This is a first in what we hope will be a monthly series of mailbags where you as readers have the opportunity to ask us anything you can think of and have us answer to the best of our ability. You can send in questions anytime to [email protected] with the word "Mailbag" in the subject line, or you can wait until the end of the month when we will post a reminder up on the blog and have a place for you to submit questions as comments here.

In this edition of the mailbag, we answered questions about the team's classes, practice players and walk-ons, expectations, goaltending rotations and more. Enjoy!

Q: Where do you guys like to cover games when BU hits the road? -Josh

I (Arielle) will answer this one since Tim has not gotten a chance to travel around Hockey East yet.

One of my favorite places to visit is Matthews Arena. They have a new press box that has a great view of the visitor’s bench, which is really helpful in terms of judging attitude and seeing where injured players are. It’s an old building with a really loud fan-base, which creates an exciting atmosphere that makes the game more enjoyable.

The media food at BC is awesome, but there is not much else about Conte Forum that I like. UNH is a fun place to visit because the rink is modern and clean but also pretty intimate. You feel like you’re close to the action no matter where your seat at UNH is located. The fans there are also great. Maine fans are also fun, and there is some great food in the area (Pat’s Pizza, Dysart’s Truck Stop), but Orono is literally in the middle of nowhere. The rink is badly in need of renovations, which Maine started doing over the summer. I’m not sure whether they were moving the press boxes, but if not, the Maine press box is among the worst in Hockey East. It is impossible to see the action because you’re in the last row and are not significantly higher than the fans, so someone like me can’t see over them.

Q:Do you believe that the goaltender of this season will always be Millan? He seems to show areas of inconsistency and I understand that he is a young goalie, but why not see what Rollheiser can give the team? –Anonymous

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

Friday night at the Mullins Center, as he nonchalantly leaned with his back against a wall outside the media room, Matt Nieto maintained his naturally calm and collected demeanor, despite an unimpressive 2-2 tie with University of Massachusetts and despite the Boston University men’s hockey team’s overall underwhelming success.

“We’re not worried at all right now,” the sophomore forward said. “We have a good team.”

Apparently he was right.

Nieto came out the very next night and tallied two assists and the game-winning goal in overtime, spurring the Terrier (3-2-1, 2-1-1 Hockey East) come-from-behind 5-4 win over the Minutemen (1-3-2, 0-3-2 Hockey East) at Agganis Arena.

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

It seems these days that it is not a No. 12/13 Boston University men’s hockey game without a goal from sophomore forward Matt Nieto.

So on Saturday night at Agganis Arena, when BU and the University of Massachusetts were knotted 4-4 in overtime and Nieto had yet to score, it seemed likely Nieto would be the hero for the Terriers.

Indeed he was, as Nieto’s goal with 3:17 into overtime lifted BU (3-2-1, 2-1-1 Hockey East) over UMass (1-3-2, 0-3-2 Hockey East), 5-4.

It was a positive outcome in a game in which the Terriers trailed 3-0 at the end of the first period, but due to a momentum-changing 5-on-3 penalty kill for BU followed by an energy-boosting goal soon after, BU mounted a comeback to earn its first win in two weeks.

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

In yet another game that went down to the wire, Matt Nieto played the hero as his tally in overtime helped the No.12/13 Boston University men’s hockey team over the University of Massachusetts, 5-4 on Saturday night at Agganis Arena.

Once again, the Terriers came out strong in the first minute of the game, then tailed off as the period continued. It did not help that UMass seized the opportunities BU started handing to them as the period continued.

The Minutemen scored their first goal of the night at 10:34 when BU goaltender Grant Rollheiser struggled to cover a loose puck sitting in front of him. Minuteman Steven Guzzo beat Rollheiser’s glove to the puck and put it away before Rollheiser could make the stop.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

AMHERST -- If there was any one play that could explain Friday night’s 2-2 tie between the No. 12/13 Boston University men’s hockey team and the opposing University of Massachusetts-Amherst Minutemen, it would be the very last play of the game.

With less than 20 seconds left in overtime, sophomore forward Charlie Coyle took a puck off the boards deep in his own zone and promptly turned it over, giving the Minutemen’s Danny Hobbs one last golden opportunity to allow the Minutemen to take the two points.

Although the turnover was not a great play by Coyle, it did not prove to be disastrous either, as Hobbs’s shot sailed wide of the goal and BU held on for the tie.

“Right to the very end, even with my best line out there, it was a numb-skull play,” BU coach Jack Parker said. “The idea of imminent danger does not seem to register for my team, especially from some of my stars.”

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

AMHERST -- Possibly in celebration of the all-important “Halloweekend,” the Boston University men’s hockey team wore both of its costumes tonight in a 2-2 with University of Massachusetts.

The Terriers (2-2-1, 1-1-1 Hockey Easy) ditched their careless outfits in favor of their effortful ones after falling falling behind 2-0 in the first half against the Minutemen (1-2-2, 0-1-2 Hockey East), coming back to salvage the conference road matchup, thanks in large part to senior goaltender Kieran Millan (33 saves) and sophomore forward Matt Nieto (one goal, one assist).

