Jack Parker is not one to say “I told you so.”
But you could tell he wanted to Thursday afternoon, when he was talking about a University of Vermont team that, from the beginning, he has warned others about.
“I thought they’d be a real tough team, and they’ve really proved it so far,” he said after the Boston University men’s hockey team finished practice Thursday. “We’ll have our hands full, obviously.”
Everybody who’s played the No. 6 Catamounts so far this year has had their hands more than full. Vermont (7-0-0, 1-0-0 Hockey East) hasn’t exactly played the Montreal Canadiens, but it’s beaten everyone on the schedule, including the University of Minnesota-Duluth twice and Northeastern University Tuesday for its first-ever Hockey East win.
Tonight, the 19th-ranked Terriers welcome the Cats for the teams’ first-ever meeting at Agganis Arena and their first conference match-up since BU beat Vermont, 5-3, in ECAC play in 1984. The Terriers have dominated Vermont in their near-annual meetings since the leagues broke off – including a 3-0-2 record in their last five – but tonight could be a different story.
“Now it’s much more important,” Parker said. “The games are more important. Setting a tone is more important – we play them two more times. You gotta worry about them at the end of the year, where they’re gonna wind up in the playoffs.”
But right now, the Terriers (1-2-0, 1-1-0) can’t be worried about March – they simply need to start piling up wins after a pair of disappointing losses the past two weekends. With paltry goal-scoring and numerous defensive breakdowns against both Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and UMass-Lowell, it might seem like the worst time for games against the two highest-ranked teams in Hockey East (BU travels to the No. 2 University of Maine Sunday). But captain Brad Zancanaro disagreed.
“Obviously we’re fired up. We’re trying to beat an undefeated team,” Zancanaro said. “I think the last two weekends were a fluke. We have easily fixable problems that we’re trying to take care of, and hopefully we can take care of them this weekend.”
“I think it’s a good thing that we’re playing good teams,” Parker added. “I think one of the problems was that we took RPI too lightly. We won’t be taking Vermont too lightly. … This will be a good measuring stick for really who we are.”
Who they are will be a little different than usual. Parker shook up the lines, as freshman Brandon Yip will join seniors Zancanaro and John Laliberte on the top line. No. 2 features Pete MacArthur between Bryan Ewing and Chris Higgins, while Eric Thomassian, Jason Lawrence and Ryan Weston make up the third line. Brian McGuirk anchors a fourth line with freshmen Steve Smolinsky and John McCarthy, leaving Ryan Monaghan and Kenny Roche out of the lineup. Parker expressed his frustration with Roche after the Lowell game.
On defense – the most maligned unit recently – Parker’s giving freshman Matt Gilroy a chance alongside Sean Sullivan in his first-ever regular-season game, meaning all six freshmen will be in the lineup. The other defensive pairings will be Dan Spang and Kevin Schaeffer, as well as Dan McGoff and Jekabs Redlihs.
“Hopefully I can step in and stop some of those [defensive breakdowns]. Maybe have a little more offense,” Gilroy said. “I like to get up in the play a lot, so hopefully my skating will help me out.
“I think adrenaline’s gonna take over after a while. I might have some butterflies, but my heart will be pumping. Whatever happens, happens.”
Vermont hopes another win is in the cards. Parker said the Terriers will be particularly worried about Catamount first-liners Brady Leisenring and Torrey Mitchell (13 points apiece), as well as upstart freshman Peter Lenes, who’s scored four of six goals on the power play.
Vermont also has outstanding goaltending in sophomore Joe Fallon (1.66 goals-against average, .917 save percentage).
It might be even tougher at Orono, Maine’s Alfond Arena Sunday, when BU plays in Hockey East’s toughest venue against a 7-1-0 team that’s already beaten up the two-time defending national champion University of Denver twice at Alfond.
Last year, the Terriers rode home from Orono in a blizzard after a tie and a loss.
“It’s supposed to rain bad on Sunday,” Parker said, laughing, “so we might have a tough ride home.”
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