It had been about half a year since you got to see Boston University hockey. You wanted it. You craved it.
The nights were long and cold.
So, finally when you saw those Terriers take the ice against Toronto on Sunday, you were understandably giddy.
The atmosphere was electric, and the joy of seasons past was re-kindled. You got to see that slew of new players you’d been so curious about.
Better yet, the Terriers blew out a bunch of grizzly Canadians. Never mind that half of BU’s team is Canadian — USA!
Thrilling!
So thrilling, in fact, that you nearly forgot what it was — an exhibition.
Preseason games can be fun for fans and useful for coaches and players to tune up, but they are not a reliable barometer for what’s to come in regular season play.
The Buffalo Sabres, Winnipeg Jets, Dallas Stars and Edmonton Oilers all finished at the top of their divisions in last year’s NHL Preseason.
My apologies for mentioning the NHL — too soon — but this data jumps off the page. R.I.P. 2012–13 NHL season.
Why is that the case?
Why did the St. Louis Rams go undefeated in last year’s NFL preseason, but 2–14 during the regular season?
Why has the National League won the MLB All-Star game three years running and outscored the American League 16–2, but gotten trounced in interleague play those same seasons?
It’s because exhibition and preseason have a shockingly small correlation to the regular season, to games that matter.
Sure, players are the same, coaches are the same, but preseason games are just entirely different animals.
You’re a coach in 2012 — every single thing your team does will be on film for all your opponents.
Why would you reveal anything about how you plan to play in games that do matter to your future opponents in a game that doesn’t count?
You don’t.
In preseason, teams tweak lineups. They experiment with strategies and plays. The best players don’t get as much playing time.
And sometimes, as we saw on Sunday, exhibition opponents are not comparable to regular season foes.
BU outshot Toronto 50–17. Sure, that leaps off the page, but the ability to put up 50 shots on Toronto is meaningless in a contest against UMass or BC.
There isn’t necessarily a correlation between dump-trucking inferior opponents and beating real competition.
It’s been so long since you saw BU hockey, so it’s only natural that the game seems bigger than it is and for that reason you’ll read too much into it.
You’ve had those burning questions in your mind — about all the roster turnover — all offseason. So you try to force yourself to decide the answers right away.
The truth is — those questions won’t be answered for a few months.
None of the questions you had about the Terriers heading into the 2012–13 campaign was given anything close to a conclusive answer during Sunday’s game.
You wondered about the two freshmen goalies. Each played a period and a half. Neither allowed a goal.
But neither was tested.
Matt O’Connor had one fantastic glove save, but we only saw him field five shots. Sean Maguire had 12 saves, but wasn’t exactly standing on his head to make them.
You learned that O’Connor buys his equipment at Wal-Mart, but that’s about it.
There was a slew of other freshmen you were curious about, but don’t use Sunday as a definitive measuring stick.
Sure, a bunch of them looked good. Danny O’Regan looked quick. But I look quick when I play basketball against my dad. Will they look the same against North Dakota? It’s hard to say.
You wondered if Yasin Cissé could realistically help to replace the scoring void left by Alex Chiasson.
Yes, he scored, but what a muddled mess that goal was — vintage Cissé.
He also whiffed on one golden scoring chance and shanked another.
We saw him crush a few Torontans against the boards, causing them to ooze maple syrup, but we already knew he’d leave a few bodies in his wake.
Inconclusive.
Then there were the lingering discipline issues of last season — too many penalties and an alarming lack of composure at times.
We saw a bunch of undisciplined penalties, including that same old lack of composure — fights resulting in game misconducts.
To me, there was some good mixed with some concerns — all disguised within inferior competition.
Take it for what it was — an exhibition, not a reliable sign of things to come.
This season’s Terrier squad will have a very different look. I know you’re dying for answers. You’ll just have to wait patiently for a bit longer.
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