“I thought our goaltender played great,” said BU coach Jack Parker. “I thought he stole the point for us.”

But the first step to a comeback is, of course, falling behind, and the Terriers checked off that prerequisite early on.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

The No. 12/13 Boston University men’s ice hockey team enters this weekend’s home-and-home series against the University of Massachusetts-Amherst searching for four points and its own identity.

But the biggest question for the Terriers is not which opponent they face, but which BU team comes out to play.

If the unmotivated Terriers from the College of the Holy Cross or Providence College losses show up, the weekend will be a step back regardless of win or loss. But if the determined BU hockey team that beat the University of New Hampshire and the University of Denver comes to play, it will be a step in the right direction.

And so, to help them step forward, coach Jack Parker delivered the Terriers’ first kick in the pants on Sunday when he made the team do skating drills for a full hour with no sticks or pucks.

As Parker put it, “I didn’t think they skated hard Saturday night so we made them skate like hell on Sunday.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

By Luke Coughlan/DFP Staff

In a battle to avoid the last spot in the Northeast Division, the Montreal Canadiens upstaged the Boston Bruins, 2-1, behind the stellar play of goalie Carey Price on Thursday night at the Garden. The Bruins (2-5-0) dropped to the cellar of both the division and the Eastern Conference with the loss to the Canadiens (2-3-2) combined with a Winnipeg Jets win over the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I don’t know if I imagined [being in last place one month into the season],” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said. “I’d probably get nightmares thinking about how we’re playing right now more than anything else. It’s more about our team right now.

“I don’t care where we are in the standings. What I care about is how we play, and right now, we’re not playing at all to the level we should be.”

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

Two oft-injured members of the No. 12/13 Boston University men’s hockey team, red shirt freshman forward Yasin Cisse and junior defender Ryan Ruikka, have been practicing with the team for weeks but have yet to dress for a game this season.

Cisse has missed nearly two full seasons due to a torn ankle tendon after playing just 18 games with the Des Moines Buccaneers of the USHL in 2009-10. Then his freshman year at BU (2-2, 1-1 Hockey East) ended for it really got started when he re-tore the tendon in his collegiate debut on Oct. 8.

The Westmount, Quebec native recovered from those injuries in time for this season, but a pre-season concussion delayed his comeback, and according to BU coach Jack Parker, the team will take it slow while Cisse shakes off the rust.

“[Cisse] has to get the feel of the puck again to be able to play again,” Parker said. “We won’t put him out there until we feel comfortable.”

For more, go to dailyfreepress.com.

To our readers:

This week, we will be hosting the first of what we hope will be monthly mailbags. We are accepting questions from anyone about the team, BU athletics, Hockey East, hockey in general and pretty much anything college hockey-related that you can think of. The success of this mailbag depends on you. If we do not receive enough questions to write up a post, we will be unable to have this feature.

We believe the mailbag is a unique chance for you to participate in the blog and think it could be a fun feature going forward.

To submit questions, either email us at [email protected] with your question and "mailbag" in the subject line or leave your question as a comment here. We are accepting anonymous questions and will not include any personal information (including your email address) if you ask us not to.

Questions must be in by the end of the BU-UMass game Friday night. We will have a post with answers on Monday, Oct. 31.

Thank you, and we are looking forward to receiving your questions.

By Teddy Mazurek/DFP Columnist

Any sports fan can attest to the fact that following a specific team is full of highs and lows. The same is certainly true for those who follow the Boston University men’s hockey team.

In 2009, I witnessed firsthand the greatest sports moment of my life. I can still remember as if it were yesterday – the final minutes of the third period against Miami University in the NCAA Championship game. Trailing 3-1, the blank stares and teary eyes of those students who made the trip to Washington D.C. said it all.

But then Zach Cohen scored with 59.5 seconds remaining giving the Dog Pound a glimpse of hope.

Then it happened.

Read more at dailyfreepress.com

General thoughts: It’s obviously disappointing how we came out and it was the only game of the week so you would think that we would get ready as a team and try to do our best but we’re going through tough times right now and the only think we have to do is stick together and everyone’s got to be on the same boat. That’s the only thing we have to worry about.

On if he agreed with Parker that he didn't play well: I’m assistant captain of the team and I have to be a leader of this team and show all the younger guys how a BU hockey player should play and he’s coaching me and wants me to be a better player out there and I think I have to do better for the team.

On why the team wasn't prepared mentally for Holy Cross: Coach made sure this week that we got ready to play, and coach kept telling us this is their biggest game of the season and right when their schedule came out they circled the BU game and made sure they got ready for the game. Like I said it’s disappointing we didn’t come out as a team and we have some stuff to figure out.

General thoughts: In general I liked Holy Cross tonight. They played hard, they played smart, they played thorough. They were really competitive. I thought the goalie played well in the end, too. We had a lot of shots but he made a couple big saves. He looked smooth for a freshman.

