Freshman forwards leaving their mark on opponents

Two freshman forwards brought the strength and the spark the No. 4/3 Boston University men’s ice hockey team has been sorely missing Saturday against the University of Michigan to round out its offensive push.

Justin Courtnall looked like the enforcer BU desperately needs, and Ryan Santana was a catalyst in the open ice, leading multiple oddman breaks and a few solo missions to open up rebound opportunities.

‘I thought Ryan Santana was unbelievable ‘-‘- the freshmen center iceman played great for us,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘[Courtnall] is also going to be a big body out there that can be real, real physical.’

With Hobey Baker hopeful junior forward Nick Bonino out 3-to-4 weeks with a dislocated shoulder, these two, in addition to freshmen Wade Megan and Alex Chiasson, will be forced to carry more of the load.

Megan has a good chance of standing pat on the second line, where he moved during Parker’s lineup shuffle in the absence of senior Luke Popko, who was out with the flu.

Courtnall and Chiasson combine to create a Brandon Yip-like effect for this season’s team. The ’09 graduate, now in the Colorado Avalanche organization, could wake up his own bench with bone-jarring hits and go on to attack the goal. While Chiasson matches both facets of the profile more exactly, Courtnall more than compensates for the physical intensity BU lost with Yip’s departure.

Too Many Men at the Right Time

BU hasn’t committed a single too many players on the ice penalty this year, while its opponents have drawn three, cumulatively.

Each mathematical miscue has come at a pivotal moment for BU, handing the Terriers golden opportunities to turn around their season.

On Saturday against Michigan, a pair of botched changes led to the power-play advantages that led to each of the Terriers’ first two goals. For a BU team that struggled to capture the momentum in a 3-0 loss to the University of Notre Dame, getting early chances was imperative in turning the tide.

‘What happens is, the players know who they’re taking, so that player starts coming to the bench and you get anxious to get out there,’ Michigan coach Red Berenson said. ‘Then all of the sudden the puck shows up at the same time, and you’re caught on the ice with too many men.’

Berenson attributed his players’ mistakes to a lack of patience. But BU itself was partially responsible for carrying out Michigan’s second violation.

A BU player collided with a Michigan player on his way off, holding the fallen Wolverine to the ice just long enough for the ref to make the call. The incidental contact set up BU’s second power play conversion, which granted the Terriers’ control of the game.

Last week against Notre Dame, just over five minutes after the Irish had scored to go up 3-0 in the third period, BU was the beneficiary of one more ‘too many men’ penalty. The Terriers couldn’t cash in, but they attacked the goal in a dynamic fashion unseen up to that point in the game. That approach carried over into the next two BU practices and on to the Michigan game.

Bad Blood

BU defenseman Eric Gryba and Michigan forward Chris Brown were each kicked out of the game on Saturday for hitting from behind.

After paying back a two-game whitewash in 2007 with a 7-2 massacre last season, BU players weren’t surprised that the game turned chippy late.

‘Last year we took it to them pretty well,’ junior forward Joe Pereira said.

‘And two years ago they took it to us,’ added junior forward Zach Cohen.

‘Anytime you get to play one of those top-five, for the most part top-five-to-ten teams, you bring your A-game ‘-‘- you’re ready to go,’ Pereira said.

Michigan sophomore forward David Wohlberg spent about two minutes down on the ice after Gryba’s hit in BU’s right defensive corner. He was helped off Jack Parker Rink to ample applause.

‘He’s going to be all right,’ Berenson said.

With the win, BU narrowed Michigan’s all-time series lead to 13-10. But BU leads Michigan in the postseason, 5-4.