Another Terrier Moves Up

BU assistant coach, Dave Quinn, was named head coach of the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters. He's replacing another former BU alum, Joe Sacco -- who was named head coach of the Colorado Avs.

Good to see another BU alum move up. A national championship will bring about these opportunities.

I wonder how many offers Jack Parker has gotten in his career? A ton I'm guessing.

Jack's Not Happy

BU head coach, Jack Parker, seemed a little upset about Brian Strait skipping his senior year and heading to the pros.

In an interview with USCHO, he said:

A lot of guys who are good players in this league have gotten to be NHL players, and there’s no reason to think he won’t. But will he play next year? It all depends. They’re in the Stanley Cup finals right now; they’ve got a pretty good team. They’re telling him that they’re going to lose all these defensemen to free agency — that they’re not going to sign them. And they may lose some of them, but it doesn’t mean they won’t sign another free agent. They don’t know who they’re going to get in the draft or who they’re going to trade for. I think he thinks it’s best for him.

I don’t think there’s any question in my mind that the only reason you should leave BU is to go play in the NHL — not to go play in the American Hockey League. What he’s going to give up next year and what he could have had here next year is something he’ll never get back, no matter if he plays 10 or 15 years in the NHL.

I do like when players stick out all four of their college years, but as I said in an earlier post, Strait is ready. He's solid and smart. Would it have hurt him to stay his senior year? No. But I don't think it's an awful decision by him.

Strait will not play in Pittsburgh next year. I mean, stranger things have happened I guess, but I'm fairly confident he will be in the AHL. I don't see anything wrong with that. He will adjust to a faster game than what he's been used to. After he develops a little more, he will be in the NHL. I'm not worried about the kid.

It's okay Coach. We'll all miss him too.

Frozen Four Eve

The Frozen Four is upon us ... and I am nervous. I know I predicted BU making the FF at the beginning of the year, but it's still surreal to see them there. They have a legit chance of winning this thing, but their match-up against Vermont tomorrow is going to be far from easy.

I remember too well the back-to-back losses Vermont handed the Terriers in the fall at Agganis. It was their first two home losses, and they dropped to 8th in the nation after that. The Catamounts play the type of hockey that can stifle BU's offense. They block shots, they play the trap ... they just get in the way to the point of where it's frustrating. But that's what they should do. That's what they will do tomorrow night, and BU will have to find a way to solve it. The Terriers are going to have to get as many shots on net as possible. Being physical will help too. Throw some hits out.

Goaltending is going to be huge in this game as well. Rob Madore is awesome; I credited him as one of the main reasons Vermont won those games. On the other side of it, Kieran Millan just came off an unbelievable game against UNH.

This game is worth watching, so make sure you turn on ESPN2 at 8:30 to catch it. BU is the favorite in the Frozen Four, but I'm telling you anything can happen. If BU shows up, gets in a flow and does their thing, they will win. But we saw them fail in doing just that against Vermont twice this year.

Some quotes regarding tomorrow's game:

"The senior class, we just took a little bit of extra time in the locker room to be sure that talking to the younger guys, you know, you don’t take this for granted. You might not get this chance again, so definitely bring your A-game."
- John McCarthy

"When you’re the No. 1 team during the regular season, you can get the other teams jacked up that you’re playing. There’s the immediate gratification of, ‘Hey, we knocked off the No. 1 team in the nation.’ I don’t think that has anything to do with this tournament, because nobody’s trying to knock off the No. 1 team. Everybody’s trying to become the No. 1 team. There’s no advantage to being the underdog, because it’s more important to be the champion."
- Jack Parker

Fingers crossed.

As for the other game of the evening, I'm going with Bemidji State over Miami. The Bemidji Cinderellas are on fire right now. When you get on a streak like that in the play-offs, you don't stop. That game will be on ESPN2 at 5:30.

Source.