We had one line going tonight. Unfortunately it was one left wing, one center and one right wing and they didn’t play together. They were on three different lines. But I though that Nieto had a good night, I thought that Rodrigues played really well. I thought that was his best game. I thought Corey Trivino played well again tonight. Other than that we didn’t have a forward that played well or played hard enough or played smart enough. And we’d be hard pressed to find a defenseman that gave us what they were supposed to give us. I guess you could say that I thought that MacGregor that gave us a pretty good night.

I thought defensively we were pathetic in our own zone. I think what happened is they made it 1-0 and we were playing OK. And then they make it 1-0 and then we get two quick goals on two very pretty plays to make it 2-1 and if you watch the way my team played after that it was pathetic. It was, ‘Oh, we’re all set now, we’ll make some pretty plays, we’ll dance around. We got beat to every loose puck, we got out-muscled in front of our own net, we were pathetic killing penalties, and as bad as we were they were good at all that stuff. They did a great job killing penalties. They did a great job on their power plays. They did a nice job getting the puck out of the [defensive] zone.

When you’re not ready to play a few things always stand out. One, you take stupid penalties and we took a lot of stupid penalties tonight. It looks like we did OK on faceoffs but we didn’t win important faceoffs, and that’s a sure sign that you’re not ready to play. We made bad decisions at the blue lines. In the second period we got one grade-A shot the entire second period. And then one of our philosophies is don’t be yourself, and we beat ourselves tonight. We beat ourselves I turnover, we beat ourselves with being unaware and we beat ourselves with stupid penalties. Bad night for the Terriers, good night for the Crusaders.

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

Four games into the young 2011-12 season, there’s one clear trend about the No. 7/8 Boston University men’s hockey team: It is consistently inconsistent.

There are the bad Terriers (2-2, 1-1 Hockey East) that got roughed up by lowly Providence College one night, and the good Terriers that scored five goals against No. 3 University of Denver the next.

There is the team that comes into games quick, ready and fired up, and the team that looks like it is waiting for the win to come without effort. There is the version that plays selfless, defense-first hockey, and the version that tries to make pretty plays too often.

And when goaltender Matt Ginn pumped his fist and his College of the Holy Cross teammates mobbed each other as the final buzzer went off Saturday night, it was clear which BU team showed up in the 5-4 loss.

Especially to BU coach Jack Parker.

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

When a team has an entire week to prepare for one game, it would seem that the team should come out well-prepared and ready to play.

That was not the case on Saturday night, when the No. 7/8 Boston University men’s hockey team fell to College of the Holy Cross 5-4 at Agganis Arena.

The Terriers (2-2, 1-1 Hockey East) were a mess from puck-drop on, and BU head coach Jack Parker was scrambling to find any players on his team that had a good night.

“I thought that [sophomore forward] Matt Nieto had a good night,” Parker said. “I thought that [freshman forward Evan] Rodrigues played really well. I thought that was his best game. I thought [senior forward] Corey Trivino played well again tonight.

“Other than that, we didn’t have a forward that played well or played hard enough or played smart enough. And we’d be hard-pressed to find a defenseman that gave us what they were supposed to give us. I guess you could say that I thought that [sophomore defenseman Patrick] MacGregor gave us a pretty good night.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

In an up-and-down battle at Agganis Arena on Saturday night, the No. 7/8 Boston University Terriers bowed to the Holy Cross Crusaders, 5-4.

Holy Cross struck first 6:26 into the period when senior goaltender Kieran Millan came out to the top of his crease to make a stop on Mike Daly but Erik Vos was camped out to Millan’s left, and he banged the rebound into a virtually empty net.

The Terriers got even soon after when senior forward Corey Trivino dropped a pass back to sophomore defenseman Adam Clendening, who fed the puck across the zone to sophomore forward Sahir Gill. With Matt ginn on the other side of the crease to defend Clendening, Gill simply tucked the puck into an empty net at 8:04.

BU took a 2-1 lead 40 seconds later when sophomore forward Charlie Coyle sent a puck across the zone to sophomore forward Matt Nieto, who found Chiasson down low. Chiasson beat Ginn easily for the score.

But the Crusaders, sparked by penalties from the Terriers, took control for the rest of the period. Just over halfway into the period, Patrick MacGregor was sent to the box for hooking. Sean Escobedo joined him 44 seconds later on a clear slash, and the Crusaders took advantage. Just 15 seconds into the two-man advantage, Adam Schmidt slipped a shot through a scrambling Garrett Noonan and Kieran Millan to tie the game.

Prior to the Boston University men’s hockey team’s game against Providence College last week, coach Jack Parker said he did not know how his team could fail to get up for a game so early in the season. The Terriers came out flat against a team that has been regarded in Hockey East for the past few seasons as a cellar-dweller, and multiple players acknowledged that they did not give the game their best effort.

One week the wiser, BU (2-1-0, 1-1-0 HE) will face off against another team that some may consider a lesser opponent, as College of the Holy Cross (1-1-0, 1-1-0 AHA) visits Agganis Arena Saturday for its first game against BU since 2008.

The Crusaders play in the Atlantic Hockey Association, a conference that many in college hockey consider below the level of Hockey East. But after the Crusaders’ visit to Agganis three years ago, Parker again warned that his team had no right to take their opponent lightly.

