At long last, Colin Wilson is property of a National Hockey League franchise.
The Nashville Predators traded up two spots to take Boston University’s sophomore-to-be with the seventh overall pick in the first round of the 2008 NHL Entry Draft Friday at Scotiabank Place in Ottawa, Ont., making the 18-year-old center the fourth-highest selection in program history.
‘When people asked who you want to go to, I said I wanted to go to a team that has plans for me and really wants me,’ Wilson, who was pegged as a Top-5 prospect for the 2008 draft by International Scouting Services when he committed to BU in 2006, said in a conference call. ‘Trading up from nine to seven definitely shows they have plans for me and really wanted me. It’s a great honor to be picked after they traded up.’
‘Colin was the guy we wanted at the No. 9 spot,’ Predators General Manager David Poile told The Nashville City Paper Friday night. ‘The draft went almost exactly like we had it rated. There were two or three forwards we really liked, but we liked Wilson a little bit better.
‘He is a guy we really think we can win with. We feel strongly about that.’
Wilson, who garnered Hockey East and New England Rookie of the Year honors last season, represents the third generation of his family to grace the NHL ranks, joining his father, Carey, and grandfather, Gerry.
A 35-point scorer in his freshman campaign, Wilson’s career as a Terrier might be short-lived. Whether Nashville believes he is ready to play in the NHL next season will go a long way toward determining Wilson’s immediate future, BU coach Jack Parker told The Boston Globe in Friday’s editions.
‘If they think he can play in the NHL next year, I’m sure he will leave,’ Parker said. ‘If he’s going to play minor league hockey, I know he’ll come back. They might even tell him to go back. They might say, ‘We love you but we need you to go back for a year or two.’ I know he’s a very talented kid and a very determined kid. He wants to be in the NHL, there’s no question about that.’
Wilson said Friday he had not spoken with Nashville representatives in the ‘last couple days’ leading up to the draft, but he exuded confidence following the selection.
‘I feel like I can step in right now,’ Wilson said. ‘It generally takes skills, a head for the game and being able to be strong enough, and I think I have all three of those tools to be able to make it next year.’
Poile, however, doesn’t seem too eager to rush Wilson to the big stage.
‘We haven’t sat down with him, but we think he is in a good place,’ Poile said.
The Terriers were well-represented in Saturday’s second through seventh rounds, as incoming freshmen Corey Trivino (2nd round, 36th pick, New York Islanders), Vinny Saponari (4th round, 94th pick, Atlanta Thrashers), David Warsofsky (4th round, 95th pick, St. Louis Blues) and Grant Rollheiser (6th round, 158th pick, Toronto Maple Leafs) all heard their name called on Day Two.
Schedule unveiled
Parker recently announced the Terriers’ 2008-09 schedule, one that features 20 games at Agganis Arena and visits from five of the six teams that reached the Frozen Four over the past two seasons.
‘This is certainly our toughest and most competitive non-conference schedule in quite some time,’ Parker said in a statement. ‘We won eight of our last nine home games this past year and, with such a large home schedule, we’ll look to continue that trend.’
Among the big-name programs invading Boston are Michigan State University and the University of North Dakota, both of which will take part in the four-team IceBreaker Invitational Oct. 10-11 at Agganis. BU and the University of Massachusetts-Amherst will each play the Spartans and Fighting Sioux in the four-game, classic-style tournament.
The remainder of the Terriers’ non-conference home slate includes the University of Michigan (Oct. 25), the College of the Holy Cross (Nov. 25) and St. Lawrence University (Nov. 29).
BU will open 2009 in Denver, Colo., for the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, with the Terriers meeting Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute Jan. 2 and either Holy Cross or the host University of Denver the following night.
The Terriers kick off Hockey East play Oct. 17 against Merrimack College in the first of 14 conference home dates, none more anticipated than the Dec. 5 and Jan. 17 clashes against defending national champion Boston College.
One year removed from its first opening-round exit in 14 years, BU will conclude its non-conference schedule with the 57th Annual Beanpot Tournament Feb. 2 versus Harvard University and Feb. 9 against either BC or Northeastern University.
Of the red, white and blue
Five Terriers have been selected to participate in the 2008 United States National Junior Evaluation Camp Aug. 1-9, USA Hockey announced June 16.
Saponari and Warsofsky will join sophomores Colby Cohen, Kevin Shattenkirk and Wilson at the Lake Placid, N.Y., camp. The BU quintet is among 53 players who will vie for spots on the 2009 U.S. National Junior Team competing in the 2009 World Junior Championship, Dec. 26, 2008-Jan. 5, 2009, in Ottawa.
In addition to practices, the evaluation period will feature eight international games at 1980 Rink Herb Brooks Arena beginning Aug. 5.
The academic elite
Three Terriers, including senior co-captain John McCarthy, were named to the 2007-08 Hockey East All-Academic Team June 6, the league office announced.
McCarthy, an economics major in the College of Arts and Sciences, joined recent BU graduates Karson Gillespie and Craig Sanders as the only Terriers to earn the accolade, which is awarded to student-athletes who maintain a grade point average of 3.0 or higher in both the fall and spring semesters.
The selection was the second in as many years for McCarthy and Sanders, who graduated from the School of Management last month with a degree in business administration. A first-time recipient, Gillespie earned his degree in management studies.
