BU season thread I - 2014-2015

[ericredaxe]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

That's totally on the band director if he can't figure out by now to wait 10 seconds after a goal to begin playing. It's not a difficult concept.

And yes, the volume of videos and such REALLY needs to be turned down. It's becoming deafening, literally.

I just sent an email on volume to fan relations from the contact us tab on the Agganis website… will see if I get any response.

 

[claver2010]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

And yes, the volume of videos and such REALLY needs to be turned down. It's becoming deafening, literally.

get off my lawn!

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

[QU

Haven't read or watched any post-game yet. I thought the team competed for about 10 minutes in the 3rd. Otherwise, a very lackluster, we ate too much turkey at Xmas, type performance. I have questions:

How come the 4th line gets so little ice time? This could bite them in the *** come March
Why was that the loudest visiting fan base ever at Agganis? Isn't Union a school of like 8 students? Were they all at Agganis tonight? Did all these fans know what a hockey puck was before last year.
Why didn't I get a little 10 anniversary memento?
Is Ahti hurt? He looked off.
When did they add the beer vending machines? And how does that work exactly? And does each beer cost $8.03 so you need three pennies for the machine?

BU Hockey: Tied the Old Farts #26YearOldFreshman (#12 was like 6'6", 250. A freakin' monstah!)

You have questions, I have answers...

* I noticed Quinn shortened the bench in the 3rd. I still feel the team has good depth up front, but perhaps under those circumstances Quinn didn't feel as confident rolling out the 4th line (which has 2 18 year-old Freshmen) against Union's elder statesmen.

* I can't recall a visiting school bringing that many fans to Agganis. Was surprised by the attendance as a whole. From my understanding Union has many Boston-area alumni and had a large pre-game event. I applaud the enthusiasm they have, but agree that most of these Union supporters didn't know what a hockey puck was before their 1st FF appearance 3 years ago, and couldn't tell you who Nate Leaman and Kevin Sneddon are. I had a particularly annoying middle-aged Union fan sitting behind me who was less knowledgeable about hockey than my friends' 5 and 6-year old kids. Seemed like this guy had never watched a Union hockey game (and maybe a hockey game, period) until this past Spring; every time a Union player touched the puck -- regardless of the situation -- he'd start screaming Go, GO, GO! and would yell in exasperation after every Union SOG, shot attempt, and save. He also yelled "play hockey" any time BU initiated physical contact against a Union player, and yelled "cheap shot" after a Union player took a perfectly clean hit from Rodrigues along the boards in the 3rd.

* IIRC the 10th anniversary memento was being handed out in the concourse, to the first 3K fans. Did they run out by the time you got there?

* I was surprised Ahti even played. I had read the day before the game he was 50/50 due to illness. I don't think he was 100%, but was having Ahti at 50% better than having a depth player (like Duane or Kelley) at 100%?

* They've had the beer vending machines all season. Just grab 1 beer (per person) from the fridge and pay, and no pennies required! They have more options than at the concession stands.

 

[Harry Cleverly]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

A few observations:

* Hohmann has really stepped and is playing hard on every shift. Sometimes he holds the puck a little too long, but his effort is much like Chris Connolly's was in all three zones.
* Fortunato is fast, moves the puck very, passes very well ... but he never shoots. When he is on the point of the power play, the opposition is staying off him because they know he is not going to shoot. He ALWAYS passes. He needs to get some pucks on net, if just to keep the opposition honest.
* Saturday would have been a game for Duane, given how many rebounds the Union goalie left in front. We should have been able to score more than three against such a shaky goalie. Duane could park his big frame in front and tap them home.
* I'd prefer Oksanen on the point and Rodriguez up front on the power play, not the other way around. Oksanen at least played two years as a regular defenseman.
* Union fans were very loud, and friendly for the most part.
* The $4.75 pizza is really $5.04. So 96 cents in change. Dominos is selling a one topping medium pizza or $5.95. So another arena rip-off, which is standard fare everywhere, I suppose.
* Jim Prior may be the real leader of the band. He signals the band director when to play.
* Are they going to sell any more of the throwbacks worn against Team USA? Are they ever going to be worn again?
* Wisconsin has been pretty poor this season. Nothing but four points, and a beer and brat, out there for this visit.

 

[Scarlet]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

In addition to being the Premium Seat Holder gift this year, I heard they ordered only 100 additional of the throwback jerseys for sale. They had them at the game on the 19th but I also saw some at the bookstore the week after the game. The team is planning to wear them at Wisconsin this weekend.