“I know their league has knocked off people in our league almost every year,” Parker said. “I know the last time they came into this building, they gave us more than what we ever wanted. I think we had to score two goals late to get the 3-2 win and they dominated the game. Without goaltending, we would have easily gotten beaten.”

Read more at dailyfreepress.com

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

For most people, October 20 is just another day. The sun rises and sets, people go to work or school per usual. There's no special note on a calendar to distinguish the day. But for the Boston University hockey family, October 20 is an important anniversary.

On October 20, 1995, Travis Roy, then a BU freshman, had his life changed forever when he skated into the boards head first, cracking his fourth cervical vertebra and leaving him paralyzed from the neck-down.

It has been 16 years since Roy's accident, but his presence is never far from the BU hockey team. Roy's jersey is framed in coach Jack Parker's office. His number is retired and hangs from the rafters of Agganis, watching over the team as they practice and play. A photo of Roy taken 11 seconds before his life changed hangs by the door to the BU locker room. Roy's is the last picture the hockey team sees before they take the ice.

Parker has maintained a close relationship with Roy, and for the two of them, October 20 has a certain ritual to it.

"Every year on the 20th of October, we go out to dinner," Parker said. "We're going out to dinner tonight. It's also my daughter Allison's birthday this week, so we always go out and celebrate Allison's birthday with Travis. We always try to do it on the 20th so he's not by himself."

By René Reyes/DFP Staff

After captain Zdeno Chara’s instigator penalty late in the second period, the rest of Tuesday’s tilt against the Carolina Hurricanes was a blur admitted Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask.

With the Bruins trailing 2-0 at the 14:19 mark, Chara took it quite personally when teammate Nathan Horton was caught in the middle of an altercation near the Carolina net with defenseman Jay Harrison. The 6-foot-9 Chara raced to Horton’s defense and began pummeling the 6-foot-4 Harrison without restraint.

Hurricanes goalie Cam Ward had a few words for Chara during the scrum, and within moments, found himself standing mask-to-mask with Rask, who had skated the length of the ice to ask Ward why he was chirping at Chara.

On top of the instigator call, Chara was given a five-minute fighting major and a 10-minute game misconduct, while Rask was penalized as well for leaving his crease.

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

With less than 15 minutes left against No. 3 University of Denver Saturday night, Kieran Millan was closing in on history.

Thanks to a healthy 4-0 Boston University men’s hockey team lead and Millan’s perfect 24 saves through two periods, the senior goaltender looked like he was on his way to winning his 63rd game as a Terrier, a new school record.

But 11 minutes and three Denver goals – of the wraparound (6:01), bouncer (13:09) and rebound (17:39) variety – later, the record-breaking win was suddenly in jeopardy.

“At that point [the Pioneers] were bringing it pretty hard,” Millan said. “I know I let in kind of a soft second goal, so the onus was on me to help us pull through.”

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

After Saturday night’s 4-3 win over the University of Denver, Boston University coach Jack Parker had plenty of positives to talk about. There was the defense, which stepped up its game following a rough showing in Friday night’s 5-3 loss to Providence. There was also the team’s play on special teams, which scored two short-handed goals and one power-play goal.

But Parker saved his most lofty praise for senior forward Corey Trivino, who scored his third goal in as many games Saturday night.

“I don’t think there’s any question that our best player up and down the lineup was Corey Trivino,” Parker said. “He was absolutely fabulous.”

Saturday night was not the first time of the young season that Parker named Trivino his best player. In the season opener against the University of New Hampshire, Parker also gave those honors to Trivino despite a shutout from senior goaltender Kieran Millan, who tied the BU record for career wins that night in an outstanding performance.

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com.

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

Alex Chiasson has a short memory.

Fifteen minutes after Friday night’s 5-3 loss to Providence College, the Boston University men’s hockey team’s junior assistant captain could not stop talking about the next night’s game against No. 3 University of Denver.

“I’m sure guys will be ready for tomorrow,” he said. “It’s a big game for us.”

And ready the No. 7/8 Terriers (2-1, 1-1 Hockey East) were, getting off to a quick en route to the tight 4-3 victory over the Pioneers (1-1) thanks to a goal from Chiasson himself. Freshman forward Cason Hohmann fed the puck to his fellow forward, who promptly scooted around Denver captain Dustin Jackson and rocketed the puck over Denver goaltender Adam Murray’s left shoulder at 10:54.

The score stayed that way until 19 seconds into the second, despite Denver gaining some momentum in the second half of the first stanza. Senior goaltender Kieran Millan cleared the puck all the way across the ice, and Murray misplayed it behind his own net. Senior forward Corey Trivino capitalized, grabbing the puck for the wrap-around, short-handed goal at 0:20 before Murray got back in the net.

Just 42 seconds later, a pair of sophomore forwards got in on the action. Charlie Coyle sent the puck to Matt Nieto for a backhanded goal, again with BU playing four-on-five.

The youth played a major goal in the next game as well with a pair of sophomores tallying the assists. Forward Sahir Gill and defenseman Adam Clendening chipped in on senior forward Wade Megan’s backhander at 2:58, the third Terrier goal in as many minutes. It was Megan’s fourth goal in four games when the Oct. 1 exhibition game is included.

