Some freshmen get to a big-time Division I college hockey school and are a little too over-eager to see their name in lights. John McCarthy’s not one of them.
“I know what my job is – to play good defense in our zone and win faceoffs and everything,” the freshman center for the Boston University men’s hockey team said before practice Wednesday. “Up until now, I’ve been doing pretty well at both those things.”
That there is confidence – not ego – and it’s pretty much a fact that’s been backed up by his coach. McCarthy’s name has been a frequent one coming out of Jack Parker’s mouth in postgame press conferences, and that’s a good thing.
“I guess the only way I can describe it is he’s everything we expected him to be, except a little quicker and a little better at it. He’s caught on a little quicker than we thought he would for a freshman,” Parker said. “Right now he’s one of our best penalty killers, for example. He’s doing a real good job there. But he’s also making plays – he’s being physical.”
After dressing for only two of BU’s first six games this year, McCarthy’s been a fixture in the lineup for the last seven – a streak that will move to eight when the No. 18 Terriers head south tonight to take on Hockey East-leading and No. 19 Providence College (7 p.m.).
On a team that only had two established everyday centers at the beginning of the year – Brad Zancanaro and Pete MacArthur – McCarthy has solidified the fourth-line center position, earning more and more ice time. That allowed Parker to move Kenny Roche back to his natural position at wing last weekend against Boston College – a move that resulted in Roche scoring twice in BU’s 6-2 Saturday win.
McCarthy didn’t score in that game, but BU’s only tally at BC’s Kelley Rink the night before was McCarthy’s first collegiate goal – a precise wrister from the slot that sliced BC’s 2-0 lead in half.
“I don’t think there’s any question that he can score goals, once he gets a little more acclimated to the league and feeling good about what’s going on,” Parker said.
“It was a lot of people there, a lot of people watching on TV. I got a lot of phone calls,” McCarthy said. “When the opportunities present itself, you always have to bury it. I think we can have a repeat performance of what we did against BC here, with the six goals, I think it’s just a matter of getting to the net, getting more shots on the net and burying rebounds.”
That’s what BU will have to do tonight in Providence. The Friars (8-6-1, 7-2-1 Hockey East), in front of standout sophomore goalie Tyler Sims, only allow 2.5 goals per game, and the Terriers (5-6-2, 4-4-1) had to struggle just to muster a 2-2 tie at Schneider Arena three weeks ago.
BU goalie John Curry and Sims shared this week’s Hockey East Defensive Player of the Week honor, so they’ll get a chance to settle the score personally. But despite Curry’s consistently solid play in net and BU’s goal explosion against BC, Parker said he was most pleased last weekend with what was going on in front of Curry.
“The best part about the weekend was how we moved our feet, we defended, how we put pressure on them as far as our forecheck was concerned,” Parker said.
And while the coach was happy that his players for once lit up the score sheet, it was the two power play goals from a unit that’s only scoring 16 percent of the time that really made him smile.
“The overall special teams situation – that’s obviously real important,” Parker said. “We had to get that going a little bit better. That was like night and day than it was two weeks ago.”
After going to Providence, the Terriers will trek up to Hanover, N.H. for a Saturday night game at Dartmouth College (4-5-0, 4-5-0 ECACHL). Karson Gillespie will get the start in the non-league match-up against a Big Green team that has won four of its last five and won’t have played since Nov. 26.
“The most important thing is the two points against Providence,” Parker said, pointing out that if BU beats Providence, the Terriers would be within at most one loss of every Hockey East team except BC, which has two league losses.
REDLIHS HOSPITALIZED
BU senior defenseman Jekabs Redlihs, who hasn’t played since a Nov. 11 game against the University of New Hampshire and hasn’t practiced in weeks, recently spent time in the hospital for an undisclosed virus, according to Parker.
Last Friday night, during its broadcast of the BU-BC game, College Sports Television reported that Redlihs was diagnosed with lupus.
When asked about CSTV’s report, Parker said, “He’s got a virus, and he was in the hospital, and now he’s out. Hopefully he’ll be back practicing with us next week.”
Parker denied that ailment was actually lupus.
“They’re not sure what it is,” he said. “They said it’s some type of virus.”
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