BU Boys Fly the Coop

As NCAA teams close out their season, their top guns fly the coop. Come late March/April there's always an exodus of top Division I players to the pro ranks. Since BU's season came to a halt, five players have left.


+ Eric Gryba: Arguably the most loved Terrier over the past four years, Gryba signed with Ottawa. He is currently playing for Binghamton in the AHL. I imagine he'll spend awhile down there as he grows and finds his role - which I would guess is going to be that of an enforcer. His size and strength will benefit him in the long run. Once he finds his role and excels at it, I actually think he'll find himself in the show someday.

+ Zach Cohen: Cohen is coming off an awesome year. He was one of the top goal scorers and really just came into his own. He signed with Colorado making the Avs the official home of BU alum. He joins Joe Sacco, David Quinn, Brandon Yip and now Colby Cohen & Kevin Shattenkirk in the organization. Kieran Millan is also a Colorado draft pick.

+ Nick Bonino: One of BU's best players since he got here. Bonino signed with Anaheim a few weeks ago and has since been playing alongside guys like Bobby Ryan and Corey Perry.  He already notched his first goal. If he keeps it up, it doesn't look like he'll be going anywhere. Even so, I wouldn't be entirely surprised to see him spend some minutes in the A next year.

+ Kevin Shattenkirk: Arguably the biggest loss for BU. Not surprised about his early departure at all. I'm pretty sure everyone saw this coming when he arrived. He's been excellent for BU. A class act if I ever saw one who will without a doubt be a fan favorite throughout his playing career.

+ Colby Cohen: I've had a love-hate relationship with this kid. The hate part mainly being that half the time I look at him he's whining. But he's been awesome ever since he's been here. I have no complaints, and I will forever owe him for scoring the game winner in the NCAA Championship game.

The only senior left to sign somewhere is Luke Popko. I'm really keeping my fingers crossed for him. I'm sure he will get a shot with at least an ECHL team. The kid is a grinder. He's always out there hustling and working hard. His downfall is his size. He has to overcompensate for his 5-10" frame (and that's being generous).

So where does this leave BU? Well, they obviously took a hit. Losing those five players, they managed to lose five of their six top scorers. They're going to have to get a stronger year out of Millan. If he can revert back to his freshman year form, that will be a big plus. Guys like Ross Gaudet, David Warsofsky, Corey Trivino, Vinny Saponari and Alex Chiasson are going to have to lead the team. It looks like it will be another transition year for the Terriers. You never know though. That's the great thing about hockey. They could be surprising. We'll see how the incoming class is and what they bring to the table.

Best of luck to the boys who have moved on!

Photo.

A Hero Returns to North America

Huge, huge news for Baby Pens fans coming from Jonathan Bombulie over at the Penguins Insider. Word on the street is that Andy Chiodo is about to sign with the Binghamton Senators. Yes, THEE Andy Chiodo. This one:



Yes, the Andy Chiodo who watched every other goalie get a shot at playoff games before he had to come in and save the day. And I mean, literally save the day. The guy who became a hero in WBS. The guy who survived by working hard, not just on pure skill.

There are certain players that Baby Pens' fans will never forget. The list starts like this: 1. Dennis Bonvie 2. Andy Chiodo. You can argue that John Slaney and Tom Kostopoulos might come before Chiodo. I put them after.

And now he's back. Not with the Baby Pens unfortunately, but with a team close enough that he'll be playing in the Wachovia Arena a handful of times during the season.

For those of you who aren't familiar with Chiodo, he was a Baby Pen for three seasons. He was typically the back-up, and his regular season numbers were good -- nothing spectacular but not bad. He even saw action in eight games for Pittsburgh. His moment of glory came during the playoffs. My God was he a playoff goaltender. Maybe the best I've ever seen.

In the 2004 Calder Cup playoffs, WBS faced Bridgeport in the first round. Michel Therrien gave both Marc-Andre Fleury and Sebastien Caron a shot before Chiodo. The Pens went down 3-games-to-1. Therrien decided to give Chiodo a shot, and magic happened. WBS won that series in OT of Game 7 -- after Chiodo made some heart-stopping (seriously, I think my heart stopped) saves throughout the series. They went all the way to the finals that year. They lost, but it was still a great ride.

The same thing happened in the postseason the following year. Chiodo didn't get the initial start, but he ended up on top. The Baby Pens defeated a stacked Binghamton Sens team (we're talking Spezza, Vermette, etc) in the first round. He was so much fun to watch, and he earned every bit of recognition and praise he got. Unfortunately, no one else gave him a shot after his third year here. He packed up and headed to Finland.

Bombulie mentions the response he'll receive when he returns to Wilkes-Barre. He thinks it will be lukewarm because people forget. This is true. People do forget. But those that saw him play through those playoff series will not. And they will be on their feet when he steps out on that ice.

Welcome back Chico.

Quick Bites

My apologies for disappearing for awhile there. I finished finals, headed home and have found myself being completely relaxed and lazy during winter break. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday. That said, here are some bits and pieces I wanted to touch on:

+ I made it home in time to see Ryan Whitney's one-game conditioning stint in Wilkes-Barre. He was a non-factor in the game against Albany (WBS ended up winning 4-3). Whit had one assist and was a -1 on the night. He had quite a bit of ice time, but you could tell he hadn't played in awhile. The high expectations come with his name, and frankly he could have done better. Pittsburgh snatched him back after the Albany game, but I think he could have used another in the A. Even he admitted he was tired after the first ten minutes. Oh well. That game was fun for me as there were three BU alums on the ice: Whitney, John Curry and Ryan Weston.

+ The Casey Classic is an annual tournament for the Northeast PA high school hockey league. The teams get to play at the Wachovia Arena which is a pretty cool experience for them. My younger brother was in the tourney this year, and his team, the Crestwood Comets, made it to the final. Boy was I glad I went to that game. Naturally youth hockey is much slower than what I'm used to, but this game was unbelievable. Crestwood had a 4-2 lead with 2:17 left in the third period. They took a silly penalty, and Wyoming Valley West used this to their advantage. They were fired up. They not only scored a power play goal, but they also notched another to tie the game up 4-4 with 37 seconds left. Everyone was getting ready for OT, but with 1.1 seconds left, Crestwood scored to win the game. 1.1 seconds. Are you kidding me?! It was awesome. Congrats to the Comets who have now won four out of the seven years.

+ The Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins had a huge weekend. They played Bridgeport on Saturday in what was probably one of the top ten games I've seen at that rink. The entire game was fast-paced and evenly played. Mainly thanks to the Pens' two quick goals in the third, they were able to pull out a 5-4 win. Sunday night was a match-up against the Binghamton Senators. The Baby Pens fought back from a 3-1 deficit in the second to win 6-3. WBS now sits at 3rd in the division, nipping at Bridgeport's heels.

Mark Letestu had a four point night against the Sens. This is a guy who always seems to do well, but earlier in the year he saw very little ice time. I don't understand it. Every game he's out there he makes things happen. Maybe now he will continue to receive the ice time he deserves.

Also: Denis Hamel is STILL in the AHL. I swear this guy has played for Binghamton for what seems like 10 years now. (Note: That's an exaggeration.) He's always been good for them too. Get him up to Ottawa too please.