If the Boston University hockey team woke up this past weekend from its nearly year-long offensive doldrums, then senior captain Carl Corazzini was the alarm clock.
The Framingham native scored a career-high four points Friday at the Mullins Center and chipped another goal and assist Saturday at Walter Brown Arena. For his prolific efforts this weekend, Corazzini was named Hockey East Player of the Week.
What’s more is that now he’s only three points shy of 100 for his Terrier career. Corazzini now has 55 goals and 42 assists in 129 career games under BU coach Jack Parker, and with the University of Maine coming into town Friday, the milestone could be attained before it’s time to unwrap presents in the Corazzini home.
The fact is that in 10 career games against the Black Bears, Corazzini has nine goals, including two in last year’s Hockey East semifinal game at the FleetCenter. In four games last season against Maine, Corazzini had five goals and one assist.
“[BU Sports Information Director] Ed [Carpenter] reminded me that we were playing Maine, and since I have three to go, it’d be nice to get it Friday,” Corazzini said. “Especially with our fans being there, it’d be great because they have so much respect for us. I would hope that it would happen Friday, but we’ll see.”
One reason behind Captain Carl’s offensive outburst last weekend could be the formation of a new second line, one that paid dividends immediately against the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. Flanked by junior wing Jack Baker on the left and freshman forward Frantisek Skladany on the right, Corazzini liked the look of the new line but is hesitant to say BU has something to stick with until April.
“We needed some of the freshmen to start stepping up,” Corazzini said of Parker’s decision to put Skladany on the second line. “He’s a real skilled player, and hopefully it’ll work down the stretch. He moves the puck really well and has great skill with his hands. He’s able to see the open ice, and he’s a real shifty player—not real quick but shifty at the same time. He’s an asset toward Jack and I because he can find us moving through the ice, and we don’t like to slow down so we can keep moving and he can get us the puck.”
Parker explained Saturday that in moving the lines around yet again, he wanted to reunite the third scoring line from last season: junior left wing Mike Pandolfo, sophomore center Brian Collins and senior right wing Nick Gillis, also known as the “Orange Line.”
“I guess coach is real confident with the orange line, because they’re a real hard working line that moves the puck well,” Corazzini said.
As for the first scoring line, junior Dan Cavanaugh will be taking the game-opening faceoffs while sophomore wing John Sabo lines up on the right, and the left wing position will be filled by freshman Gregg Johnson, someone Parker said Saturday “will be a real good player for us.”
POWER-FUL PLAY
Out of everything that’s going right for the Terriers right now, the power play is the most right.
BU’s man-advantage unit is clicking at a 30.6 percent success rate, by far the best percentage in Hockey East. The next closest team is the University of Massachusetts at Lowell, which clocks in at 23 percent.
“It shows our overall talent,” Corazzini said. “Especially the power play, your skill takes over the game, and we have so much talent on our team, it works out. But I really can’t explain it too well because it’s never been such a strong suit of our team.”
And most hockey fans know you can’t have a good power play without strong defensemen at the point. And since sophomore defenseman Freddy Meyer’s return from summertime back surgery, BU has been nearly unstoppable on the power play, going an amazing 6-for-12 last weekend alone.
“He’s played well since he’s been back,” Corazzini said. “He hasn’t been getting that rough since he’s been back from the injury, but he’s a real physical player, and he was this weekend. I don’t think he’s been that tentative thus far, and that helps us out when you have Freddy back and healthy. I think he’s the best defenseman there is in this league, and to have him healthy is great for us.”
Not to be overlooked in BU’s recent offensive success should be the play of the Terrier netminders last weekend. Junior Jason Tapp stopped a season-high in shots Friday to hold on for the 5-2 victory, while rookie Sean Fields made kick save after kick save en route to a relatively easy 4-2 stomping of the Minutemen.
“Tapp made 33 saves Friday, so hopefully that was a big confidence booster for him,” Corazzini said. “Sean is so relaxed in net, he probably makes everything look easy. He doesn’t say much and I think that personality carries out onto the ice.”
WAIT TIL NEXT YEAR
With the current crop of freshmen slowly becoming acclimated to the BU system, fans may want to turn their attention now to next year’s gaggle of frosh: the BU class of 2005.
With the early signing period deadline passed, BU has so far locked up one of its best recruiting classes in recent memory, perhaps better than the Sabo-Meyer-DiPietro-Collins class of last year.
An interesting note about these four players is that they all hail from the U.S. National Development Program, the same squad that produced Meyer, Sabo, junior defenseman Pat Aufiero and former BU standout goalie Rick DiPietro.
Leading the way is defenseman Ryan Whitney, who stands in at 6-foot-4 and 200 pounds. Whitney is considered by many publications to be perhaps the top defensive prospect in the nation.
Other players include forward Brian McConnell (6-foot-1, 195 pounds); left wing Justin Maiser (6-foot-1, 195 pounds); and highly touted defenseman Bryan Miller (5-foot-10, 175 pounds).
ODDS AND ENDS
Meyer, Sabo and DiPietro were selected to play for the U.S. team in the World Junior Championships to be held in Moscow over the Christmas break. Only players under 20 years of age are eligible to play. Sabo and DiPietro will be playing on the team for the second consecutive year. … The only conference team with fewer points scored than BU (108) is Northeastern (100). … The Terriers are outscoring their opponents 17-12 in the first period. … After his six-point weekend, Corazzini is now only three points shy of 100 for his career. Last season, both captain Tommi Degerman and alternate captain Chris Heron reached the 100-point plateau — in the same game no less. … BU has four players already with at least 27 penalty minutes to their credit. They are Corazzini, Cavanaugh, Baker and Sabo… After Corazzini’s team-leading nine goals, the next closest Terrier is junior wing Mike Pandolfo, who has five goals, including four on the power play.
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