Despite the dominant offense, BU seemed to slow down during the second half of the first two periods, giving Denver multiple opportunities to get on the board. Millan was in top form though, and stopped all 24 Denver shots, including seven grade-A chances, in the first two periods.

Millan finally let up at 6:01 in the third when Denver forward Luke Salazar scored an unassisted wrap-around goal while Millan was a bit out of position.

Denver scored again at 13:09 when Denver defenseman John Lee took a shot form the blue line that hit Millan’s pad but skipped over his leg and dribbled into the goal.

Then with the clock winding down and the Terriers possibly sitting back a bit, Denver made it much closer than anyone in a BU uniform wanted with a third goal, this time from forward Drew Shore, at 17:29.

Denver took a timeout at 19:38, giving BU a chance to regroup, and a Denver forward Beau Bennett penalty at 19:42 effectively ended the game.

The late-game Denver push ended the BU's bid for an impressive defensive game, but not the goalie’s bid for history. BU held on for the win, Millan’s 63rd as a Terrier, breaking the record previous record of 62 set by Sean Fields from 2000-2004.

On first five minutes of game:
"Obviously it was their first game of the season, and they got going right off the get-go. It’s obviously tough coming in here and not having a warm-up. Guys didn’t even have their sticks taped. I don’t think that’s an excuse, and we only play twice a week and we prepare during the week mentally. They just worked harder than us in the first ten minutes."

On playing slow against PC on a regular basis: "Every game in the Hockey East is a good game, and personally I think coming here is a tough place to play because it’s so small and there’s not much room to make plays, so you just have to dump it in and play harder. Tonight we didn’t work hard enough, so we just get ready for tomorrow. It’s a big game for us."

On defensive miscues:
"We obviously have young defensemen, and I’m not here to tell them what to do. They’re good enough and they got here, so they’ll figure it out. The top six defensemen on our team are on the ice, so obviously coach has confidence in them and so do I. They’ll bounce back tomorrow and be ready."

General thoughts:
"I thought we weren’t ready for the speed of the game. They blew us out of the building the first ten minutes of the game. I thought even though we didn’t score we settled down a little bit in the first, then they got the third goal, but we were playing a little bit better in the second half of the first period. I thought we played well in the second, but once we made it 3-2 we started thinking, ‘Well, we’re OK now.’ We didn’t play anywhere near as hard as we had. We played better in the third at times, but they were faster with the puck and I thought they played harder without the puck than we did."

On late arrival's effect on game:
"None whatsoever. It made no difference."

On Millan’s play:
"I thought we left him out to dry tonight. He had a couple back-door goals, a couple real bad missed coverages by us, the power-play goal was a bad screen, the guy didn’t block the goal he just screened our goalie instead. I should say, I don’t know if the guys actually blocked the shots, but Kieran didn’t quite see it. Alex went out to the guy, he made a pass, and Alex came back in but he came back in at the wrong angle so it went by him and to the point guy. He drilled it one time and Alex wasn’t in the shooting lane anymore. That was obviously the big goal. That was the power-play goal."

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

PROVIDENCE -- Often after a loss – and especially after an ugly loss – athletes and coaches tend to stay away from pinning blame on any one member or any one part of the team.

Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker stayed true to this form after his team’s surprising 5-3 loss to Providence College Friday night, but if Parker hadn’t chosen that route – if he wanted to pick out, for example, the defense – no one would have been able to blame him. For the second straight game, the blue liners were less than impressive.

The defensive lapses were evident almost immediately for the No. 7/8 Terriers (1-1, 1-1 Hockey East), producing an unexpectedly early turning point on the game. Junior defenseman Sean Escobedo’s turnover just 2:48 into the first period put BU in an early 1-0 hole, the result of sloppy play.

“He made the right play, he just didn’t execute it,” Parker said. “He had the right idea. He went to pass it over to [sophomore forward] Sahir Gill who was wide open on the far side and he just shot his stick over the puck. The puck never went anywhere, and [Providence] just picked it off and went in on a two-on-one and scored.”

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

PROVIDENCE -- The first sign that the No. 7/8 Boston University men's hockey team's Friday's tilt against Providence College may not go well came when the bus arrived late to the rink, pushing back game-time by 15 minutes. But it was not just the bus that showed up late, as the Terriers' (1-1, 1-1 Hockey East) inconsistent effort Friday night led to a 5-3 loss to the Friars (1-0, 1-0 HE).

"I thought we weren’t ready for the speed of the game," said BU coach Jack Parker. "They blew us out of the building the first ten minutes of the game. I thought even though we didn’t score we settled down a little bit in the first, then they got the third goal, but we were playing a little bit better in the second half of the first period."

In the early goings of the game, it looked like the defense was late as well. Just 2:48 into the game, a turnover from junior defenseman Sean Escobedo left Providence captain Andy Balysky with a clear shot from the top of the right circle. The captain capitalized, beating senior goalie Kieran Millan high glove-side.

