Icedog Defense: Shorthanded, But Strong

And then there were five.

When freshman blueliner Bryan Miller came up from a hit against the University of Maine with a separated shoulder during a 9-6 thrashing by the Black Bears, an already shorthanded defensive corps was eroded further, necessitating what amounted to a five-man rotation over the last three BU contests.

The Icedogs were already missing senior defenseman Pat Aufiero, out since Feb. 1, when he suffered a sliced tendon in his ankle against Merrimack College.

While junior Ryan Priem has filled in as the sixth man in the back, he has seen limited time, and after playing mostly forward during his limited ice time of the past two seasons, he has shown some rust in the back.

And Priem is not the only one to be experiencing something a little different than most of this season’s action. Miller’s partner in the second half of the season has been junior Freddy Meyer, and after showing some great chemistry, especially carrying the puck and attacking the other end, Meyer has had to adjust to working in a five-man rotation with multiple defense partners.

“That’s probably the hardest part with the five-man rotation,” Meyer said. “You’re not always playing with the same guy, but everyone works with different guys here and there, so it’s not too bad getting used to a new partner.”

“Playing with different partners hasn’t really mattered because every defenseman we have is really skilled,” said freshman Ryan Whitney, who has spent his rookie season paired up with senior co-captain Chris Dyment. While Whitney still plays a lot with Dyment, he, like all four other defensemen, is getting the mix-and-match treatment from coach Jack Parker.

With less bodies comes more time. While each defenseman, including juniors Mike Bussoli and John Cronin, has seen more time in the last few games, there seems to have been little drop-off in quality of play. In fact, the two wins against Providence were two of the most solid defensive performances top-to-bottom BU has put forth this year. While Dyment and Whitney, as usual, stood out in the second game, the steadiness and poise of the less-heralded juniors, Cronin and Bussoli, showed, as they seemed to improve with the greater responsibility and ice time.

Even with the increased ice time, Whitney is unworried about the possibility of the defensemen running out of gas, obviously confident their work with strength and conditioning coach Mike Boyle through this season will pay off in the form of good endurance.

“I think just the fact that we’ve been working out so long now and we’re doing a lot of conditioning in practice and some lifting in the weight room is important,” Whitney said. “Fatigue happens when you play two games in two nights, especially the second night. But just with how hard we work, I don’t think it’s a problem.”

While Whitney says he doesn’t mind the extra playing time, and Meyer says the defense is coming together well, both of them eagerly await the returns of Miller and Aufiero.

“It’s good when you get a lot of ice time; it just sucks that one of our best players is out,” Whitney said.

“It’s definitely tough to lose two guys of that caliber to injuries, but I think the team has started to come together in the last couple of games with them out of the lineup,” Meyer said.

Unfortunately, the timetables for those returns aren’t clear. Parker said after the second Maine game that he expected Miller back before Aufiero, so when is Miller going to hit the ice again?

“I’m not playing this weekend for sure, and I’m just doing a lot of rehab and hoping to come back for the NCAAs, but I don’t think we know anything right now,” Miller said.

All the impressive rookie does know for sure is that he yearns for a chance to play again, and the chance to settle his nerves.

“It’s real frustrating,” Miller said. “It’s hard to watch games and not be able to help the team. I’ve noticed I’m a lot more nervous watching from the stands than when I’m playing.”

For now, number 7 is going to have to hang out with number 5 in the FleetCenter press box while his teammates take the ice. While both players have been missed, their teammates are still confident going into the matchup against the red-hot Black Bears after having adjusted well during the series against the Friars.

“The next weekend against Providence we were used to it and we all played pretty well,” Whitney said. “So hopefully that will continue this weekend.”

“I think the five of us are used to playing together right now, and we’re ready to go on Friday,” Meyer said.

Despite finishing second in Hockey East, BU doesn’t rank first in any team statistical categories. The Terriers rank third, behind the University of New Hampshire and Maine, in every offensive category except for total shots, with Northeastern University holding the third spot in that category … BU had the most penalty minutes, with 664 for the year. The least penalized team was the University of Massachusetts at Amherst with 449 … With an average attendance of 3,106, BU home games averaged exactly 700 fans less than capacity … Unsurprising for a team that seems to play better when they are behind, the Icedogs get better as the game goes on, with 31 first period goals, 45 second-period goals and 57 third-period goals this year, along with two overtime tallies … BU has outshot its opponents 1,185 to 969 this year.