Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker said he wasn’t surprised to see his team come out flat in Tuesday’s 3-0 loss to the No. 9/10 University of Notre Dame because his players ‘weren’t all that jacked up’ for the two practices leading up to the game.
If yesterday’s practice, which came after an off day Wednesday, is any indication, the No. 3 Terriers (0-2) aren’t making that mistake again when they welcome the No. 4/5 University of Michigan (2-1) to Agganis Arena Saturday night.
‘[Associate head] coach [Mike] Bavis said to me after practice, ‘What’ve we had, around 16 practices this year? This has to be in our top three as far as effort was concerned,” Parker said after practice. ‘I thought for a second, and I said, ‘You know, I can’t think of a practice that was better than this one.”
Whether it was breakout drills, 2-on-2s or sprints, the Terriers skated hard for the full hour and a half.
‘Going into Notre Dame, whether it was a lack of focus or a lack of the leaders getting on guys, we didn’t have that real zip and determination to practice hard,’ junior captain Kevin Shattenkirk said. ‘But I think today, we came here with the right attitude and the right mindset to start having the right practices.’
The team will talk about what the Wolverines, who picked up a 3-2 home win over Niagara University last night, do Friday, but Thursday was all about what BU’s been doing and not doing so far this season.
‘We haven’t talked about Michigan yet,’ Parker said. ‘Our problem’s us. Our problem the other night was not Notre Dame.
‘We got outworked the other night. Our philosophy is, and we’ve told our teams this over many years, hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard.’
That said, Parker and the Terriers are far from unfamiliar with Red Berenson’s Michigan team, as the two squads have faced off three times in the last two season. Last October, BU embarrassed the Maize and Blue with a 7-2 trouncing at Agganis. The year before, it was the Wolverines dishing out the punishment when they outscored BU, 10-4, in a weekend sweep at Yost Ice Arena.
Junior forward Louie Caporusso leads an explosive Michigan offense, despite the fact that he has yet to record a point this season. Last year, Caporusso was a Hobey Baker Award finalist and First-Team All-American after recording 49 points (24 goals, 25 assists).
‘They’re a high-flying, real talented team,’ Parker said. ‘They let their team really go. When they get on a roll, they can really put pressure on your defense, get pressure on the forecheck, get pressure on the initial rush. And they can really move the puck on the power play. They have a lot more movement to their game and a lot more flow to their game [than Notre Dame], so it’ll be a completely different style we’re playing on Saturday night.’
Injury news: Sophomore goalie Grant Rollheiser practiced yesterday for the first time since spraining his right ankle three weeks ago. He showed good lateral movement and was able to get up off the ice quickly, but had to sit out several drills to rest his ankle. Parker said he won’t play Saturday, and that fellow sophomore Kieran Millan will once again get the start between the pipes . . . Sophomore forward Ross Gaudet’s recovery from a dislocated left shoulder is going well, according to Parker. He’s shooting pucks and not feeling too much pain, Parker said . . . Senior forward Luke Popko is battling a stomach bug and left practice early. Parker said he isn’t sure if he’ll be able to go Saturday. . . . Shattenkirk, who was battling the same stomach bug in the Notre Dame game, said he’s feeling a little better and is just trying to get as much rest as possible before Saturday.
Kibbles and bits: After going 0-for-8 on the power play against Notre Dame, the Terriers practiced their man-up game for about 12 minutes in yesterday’s practice . . . They also practiced faceoffs both during and after practice after winning just 18-of-53 puck drops against the Fighting Irish . . . Parker said his lines for Saturday’s game would definitely be different than his lines against Notre Dame. The lines for most of yesterday’s practice were:
Forwards:
Zach Cohen-Nick Bonino-Alex Chiasson
Chris Connolly-Corey Trivino-Joe Pereira
Wade Megan-Luke Popko-Vinny Saponari
Andrew Glass-Ryan Santana-Kevin Gilroy
Defense:
Colby Cohen-Kevin Shattenkirk
Sean Escobedo-Max Nicastro
David Warsofsky-Eric Gryba
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