DURHAM, N.H. – After the goal, Kevin Regan turned around. He faced the net, threw his arms into the air and then flung himself face-first onto the ice. The New Hampshire goalie had been beaten by Kenny Roche before – ever since the age of four, actually, when the two first skated around the rinks in South Boston.
But never three times in a period.
“He can hold it in the offensive zone forever, and he’s gotten a lot stronger since high school,” Regan said. “Nobody can knock him off the puck.”
Roche entered the season toting the aspirations of the BU offense on his ever-sturdier frame. But through the first six games, the offense sputtered and so did he. As of the start of Saturday’s third period, last year’s leading goal-scorer (with 17) had two goals to his name. By the end of the period, he had five.
On a team where scoring and droughts tend to come in clusters, Roche gave the clearest example. At times, he is without argument the purest scorer on the team. At others, you can see the compulsion to score overtake him as he skates around the zone, holding the puck and waiting too long.
On Saturday, both faces showed up. For the first two periods, aside from a pretty assist that led to Chris Higgins’s goal, he took too long to act with the puck – “over-handling” it, according to BU coach Jack Parker. Then, for the last 20 minutes, he just ran through everybody.
“I thought he should have passed the puck a couple times when he shot it,” Parker said. “And there were other times when he was moving his feet, getting to the net, making nice plays. He was in the right spot for a couple goals and then drilled it on the last one.”
Roche is bigger – much bigger – than he was freshman year. Bigger than last year even. Like a Tonka turning into a Tundra. He’s listed at 208 right now, while he was listed at 190 freshman year – although he probably wore a full backpack for the 2003-04 weigh-in.
He’s learned to make use of the size. When he battles down low, it looks as if you’d have an easier time removing the paint from the goalpost than you would Roche.
“I’m feeling pretty good, I just got to do the small things – moving the puck quicker, not turning it over in the offensive zone,” Roche said. “The goals are gonna come. I’m playing with talented forwards like Chris or Matt [Gilroy] or Pete [MacArthur], or whoever I’m with. Whether I’m snakebit or in a drought, we just got to battle through it, and the team can pick up my slack if I’m not scoring.”
None of the goals were showy. The first came on a quick wrister that snuck in the 5-hole. The second saw him plant himself near the crease, then poke in a deflection off a Sean Sullivan slapper that glanced off Higgins. And the third saw him find a hole and rip a slapshot from the point that snuck between Regan’s legs again.
But the third period also saw a Roche that went far beyond his size and stick skills and uncanny ability to turn goalies inside-out.
First, he came up with clutch goals – all three tied the game after UNH had gone up.
Second, and most importantly, he made the people around him better. Much better. Paired with sophomores Higgins and Gilroy (a defenseman in his third game at forward), he made the line dangerous every time it stepped onto the ice.
“You know it’s unbelievable,” Higgins said of playing on the Red Line with Roche. “It was tough for me to lose [Brandon Yip] to an injury because I was so used to playing with him and [Jason Lawrence] for so long. But we’ve been clicking at the right time. He’s a great player, he shoots from everywhere, so you know you’re gonna get the assists.”
Now, it’s just a matter of fine-tuning the fusion between the Roche capable of gorgeous goals and the one who scraps for the dirty ones. If it comes, the Terriers could be in good shape.
“Hopefully that’ll get him going,” Parker said. “It’s good for his confidence. We need him.”