RECAP: BU 7 Michigan 2

SUMMARY:  What a difference from last October, when BU went 0-4-1.  This October they go 4-1-0.  I think Red Berenson summarized the game by saying,  "It was a good game for their team and not a good game for our team.  We have to learn from it. Welcome to Boston." 

THE GOOD:  Boston University continues to play well over non –conference opponents.  In fact, all of Hockey East is 18-5-2 against non-conference teams this year. The breakdown is as follows: 

3-1-0 vs. ECAC 

7-2-2 vs. CCHA 

5-1-0 vs. WCHA 

1-1-0 vs. CHA 

2-0-0 vs. AHA 

In addition, when the non-conference games are home games, Hockey East teams are 10-0-1.  This is an impressive start to Hockey East’s 25^th year Anniversary.  The question is will Hockey East be able to maintain this play throughout the season.  Who knows but it will be fun to watch. 

THE BAD:  Michigan.  They were out played the whole game last night; not sure what happened but their defensive injuries must have come back to haunt them.  Their schedule was not favorable, coming into Agganis after playing on Thursday night, but even on Thursday, Michigan struggled in their win against Niagara. I think the bottom line was BU wanted pay back for last year’s drubbing by Michigan and BU got it. 

THE UGLY:  With 21.5 seconds remaining, BU's Vinny Saponari and Michigan's Brian Lebler received game disqualifications for fighting.  Vinny, you will receive the pleasure of watching the next game against Vermont from the stands …..enough said on this.  

RECAP: BU 2 MSU 1

SUMMARY: Off to a good start!


THE GOOD: Boston University

The world is perfect in Terrier Nation. Everyone knows that one weekend does not make a season; however starting the season by beating two top nationally ranked teams to win the Ice Breaker is always a great feeling when you compare it to last year’s start (i.e. 0-4-1).

I will have to say BU looked like they are in mid-season form. If they can sustain their weekend play throughout the 2008-2009 season, they could be a team to watch and could bring back the tradition of BU hockey to the national stage.

THE BAD: ICE Breaker vs. Red Sox

I have to admit as a Red Sox fan the conflicts of the post season have been challenging. Both of the BU games during the Ice Breaker conflicted with the start times of the first two games of the ALCS against the Rays. (Thank goodness for TVs in the suites at Agganis!) Even with the conflicts, though, this is still not that much of a “bad” as I still would not change it for the world…….. Plus, the Sox post-season games invariably end after midnight anyway, long after any hockey game is over. Let’s hope that when the ALCS gets back to Boston, it’s the Ray’s fans that look bad the next day.

THE UGLY: Fan Attendance.

I was disappointed with fan attendance. I can understand fans of North Dakota and Michigan State not making the trip. It’s expensive to visit Boston and during these financial times, fans need to factor in the cost of traveling. But that is no excuse for UMass and especially BU fans. The student sections, for the most part, were filled; however, it did not have the atmosphere of a BC game. If BU wants to bring back the tradition of national prominence then the fan base will need to rise to the occasion. The attendance at the BU games over the weekend was around 3,800 for the first day and 4,200 for the second. Compare this to Saturday night’s UNH game against Wisconsin, they sold out with 6,500 fans.

RECAP: Sioux 2, UMass 3

He is my recap of last night's game:

SUMMARY: Where have you been for five periods of hockey?


THE GOOD: The third period of the game.

The first two periods of this game were similar to the BU game, although I will have to say the Sioux did carry a lot of the play. However, in the third period the Sioux looked like the team we all want to see. Skating fast, winning battles for the puck and putting shots on net for the whole period. Hopefully this is a sign of the way they will play the rest of the season.

Ryan Martens had a good game and Walski was ok. Granted he was only tested with 16 shots but two of the goals were power play goals.

THE BAD: FACEOFFS and OFFSIDES

Did it seem like there were a lot of offsides and players being thrown out of the face off circle? Sioux Fan from Boston and I could not figure it out. It appeared like last night the referees were calling the offsides very tight. As for players being thrown out of the playoff circle, I think I have seen more players thrown out of the circle in this game than I did all of last season.

On a side note: did it really feel like UND won the faceoff battle 41 – 30? When I looked at the summary I couldn’t believe it. Other than the third period, it felt like the Sioux lost every faceoff.

THE UGLY: POWER PLAY!

Until the third period of the UMass game, the Sioux had the following stats on their power play:

Power Play Opportunities: 13
Shots on net: 12
Shots on net by the opponent: 6
GOALS: 0

It’s sad when your opponent has over 30% of the shots on your power plays and the Sioux had only an average of less than one shot per opportunity.

Compare this to the third period of the UMass game:

Power Play Opportunities: 2
Shots on net: 6
Shots on net by the opponent: 0
GOALS: 1

This period had a much better performance on the power play by the Sioux. Although not a power play, when Walski was pulled in the last minute the Sioux carried the play there as well.

With both the Sioux and Wisconsin coming out of the New England area 0-2 it will make the early match-up with Wisconsin the last weekend in October a big one.

It was a good third period so let's hope the Sioux can build on that period and move forward.

GO SIOUX!!!

Recap: SIOUX vs. BU

Here is my recap of last night’s game:

SUMMARY:
Two teams who played on opposite ends of the spectrum.

THE GOOD:
Boston University – Bottom line they played and looked great. I know; one game (win or lose) does not make a season. As someone that also follows BU, I was completely impressed with them. Millian made some unbelievable saves.

It is worth noting that Brad Eidsness of the Sioux was solid in net. He was hung out to dry by the defense and if it was not for him the score would have been worse than 5-1.

THE BAD:
The Sioux – Just like BU, one game does not make a season. However, this was the first game of the season and you would hope they would come to play. The feeling from this game was the exact feeling I had in Denver last year after losing to BC. The sad part of the game is when the Sioux tie it up my friend, Sioux Fan from Boston, and I didn’t have enough time to enjoy the tie - BU scored to go ahead for good 20 seconds later.

In hind site - I had a chance to talk to Coach Eades before the game. You could tell he was excited about the start of the season mentioning they have a lot of good young players. Maybe this was his way of saying the Sioux will need time to develop into one cohesive team.

THE UGLY:
Defense and the power play -first the defense, just down right ugly. Joe, BU made you look like a rookie and by the way you are suppose to be a leader on this team - so act like it. Stop taking stupid penalties down 4-1 or gooning it up because you are frustrated, the team needs your calm leadership.

The power play – this will not be in the stats but we had eight power plays and you could not tell. The Sioux played better when it was 4 on 4 or 5 on 5. This is a situation with young players that we need to take advantage of.

The Sioux will play UMass today and they will have a chance to redeem themselves after last night’s game. Just do not take UMass lightly. Although UMass lost to Michigan State, UMass had 37 shots on net vs. 16.

RECAP: New Brunswick vs. BU

Here is my recap of today's game:

THE GOOD:
BU received goal production from Connolly, C. Trivino and, V. Saponari (with MacArthur and Ewing gone).

THE BAD:
Who will BU start in net?

THE UGLY:
BU needs to play for sixty minutes - the third period has to be as good as the first.

Recap - Manitoba vs. UND

Here is my recap of tonight's game:

THE GOOD:
The Offense - six goals on 51 shots. Nice to see goals from the "rookies" Jason Gregoire and Brett Hextall ( Let me throw in Mario Lamoureux - I know Hextall beat him to it!) and the team leaders.

THE BAD:
Wish we could have seen David Toews play and Walski have more of a test.

THE UGLY:
Too many penalities. Eight penalites for 16 minutes against a much weaker team.


On to Agganis for the Ice Breaker. I can't wait; We will be in Section 115.