Bleeding Scarlet

Close family friends of former Terrier great Mike Sullivan, his parents had Boston University men’s hockey season tickets. The youngest of three brothers, he spent winter days on the backyard ponds of his native Marshfield and weekend nights inside Walter Brown Arena, a witness to the heydays of names like Drury, Tkachuk and Grier.

It’s not too much of a stretch to say sophomore defenseman David Warsofsky has BU hockey in his blood.

‘David was pretty much brought up on BU hockey, so we had a pretty big upperhand on getting him here,’ BU coach Jack Parker said. ‘But we knew we were getting a real talented kid.’

Warsofsky is listed, generously, at 5-foot-9. But his presence in the locker room has never been minute.

He was named captain of the 2007-08 U.S. National Under-18 team a short time after walking into a locker room of guys he was largely unfamiliar with.

‘He’s a vocal guy in the locker room ‘-‘- he knows how to focus and how to prepare,’ assistant captain Nick Bonino said. ‘The guys who are sophomores are more like veterans this season. They had a pretty long year last year to figure out how to be vocal and be a leader.’

But after tallying a team-high 40 points (9 goals, 31 assists) for arguably the most highly regarded prep-program in the country, he had no trouble fitting in behind more-experienced blue-liners Brian Strait and Matt Gilroy on last season’s national championship squad.

‘Warsofsky didn’t even play on the power play last year,’ Parker said. ‘He would have been running anyone else’s power play in the nation. But he was a real good teammate about that.’

His flexibility was on full display Oct. 30 vs. the University of Massachusetts-Lowell, jumping up to forward on the power play in the Terriers’ 5-4 overtime win.

Just under a month later, Parker penned him into the offensive first line for both games of BU’s two-game set against the University of New Hampshire on Nov. 20 and 21.

‘We have guys so banged up that we need a little more talent up front,’ Parker said at the time.

With 5:04 remaining in the first period, freshman forward Alex Chiasson burst down the left side of the zone, before leaving a pass of for Warsofsky in the slot, teed up for a one-timer.

He buried it.

‘Right place at the right time,’ Warsofsky said, looking back. ‘But in the offensive zone you can kind of go anywhere, and I get lost out there at times. I watch guys like [sophomore forward Chris Connolly], Bonino, [sophomore forward Vinny Saponari] to figure out what position I need to be in out there.’

Paired with an enforcer of sorts, senior defenseman Eric Gryba, Warsofsky has a good deal of leeway in exploring his capabilities in the opposing zone.

Last season, he led all freshman defenseman in Hockey East with 23 points, and his plus-26 rating ranked fourth in nation, first among freshmen. This year he’s at plus-three’ with eight points (4g, 4a) in 12 games.

‘I’m a small guy out there, but I try to play up-tempo,’ he said. ‘I try to jump up into the play as much as I can. I try to be an offensive defensemen.’

But sometimes Warsofsky is too anxious with the puck, pointing to his tendency to pass off the saucer too soon as one of his biggest weaknesses. He’s working to get stronger, quicker and more adept at winning 1-on-1 battles down-low, and jettison the puck from the zone as efficiently as possible.

‘He’s not thoroughly impressed with himself,’ Parker said. ‘He works hard, makes an effort school-wise, makes a great effort to be in good shape and he has a lot of pure talent.’

Relaxed away from the ice, he has a good sense of how to ‘turn-on and turn-off’ this intensity.

‘Away from the ice, he couldn’t be a more laid back guy,’ Connolly, Warsofsky’s roommate for the last two years, said. ‘Then on the ice, he’s the kind of guy who’s used to being a leader, a guy everybody looks up to. He’s the next guy in line to be a leader here.’

‘I think David Warsofsky is going to have a good chance to play in the NHL because of the way the game’s played now,’ Parker said. ‘If it was 10 years ago, no one would look at him. But now-a-days, you can be a small defenseman because you have to play defense with your feet and your head now, and not with your hands, muscling a guy.’

But for now, Warsofsky is satisfied donning the Scarlet and White of the only team he ever envisioned himself playing for.

‘You grow up around a team and you always want to play with them,’ he said. ‘I guess I’m just lucky enough to have my dream come true.’