men’s ICe HOCKeY 2017-18 mIDseAsOn neWsLeTTeR fROm COACH QUInn’s DesK Dear Friends, The first half of the season is officially behind us, so I thought it would be a great time to reach out to provide some insight into the past few months. It certainly hasn’t gone the way we expected with an 8-10-1 record overall and 6-6-1 in Hockey East. This season has been a roller coaster ride to say the least as we are splitting games almost every weekend. That being said, the coaching staff is every bit as optimistic about the year as we were in September. Over the last three weeks we’ve made some changes and we feel like we have found some chemistry up front. One of the first moves we made was to shift Jordan Greenway to center, which has helped elevate his game. We also put Bobo Carpenter back at center, a change that has really strengthened us down the middle. Bobo has had a great first half as he leads our team in goals and been a great penalty killer. We rely on him in all situations and he is poised to have a great second half. Finally, we decided to move Chase Phelps to center and he has adapted well to the switch. Greenway has been playing with Brady Tkachuk and Drew Melanson, a line that has played very well. Shane Bowers has been centering Logan Cockerill and Patrick Harper over the last month, another line that has been very productive. We’ve paired Bobo with Hank Crone, Ty Amonte and Patrick Curry from time to time, which has proven to be effective. Nik Olsson has been playing wing with Phelps as we have rotated Gabe Chabot and Ryan Cloonan on the other wing, giving us an effective fourth line over the past few games. We have gone from the second-lowest scoring team in the league to the highest scoring team in the league over the last month, so we are very excited about what these lines will look like as the second half gets underway. With more time together, we will continue to grow offensively. On the back end, we feel that we have nine defenseman that can all help us and not many teams can say that. Chad Krys is the leading scoring defenseman in Hockey East and Dante Fabbro not only might be the best all-around defenseman in the league, but you could make a case for him being our first-half MVP. The three senior defenseman have all played huge roles in our success over REMAINING the last three years and will have to play their best hockey during the second half if we REGULAR-SEASON are going to have the season we all expect. Brandon Hickey has had a couple of injuries over the last month, so we’re hoping he can stay healthy to lead this young group. The SCHEDULE three freshmen have done a very good job adapting to college hockey as Cam Crotty, Kasper Kotkansalo and David Farrance have all played big minutes and have done very well. Shane 1/5 - U.S. U18 TEAM Switzer has been out with an injury and may miss the remainder of the season. We expect 1/6 - MAINE our defensemen to be a group that can play at a fast pace to get us out of our zone quickly and also help us be the transition team we know we are capable of being. We get into 1/12 - at UNH trouble when we slow the game down and that is something that we continue to work on. I 1/13 - PROVIDENCE thought our best game of the year in those areas was our 9-3 win over Lowell last weekend. 1/19 - at Merrimack We got out of our zone quickly and our transition game was as good as it has been all season. Our team speed and playing fast will be the key to our success moving forward. Our 1/20 - MERRIMACK best games have been when we don’t allow the other teams to slow us down and let them 1/26 - at Arizona St. get into their defensive structure in the neutral zone. It was a big reason why we won the 1/27 - at Arizona St. Lowell game in the fashion that we did. 2/2 - at UMass In goal, Jake Oettinger has had a solid first half and is now with the U.S. World Junior 2/5 - Harvard (Beanpot) team. Max Prawdzik appeared in two games the first half of the season and played well. 2/9 - MASSACHUSETTS There is no question that our goaltending will be strong moving forward. Both Jake and Max work as hard as anyone on our team and give us a chance every night. We all know you 2/12 - Beanpot can’t win without goaltending and we feel we can win with either guy in the net. 2/16 - at UConn 2/17 - at Merrimack It has been a frustrating first half to say the least, but the good news is it’s a hockey 2/23 - VERMONT season, not a hockey half. This team’s story will be written based on what happens from October to April, rather than October to December. The guys