In Other News ...

Brian Burke signed a deal with Toronto, and no one was surprised.

Some More Game Notes

+ BU vs. Holy Cross - Before heading back to Pennsylvania, I caught the BU game Tuesday night. My dad and a family friend came in to watch too (since I've been talking up this Terrier squad all year). They had a rougher game than they should have. They ended up winning 3-2, but it was not an easy win. Holy Cross worked their tails off and nearly succeeded in defeating BU. Then again the Crusaders also caught a huge break when their goalie almost put the puck in his own nets from the boards. I'm not sure if BU was still a little bit mentally shaken up from their weekend -- totally possible. The times they played best was when they got into a flow. Vinny Saponari also had two breakaways that he failed to capitalize on.

I think teams are figuring out that if they just find a way to clamp down on the BU offense, they basically take BU's game away. The only problem Holy Cross had with that was that they were so busy playing defense they were limited on some of their offensive chances. Ultimately, Cross wore themselves out. They did a great job though and surprised everyone who was watching that game. It's time for BU to wake up.

+ WBS Penguins vs. Philly Phantoms - I went to my first Baby Pens game last night, and clearly I picked the wrong night to see them. They were owned by the Phantoms 5-1 -- not to mention Philly scored TWO shorthanded goals. Captain Dave Gove said it was the team's worst game all year, and my family assured me they've been playing a lot better during the year. I believe them. I think it was just a bad night, and to be honest they still seemed a little bit tired. They looked pretty good in the first half of the first period, but things just started to unravel. Adam Berkhoel took the loss but also managed to have 40 saves -- a handful there were unreal too. Not his fault at all.

+ John Curry got his first NHL win last night when he came in relief for Dany Sabourin and played solid to get the 5-3 victory over the Islanders. Congrats!!

Say What??

BU dropped to number 8 in national rankings this week after coming off of two losses to Vermont. Yeah, it was a rough weekend ... but dropping to eight is complete BS in my opinion. I'm not just saying that because they're my team; I'm saying it because it's ridiculous.

Let's go boys. Pick it up.

Catamounts Win Again. Boo.

Talk about deja vu. Vermont beat BU 4-3 again on Saturday night at Agganis Arena. I didn't get to see it, but it sounds like the Catamounts frustrated BU once again. It's pretty much a sure thing that they'll see their number 2 ranking drop, but like I said earlier they still deserve to be in the top five. We'll see. BC split their series with UMass, winning 2-0 on Friday and losing in overtime last night.

It's funny to see BU ranked second in the nation but in 6th place in Hockey East. Same with New Hampshire -- they're ranked in the top ten nationally but are in 7th in HE. Just shows how competitive HE is this year.

BU faces off against Holy Cross on Tuesday. I better see a win boys!

Photo Credit: Melissa Wade

11/21 - Catamounts vs. Terriers

Just got back from the BU/Vermont game. Talk about a frustrating night for Boston U. They lost 4-3 to Vermont. Here are some game notes:

+ Colby Cohen had a bit of a rough night. He did record two assists, but he also batted in a goal for the Catamounts. It wasn't intentional (obviously), but who knows what would have been if that didn't happen. Then in the last minute of the game, he takes a 5 minute major for hitting from behind.

+ BU didn't necessarily play bad, but they weren't the team I've seen and raved about in the past month or so. Part of this was simply because they didn't get any breaks. You know when the puck keeps bouncing around, you can't complete passes, pucks go out of reach, shots get whiffed on, etc. Really frustrating, and it showed.

+ Vermont goaltender, Rob Madore, was spectacular tonight. He made 38 saves and a lot of good ones at that. Sure, maybe his bright yellow Reebok pads make him a Marc-Andre Fleury wannabe, but he was unreal. Had he not been stellar, Vermont loses that game. Oh and did I mention he's a freshman??

