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BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

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Breakaway in overtime. Typical.

No softies by Oettinger in this one. First NU goal no call was just like the hook on McAvoy by Tampa Bay in Stanley Cup playoffs. Horrible. That said, NU carried the play.

Problem with BU is everybody is playing up one line meaning no real first liners and fourth liners would be first three scratches on a national contending team.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

Their dude could finish a breakaway and our dude could not. Twice. Ballgame.

Great hockey game.

Jake was immense. One of his best games as a Terrier.

Onto to UMass
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

An embarrassing performance tonight. Oettinger playing his best game at BU prevented it from being a 5-1 type rout. Beanpot has lost its luster so not winning not a big deal but it is a big deal to have your program run over rough shod by Arizona St, UMass and NU in successive games. Nothing against these programs but the difference in talent skill and desire should never be this great with BU’s supposed advantage in recruiting and facilities. I will say it once again OConnell gets the least out of his players on most nights and it’s a dumb team. There are enough better then average players to pull an upset now and then. Losses to Union, Minn St, QU, NU, ASU, BC. Tie at Harvard. If it’s close they usually lose, that’s character.They will lose to Umass by 4 goals on Friday bank on it. Horrible character, leadership and coaching. 9 losses at home or neutral site.
 
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Bomber said:
Their dude could finish a breakaway and our dude could not. Twice. Ballgame.

Great hockey game.

Jake was immense. One of his best games as a Terrier.

Onto to UMass
Click to expand...
This wasn’t a matter of breakaways. NU put 24 shots on BU net in the third period alone. It was a total mismatch. When your goalie stands on his head you need to win the game.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

Jofa, you are such an angry old man. They played their butts off tonight. They’re thin to begin with and they were without their best forward. They just don’t have the horses. NU is the better team and yet BU almost stole one.
 
Bomber said:
Jofa, you are such an angry old man. They played their butts off tonight. They’re thin to begin with and they were without their best forward. They just don’t have the horses. NU is the better team and yet BU almost stole one.
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“old man” you know nothing about me jack wagon but yes I am angry about the product they have put out this year. You miss the point that BU shouldn’t have to steal one against against a team that BU should have an inherent advantage over with recruiting and program legacy. I saw Oettinger and maybe a couple of others play their butt off tonight against a team that was like 1-4 in their last 5 games.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

A disappointing game, though exciting thanks to Oettinger. It should have been 5-1 or 6-1. Northeastern had much more flow to their game, and their skill level is clearly above ours - how many times did we mishandle the puck, send weak dump ins that were intercepted on the boards leading to the play coming right back at out net? And it's unfortunate that one of the harder workers on the team didn't make the simple dump-in play, but rather tried to beat three guys, leading to the game winning breakaway.

It's just becoming clearer and clearer that the talent level on this team is not what we would like to think. Fabbro is a potential All American, and Farabee is a high end talent, though raw given his age. But beyond them and Oettinger, I'm not sure we have what we thought. Bowers doesn't appear to have improved. I don't know what Harper's ailment was last year, but he just isn't the same player any more. I hope it's just that while healthy enough to play, he is still recovering. Beyond that, whoever made the comment that most players are playing up a line is right. Curry is having a nice season, but he should be a third liner with minimal PP time. Cockerill should be a third liner too, maybe second line with the right linemates. And poor Quercia - his lack of speed really showed against the speed and skill of the Huskies. At defense, for whatever reason, the puck movers like Krys and Farrance are not utilizing their great skating the way we've seen in the past.

I'm not going to judge Albie this early. Let's not forget about DQ's 10-win rookie season. Losing Wise and now Bobo is making it that much tougher. The talent level slated to come in appears to be an improvement. But this year is turning out to be worse than I expected.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

Logan had a lot of trouble keeping pucks on his stick last night. And yes, as defkit pointed out, there were a lot of “weak pucks” that weren’t strong in or out. They also struggle at times with ice awareness. (Pucks to fantom pointmen and wings.).

Harper... nowhere near the same player he was. I feel bad for the kid.

I still say they’re a tough out in the HE Tournament. An out, but a tough out.

And to my pal Jofa: I’m so sorry that your not going to get your Beanpot, Hockey East Championship, and Frozen Four appearance that you feel your are entitled to every season.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

Bomber said:
And to my pal Jofa: I’m so sorry that your not going to get your Beanpot, Hockey East Championship, and Frozen Four appearance that you feel your are entitled to every season.
Click to expand...

Bomber said:
And to my pal Jofa: I’m so sorry that your not going to get your Beanpot, Hockey East Championship, and Frozen Four appearance that you feel your are entitled to every season.
Click to expand...

And along those lines, Billy Jaffe had a couple of good comments. He mentioned how NU had "built the pipeline" but then they will face the same challenges as teams like BU, BC and Michigan (there are tons of them but I suspect he threw Michigan in there because that's where he played), of players staying one or two years and then leaving early. That's a lot more difficult situation to manage, and it remains to be seen how they will handle it. And this is why this "expectation" that we will be "in the hunt" every year just because "we're BU" is unrealistic. Facilities or no, there are many choices for a kid now. I (seriously) applied to BU after watching the back-to-back NCAA appearances in 1971-72. There were many places I could have attended but that WAS a factor. But now you can go to Penn State, Ohio State, Arizona State, or a bunch of other schools. In short, there are more options now and the talent is more "spread out."