can’t wait for the second half 2/24 - VERMONT to start and neither can I. All home games in CAPS Thanks so much for your continued support of the program, it truly means a great deal. Happy holidays to everyone, hope to see you at Agganis Arena next on Friday, January 5th. To purchase tickets for all games at Agganis Arena, click here. MEN’S ICE HOCKEY MIDSEASON NEWSLETTER 2 JOIn Us In BeLfAsT In 2018! FOLLOW US ON SOCIAL MEDIA Terriers, Happy Holidays from Boston University! @TerrierHockey Thanks for your support of our Men’s Ice Hockey program – it means so much to us that you are part of our team. Simply, our program wouldn’t be what it is without the great support we receive from our Friends of Hockey and season-ticket holders. Now that the first semester of play has concluded, we are looking forward to the rest of this season – and want to take a moment to look beyond. With that in mind, we want to extend a special invitation for you to join us next year when our team travels to Northern Ireland to play two games Thanksgiving weekend @TerrierHockey in the 2018 Belfast Friendship Four. At the same time we have been working on the team’s itinerary, we have also partnered with a travel agency with BU connections to create a few customized special fan packages for this trip. Each package includes ground transportation, hotel accommodations, sightseeing opportunities, a Thanksgiving dinner gala, a pregame reception and tickets to the games against UConn and either Union or Yale. This will be the fourth consecutive year that Hockey East has sent two schools to participate in the Friendship Four, and all of them have raved about the experience and accommodations in Belfast. @TerrierHockey You can find the details, itineraries and booking form atGoTerriers.com/FriendshipFour . There are 6-night and 3-night package options, or you can customize your own trip length. The agency also is finalizing direct flight options from Boston, Hartford, New York City (JFK), Newark, Washington, D.C. (Dulles), and Toronto, and can assist with itineraries from other destinations. As you are considering holiday gifts, we wanted to tell you about this as soon as possible terrier-hockey so you and your family or friends can plan ahead to join us for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If you have any questions, please contact Cara Group Travel at 617- 639-0273. Happy Holidays, and Go BU! BUAthletics 2018 Belfast Friendship Four Friday, Nov. 23 BU vs. UConn Saturday, Nov. 24 BU vs. Union/Yale MEN’S ICE HOCKEY MIDSEASON NEWSLETTER 3 TeRRIeRs In THe PROs STARTING STRONG Sixteen former Terrier standouts have played in at least one NHL game this season: Two standouts from our Nick Bonino – Nashville Predators 2016-17 team - Clayton Alex Chiasson – Washington Capitals Keller (Arizona Coyotes) Adam Clendening – Arizona Coyotes Charlie Coyle – Minnesota Wild and Charlie McAvoy Jack Eichel – Buffalo Sabres (Boston Bruins) - are A.J. Greer – Colorado Avalanche off to strong starts as Eric Gryba – Edmonton Oilers rookies in the NHL and Matt Grzelcyk – Boston Bruins have been identified as Clayton Keller – Arizona Coyotes candidates for the Calder Charlie McAvoy – Boston Bruins Trophy, given to the top Wade Megan – St. Louis Blues rookie in the league. Matt Nieto – Colorado Avalanche Danny O’Regan – San Jose Sharks Keller was named the Evan Rodrigues – Buffalo Sabres NHL Rookie of the Month Kevin Shattenkirk – New York Rangers for October, becoming Colin Wilson – Colorado Avalanche the first Terrier since Tony Amonte in 1991-92 Twelve others were in NHL training camps: to receive the monthly Robbie Baillargeon – Washington / South Carolina Stingrays (ECHL) award, and currently Kieffer Bellows – NY Islanders / Portland Winterhawks (WHL) leads the Coyotes in Chris Bourque – Washington / Hershey Bears (AHL) points and goals. Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson – Boston / Providence Bruins (AHL) Matt Lane – NY Islanders / Worcester Railers (ECHL) The Bruins have thrown Sean Maguire – Pittsburgh / Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (AHL) McAvoy right into the John McCarthy – San Jose / San Jose Barracuda (AHL) mix and, by a large Matt O’Connor – Nashville / Milwaukee Admirals (AHL) margin, he currently J.J. Piccinich – Toronto / Orlando Solar Bears (ECHL) leads all rookies in Doyle Somerby – Columbus / Cleveland Monsters (AHL) average ice time Brian Strait – New Jersey / Binghamton Devils (AHL) with over 23 minutes David Warsofsky – Colorado / San Antonio Rampage (AHL) per game.