In a typical season, a Boston University-University of New Hampshire men’s hockey matchup is a showcase of two national powerhouses. But this weekend’s home-and-home between the Terriers and Wildcats, which kicks off tonight at the Whittemore Center in Durham, is a meeting of two unranked clubs loitering below the .500 mark.
Neither team has been able to find any sort of consistency this season. BU (3-6-0, 2-5-0 Hockey East) started the season 2-2, but then proceeded to lose four straight before beating Merrimack College, 6-4, on Saturday night. UNH (3-6-2, 3-2-1) has more or less followed the same path, getting off to a 2-2-1 start, but then going 0-4-1 in its next five before picking up a 4-2 win at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst on Saturday.
‘I don’t know what their problems are,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘Our problems are attitude and injury, and more attitude than injury. There’s no question that we have not lived up to our potential.
‘I’m worried about our attitude. One of our slogans is, ‘Attitude is everything.’ The reason we have the record we have is because we don’t have the right attitude. We’re not focused enough. We don’t play hard enough.’
Specifically, Parker picked out his veteran leaders as the ones who need to step it up the most.
‘More often than not, we’ve had some key guys play very subpar, give us some very subpar efforts,’ he said. ‘It starts with the seniors and the captains.’
As for the Wildcats, statistics suggest their problems revolve around defense and goaltending. UNH ranks last in Hockey East in scoring defense (4.00 team goals-against average) and last on the penalty kill (74 percent). Senior netminder Brian Foster ranks last in the conference among qualifying goalies in goals-against average (3.95) and 11th in save percentage (.878).
The Wildcats still have plenty of offensive firepower, though. Senior forward Bobby Butler (9 goals-5 assists-14 points), sophomore defenseman Blake Kessel (3-9-12) and senior forward Peter LeBlanc (4-7-11) are tied for first, fifth and eighth, respectively, in Hockey East in points. UNH also boasts talented junior forward Mike Sislo, who has struggled so far this year (4-2-6 totals), but posted a 19-12-31 line a year ago.
‘They always have good forwards,’ Parker said. ‘They play a style of game that allows them to be very, very good on the initial rush. I think they’re a good forechecking team. I think they’re a good power-play team. They can really attack you on the initial rush, and we have to really be smart defending that ‘-‘- making sure we have a third man high, making sure we’re not giving up odd-man rushes and making sure we’re holding the blue line. In a big rink, that can be difficult to do.’
That ‘big rink’ refers to the Whittemore Center’s Olympic-size sheet of ice, which is 15 feet wider than most North American rinks, including BU’s Agganis Arena. Historically, the Terriers have done well at ‘The Whitt,’ posting a 9-6-5 record there since it opened in 1995. BU is the only Hockey East team with a winning record there.
‘I love playing up there just because it gives us a little more space to move with the puck,’ junior defenseman and captain Kevin Shattenkirk said. ‘It doesn’t allow their forecheck to really set up as much. I think it helps us out a lot.’
Parker, however, was quick to point out that this year’s squad has already played on one big rink (UMass’ Mullins Center) and that it didn’t go so well (a 3-2 loss).
‘We did not handle the big rink at UMass very well,’ he said. ‘We have to make sure that we get help on the backcheck. We also have to have the wherewithal and the poise to play hard through center ice and not just back off because the rink is so wide.’
News & notes: Sophomore forward Chris Connolly (shoulder) will be a gametime decision for tonight’s contest. ‘hellip; Junior defenseman Colby Cohen (lower body) is expected to play tonight. ‘hellip; Sophomore goalie Grant Rollheiser (ankle) will be a gameday decision for Saturday’s matchup. Fellow sophomore Kieran Millan will start in net tonight. ‘hellip; Junior forward Nick Bonino (shoulder) and freshman forward Alex Chiasson (chin) are both healthy and are expected to play on the top line in both of this weekend’s games. ‘hellip; Sophomore David Warsofsky is expected to skate as a forward this weekend, most likely on the top line with Bonino and Chiasson. Warsofsky has appeared up front on the power play several times this season, but tonight would be the first time he’s played forward at even strength in his college career.
‘
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.
