When the No. 12 Boston University men’s hockey team visits No. 5 North Dakota for a pair of games this weekend, it will feature the return of a significant piece of the team’s puzzle — head coach Jack Parker.
Parker missed both games against the University of Massachusetts during the weekend due to a bad back, but Senior Assistant Director of Athletic Communications Brian Kelley said Tuesday that Parker has made great progress and is expected to make the trip to Grand Forks, N.D.
The 40-year Terrier bench boss was on crutches most of the week and watched Friday’s game from the coaches’ suite. He did not go with the team to Amherst — about a two-hour bus ride — for Saturday’s game.
By all accounts, though, the team did not miss a beat. Associate head coach Mike Bavis, assistant coach Buddy Powers and Director of Hockey Operations Pertti Hasanen ran the Terrier bench in Parker’s absence.
“They’ve got the same systems going and they made the same calls and obviously we got a win [both nights],” said senior defenseman Sean Escobedo. “So I don’t think too much changed.”
Goalies
The biggest question about BU entering the season was its goaltending situation, and four games into the 2012–13 campaign one candidate appears to be in the lead for the starting job.
Freshman Matt O’Connor started both of BU’s games against the University of Massachusetts during the weekend, allowing a pair of goals in each.
After four games in net — three starts and half a game in relief of freshman Sean Maguire — he leads the league in save percentage (.945) and is second in goals-against average (1.75) behind only Providence freshman Jon Gillies (1.72).
Maguire has gotten into one game, allowing four goals in 32 minutes against the University of New Hampshire.
However, the position battle may be far from over. BU coach Jack Parker said before the season he would rotate the two in the early going, and, in spite of O’Connor’s successful weekend, there are not plans to abandon that.
“[Maguire] was really nervous like a lot of guys in their first freshman game,” Bavis said of the goalie’s Oct. 20 performance. “[The coaches decided to] let him just kind of take a couple games off, decompress, get his game back in order, do some extra work with [goalie] coach [Mike] Geragosian.
“So, without speaking for coach Parker, I would expect Sean Maguire would be in the net sometime next weekend.”
Moran debuts, Kurker benched
The other significant personnel change from the weekend involved a pair of freshman forwards, Sam Kurker and Mike Moran.
Kurker played the first two games of the season, but was a healthy scratch in favor of Moran against UMass.
Moran served as the fourth-line left wing, registering one shot on goal and took one penalty in the two games.
“Mike was strong, showed good speed, battled down low,” said Bavis, Moran’s uncle, after Friday’s game.
The decision to bench Kurker was for reasons similar to sitting Maguire. Parker said Kurker looked nervous and uptight against UNH on Oct. 20, but that he should be a good player for the team in the longer term.
“He has just got to take a deep breath and relax,” Parker said. “He was not his regular self.”
Bavis said there is a “good possibility” Parker slots Kurker, a St. John’s Prep product and second-round draft pick of the St. Louis Blues in this year’s NHL draft, back into the lineup sometime against North Dakota.
Terriers move up in polls
BU moved up one spot in both major national polls following its home-and-home sweep of the Minutemen.
The Terriers are now ranked 12th according to the USCHO, as well as USA Today and USA Hockey Magazine polls, which are released every Monday. It is a small improvement from the 13th spot the team held the week prior.
There are a number of other Hockey East teams ranked amongst the top 15.
Boston College, defending national champions, maintained its spot atop both polls, while the University of Massachusetts Lowell grabbed the fourteenth spot.
UNH is ranked No. 9/10, while Northeastern University took the No. 15 spot, but just missed the top 15 in USA Today’s arrangement.
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