Boston University hockey coach Jack Parker has been looking for consistency from his four lines this year. Saturday at the University of Maine, he got it.
The only problem was that it was the wrong kind of consistency. Parker said after the game that he thought his four lines were consistently ineffective, only producing one goal.
Nothing has been set in stone just four games into the season, so the drastic line shakeup at Monday’s practice was fairly predictable after the offensive lapse. None of the four lines survived the trip from Alfond Arena back to Walter Brown Arena completely intact.
‘I’m trying to get some guys familiar back together again,’ Parker said. ‘I don’t think [sophomore forward Brad] Zancanaro has been going as well as I would like, so playing him with his old linemates from last year will help.’
The reunion of Zancanaro’s line known as ‘the orange line’ because of their practice jerseys last year, though they wore white on Monday will mark the return of a fan-favorite trio to Walter Brown. The combination of the 5-foot-5-inch sophomore and seniors Frantisek Skladany and Kenny Magowan was often BU’s best line down the stretch last spring, and provides a little bit of everything Magowan’s size, Zancanaro’s tenacity and Skladany’s playmaking ability.
Parker made a few other notable changes. Sophomore John Laliberte was playing with senior captain Mark Mullen and junior Brian McConnell on the first line, while sophomore Dave Van der Gulik replaced Laliberte, joining juniors David Klema and Matt Radoslovich on the fourth line.
‘I want to see if I can get Van der Gulik going a little bit so I got him playing his natural position, which is left wing,’ Parker said. ‘I have no idea [if these will be the lines on Friday against the University of New Hampshire], we’ll change them around a little bit maybe, but they’ll be similar.’
PRACTICE MAKES PERFECT
Shaking up the lines is not the only thing Parker said he plans to do to spark the offense. Sharpening the team’s attack will be the focus of practice this week, he said.
‘We got to work on getting better on the power play obviously, better in the offensive end,’ Parker said. ‘We didn’t get much going against a team that won’t be as good as this team we’re playing defensively. So we have to make sure we’re playing better in the offensive end.’
‘This team we’re playing’ the New Hampshire Wildcats features a familiar foe in net, he said. Senior Michael Ayers shut out the Terriers in both the Hockey East Championship and the Northeast Regional Championship last year, with the latter effort ending BU’s season.
The home team will need to fire up the offense if it expects to not only beat Ayers but elude a solid Wildcat defensive core, including seniors Tim Horst, Mike Lubesnick and Mick Mounsey and junior Tyson Teplitsky (whom Terrier Nation remembers as the recipient of the fluke goal that gave New Hampshire last year’s Hockey East title in overtime).
NEW ICE WILL BE NICE
The Terriers have been practicing on imperfect ice so far this year due to some problems at Walter Brown Arena. But a visitor to the arena last Sunday would have found quite a surprise the ice was not there, and the Buildings ‘ Grounds workers were repainting the lines and logos underneath the cold layer.
The ice was still choppy on Monday, but work done on it this week should have the new surface in prime condition for Friday’s nationally televised game.