Good For Some Laughs

The Two-Line Pass over at Puck Daddy just had me laughing with this week's What We Learned post. I thought it was worth noting. Especially with:

Evander Kane was apparently a beast at Thrashers rookie camp this weekend. He scored in the first scrimmage of the weekend, had the lowest body fat (4.1 percent), won the push-up contest and (55) but only came in second during fastest skater. Which means this draft was another total failure. Way to go, Waddell.

The Handsomest Man in Hockey, Colin Wilson, will probably start his pro career in the AHL. No shock there.

Okay, so I didn't laugh at this. But it is true: he IS the handsomest man in hockey.

The Flames got their new enforcer: Brian McGrattan(notes). I believe this brings Calgary's total number of Edmonton natives and former Coyotes and/or Panthers to an even 600.

Check out the post for more laughs ... because it's all true.

Hobey Baker Watch

Just a quick blip here today --

The Hobey Baker Hat Trick finalists were announced today, and BU has two guys in the final three: Matt Gilroy and Colin Wilson. Northeastern's Brad Thiessen is the third. All Hockey East boys -- another thing pointing to how strong HE is in the NCAA.

I vote for Matt Gilroy to get this award. He has a great story -- from losing two younger brothers, to barely making the Terrier squad and now being one of the best players in college hockey (check out the NYTimes piece on him here). He does so much for BU both on and off the ice. Any professional team will be lucky to have him. That's not to take away from Colin Wilson who was arguably the best player in the league this year. There's just something about Gilroy though. It belongs to him.

Brad Thiessen is a viable candidate as well. He's done a lot for Northeastern, and I think the program owes him a lot. He's unbelievable. Looking at the three finalists though, I just don't think this is his year.

29 out of 57 Ain't Bad

After beating Northeastern 5-2 in last night's game, BU has now won 50.8% of the Beanpots. It was their 29th victory in the past 57 years. Basically, they own this tournament.

Wow. I'm not even sure where to begin. It was a great game, and I hope some of you out there got a chance to watch it. If not, here are the highlights broken down for you:

+ Breaking the game down by periods:
- I thought Northeastern was slightly better than BU in the first period. The first few minutes were spent feeling each other out; neither team had excellent chances. There was a lot of dump-and-chase. I'm sure all the boys were a little nervous. BU got the first goal, but NU tied it up before the period was over to make it 1-1.
- The second and third periods belonged to BU. The puck just found a way to their sticks. I don't know how much was luck and how much was simply the fact that they're the number one team in the country. It showed. Northeastern had some quality chances, but they were visibly outplayed by BU. I'd actually like to see puck possession numbers. BU seemed to control it the majority of the time.

+ The biggest part of this game was BU's THREE shorthanded goals. That's insane! It got to the point where it was almost better for them to be on the penalty kill than on the power play. BU was 1 for 7 on their PP and 3 for 10 on their PK. One of the shorties came when Dave Warsofsky skated it down and took a shot that somehow found its way to the back of the net. I'm not sure what exactly happened there; it seems like a save Brad Thiessen should have made.

+ I mentioned in the pre-game post that Kieran Millan needed to have a stellar night. He did. He absolutely did. BU owes him a big thanks. He made 23 saves on 25 shots -- and some of those saves were huge. He stood out tonight. I was very impressed.

+ Colin Wilson is a beast. I've been hesitant to say this in the past, but this kid is ready to go pro. He manages to land every pass exactly where he wants to. It's ridiculous. Even if there's three opponents standing in front of him, C. Willie will complete the pass. I'd love to see him back for one more year at BU, but this kid is gone.

+ Brad Thiessen won the Eberly Award for best save percentage (.925) in the tournament. I don't know how happy he was with it at the time, but he's a great goaltender with a bright future ahead of him.

+ Nick Bonino won the tournament MVP. Good timing. The San Jose Sharks prospect could very likely have been watched by Sharks staff in town for their game against the Bruins tonight.

Northeastern goes another year (since 1988) without a Beanpot. Their turn will come soon enough. BU showed why they are ranked number one in the country. Once they get into their flow, there's no stopping them.

Here are some pictures from the tournament I snapped with my phone. They're not the greatest -- I was sitting in the very last row of the building.

Beanpot Round Two: This is It.

My nerves are already starting to go a bit, and the BU/Northeastern Beanpot final doesn't start for another six hours yet.

Provided both teams show up to play tonight, this is going to be a great game. BU is No.1 in the country, and NU is right behind them at number 3. Here are some things to look out for:

+ NU's goaltender, Brad Thiessen, has stood out to me since I saw him come in freshman year. He is a big reason for the Huskies' success. He's currently sitting on a 2.06 GAA and a .935 save percentage. Pretty sick. BU will have to find a way to solve him ASAP.

+ On the flip side, BU's rookie goaltender, Kieran Millan, will have to be sharp. He's been great for BU all season, but during last Monday's game against Harvard, his nerves were apparent.

+ Colin Wilson. If he does his thing, BU will get a big boost.

+ BU needs to stay out of the penalty box. It has been a major downside for them all year; they take way too many penalties. It helps that they have an excellent PK unit, but ultimately it will catch up to you.

