Two wins in three days against top-10 opponents would have most coaches seeking a plastic surgeon to remove the smile from their face.
But Jack Parker isn’t most coaches.
Five days after becoming the first coach to reach 300 Hockey East wins, the man that is Boston University men’s ice hockey was running from his office, to the training room, to the locker room, back upstairs to get changed and finally to practice early Wednesday afternoon.
He wasn’t exactly rushed, but when speaking about his team’s weekend against the University of Vermont (who dropped from No. 6 to No. 9 after a 4-2 loss to BU last Friday) and the University of Maine (No. 2 to No. 4 after a 2-1 setback to the Terriers Sunday), he certainly was concerned.
“Right now, the only thing I know is that our experience early in the year was that we were easily satisfied,” Parker said, referring to BU’s 3-1 season-opening win against UMass-Lowell and the subsequent drop-off in intensity the next two games, both losses.
“I don’t want them to be easily satisfied. They were, no question, a couple big wins [against Vermont and Maine], but a couple snowflakes don’t make a blizzard.”
A blizzard, no, but a coating of confidence is something the No. 14 Terriers (3-2, 3-1 Hockey East) will need when league rival – and BU killjoy – No. 13 University of New Hampshire waltzes into Agganis Arena tomorrow for a 7 p.m. game.
During the past two seasons, the Wildcats (4-3-1, 3-1-0) have been there to flip over any momentum BU had.
At 2-1-1 two years ago, BU dropped a 4-0 loss at home to New Hampshire on Nov. 7 and proceeded to avoid back-to-back wins in a 12- 17-9 season. Last season, the Terriers followed a 2-1 early-season win over Maine (sound familiar?) with a loss to UNH; they let slip a two-goal lead over the Wildcats late in the year for 4-4 tie, eliminating them from the Hockey East regular-season title race; and they lost their chance at a league championship with a 5-2 loss to UNH in the Hockey East semifinals.
Considering Parker regards them as “the best team in the league on paper,” overconfidence – as well as the Wildcats’ explosive first line of Jacob Micflikier, Daniel Winnik and Brett Hemingway – is something the Terriers will surely try to keep in check.
“I don’t think it should be a problem anymore,” said sophomore forward Pete MacArthur. “Myself included, after that first game of the season there was a little overconfidence, thinking it was going to come easy to us, especially getting up 2-0 on RPI.
“We got a little complacent with the way we were playing, but that showing this past weekend against two really good teams – that was BU hockey at its finest,” he continued. “And if it creeps back in, I assure you it won’t be for too long because Coach will be all over us.”
There is a chance, however, that MacArthur may not even be all over the ice come Friday. Chasing a 2-on-1 break in practice Tuesday, MacArthur felt “something shoot down [his] leg,” forcing BU’s leading scorer (4-1-5) to fall to the ice and not return to practice. That something was a pulled groin.
Fortunately, MacArthur said, BU’s athletic staff attended to it immediately, icing and elevating it before having him wear a sleeve all night so it didn’t swell. MacArthur wore a “non-contact jersey” during Wednesday’s practice but said it felt pretty good, “so it’s looking good for the weekend,” when BU also squares off against UMass-Amherst (1-6, 0-4) Saturday at the Mullins Center.
Despite his progress, though, Parker said MacArthur’s definite status was still unknown for Friday.
“I’m sure he’ll be able to play,” said BU senior captain Brad Zancanaro. “Something like that’s not going to hold him back or anything, so I don’t think we’re too worried about it right now because we don’t know how serious it is.”
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