It was the first home ice loss for BU this season. They face off again tomorrow night at Agganis. I'm not sure if I'll get to catch that one, but hopefully the results are different. The loss will affect BU's ranking again, but if they can win tomorrow I'm certain they'll remain in the top 5. It'd be wrong to move them out of there regardless.

Tibbetts Suspended ... Again.

Billy Tibbetts was suspended by his team in the Eastern Professional Hockey League for violating 'team rules.' In his case, it probably means misbehaving yet again. I've never seen more wasted talent in my entire life. I watched Billy play in Wilkes-Barre back in the day, and I still think he's the best player I've ever seen come through there. I'll never forget when he jumped over an opponent and went right into a breakaway and scored. It was unreal. He's an amazing hockey player, but his off-the-ice problems always, always ruin it for him. It's a shame, it really is. I loved him as a player. If it weren't for his tendency to ruin things for himself, he'd be one of the best players in the NHL today.

In case you don't know his full story, this piece explains it.

Vote for Seto

Devin Setoguchi might be the most overlooked player in the NHL right now. He has 22 points (11+11) in 20 games with a +6 rating. He's first in the league in shots (76) and is 4th overall in the league in goals and scoring. I'm asking all of you to join the underground effort to get Seto in the All Star Game. He deserves it.

Vote for Setoguchi.

Photo Credit: Flickr

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

Bits & Pieces

Hopefully your day wasn't as rainy and dreary as mine was in Boston. Here are some clips of things going on:

+ Continuing with my Cam Paddock praise-rant, he scored his very first NHL goal in his very first NHL game on his first shot. Exciting!

+ The San Jose Sharks are doing a dad's trip - aka partying in Chi-town! PS: Vote for Seto.

+ UMass upset No. 1 Boston University last night when they beat them 5-1. I'm not so happy about this. UMass is turning out to be perhaps the most underrated team in Hockey East if not the NCAA. On that same note, No. 2 Minnesota tied unranked Michigan Tech today and BC tied Merrimack last night. That means BU might remain in the top spot. It will depend on how BC plays against UNH and how BU plays against Northeastern. Fingers crossed!

+ Barry Melrose was fired. Stick to TV bud.

Other than that ... it's Saturday night! Have fun!

I Told Ya So...

Back in July I wrote this post about Peoria Rivermen center, Cam Paddock.

Well folks, he finally got what he deserved. A call up to the St. Louis Blues. There is no better feeling than when someone who truly, truly deserves it gets called up. He's not even in the top five leading scorers, but he proved that with hard work you can make it. Paddock has worked his whole life for this moment. It kind of makes me all soft inside.

It’s been a long battle, lots of ups and downs, playing in the ECHL, fighting to get to the AHL and learning a lot about yourself as a player. Everything is flooding through my mind right now. It’s surreal. I’m so excited, and I’ve been calling my friends, calling my family, because they have all been a part of this.

-Cam Paddock

Congrats buddy. Make the most of it.

Burke Out?

Rumors have started swirling around that Brian Burke is no longer the GM of the Anaheim Ducks. When I get more word on this, I'll update.

Stay tuned ...

The View From The Top...

Ladies and gentlemen, your number one ranked NCAA team in the nation:

Quote of the Day

Is he talking about the youngest guy to get 100 points in the history of the National Hockey League? Is he talking about the youngest guy to win the Hart Trophy and lead the league in scoring? Is he talking about the youngest captain in the National Hockey League to bring his team to the Stanley Cup Final? That’s all I have to say.

Michel Therrien in response to Alex Semin's earlier comments on Crosby

Couldn't have said it better myself.

Eerie ...

A woman attending Monday night's Blackhawks' game collapsed and died. The eerie thing is ... her mom died at a Hawks game in 1986.

Quote of the Day

What's so special about [Crosby]? I don't see anything special there. Yes, he does skate well, has a good head, good pass. But there's nothing else.

Alexander Semin

Weird ... because I think Crosby's pretty good.