Meyer Stands Out Despite Stature

It’s been a bit of a hilly ride this year for Boston University junior defenseman Freddy Meyer.

While the team got off to a torrid 6-0-1 start, Meyer notched only three points while spending 20 minutes in the penalty box. Over the next five games, his luck stayed about the same, as he accumulated a goose egg in the points column while spending eight minutes in the sin bin, and he was sat for a game against Harvard University that BU won, 8-4.

“I did start off a little slow at the beginning of the year, and I don’t really know why that is, but I guess in the second half of the year here, I’ve just tried to come more focused for each individual game and each individual shift,” Meyer said.

It’s showed, as Meyer has put up 17 points on four goals and 13 assists in the last 24 games.

“Luckily, they’ve been going in the net a little easier for me,” Meyer said. “I’ve been picking up a few extra assists here and there. It’s been a lot easier than it was earlier in the year.”

Along with scoring more, Meyer has shown a more restrained side of late, staying out of the box with greater frequency. As he knows, he is more important to BU on the ice than on the seat in the box.

“I was taking a lot of penalties at the beginning of the year,” Meyer said. “In the second half of the year, I’ve tried to keep my discipline in line and stay out of the box. When the games go on, they get more and more important, and a power-play goal can cost you the game. I’ve definitely looked at that and tried to control that part of my game.”

More than just putting up the points, Meyer has become a steady defensive presence, totaling a plus-8 on the season. Despite his comparatively smaller stature — Meyer is generously listed at 5’10” — he is a physical presence.

It’s not uncommon to see an opponent with his head down sent careening off balance after a brutal Meyer hip check. He may not be an immense blueliner, but his short frame holds 187 pounds, and with his low center of gravity that goes along with the compact frame, he is one of the team’s best hitters.

“It’s something I’ve learned over the years,” Meyer said. “Being a smaller size, you just learn over the years when to make the big hit or how to use your strength and size to your own advantage in your own zone. I’ve just learned that over the course of my career here and in junior hockey.”

However, a small frame isn’t always a positive in a contact sport like hockey, where a bigger body means a better chance, despite the success of such pint-sized warriors as Theoren Fleury and Paul Kariya.

And those players have an even better chance as forwards. Small defensemen have to prove themselves even more, which could be why Meyer, despite having two good seasons for BU, has gone undrafted. While he thinks about the NHL, he knows it takes that something special to get noticed.

“I think if I keep doing the things I’ve been doing the last couple of years, someone will give me the opportunity to try to impress their scouts or their team,” Meyer said. “Hopefully, each year I can build up a little résumé and get a chance when I’m done at school here.”

Despite not having a singular role model in the NHL, Meyer does have guys to look up to. Boston Bruins veteran and former Harvard defenseman Don Sweeney has been in the league for 14 years and still logs heavy ice time with the B’s. His 5″10″, 186-pound frame is eerily similar to Meyer’s, and the vicious-but-clean hip checks that have been his trademark in the black and gold also predate Meyer’s hitting style.

Meyer also cites New Jersey’s Brian Rafalski, an excellent offensive defenseman at 5’9″, and Colorado’s Darius Kasparaitis, a relative giant and great defensive defenseman at 5’11”, as inspiring figures in the NHL today.

“Just the whole group of smaller guys who are making a name for themselves in the NHL gives you motivation to keep working hard, and hopefully some day you’ll get the same opportunity,” Meyer said.

But that opportunity is over a year away from really presenting itself. For now, Meyer has the opportunity to achieve another big dream: an NCAA Championship.

The Icedogs are three wins away from that elusive goal after earning a bye to the East Region’s final game, in which they will face either the Crimsonof Harvard University or the Black Bears of the University of Maine.

For Meyer and the rest of the juniors and seniors, the last memories of the Big Dance are a crushing four-overtime, 3-2 loss to Saint Lawrence University. But after missing last season’s tournament, the Icedogs are ready to play, according to Meyer.

“It’s great to be back in the NCAA tournament after not making it last year,” Meyer said. “It just pretty much comes down to you lose you’re out, you win you keep going on.

“We’ve got a lot of guys who were on that team two years ago, so I think everyone’s ready to go. If we come out and play like we can play, I think we’ll have a real opportunity.”

And that’s no tall tale.