Only 34 seconds later, Providence doubled its lead when a failed clear in front of the net allowed Matt Montesano to score from the low slot.

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

This afternoon, Boston University men’s hockey coach Jack Parker was walking back to his Agganis Arena office a little earlier than normal, especially given the fact that it was the day before a game. Typically, the team would have a meeting about the next day’s opponent – in this case Providence College and first-year coach Nate Leaman – after getting off the ice, but today that just wasn’t possible.

“We know absolutely nothing about Providence because [Leaman is] a new coach and they haven’t played a game yet, [so BU has no game video,]” Parker said. “We have no idea how good they’re going to be.”

But when the Terriers (1-0, 1-0 Hockey East) take to the ice in their first away game of the season, and in Providence’s (0-0, 0-0 Hockey East) home and season opener, they won’t go in completely blind. Providence goaltender Alex Beaudry did, after all, manage to keep BU’s win margin to just one goal in all three of its victories over the Friars last year.

“I’ve played against [Beaudry] ever since I was a freshman, and I always thought he was one of the best goalies in the league,” said senior captain Chris Connolly. “We know going into it with just having him in net it’s going to be a close game because he doesn’t give up many goals.”

Rest assured, Parker will counter with his best: senior goaltender Kieran Millan. After a 35-save shutout over University of New Hampshire last week, Millan will start in goal on Friday against Providence, as well as on Saturday when BU hosts No. 3 University of Denver at 7 p.m.

For more, visit dailyfreepress.com.

Here are the projected lines for BU tomorrow night against Providence:

Chris Connolly - Corey Trivino - Sahir Gill
Matt Nieto - Charlie Coyle - Alex Chiasson
Justin Courtnall - Ross Gaudet - Kevin Gilroy
Wade Megan - Cason Hohmann - Evan Rodrigues

Sean Escobedo - Max Nicastro
Adam Clendening - Alexx Privitera
Garret Noonan - Patrick MacGregor

Kieran Millan
Grant Rollheiser
Anthony Moccia

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

When the final shot of Saturday’s 5-0 win for the Boston University men’s hockey team over the University of New Hampshire rang off a post behind goaltender Kieran Millan as time expired, it served as a jarring reminder that the post was the closest the Wildcats would come to scoring all night.

Millan’s shutout was the sixth of his career and the win was his 62nd, tying him with former Terrier Sean Fields for the most wins by a goaltender in program history.

To be sure, Millan’s faltering defense created plenty of opportunities for the Wildcats – two-on-ones, three-on-twos, close-range shots – but Millan stood unwavering in net.

It was a stark contrast to the Millan of the week before, who looked flappable and frustrated as St. Francis Xavier University exposed him in an exhibition game by scoring five goals on 17 shots.

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By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

For the No. 10/6 Boston University men’s hockey team, the 2011-12 season has started with some similarities to last year – including high expectations and 21 returning players – but at least one significant difference: the Terriers’ ability to finish.

Up 3-0 over the University of New Hampshire for much of the third period, the Terriers (1-0, 1-0 Hockey East) were successfully able to buckle down for the season-opening 5-0 win over the Wildcats (0-1, 0-1HE), thanks in large part to their bearing down on defense for the last 20 minutes.

“The minute we made it 3-0, I went up and down the bench and said, ‘Keep playing the same way,’” said BU head coach Jack Parker. “’Keep playing defense, first guys. Play on the defensive side of the puck. Don’t try to go get your goal now that it’s 3-0. The goals will come if you play defense first.’”

The team listened.

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In both teams’ regular season and Hockey East openers, the Boston University men’s hockey team topped University of New Hampshire 5-0 in a physical, chippy matchup.

After a scoreless first period, the Terriers opened the scoring shortly after the start of the second period. Sophomore forward Sahir Gill ripped a shot wide right of the goal, with senior captain Chris Connolly recovering the rebound behind the net. Connolly sent the puck up front to junior forward Wade Megan, who tapped it in for the power-play goal at 3:16.

Two and a half minutes later, Gill and Connolly tallied another assist each when Gill passed to the captain, who sent it on up to senior forward Corey Trivino from the right side. Trivino promptly tapped it past UNH goalie Matt Di Girolamo to put BU up, 2-0, 5:46 into the second.

BU also got off to a quick start in the third period as sophomore forward Matt Nieto extended BU’s lead when he banged home the rebound from junior assistant captain Alex Chiasson’s slapper at 1:11. Sophomore forward Charlie Coyle also received an assist on the play.

Coyle wasn’t done there, as he got in on the next scoring play at 15:41 in the third when he sent the puck to Chiasson, who beat one UNH defender and carefully tapped the puck into an empty net.

With DiGirolamo quickly put back in goal, senior forward Kevin Gilroy extended the lead to 5-0 seconds later at 17:00 with an unassisted goal to finish the scoring.

Even with the offense, senior goaltender Kieran Millan was a highlight for BU, returning to his regular self after an uncharacteristically bad performance last week in an exhibition against St. Francis Xavier when he allowed five goals on 17 shots. Millan had a perfect 35 saves in the shutout.

