Over-reliance on talent spells doom

After Friday’s 4-3 loss to the No. 15 University of Vermont, BU coach Jack Parker said the catalyst for his team’s third Hockey East loss was a lack of effort.

With the second game of a weekend set against Vermont on tap Saturday, burying the lack of energy and emotion from Friday would have put Parker’s concerns about his team’s will to win at ease.

But after dropping Saturday night’s contest on a goal late in the third period, the Terriers’ effort and desire doesn’t seem to match their immense level of talent.

‘In truth, there were too many guys that didn’t play well tonight,’ Parker said after Friday night’s game. ‘We want to make a big play all the time. Talent doesn’t win hockey games. They have enough talent to win. We have enough talent to win. But you can’t win on talent.’

Still reeling from a 5-1 loss two weekends ago at the University of Massachusetts-Amherst, BU spent the week of practice bolstering its transition breakout and special teams play.

In the opening 10 minutes of Friday’s game, all seemed to be back on track.

But with a one-goal advantage heading into the first intermission, the attacking, full-throttle mode that left the University of Michigan and Vermont dizzy earlier this year was left to melt with the rest of the Zamboni’s ice-shavings behind Agganis Arena.

‘If you look at the box score, you think, ‘Oh, we played a pretty good game. Their goalie played real well, so, therefore, that happens some nights,’ Parker said. ‘I don’t mind losing a game when my team plays real hard, when my team plays smart. That was not the case tonight.’

Vermont evened the score 2:31 into the second on Wahnotiio Stacey’s goal, and proceeded to feed off an outstanding performance in goal by freshman Rob Madore.

Stopping 38 shots on the evening, Madore robbed senior forward Jason Lawrence as he stood on the doorstep, sprawling backward to tangle Lawrence’s rebound chance in the webbing of his glove.

The most influential of a series of momentum swings, Madore’s reflex save led to an odd-man rush off the ensuing whistle, as Chris Atkinson’s bid from the left hash mark tumbled underneath the cross bar off freshman Grant Rollheiser’s shoulder for the go-ahead goal.

After the fastbreak goal, BU’s formulaic, collected rhythm turned sour, as the troubles at Amherst resurfaced at Agganis.

‘The turning point of the game was the first 10 minutes when we had our way with them,’ Parker said. ‘We thought, ‘Well, we can do this all night. We can dance around these guys.’ The worst thing that happened to us was we looked too good in the first 10 minutes. From then on it was downhill.” ‘ ‘ ‘ ‘

Unable to gain control of the puck, cohesion seemed to fade away in favor of individual play. Forcing the puck through the neutral zone, the Terriers established little in the way of offensive opportunities.

‘That was a disguised effort on our part. We made a lot of dipsie-doodle plays and we looked like we were going to break it open but didn’t, gave them opportunities. Then as the game progressed, we looked like we were in a hurry instead of being poised,’ Parker said.

‘Who we are is a team that wants to make pretty plays and maybe win 9-2. I think they thought the game started and said, ‘This looks good for us.’ They fell into that trap and kept trying to make pretty little plays. There was no determination to make the next right play.’

The limiting factor for a Terrier team that missed the NCAA Tournament last year after starting 0-4-1, individual efforts have been something Parker has forced his players to stay away from.

Playing from behind in three of their last four games, desperation has led each Terrier to play within the confines of their own talent.

‘They weren’t putting the puck in the net because they were trying to make the perfect play,’ Parker said. ‘They think that there’s some judge in the stands with a card that when you get a goal it’s 9.5 or 8.5. They’re playing to look good instead of playing to win.’