Senior co-captain Matt Gilroy said after the Boston University men’s hockey team beat Providence College for the Hockey East regular-season crown that the Hockey East Tournament was the start of a ‘new season.’
Now, with the Terriers’ 1-0 win over the University of Massachusetts-Lowell etched in Hockey East lore, perhaps BU is on the precipice of yet another season.
Saturday afternoon, Gilroy and the Terriers travel to Manchester, N.H. to embark on their quest for BU’s first national title since 1995.
‘It’s a total new mentality because it’s one-and-done,’ Gilroy said. ‘We’ve just got to keep playing. You have to beat good teams now. Every team is going to play their best. It doesn’t matter who you play, you’re going to see the best they have to offer. The opponent doesn’t matter.’
Unlike the Hockey East Tournament, BU will meet an unfamiliar face in the first round of the NCAA Tournament: the Ohio State University Buckeyes.
Ohio State shouldered its way into the bracket, gaining one of 10 at-large bids. The selection marks the first appearance for the Buckeyes in the Northeast regional and their first trip to the dance since 2005.
While the Terriers have not seen Ohio State this year, the Buckeyes’ style of play is something with which BU is not unfamiliar.
Ohio State carries a strong, quick forechecking scheme similar to that of UMass-Lowell. Offensively, the Buckeyes roll four lively forward lines, each equally aligned with production and playmaking ability.
Senior Corey Elkins and sophomore John Albert lead all scorers with 40 and 39 points, respectively, but the Buckeyes have six other scorers with 20-plus point totals this season.
‘They’re a little bit like [Lowell] in their quickness up front,’ Parker said after Wednesday’s practice. ‘All four lines are very balanced, their defense is small but pretty agile and they’ve got great goaltending this season.’
The only weak link for Ohio State is its collective youth. The Buckeyes have 22 underclassmen on their current roster, including starting goaltender Dustin Carlson.
The sophomore finished the regular season with a 21-11-3 record. Despite carrying a .920 save percentage into the postseason, Carlson backs a defense that yielded slightly more than three goals per game this year.
‘[Ohio State] is a formidable opponent, no matter where they were ranked,’ Parker said. ‘They’re a very strong skating team. They have [22] freshmen and sophomores on their roster, but they have a young team that’s gotten better and better as the season’s progressed.’
Despite their youth and inexperience, the Buckeyes’ at-large bid speaks to the grinding and hard-working mentality instilled by head coach John Markell.
‘They present a lot of problems because of their skating ability,’ Parker said. ‘They can get up and down the ice real quick, and they’re one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation . . . They’re good on the initial rush, and they’re good on the down-low play as well as cycling. They can create offense in a number of different ways.’
Looking to stymie Ohio State’s multi-faceted attack, freshman goalie Kieran Millan will get his sixth-consecutive postseason start in net for the Terriers.
Millan, coming off a shutout win over UMass-Lowell in the Hockey East championship game, holds a 5-1 record this postseason.
Regardless of the Terriers’ success in Hockey East, Millan stressed that the road to the Frozen Four is anything but a sure bet.
‘We feel confident, but definitely not over-confident,’ Millan said. ‘We’re going to have to play hard and beat some tough opponents. Our bracket isn’t very easy even though we’re ranked No. 1. We’re on a streak right now. Hopefully, we can keep it up.’
BU dresses a slew of underclassmen each game, but the Terriers hold a distinct advantage over Ohio State in terms of composure and exposure to big-game atmospheres.
So far this season, the Terriers’ underclassmen, including Millan, have played in four tournament championship games.
BU held off Michigan State University in the finals of the Ice Breaker Invitational, Denver University in the Wells Fargo Denver Cup, Northeastern University in the Beanpot championship game and UMass-Lowell for the Hockey East Tournament title. If the Terriers’ 3-0 win over Providence College is thrown into the mix ‘-‘- the last game of the season, in which BU hurdled Northeastern for the regular season point total in Hockey East ‘-‘- the Terriers are a perfect 5-0 in ‘title’ games this year.
‘[The underclassmen have] already experienced big games,’ Parker said. ‘They’ve been to the [TD Banknorth] Garden for the Beanpot. Nothing compares to the experience of a Beanpot final, so they’ve already had the intensity level and ratcheted-up level and the electricity of the building. They’ll be OK because they’ve been through those of type of games.’
One of the Terriers’ underclassmen, sophomore forward Joe Pereira, will not be on the ice for the Terriers for the rest of the season. Pereira ruptured his spleen on a botched forecheck in the first period against UMass-Lowell on Saturday.
Pereira accidentally lodged his stick in between the back netting of UMass-Lowell’s goal and his stomach during the first period. As Pereira continued to skate through in pursuit, the stick shattered, but the force of the impact was enough to rupture Pereira’s spleen.
Pereira was rushed to the hospital after the incident and treated, but will be unavailable for Parker throughout the postseason.
Freshman forward Andrew Glass would have been Parker’s sure-fire choice for Pereira’s replacement, but Glass is also out for the remainder of the season after suffering a concussion in practice midway through February.
That leaves freshman Kevin Gilroy, sophomore Victor Saponari and senior Steve Smolinsky to fill the vacant spot. Parker said the decision would not be made until after Friday’s practice.
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