By René Reyes/DFP Staff

Boston Bruins coach Claude Julien had to step aside for a moment during the pregame ceremony that culminated in his players Zdeno Chara, Tim Thomas and Patrice Bergeron and members of the 1972 championship squad raising the B’s sixth Stanley Cup banner to the rafters Thursday night.

The return of the now-retired Shane Hnidy and presentation of the Bruins’ legendary Jacket to Mark Recchi on the TD Garden ice only made the occasion that much more special for Julien, who was faced with keeping his emotions in check and his team focused on its regular season-opener against the Philadelphia Flyers.

“I was doing my best to keep my mind at doing my job and the game,” Julien said. “It was emotional, I think, to say the least, and when you see the highlights and when you see your players going around the ice with the Cup, I felt proud for them. Emotionally, it was tough for me. I kind of walked away for a while and came back and, you know, it just goes to show you the emotions that go into those things.

“Even seeing Mark Recchi and Hnidy that were here – you know, guys that really played big parts in different ways in helping us succeed – to see them with the group, and it was their last opportunity to be with the team, on the ice with them, those kind of things kind of hit home.”

But leave it to the Flyers to crash the Bruins’ party. Forwards Claude Giroux and Jakub Voracek each tallied a goal and netminder Ilya Brzygalov, Philly’s $51 million free-agent acquisition this offseason, stonewalled the B’s offense in the last two periods en route to a 2-1 victory before a raucous and sold-out crowd at the Garden.

By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

After missing virtually all of last season with an ankle injury, red-shirt freshman Yasin Cisse will take the ice at Agganis Arena for the first time during regular season play Saturday against the University of New Hampshire.

Cisse did not play in last Saturday's exhibition game due to a concussion, but he was cleared to play earlier this week and participated in full practices Wednesday and Thursday.

"Now that he’s healthy, he looks like a very good hockey player out there and I’m sure he’ll show that in games," coach Jack Parker said. "He’s a great body and he can get up and down the rink fast and he has huge hands. He could be a huge asset for us. It’s going to take him a while to pick up the speed of the game because he hasn’t played for two years, but I don’t think it will take him that long because he’s a great player.

As a member of the Des Moines Buccaneers of the United States Hockey League, Cisse scored 13 goals and notched 6 assists through 18 games of the 2009-10 season before he suffered a season-ending ankle injury that required surgery. Cisse played in an exhibition game against the University of Toronto and the season opener against the University of Wisconsin before re-injuring the same ankle.

According to Parker, the ankle was fixed differently when Cisse had a second surgery on it last season.

"I think he’s confident with [the way it was fixed]," Parker said. "I’m sure he’s worried about anything because he hasn’t taken bumps and been involved in physical play for two years. He doesn’t shy away at all, but he’ll be concerned every time he gets hit. That will take a while to realize, 'I’m all set.' We have to get some games under his belt and see how he feels."

To better view today's issue, click on "view in fullscreen" button to the right of where it says Scribd. The supplement starts on page 9. Enjoy!
DFP 10 6 All Merged

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

The University of Notre Dame, in a joint press conference with Hockey East and Boston University representatives, officially announced today that the Irish will join Hockey East beginning during the 2013-14 season.

The announcement comes as no surprise to many of those familiar with the situation after months of speculation and rumors.

“Hockey East is very proud, very excited to be part of the excitement going on with Notre Dame hockey,” said Hockey East commissioner Joe Bertagna.

With the coming demise of the Central College Hockey Association, Notre Dame had three options when it came to the future of its hockey program, according to director of athletics Jack Swarbrick: join the newly formed National Collegiate Hockey Conference, stand alone as an independent school or join Hockey East.

“There were pros and cons to each, but at the end of the day it was a clear one for us,” Swarbrick said.

The school decided to join Hockey East after weighing several factors, national exposure, the possibility for a large nonconference schedule and geographic/travel considerations among them.

Boston University athletic director Mike Lynch was on hand for the announcement, and headed a committee that looked into the expansion of the conference. After months of deliberation, the committee decided to extend an offer to Notre Dame to become Hockey East’s 11th member.

“We think we’ve made a great move in the right direction,” Lynch said, “and we are thrilled to welcome Notre Dame to Hockey East and look forward in many great years together in our conference.”

The committee took its time with the process, Lynch noted, to be sure it was making the right decision.

“We’re not going to be quick just to add for the sake of adding,’” Lynch said. “We wanted to find the right partner.”

On a similar note, Lynch also said Hockey East won’t necessarily be so quick to add a 12th team to even things out schedule-wise

“We’re letting the paint dry, so to speak,” Lynch said.

Boston University coach Jack Parker said it wouldn't be the end of the world if Hockey East decided to not add a 12th team, though it would make things easier for scheduling purposes. Either way, he's excited about the Irish because it adds another premier name to the Hockey East tradition.

“It lets the world know what Hockey East is all about,” Parker said. “If Notre Dame, who was being wooed by everybody to go to their league, chose what they thought was the best league for them, Hockey East, that’s a good feather in our cap.

“We like to see Hockey East teams vying for national championships. They’ll be adding to that for us because they’ll be vying for national championships and they’ll be doing it with a Hockey East logo on their shirt.”