 

[Bomber]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Thanks for the answers Friend_of_BU_Hockey. Good to hear they did give something out for the 10th anniversary. Sorry I missed it.

Hohmann's got spunk, but lacks finish. Oksanen is Finnish and lacks spunk.

 

[buoldtimer]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

A few observations:

* I'd prefer Oksanen on the point and Rodriguez up front on the power play, not the other way around. Oksanen at least played two years as a regular defenseman.

Speaking of the PP Points, BU might try to make maximum use of Hickey's shot. It's hard, low and, usually on target. He has the best shot of any BU point man in quite some time.

 

[SomeGuy]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Speaking of the PP Points, perhaps BU might try to maximum use of Hickey's shot. It's hard, low and, usually on target. He has the best shot of any BU point man in quite some time.

Evan is there because he can get the puck to Anti and Jack better then anyone else, also he can carry the puck up ice if the opposing team puts pressure on Matt during a break out.

Anti has one hell of a shot, but that's about it. You don't see him doing much else on the PP or ES.

 

[RoughEmUp]

Hohmann's got spunk, but lacks finish. Oksanen is Finnish and lacks spunk.

Top notch, top notch!

 

[Dutchman]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Great team (with or without Eichel), speed, skill, goal tending and friendly fans and a truly outstanding arena !!!! Great seeing the youth hockey kids from Needham and Walpole go at it during intermissions. Great to have two of the leading scorers in the nation coming from North Chelmsford and Saugus. May the hockey gods look favorably on you the rest of the way. See you in our barn next year !!!!

 

[Rover]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

All in all I liked BU's game vs Union. Two dumb turnovers killed them (Furtunato on SHG and Lane hit a d-man off the rear end on a clear out) but they recovered without the services of their best player which shows some character. If TV announces are to be believed they are the youngest team in D-1 hockey.

Saying the team would be .500 without Eichel makes no sense IMHO. Right now the team revolves around him because while he's here why wouldn't it? However next year you'd set up the lines differently and have players used to taking shifts together throughout the year. O'Regan for one had a nice game even without Eichel.

My worry about next year is who is going to step up to score. Something like O'Regan-Baillergeon-Oksanen is a solid 1st line, and Lane-Greer-? might do the trick on the 3rd line, but its that second line I'm worried about. Too far ahead though...

I do expect the D to continue to improve, and everytime one of them does something stupid I remind myself they're freshmen.

So, with Eichel this team could go a long way. Lets enjoy the ride while it lasts.

 

[Bomber]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

All in all I liked BU's game vs Union. Two dumb turnovers killed them (Furtunato on SHG and Lane hit a d-man off the rear end on a clear out) but they recovered without the services of their best player which shows some character. If TV announces are to be believed they are the youngest team in D-1 hockey.

Saying the team would be .500 without Eichel makes no sense IMHO. Right now the team revolves around him because while he's here why wouldn't it? However next year you'd set up the lines differently and have players used to taking shifts together throughout the year. O'Regan for one had a nice game even without Eichel.

My worry about next year is who is going to step up to score. Something like O'Regan-Baillergeon-Oksanen is a solid 1st line, and Lane-Greer-? might do the trick on the 3rd line, but its that second line I'm worried about. Too far ahead though...

I do expect the D to continue to improve, and everytime one of them does something stupid I remind myself they're freshmen.

So, with Eichel this team could go a long way. Lets enjoy the ride while it lasts.

Some astute observations and quite a few positive comments in this post. Rover, is that really you?

 

[defkit]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

All in all I liked BU's game vs Union. Two dumb turnovers killed them (Furtunato on SHG and Lane hit a d-man off the rear end on a clear out) but they recovered without the services of their best player which shows some character. If TV announces are to be believed they are the youngest team in D-1 hockey.

Saying the team would be .500 without Eichel makes no sense IMHO. Right now the team revolves around him because while he's here why wouldn't it? However next year you'd set up the lines differently and have players used to taking shifts together throughout the year. O'Regan for one had a nice game even without Eichel.

My worry about next year is who is going to step up to score. Something like O'Regan-Baillergeon-Oksanen is a solid 1st line, and Lane-Greer-? might do the trick on the 3rd line, but its that second line I'm worried about. Too far ahead though...

I do expect the D to continue to improve, and everytime one of them does something stupid I remind myself they're freshmen.

So, with Eichel this team could go a long way. Lets enjoy the ride while it lasts.

