Terriers give Toronto the Blues

It almost seemed like Thanksgiving in the celebratory atmosphere of Walter Brown Arena Saturday. But instead of hosting the University of Toronto as guests, the Boston University hockey team instead feasted on the Blues.

University of Toronto goalie Tim Knight was the unlucky turkey, cooked before the puck was even dropped. There was plenty of stuffing, as the Terriers slammed home six goals in the 6-1 victory. And a pair of BU forwards senior Kenny Magowan and junior Matt Radoslovich provided the mashing, treating Toronto players like potatoes with big hits.

But unfortunately for the Terriers, Saturday’s smorgasbord was merely an appetizer, with the lopsided win coming in an exhibition game that will not make it into the standings.

‘It’s hard to judge because this team doesn’t play with the pace we’re used to playing and that we’re going to see in our own league,’ said BU coach Jack Parker. ‘So it’s hard to judge how our defense will perform against pressure. But the defense certainly moved the puck well tonight and the freshmen defensemen played extremely well.’

Be it due to the inferior competition or not, the Terriers came out sharp, jumping ahead on their first shot a somewhat soft goal that junior defenseman Bryan Miller tossed between Knight’s pads from the far boards.

Knight recovered, however, to turn away the final 15 BU shots over a period that was spent almost entirely in the Toronto defensive zone, preserving a 1-0 deficit for the Blues. The sturdy job by the Blues’ goalie included surviving a crisp BU power play that put six shots on goal.

The performance was eerily reminiscent of BU’s exhibition game last year, when Concordia University’s Phillippe Ozga stood on his head and kept his overmatched team in a close 2-0 game until the final buzzer.

‘Some guys didn’t have great nights as far as offensive output is concerned,’ Parker said. ‘We got a lot of shots, but I hope that isn’t indicative of us that we’re not putting the puck past goaltenders. We took shots that we had, but we passed up better shots at times I thought.’

The latter stages of the first period included the first vintage glove save of the year from BU senior goalie Sean Fields on a rare Toronto scoring opportunity, sending Terrier fans into a worshipful rapture.

The wheels came off for Knight in a nine-minute stretch of the second period, however, as he could no longer support his team, which continued to be outskated and thoroughly controlled by the Terriers.

First, freshman forward Kenny Roche knocked home a rebound of a Frantisek Skladany shot, giving the junior forward his second assist of the game. The first-year scoring continued with defenseman Sean Sullivan sneaking in his first goal as a Terrier from the point through a screen. Sophomore forward David Van der Gulik capped the explosion, diving to bat a bouncing puck into the net from his stomach.

‘He’s pretty slippery, and when he gets knocked down he’s still thinking about putting the puck in the net,’ Parker said of the sophomore, who spent much of his freshman year in the starting lineup. ‘Van der Gulik is one of the guys who we think can get us 15 or 20 goals.’

With the 4-0 lead, the Terriers settled back on their heels a bit, allowing Toronto to record the first of its two second-period shots a little over 17 minutes into the frame. Overall, BU outshot its guests, 46-13.

Fields only had to make eight saves to shut out the Blues for two periods, before sophomore Stephan Siwiec relieved him for the third.

Siwiec allowed a power play goal on a rebound, while making four saves.

Knight finished with 40 saves allowing Van der Gulik’s second goal and a power play ringer from the point by sophomore defenseman Dan Spang that managed to find both posts before settling in the back of the net making for the final 6-1 tally.

Not that the Terriers are unhappy with six goals, but a high shot total and low shooting percentage are familiar problems for BU, as they struggled last year to find a go-to scorer.

‘We did get a lot of shots, but our shooting percentage wasn’t too good, so that’s a concern,’ Parker said. ‘We still want to generate a lot of offense, and it’s nice to have that much time in their zone. We will have guys that will jump out at us and get better as the season goes on.’

One scoring presence that could not be found in uniform Saturday was sophomore forward Brian McConnell, who along with freshman defenseman Jekabs Redlihs, did not dress for the game.

‘McConnell and Redlihs were out for breaking team rules,’ Parker said, sounding undecided about the pair’s status for next weekend’s regular season opener against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

‘We’ll see how it goes,’ the coach added.

The Terriers hope they have as much to be thankful for against the Engineers next weekend as they did on Saturday, and there is reason for optimism.

‘I think we’re in pretty good shape – [strength and conditioning coach Walter] Norton has done a real good job getting our guys ready,’ Parker said. ‘We’re anxious to play, we were anxious to play today. It will be interesting to see how we go at it.

‘I think we’re as ready as any team to play. It’s just, ‘Will we perform?”