These teams are all BELOW #20 in the PWR (NCAA Championships in parenthesis):
- North Dakota (8)
- Michigan State (3)
- Michigan (9)
- BU (5)
- Minnesota (5)
- Wisconsin (6)
- BC (5)

Total Championships: 41


All BIG TIME programs. If the field were selected today, NONE of them make the NCAA Tournament.

These teams are in the Top 10:
- St. Cloud (0)
- UMass (0)
- Ohio State (0)
- Quinnipiac (0)
- Arizona State (0)
- Western Michigan (0)

Total Championships: 0

Enough said. The landscape has changed. Things don't stay the same forever...

Regarding last night, this team makes a lot of poor decisions at center ice and they don't get the puck deep. There are too many transition odd-man rushes for the opponent. And for whatever reason the D is very tentative in their own end. A recipe for disaster. Yeah, you can "blame" the coaching, but players at this level should know better. Sometimes you just can't get through. And sometimes the individual talent just doesn't blend to become a cohesive unit. And the injuries disrupt the progress.

I don't agree that they didn't play hard. They did. But there is a LOT of wasted energy and running around without a purpose. SOME of that is coaching, but some of that is just performing under the big lights. You don't always know what you have until the games start.

It is what it is...we'll just hope for better results next year, but I think everyone needs to be a little more realistic. This is not your father's college hockey.
 
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Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

chickod said:
Regarding last night, this team makes a lot of poor decisions at center ice and they don't get the puck deep. There are too many transition odd-man rushes for the opponent.

It is what it is...we'll just hope for better results next year, but I think everyone needs to be a little more realistic. This is not your father's college hockey.
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This whole post is quality, but I'm focusing on the "getting pucks deep" comment cause didn't many of you KILL Parker for "Dump and Suck?" This team attempts to carry the puck into the zone to set-up their offense, but struggles to do it consistently. So I guess we want to go back to "Dump and Suck." :) :)
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

chickod said:
I don't agree that they didn't play hard. They did. But there is a LOT of wasted energy and running around without a purpose. SOME of that is coaching, but some of that is just performing under the big lights. You don't always know what you have until the games start.
Click to expand...

Also don't underestimate that we essentially have 5 D who split the majority of minutes since Blixt and Switzer are severe liabilities on the ice. Would've liked to see what Vidoli could've turned into.
 
Bomber said:
This whole post is quality, but I'm focusing on the "getting pucks deep" comment cause didn't many of you KILL Parker for "Dump and Suck?" This team attempts to carry the puck into the zone to set-up their offense, but struggles to do it consistently. So I guess we want to go back to "Dump and Suck." :) :)
Click to expand...

I think those comments were more along the lines of “it’s not a very exciting style of play.” But if that’s the only option it’s better than the turnovers. I see your point, though. :)
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

Bomber said:
This whole post is quality, but I'm focusing on the "getting pucks deep" comment cause didn't many of you KILL Parker for "Dump and Suck?" This team attempts to carry the puck into the zone to set-up their offense, but struggles to do it consistently. So I guess we want to go back to "Dump and Suck." :) :)
Click to expand...

And if you rewatch the OT goal, Amonte tries to enter the zone against multiple NU defenders as BU is changing - instead of dumping it deep to allow the change to complete - the puck gets stolen immediately near the blue line and the D whips it up the ice to the open forward since BU hasn't completed the change. That's not dump and suck, it's basic fundamentals of line changes.
 
Re: BU Terriers 2018-19: Albie in Charge

The last we played NU, it was BU that 50 shots on goal. The play was sloppy and the Terriers are so slow to adjust our breakouts when the first option is taken away.
And how rare is it that BU scores first?

Without Bobo (game time decision apparently), and BU has at best two lines than have any reasonable chance of scoring. The third and fourth lines are like grinding fourth lines.
I would assume they planned for the early losses of Tkachuk, Greenway, Keller, Bellows, JFK. Crone didn't work out. Wise got hurt. And there goes your forward depth.

We don't have a problem recruiting high-end prospects on defense and forward. But we do have a big problem with depth players who can contribute. BU is an expensive school, and they likely have to pay some or all of the freight. Maybe BU needs to bring in some older guys with the blue chippers??
Whatever it is, the balance has not been right among the third/fourth line guys.

BTW, Oettinger was superb. Almost to the level of North Dakota away in the NCAAs. For a moment I thought Sean Fields was back in goal, looking to steal a win when BU was getting badly outshot.
 
Harry Cleverly said:
I would assume they planned for the early losses of Tkachuk, Greenway, Keller, Bellows, JFK. Crone didn't work out.
Click to expand...

1. Do you think they regret shoving Crone out of the nest?
2. Why were they so dissatisfied with him?
3. Is Wise a potential Crone Clone?
 
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