It’s tough to miss that big white board if you’re heading into Walter Brown Arena to catch a Boston University hockey game.
‘Boston University First Team All-Americans,’ it proclaims, in big scarlet letters.
Whoever paints those names has some work to do this off-season because senior captain Freddy Meyer earned First Team All-American honors yesterday, as voted by the American Hockey Coaches Association. Meyer became the 36th Terrier to be judged one of the nation’s top players.
Meyer is the first BU player to be honored on the First Team since center Chris Drury and defenseman Tom Poti both current NHL standouts earned the recognition after the 1997-98 season.
‘I always look at that board before I go into the rink,’ Meyer said. ‘To be up there with those guys, the Drurys, the Potis, is pretty amazing.’
Meyer’s accomplishment of making First Team honors is a testament to his overall prowess. While he posted solid numbers from the blueline, he wasn’t a gaudy producer defined by points. Instead, Meyer was a smart, physical player known for his brutal hip checks and hockey smarts. Undersized for a defenseman at 5’10’, 192 pounds his defensive counterpart on the All-American team, Cornell University’s Doug Murray, stands 6’3′, 230 Meyer used his smarts and small frame to deliver hits and his speed to get the puck out of the zone and create offense.
‘It’s just a great honor,’ Meyer said. ‘It means I’m one of the top defensemen in the country. I’m just totally in awe.’
While Meyer said he wishes he was still playing, especially with the University of New Hampshire playing in the Terriers’ place, he admits that it’s nice to win the honor to close out his BU career.
The rest of the East First Team is rounded out by Boston College’s Ben Eaves, Yale University’s Chris Higgins and Harvard University’s Dominic Moore at the forward positions and Cornell goalie David LeNeveau.