WHITROCK: Ice Breaker a chance to reverse fortunes

The men’s hockey team began last year with a goaltending controversy. Five months later the season was drawing to a close, and the Terriers had found neither a consistent option in net nor an NCAA Tournament berth. Each unproven option proved to be the same ‘-‘- unreliable.
With each fall comes new challenges, or at the very least, variations on previous ones. The Terriers have two new scholarship goalies, neither of which has an NCAA start. Opportunity knocks once again.
If last weekend’s exhibition was a tuneup for Terrier hockey, the race starts tomorrow night in earnest. Frequent Frozen Four attendee North Dakota joins Michigan State on the BU schedule as part of the Ice Breaker Invitational.
Fans brimming with confidence after seeing BU’s national ranking ‘-‘- the team is ninth in both major polls ‘-‘- should pause for a moment and consider the competition. North Dakota is fifth in the same polls; Michigan State is 11th. This opening slate should prove to be tougher than Robert Morris and Alaska-Anchorage, and if the Terriers don’t take this year’s opponents seriously, things could get ugly, fast.
Then again, BU gave up three third-period goals en route to an embarrassing loss against Robert Morris last fall. Taking the opponent seriously shouldn’t be the issue. Correcting the Terriers’ tendency to start slow should be.
BU started last year’s season 0-4-1 en route to a 4-10-3 record at the end of the fall semester. Even at that early stage of the season, the Terriers’ playoff hopes were all but dashed. BU carved up Hockey East in the latter part of the season, but the results weren’t enough to earn a spot in an NCAA regional.
So what does this Invitational (not a tournament – there’s no ladder, just a pair of games for each invited team) represent for Jack Parker and the 27 men on his roster? More than a fresh start ‘-‘- this is about a reversal of fortune for everyone involved.
The Terriers haven’t just had a couple of small hiccups in early season play. No, they’ve been positively allergic to early success. It stretches back well beyond last year. To get an approximate gauge of the Terriers’ fall difficulties, consider the following information.
Take the first 10 games of each of BU’s seasons from the last decade (starting with the 1998-99 season), excluding exhibitions ‘-‘- that’s 100 total games. The Terriers’ record in those games is 44-39-17, a .525 winning percentage. That might not sound terrible until you consider the team’s winning percentage in the remaining 291 games is .629, more than 100 points higher.
Tomorrow will also be BU’s first game against a non-conference opponent this season. The last time the Terriers won their first non-conference game was a full five years ago. The Terriers haven’t won a game against a WCHA opponent in almost three years. Though to be fair, last year’s game against the University of Alaska-Anchorage was the Terriers’ only scheduled WCHA opponent between late 2005 and this weekend.
The last time BU played a CCHA team, it felt like a game of Clue, except BU didn’t have one. Michigan State caught the Terriers asleep in Van Andel Arena. Whether the Spartans chose to use the candlestick or the rope doesn’t matter. The wounds are still fresh.
Enough is enough. Let’s not pretend the Terriers are somehow fated to lose these games. There are positives to consider. From a historical perspective, BU has its fair share of wins against both North Dakota and Michigan State, including five straight home wins against the Fighting Sioux.
And history, whether good or bad, can only indicate so much. For example, BU and North Dakota have a history of producing lopsided results, but neither team should expect Friday’s game to be anything but close.
This year’s Invitational provides a golden opportunity for the Terriers to make an early statement and tell the rest of the country that this year won’t be like the last several. Beating up on the minnows of college hockey is all well and good, but if the Terriers want to be taken seriously before February, they have to play ‘-‘- and win ‘-‘- a statement game. There’s no point in aiming low.
Expect tough competition from North Dakota. Ditto from Michigan State. But also expect BU to show up and play good hockey. This team is going to be powered by excellent freshman and sophomore classes, neither of which is to blame for the program’s recent history of falling short.
There’s plenty of offense. The guys manning the blue line are talented and getting better. With that recipe, only one goalie has to pan out ‘-‘- and early returns on Grant Rollheiser and Kieran Millan seem to be positive. Reasons for optimism? I think so.
Maybe BU suffers more from the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune this weekend. God knows the Fighting Sioux and Spartans have an arrow or two. This is a perfect opportunity for the Terriers to force their way into the national picture.
Let’s hope they take advantage.