As far as who will step up to score next year, don't count out the buns in the oven that are making some pretty good waves in the USHL this year (three of the top 15 scorers or something like that).

 

[Tater]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

As far as who will step up to score next year, don't count out the buns in the oven that are making some pretty good waves in the USHL this year (three of the top 15 scorers or something like that).

While I agree and share your optimism, what concerns me about that is that we have the 13th leading scorer from the USHL last year in JJ Piccinich and he has 2 points. What's funny is that Nik Olsson was 292nd in scoring last year in the USHL and he has double Piccinich's points in limited play. I think Piccinich will take off at some point but funny how things work out sometimes.

 

[Terrance]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

While I agree and share your optimism, what concerns me about that is that we have the 13th leading scorer from the USHL last year in JJ Piccinich and he has 2 points. What's funny is that Nik Olsson was 292nd in scoring last year in the USHL and he has double Piccinich's points in limited play. I think Piccinich will take off at some point but funny how things work out sometimes.

Olsson has looked fantastic when he's been on the ice. He's fast and aggressive. He seems to have a pretty good shot too and he's scoring on 20% of his shots (small sample size obviously). I guess his problem is penalties as he's third on the team in minutes in just 8 games. I would not be surprised to see him become a major contributor to this team as his penalty minutes decrease and his ice time increases.

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Olsson has looked fantastic when he's been on the ice. He's fast and aggressive. He seems to have a pretty good shot too and he's scoring on 20% of his shots (small sample size obviously). I guess his problem is penalties as he's third on the team in minutes in just 8 games. I would not be surprised to see him become a major contributor to this team as his penalty minutes decrease and his ice time increases.

Olsson's been a pleasant surprise when healthy. The fact that he's an older Freshman (20) and more physically mature than the other Freshman forwards has made him valuable when in the lineup as an edgy, physical presence. Keep in mind he played w/ Grzelcyk and Lane on the NTDP U18s in 2011-12, but injuries over the years resulted in additional development time for him in the USHL.

Piccinich will turn out to be a fine 4-year college hockey player. What he's going through this year is not unlike what Hohmann and Rodrigues went through as 18 year-old Freshmen. Both of them made the leap towards being major contributors as Sophomores and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar trend w/ Piccinich next season.

The incoming high-end USHL offensive talent for next season (Forsbacka-Karlsson, Letunov, Carpenter) will all be 19 when arriving at BU -- similar to when Baillargeon when he took the same route to BU. I think more and more we're starting to see how important an additional development year in a league such as the USHL might be for some players in terms of readiness to contribute at the D1 level.

 

[buoldtimer]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Olsson's been a pleasant surprise when healthy. The fact that he's an older Freshman (20) and more physically mature than the other Freshman forwards has made him valuable when in the lineup as an edgy, physical presence. Keep in mind he played w/ Grzelcyk and Lane on the NTDP U18s in 2011-12, but injuries over the years resulted in additional development time for him in the USHL.

Piccinich will turn out to be a fine 4-year college hockey player. What he's going through this year is not unlike what Hohmann and Rodrigues went through as 18 year-old Freshmen. Both of them made the leap towards being major contributors as Sophomores and I wouldn't be surprised if we see a similar trend w/ Piccinich next season.

The incoming high-end USHL offensive talent for next season (Forsbacka-Karlsson, Letunov, Carpenter) will all be 19 when arriving at BU -- similar to when Baillargeon when he took the same route to BU. I think more and more we're starting to see how important an additional development year in a league such as the USHL might be for some players in terms of readiness to contribute at the D1 level.

Regarding second-half contributions, Baillargeon is the key, in my opinion. He was more prominent against Union than he'd been in any other game. I think there's more range for growth in him than in any of the other candidates.

 

[Friend_of_BU_Hockey]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Regarding second-half contributions, Baillargeon is the key, in my opinion. He was more prominent against Union than he'd been in any other game. I think there's more range for growth in him than in any of the other candidates.

Agreed. Now that he's healthy, he should be a key contributor. I learned he started not feeling well right around the 1st exhibition game, but it wasn't until after the home UCONN game that he was diagnosed w/ mono. Basically he played at far less than 100% in the 7 games he played in the 1st half.

 

[fleabags]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

I snapped one up from the Bookstore!

 

[Bomber]

Re: BU season thread I - 2014-2015

Playing Wisconsin in two days = good. This tread on the second page = bad.

Any TV this weekend? #Lazy