I attended Friday's game against Clarkson, missed the Saturday session
against St. Lawrence.
 
BU's strength is clearly on defense, although according to the CCHP
ratings, they have the best balance.  The Terriers are ranked 5th in the
nation on offense, 3rd on defense. Chris Kelleher was my #1 star on
Friday night (I missed what Bernie and Tom had), and he is a certain
All-America candidate.  He did not play on Saturday due to injury.
While defense is strong, it lacks depth.  A big test for the blueliners
will be Thursday night at Merrimack.
 
The offensive numbers are surprising.  Up until this weekend, the power
play was clueless.  Chris Drury is being blanketed, but his linemates
Tommi Degerman and Mike Sylvia have really picked it up.  Playing for
any other program, Sylvia would be The Man.  What BU needs is the second
and third lines to pick up the pace a bit.  BU is heavy with freshmen,
and they are learning to play the game.  Chris Heron is back from his
shoulder separation.
 
The iron is in the net.  The Terriers have perhaps the best 1-2
goaltending tandem in college hockey, with Jack Parker applying a steady
rotation of Tom Noble and Michel Larocque.  Noble posted his second
shutout of the season Friday night.  Even so, with the money on the line
in March, my feeling is that Parker will depend on Larocque.
 
Watching Clarkson Friday night, I must say that Mark Morris has to bring
out more from his offense.  The Golden Knights were 0-7 on the power
play, including two 5-3's, one of which consisted of a 5-minute major.
None of BU's four goals could be pinned on Dan Murphy, who had no chance
on any of them (the fourth was an empty-netter).  Seven power plays
speaks to the complete lack of discipline BU exhibited in the third
period.  The Terriers had a 3-goal lead and did everything in their
power to keep Clarkson in the game.
 
On Saturday night Michel Larocque was pulled after the first period.
Does anyone know why?
 
--
Edward N. Moller
Controller
Mount Ida College
Newton Centre, MA  02159-3323
[log in to unmask]
Tel   (617) 928-4515
Fax  (617) 928-4706
 
HOCKEY-L is for discussion of college ice hockey;  send information to
[log in to unmask], The College Hockey Information List.