level. I feel that all the others (Keller, Tkachuk, Farabee, Zegras) could have benefited from another year on Comm Ave. Are they in the NHL? Sure. But I see a lot of inconsistency in their games in their first couple years (primarily Keller and Farabee). Zegras is emerging into a special player, and Tkachuk plays a game that doesn't focus on just getting points.

And I wouldn't lump Boucher into the "left for the NHL" group. He signed a contract, but I'm pretty sure that has happened before when guys decide to go the MJ route from college.

I see the new guy has Boucher's number (at least he was wearing it in the photo that was released). Calling Sean Pickett: when was the last time two guys wore the same number in the same season? I realize that if he doesn't actually play in a game, it might not qualify.
Click to expand...

The recruitment of Boucher was an EPIC failure. About a month or so in, it was apparent that his days were numbered. That would not happen if the staff had really good dialogue with the player BEFORE his commitment/stepping onto campus. That has to rest on Albie's shoulders.

In the age of the transfer portal, a coaching staff has to create a "family" atmosphere of tough love, one for all/all for one, etc. so that when a player hits a rough spot (and they all will - especially in their freshman year) they won't turn tail and run away.

Everything has changed with the new portal rules, so we're going to need a very wise head coach and staff to navigate these realities. I'm less convinced than ever that Albie can be that.
 
Terrier86 said:
The recruitment of Boucher was an EPIC failure. About a month or so in, it was apparent that his days were numbered. That would not happen if the staff had really good dialogue with the player BEFORE his commitment/stepping onto campus. That has to rest on Albie's shoulders.

In the age of the transfer portal, a coaching staff has to create a "family" atmosphere of tough love, one for all/all for one, etc. so that when a player hits a rough spot (and they all will - especially in their freshman year) they won't turn tail and run away.

Everything has changed with the new portal rules, so we're going to need a very wise head coach and staff to navigate these realities. I'm less convinced than ever that Albie can be that.
Click to expand...

Great post. I agree 100% with all of this.
 
Good points by defkit on one-and-dones. If you create a solid team atmosphere (See Terrier86's post above) than a high-end one-and-done can be a key cog in a Frozen Four level team.
 
defkit said:
I see the new guy has Boucher's number (at least he was wearing it in the photo that was released). Calling Sean Pickett: when was the last time two guys wore the same number in the same season? I realize that if he doesn't actually play in a game, it might not qualify.
Click to expand...
I believe that the last time two players had the same number was during the 1972-73 season when Joe Robillard and John Bresnehan both wore #30 concurrently.

My research on player numbers before WWII is incomplete, but for those players I have found numbers for #1 was reserved for goalies and no goalie wore another number. Starting in 1946 goalies were assigned numbers #1 and #2 up until 1964. From 1964 to 1969 every goalie was assigned #1 (in 1964-65 4 goalies wore #1 concurrently), beginning in 1969 goalies were assigned #1 and #30 and beginning in 1973 each goalie was assigned their own number.

This bring up another oddity: which player used 2 different numbers for home and away jerseys for a season? Bonus points if you know what numbers he wore.

Sean
 
Jofa said:
I don’t get the slam on Farabee he had the exact same stat line as Zegras though not quite as flashy or charismatic. I do like how Zegras went out in that referee screwing in the Beanpot final. Bowers was a head scratcher he was trending as a nice 4 yr player.
Click to expand...

Let's just stay instead of burning the boats, Farabee reportedly burnt bridges on his way out of BU. It has nothing to do with his productivity or impact on the ice.

I think if DQ had remained at BU, there may have been a different outcome with Farabee and his time/experience at BU. I also think Tkachuk may have opted to return for a 2nd year at BU and Bowers' Sophomore year would've transpired differently (more like his Freshman year) if DQ hadn't left.
 
Terrier86 said:
The recruitment of Boucher was an EPIC failure. About a month or so in, it was apparent that his days were numbered. That would not happen if the staff had really good dialogue with the player BEFORE his commitment/stepping onto campus. That has to rest on Albie's shoulders.

In the age of the transfer portal, a coaching staff has to create a "family" atmosphere of tough love, one for all/all for one, etc. so that when a player hits a rough spot (and they all will - especially in their freshman year) they won't turn tail and run away.

Everything has changed with the new portal rules, so we're going to need a very wise head coach and staff to navigate these realities. I'm less convinced than ever that Albie can be that.
Click to expand...


Excellent post.

If one tries to make analogies between BU Hockey with the business world, BU Hockey has a CEO/President with vast experience and success on the Sales side of the house (i.e. recruiting), but not in building/sustaining/supporting the Products and Services (i.e. player development, establishing culture/expectations, resolving issues in the locker room, navigating relationships with various stakeholders). It's like having a leader who is adept at telling his direct reports and customers about the WHAT, WHEN, WHERE, but not necessarily the WHY and especially the HOW.
 
hydrant said:
Any news why Peterson has been out?
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No mention of Peterson on O'Connell's media call. He did say that Commesso would be in goal against Providence and that Jack Page was brought in now because Jarman is out for the season, Doyle departed and there have been injuries recently to Webber and McCarthy.
 
And here we were lead to believe last Saturday’s game against UVM was Commesso’s last game at Agganis before heading to China. Not that I mind. And hey! The band is back!
 
Nice win again! A second period to forget, but played a nice third period with the lead finally. Skoog!!! I thought Commesso was great again in a bonus start. Hopefully we can play well in front of Duplessis for the next few weeks. This thing has completely turned around.
 
Two very solid periods and some nifty goals. Not sure what happened between the first and second period but they were lucky Providence didn’t score more. They totally dominated that second.

I heard that Commesso played because his flight out to LA was cancelled due to the blizzard. Is that right? If so, the hockey gods helped us out with that - ha! Also, where was Matt Brown? Did he get hurt?

Wins over UMass and Providence this week. Not too shabby.
 
A nice win, but the second game in a row where they played well in the first, got an early lead, then went into a shell and played not to lose. PC was a bounce or two away from another 2-3 goals. We were holding on for dear life until that fluky Skoog goal - we got lucky that PC's goalie had a real bad day. This effort would not cut it in a tournament environment - too much absurdly passive play after taking the lead.
 
Looking at the 6 remaining regular-season HE games, there are 2 home games (Maine, BC), 4 road games (PC, BC, Maine x2). That’s somewhat challenging in the pursuit of points. Complicating things even more is the 11 days between the 2/14 Beanpot Finals and the 2/25 game at BC. That’s some strange scheduling for the final month of the season when building momentum towards the playoffs is critical. Is that a common occurence? Sean? Guess it’s a little late to add an exhibition game. :rolleyes:
 
Statistical anomaly - we scored 5 goals, and only 2 assists.

Can someone ask Mark Linnehan not to talk about scores of games in other sports during the broadcast? Sort of ruined my NFL viewing plan...

And related - can we get rid of the friggin' ticker on NESN? I can see how this was helpful during the days before internet and smartphones, but it is really not adding any value and it appears to actually cover up the bottom part of what the camera thinks is being shown.

And related to that - the camera distance on these "stream" games is terrible. Way too far away.

Sorry for all the complaining. Nice win!
 
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