The men’s hockey team’s record was 5-6-2 at the beginning of winter break last season. We were well on our way to yet another disappointing season of mediocre hockey when something happened that changed it all. Mediocre became magical. What was this “something” that changed our fortunes? If that “something” hadn’t happened, where would we be now? And most importantly, what if the team wasn’t actually that good last year and the 11-game winning streak was just a fluke? Will we be any good this year without the aid of a miracle?

Here’s a breakdown of what you can expect from the goalies and defensemen, and what we need to have happen to avoid a mediocre year.

Goaltending

John Curry, the all-time leader in save percentage and goals-against average at BU, will see almost all of the action in net this year. He has certainly earned the nod as number one goaltender as Karson Gillespie has failed to live up to the high expectations upon his arrival at BU. Coach Jack Parker will use Gillespie and freshman Brett Bennett sparingly over the season to give Curry rest and keep him sharp.

While this would seem to be a smart plan, it is my opinion that Gillespie and Bennett should play more games than the few that they will. I’m a big John Curry fan-how can I not be when he bailed our hockey program out by being the only person capable of taking over for Sean Fields two seasons ago? But in a season that could amount to around 40 games, Curry should play about 25-not because I don’t think he’s good or capable of playing more, but because Gillespie and Bennett need to gain experience and confidence. They are the future goalies of the BU hockey program and if one, or both, of them are not experienced enough to step right into the net next season, it will seriously hurt our prospects for next year.

Next year’s successes or failures will be determined by the playing time accorded by the back-up goalies this year. Both Gillespie and Bennett certainly have the talent and skills to be great goalies but they need to show that on the ice.

Expect to see Gillespie improve his game dramatically and have more outcomes like those against Denver and Dartmouth from a season ago. Look for some great puck-handling and passing out of Bennett in his limited playing time, which should lead to better scoring opportunities for the forwards. Regardless of who plays how many games, it goes without saying that goaltending will be the backbone of this team. The Terriers will only go as far as our talented trio of goalies can carry us.

Defensemen

The defensive corps is led by seniors Sean Sullivan and Kevin Schaeffer, who will be the first pair for the majority of the season. Both are solid on the defensive side and stable with the puck, but they will need to increase their offensive numbers if we are to have much success this year-something I think will happen (see Dan Spang’s and Bryan Miller’s senior seasons for recent examples of this). Neither player is the ideal man to have quarterbacking the power play, but because they are the most experienced guys on the team, this responsibility will be theirs until someone younger (such as Matt Gilroy or Brian Strait) shows he is capable of performing the duty.

Gilroy and Strait make an intriguing pair that should be very effective. Gilroy is more offensive-minded and jumps up into plays away from the blue line while Strait will stay on his own end. Hopefully Gilroy will be able to put the puck in the net and tally up the assists because Strait is not likely to give us much scoring-at least not until he settles in. As a freshman, it will be more important for him to develop his game around the blue line before he gets too fancy with the puck. What Strait will do, however, is be a very steady defenseman who won’t make mistakes and won’t cough up the puck, which is already a few steps ahead of most new players at the collegiate level.

The remaining two spots in the lineup will be contested between the four remaining defensemen on the roster: Tom Morrow, Kevin Kielt, Dan McGoff and Eric Gryba. Parker seems to think Morrow is a capable player in his own end so he continues to allow him to dress for almost all of the games. Fans love to hate him because they see him as a huge physical presence who refuses to use his body the way a hulking defenseman should.

As a result, every mistake he makes is further evidence to the obvious-that he should not be on the ice unless everyone else at BU who can skate backwards is injured. Of course Parker will win in this debate, so expect to see Morrow on the ice for almost all the games this season. Don’t expect fancy offensive skills from him, but do look for him to play a strict game of defense as a senior leader should. Another year of experience will go a long way in helping him cut down or eliminate any costly miscues that would have led to power plays or goals in the past.

Kielt and McGoff, now juniors, should see some playing time at the beginning of the season but this will likely tail off as Gryba becomes more experienced. McGoff seems to be talented if inexperienced and somewhat undersized. It is a mystery as to why he has not received more playing time over the past two seasons but with more than six talented defensemen on the team, someone has to sit. McGoff has received the short end of this stick in his time at BU and with the two highly touted freshman newcomers, don’t expect this to change much this year.

Kielt, on the other hand, has received some playing time and looked to be a regular player until off-ice issues sidelined him for the second half of the year last season. An energetic defenseman, he is somewhat unsteady with the puck and apt to take penalties in attempts to make up for defensive mistakes. Don’t expect to see him on the ice much this year except when Morrow isn’t playing or if the freshmen are having trouble adjusting to the collegiate level.

Gryba is the biggest anomaly of the group. Like Morrow he is huge, but unlike Morrow, he isn’t afraid to use his size to his advantage. The only problem is that sometimes this results in a man advantage for the other team. And by sometimes, I mean often times. He will be a big asset to the team once he has learned to cut down on his penalties and increase his speed. Whether or not he gets ice time during this learning phase is something Parker will have to decide, and will determine whether or not Freddy Meyer’s record of penalty minutes in a season will last another year. Once he takes the ice on a regular basis, Gryba will be another defensive-minded defenseman and, if paired with Morrow, will bring about quite a physically intimidating pair of defenders.

This column is Part One of this columnist’s Two Part preview of the men’s hockey season.

Chris Pasquale, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, is a weekly columnist for The Daily Free Press. He can be reached at [email protected].