Additionally, Parker was excited at the prospect of lowering the amount of Hockey East games in the team’s schedule each year in favor of several more nonconference matchups. He said this will happen whether or not Hockey East invites a 12th team.

“It’ll be good for all [Hockey East teams] to schedule nonleague competition,” Parker said. “Now it’ll be easier because the Big 10 only has six teams, the National Conference only has eight teams, they’ll be looking for games, so there’s going to be lots of games available to play.”

BU will visit South Bend, Ind. to play the Irish on Dec. 31.

This post has been updated to include quotes from Jack Parker.

By Meredith Perri/DFP Staff

The Boston University women’s hockey team has suffered a major loss as sophomore forward Marie-Philip Poulin will likely be out until around Christmas with an abdominal injury that she suffered this weekend, a team spokesperson said on Monday.

“We’re all sad for Marie-Philip,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “We all wish her the best health.

“Hockey is super important but I want people to have health for the next 50 or 60 years so we’ll keep our fingers crossed and hope everything comes back well.”

Poulin, who was the Hockey East Rookie of the Year last season, was injured during the third period of Saturday afternoon’s loss to the University of North Dakota when she was hit near the left circle by North Dakota’s goal. Poulin did not appear injured and was not helped off the ice.

In 28 games last season, Poulin was second on the team with 24 goals and 47 assists. She missed close to a month of play because of a broken hand.

“Most of the time, troops try to rally around something like this,” Durocher said. “We’ve got to look forward and do our best to fill her ice time with other exciting people who want to get out there and show good things for Boston University and themselves.”

By Tim Healey/DFP Staff

While the No. 10/6 Boston University men’s hockey team made the St. Francis Xavier X-Men look like real superheroes during most of a 6-4 loss Saturday night, a few of the younger Terriers showed some of their powers as well, albeit they weren’t quite super.

In their first time suiting up as Terriers, BU’s trio of class of 2015 members – defenseman Alexx Privitera and forwards Evan Rodrigues and Cason Hohmann – impressed their teammates and BU coach Jack Parker in the exhibition game at Agganis Arena. The latter in particular drew praise from the head coach, who is starting his 39th year at the helm.

“I thought both freshmen [forwards] played really well, and I thought Hohmann really played,” Parker said. “He took a couple bumps. He’s a very quick guy, and he’s going to create some offense for us.”

Junior forward Wade Megan, the only Terrier to get the puck by St. Francis goalie Joseph Perricone more than once, was the best forward on the ice, according to Parker, “even without the goals.”

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By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

In an exhibition game that morphed from a blowout to a tense affair because of four third period Terrier goals, the Boston University men’s ice hockey team fell to St. Francis Xavier University, 6-4, at Agganis Arena Saturday night.

The Terriers struggled immensely on special teams, giving up two short-handed goals, two power play goals and a 4-on-4 goal.

“It wasn’t the way we wanted to start the season,” said BU coach Jack Parker, “but I didn’t mind the end of the game, the way we came back in the third period.

“I thought the game was a mess for us because our defense as a whole did not defend and did not move the puck out of the zone very well. They looked like they were trying to get noticed, and they were getting noticed the wrong way.”

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By Arielle Aronson/DFP Staff

In a game that went from a blow-out to a tense affair because of four third period Terrier goals, the Boston University men's ice hockey team fell to St. Francis Xavier University, 6-4, in an exhibition game.

The XMen scored on BU early and often. Just 1:54 into the first period, the XMen cashed in short-handed when Bryce Swan beat BU goalie Kieran Millan on a 2-on-1. St. Francis doubled its lead less than four minutes later when Kevin Undershute dropped a pass to Brennen Wray, who scored stick-side.

It took just three more minutes for St. Francis to extend its lead. The XMen were on a power play as a result of a hitting after the whistle call on sophomore defenseman Adam Clendening. Millan failed to clear away a bouncing puck and Undershute capitalized, sneaking it behind the goalie to make it 3-0 St. Francis.

Six minutes into the second period, the XMen earned their second power-play tally of the night when Nick Pageau rocketed a shot through Millan’s five-hole. Millan started to look better as the period went on, but with just 20 seconds remaining in the frame, a Max Nicastro turnover in the offensive zone proved costly as Jason Bast took the puck the other way and beat Millan easily to increase the lead to 5-0.

But the Terriers took over in the third period. Junior defenseman Ben Rosen notched the Terriers’ first goal when his shot caromed off a defenseman’s leg and past St. Francis goalie Joseph Perricone.

Freshman defenseman Alexx Privitera scored his first goal in a BU jersey when he banged home a backhander off a Connolly rebound 12:13 into the third period.

Junior forward Wade Megan tightened the score to 5-3 late in the third period when he raced in on a 3-on-1 and flicked a puck over Perricone’s ankle for the tally. Megan brought BU within a goal with 2:42 remaining in the game when he shoved a centering pass from assistant captain Alex Chiasson past Perricone.

St. Francis, however, scored an empty net goal with 1.4 seconds left in the game to narrowly escape with the 6-4 victory.