+ Looking at NU's stats, Wade MacLeod leads his team with 27 points in 27 games. But Ryan Ginand (second in scoring) has 124 shots this season!!! 124!

There really is no predicting the Beanpot tournament. Teams take the competition to new levels. Your best bet is to tune into NESN around 8 (depends on when the consolation game ends). You won't be disappointed.

GO TERRIERS.

Defending Brett Bennett .. among other things

I was reading through Boston University's Daily Free Press, and I decided I have to say something about a few issues that were brought up in Mike Lipka's piece.

+ First he says, "I'm pretty sure Wilson is the best all-around forward to play at BU since Chris Drury." This might pan out to be true, but let's not get a head of ourselves. Wilson is unreal, sick, dirty, nasty ... whatever complimentary adjective you want to use here. But like everyone on the Terriers' roster, he can still improve. Let's not inflate the kid's ego more than it already is. He gets to go be Bobby Big Wheels next year when he leaves for the show. Right now he needs to continue to work on being the best player he can at this level.

+ The next thing is probably what set off this whole blog post. It's not Lipka's fault, it's basically everyone's fault at BU who mounted an attack against former goaltender Brett Bennett. If you're just walking into this, Bennett was cut after a mediocre (to say the least) season. He was only a sophomore. I was shocked at the time, but apparently I was one of the few. Lipka mentions the "disastrous Brett Bennett era" ... all of ONE year. The kid wasn't given a chance to even have an era. Without a doubt, Bennett is probably still wishing he had a better season in 07-08, but it's not completely his fault. I still don't think he deserved to be cut (unless something was going on behind the scenes, which is totally possible). So many people at BU who have only jumped into hockey when they came here don't understand this. After watching hockey for how many years now, I have seen my teams have absolutely brutal years -- much worse than BU's last year (which in reality wasn't ALL that bad people). It was a transition year. If anything, you learn from those. Bennett wasn't alone last season ... at the start of the year the offense was horrible and four 'leaders' of the team got suspended by their own coach. There were a lot of problems. When watching Bennett, I never thought to myself "Wow that kid is awful." Because he wasn't. People still had the John Curry (college hockey savior) hangover and expected way more than that team could have produced. Regardless, Bennett was let go; this could be in part to the two excellent freshman goalies coming in (Keiran Millan and Grant Rollheiser) but either way people automatically thought it was because of his year. I didn't like the move; it messed with his future both academically and hockey-wise. Like I said, I don't know the complete story or what the true reason was, but people need to lay off Bennett already. It's over. And as Lipka points out, his numbers with the USHL's Indiana Ice are 8-2-1, 1.88 GAA and .939 save percentage. Good job bud. And good luck.

+ Finally, he mentions John Curry's not-so-good start with WBS. What he doesn't mention is that he is coming off an injury and is still finding his groove. He has some stronger competition in Adam Berkhoel this year (who has three shutouts already), and I think that will make him a better goaltender. In the meantime, he's chillin' in Pittsburgh until Marc-Andre Fleury gets back on the ice from his undisclosed injury.

Ciao! xo

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I can't help but give shameless plugs for the boys at my school. Especially when they're being chatted about by some of the best. Colin Wilson, the boy every girl in the BU dining halls drools at as he walks by, was rated number one out of NCAA players THN's Ryan Kennedy's most excited to see in the NHL someday. Here's what was said:

1. Colin Wilson, C – Boston University Terriers (Hockey East): As the son of an NHLer, Wilson had a good model in preparing for a career in elite hockey.

“My dad told me you have to be physically ready at 14,” said Colin, channeling the advice he received from his father, Carey, who played for the Flames, Whalers and Rangers.

With that in mind, Colin hit the gym early and often as a teen and the results were reflected in his selection seventh overall by Nashville at the NHL draft this year.

“I can be a first- or second-line center,” Wilson noted. “But I can also work as a third- or fourth-liner, that’s why I think they took me.”

That and a heap of skill, of course. The 6-foot-1, 215-pound Terrier notched 35 points in 37 games as a freshman at B.U. and will likely return to improve on that mark next season.

Joining Wilson is a murderer’s row of future NHL talent, including fellow 2008 draftees Corey Trivino, David Warsofsky and Grant Rollheiser. Wilson will also faceoff against workout buddy and Boston College Eagles recruit Jimmy Hayes. So is fraternizing with the enemy going to end?

“When I’m with my buddies, we’re really tight, so we can do things like that,” Wilson said. “But it’ll be fun playing against him – B.U. and B.C. for the Beanpot (tournament trophy).”

One thing is for sure, there won’t be many Eagles having fun when they face the tenacious Wilson.

Drafted seventh overall by Nashville in 2008.

Clearly Colin's been working out since he was 14. Kid is jacked.

Kennedy also gave Corey Trivino props. He'll be a froshie this year at the best school ever. coughBUcough

sigh. I'm so proud.

And is it just me, or are no BC players on that list? Yes, I'm smiling.


Photo Credit: Andre Ringuette, Getty Images