Freshman forward Alex Chiasson, who leads the No. 17 Boston University men’s hockey team with four goals this season, was injured in practice on Wednesday and may not be able to play this weekend.
During the team’s usual 5-on-5 scrimmage toward the end of practice, Chiasson tried to cut inside senior defenseman Eric Gryba, but the alternate captain caught him on the chin with a hard shoulder check. The rookie lay on the ice for several minutes while the rest of the team headed for the locker room before finally skating off under his own power with a bloody chin.
‘In all probability, with the way he left practice, we won’t see Alex this weekend, or at least Friday night,’ BU coach Jack Parker said.
‘We’ll see how he feels [Thursday]. If he has a bad headache, that’ll be a bad day. We won’t know [the extent of the injury] until at least [Thursday] for sure. He wasn’t knocked out, which is good.’
Warsofsky out for Friday
Sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky did not skate in Wednesday’s practice and will not play Friday night at Merrimack College. Warsofsky missed Friday’s 1-0 loss at Northeastern University with an injury to the adductor muscles in his hip, but returned to the lineup for Sunday’s 3-2 loss at the University of Maine.
‘To tell you the truth, I probably shouldn’t have played him up at Maine,’ Parker said. ‘He practiced on Saturday between games and said he felt a little bit better. Then, he took the pregame skate on Sunday and said he thought he was good enough to play. Myself and the trainer let him play, but I don’t think he was nearly as physically ready as he should’ve been. He won’t play Friday for sure.’
So you’re telling me there’s a chance
Junior forward Nick Bonino, who has missed the last four games with a dislocated shoulder, will not play Friday, but Parker wouldn’t rule out a return to the lineup Saturday for the alternate captain.
‘We don’t know yet,’ Parker said. ‘Probably not, but it all depends on what the doc says. The doctor will see him Saturday.’
I think I heard a Pop(ko)
Senior forward Luke Popko left Tuesday’s practice with a sprain in his back, but felt much better in practice on Wednesday and is expected to play this weekend, according to Parker.
Like a Roll-ing stone
Sophomore goalie Grant Rollheiser, who has yet to play a game this season due to a high-ankle sprain, has been going ‘full tilt’ in practice this week and could be back this weekend, according to Parker.
‘He says he feels good,’ Parker said. ‘[Wednesday] is the hump day, so we’ll see how he feels [Thursday] after being on the ice for a couple days. We had a day off Monday, so two days of practice, and now we’ll see how he holds up. We won’t know anything until people ask him how he feels before practice [Thursday]. If he’s tender, then that means he’s still not quite ready.
‘If he’s 100 percent physically, then he has to get in game shape. He looks pretty good in practice to me, so the sooner we get him in there, the better off we’ll be. It’ll be good to get him a game and get him back in the lineup, but it’ll also be good to give [sophomore goalie Kieran] Millan a little rest.’
Center of attention
Freshman forward Wade Megan was moved from his usual left wing position over to center for Sunday’s game at Maine, and it now appears that the rookie will stay in the middle for the foreseeable future.
‘It’s only been one game, but I thought he played extremely well,’ Parker said. ‘He won [nine] of 16 faceoffs, so that was pretty good. He looks more comfortable there. He played both in prep school, but he looks more comfortable at center, and we could use him there. We’re better off with him there, and I think that’s where he’ll probably stay.’
This is an account occasionally used by the Daily Free Press editors to post archived posts from previous iterations of the site or otherwise for special circumstance publications. See authorship info on the byline at the top of the page.
