Call it a benching, call it a wake-up call, call it whatever you want.
But make sure you call it a win.
BU Coach Jack Parker has never been one to favor his stars, and he showed that this weekend. Friday night at the University of Massachusetts, junior Frantisek Skladany and sophomore David Klema, two of BU’s more talented forwards, found themselves listed as healthy scratches. Skladany had tallied just one goal in 14 games played entering the weekend, and Klema just seven points.
Both answered the call on Saturday night, as Skladany, the game’s number two star, notched the Icedogs’ first goal, and Klema made a highlight reel play with a near-perfect assist to junior forward Mark Mullen.
‘They answered the bell, both of them,’ Parker said. ‘I thought they both played well, and I thought Klema really played well. Skladany had the big goal to start us off with, get the early lead. I said to both of them, ‘I hope I don’t have to bench you again, but that’s a good way to get you motivated.”
While Skladany and Klema came from the bench to the lineup to provide a spark to a team shell-shocked after losing a three-goal lead Friday night, the penalty killing unit had a little different look on Saturday, fulfilling a promise Parker made after Friday night’s heartbreaking 5-4 overtime loss.
‘I hope to see an effort,’ Parker said. ‘I hope to see more smarts, I hope to see more discipline, and we’ll see different people in the lineup.’
He came through on his promise, dropping freshman forward David VanderGulik and sophomore forward Matt Radoslovich onto the No. 1 penalty killing line. Coming into the game, the Icedogs were allowing a goal on one out of every four penalty kill attempts, while only scoring on 15 percent of their own power plays. VanderGulik and Radoslovich, along with Mullen and senior wing John Sabo, held the Minutemen scoreless on four power play attempts.
‘It must have been tough for the announcers anyway,’ Parker joked, noting the 22 combined letters in the two last names. ‘I thought they both played well, Rado’s [Radoslovich] a real smart player, and VanderGulik has played great all year. He’s moved from fourth line to third line to the second line, now he’s killing penalties on the first line, and he’s on the power play. Those two guys played well together, I thought all our penalty killers played well tonight, but especially those two. They gave us more depth and really did a good job.’
VanderGulik did not just shine on the penalty kill Saturday night, as it was his knuckler of a shot that caromed off the glove of Massachusetts goalie Gabe Winer and onto the stick of sophomore Brian McConnell, who fired home the game-winner.
After falling in the national polls for two straight weeks, and losing three straight games in what Parker has called ‘the year of our tailspin,’ maybe a lineup change is what the Icedogs needed to spark a resurgence. Parker has never been afraid to do it before, and don’t be surprised if he does it again.
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