January
12, 2007
Leadership
Changes At Boston College
By
Jeff Howe
Boston College senior Brian Boyle turned down
a fat NHL paycheck last summer to come back to school. But
when coming back to school didn't exactly equate in going
to classes, BC coach Jerry York decided to strip the captain
"C" from Boyle's jersey.
Hockey
East Notebook
BC's Joe Rooney (pictured) doesn't sport an 'A' on
his sweater anymore, after coach Jerry York changed
the Eagles' leadership group due to poor class attendance.
The decision was made during the Eagles' holiday
hiatus. York also came down on senior Joe Rooney, who lost
his assistant captain "A" for the same reason.
"It was strictly an academic issue, and
the academic issue was that both Joe and Brian weren't going
to class to my liking," York said. "They're eligible,
institutionally. There were no felonies committed. There
were no problems other than they were not going to class
to give us a great effort.
"I've always stressed with our team,
and our captains especially, that they have to be leaders
on the ice and off the ice. I think both are having fine
years hockey-wise, but they've got to show us a great effort
off the ice.
"Both are disappointed that they haven't
given us the effort academically that we all expect here.
It's better to be straight and honest and up front with
the media because then they think, 'Is it a drug issue,
a police charge?' It's nothing like that. Strictly, in my
feeling to be a leader, to wear a 'C,' you have to show
a great effort academically.
"If you're not an A-student, that's fine,
but work hard academically like you work hard in hockey.
There is a correlation between leadership that carries on
off the ice as well as on the ice."
York said he would rethink his decision and
possibly reinstate the captains if they improve during the
second semester. He plans on checking in closely with their
professors to make sure they attend class, and he may make
a decision in time for the Beanpot.
Rooney is Boston College's leader with 20
points and 12 assists. He is tied for second with eight
goals. Boyle has seven goals and nine assists for 16 points,
third-highest on the team. He scored 22 goals and had 30
assists in a breakout junior season, though 18 of his goals
came after the new year.
York said the decision had nothing to do with
trying to jumpstart his players on the ice, but rather to
improve them as people off of it.
"It doesn't do anything to his hockey,
but it will make him a better person," York said. "It
won't affect his hockey one way or the other. Practicing
hockey, skill level, watching tape, that will make you a
better hockey player. This will make you a better person."
SEEN AND HEARD IN HOCKEY EAST
UMass goalie scores game-winner:
When people ask UMass goalie Jon Quick how he scored his
goal in Saturday night's 4-2 win over Merrimack, they tend
to get one of two answers.
Let's start with the fun version.
"They dumped it in," Quick began.
"They had two forecheckers. I toe-dragged the first
one, toe-dragged the second one, and fired it home."
Alexander Ovechkin, eat your heart out.
But this isn't Xbox, and Quick isn't about
to get invited to the ESPY Awards.
Referee Jeff Bunyon raised his arm to signify
a holding penalty on Chris Davis in the second period so
Merrimack pulled goalie Patrick Watson in favor of an extra
skater. Defenseman Derek Pallardy was working with the puck
behind Quick and sent a pass toward the top of the zone
but missed his target by a few feet. So there went the puck,
some 200 feet down the ice and into the vacated Warrior
net to give UMass a 3-1 lead.
Quick made a save moments before and was the
last UMass player to touch the puck, making it his goal.
"I'll take what I can get," Quick
said. "I really didn't even know what to think. I thought
it was kind of funny that I actually got a goal even though
it happened in a weird way."
But when Matt Jones scored Merrimack's second
goal with 1:55 remaining in the third period, Quick's lamp
lighter became the game-winner.
"That makes it a little bit better,"
Quick said. "[Merrimack] scored a goal with a couple
minutes left in the game, and a couple kids have accused
me of letting it in on purpose. It's kind of funny how it
turned out."
Quick, who said he last scored when he was
six years old, expects to get a little more involved in
the offensive system.
"Maybe we'll work that Mighty Ducks play
into the playbook where the goalie skates up to the red
line and does the knuckle puck, but I don't know if that's
in the near future," he said with a laugh.
Quick has now scored more goals than teammates
Mike Kostka, Justin Braun, Jordan Virtue, Zech Klann, Topher
Bevis, David Leaderer, Scott Crowder, Kevin Maresco, Patrick
Dineen, Sam D'Agostino, John Wessbecker, Brett Watson and
backup goalie Dan Meyers combined.
Parker reaches milestone:
It was a new day and a new milestone for Jack Parker Friday
night. The Terriers beat Providence 5-1 on the road, and
it marked Parker's 750th career win as well as all-time
win No. 1,300 for Boston University.
"It kind of shocked me that I had more
than half the wins," Parker said with a laugh. "Anybody
that gets up to these numbers always makes the same comments.
We're just fortunate enough to be coaching at a school that
kept us around a long time and put emphasis on the sport.
… It's strictly longevity more than anything else.
And great players and getting great players there."
A pair of Parker's friends in Hockey East
weighed in on their colleague's accomplishments.
"He is clearly a great coach and a great
leader, but 750 at one institution is mind boggling,"
said UMass coach Don Cahoon, who played for and coached
under Parker at BU. "It just blows my mind to have
750 at one institution, to have that type of focus and have
that much success to have that type of focus."
"It's terrific," BC coach Jerry
York said. "He's joined the old men's club with [Michigan
State coach] Rick Comley and I. It's terrific longevity
for all three of us stay in the game this long and hopefully
contribute at our institutions, and it's great for the game
in general. Certainly, we're all proud of our accomplishments."
Lowell goes old school: The
River Hawks, celebrating their 40th season of hockey, hosted
their "Back to the Forum Weekend" last weekend.
UMass Lowell hosted its two-game series with Maine at the
old Tully Forum (now known as the Chelmsford Forum), where
the program played for 18 years.
The hosts dressed in their throwback ULowell
Chiefs jerseys before a pair of sellout crowds, and the
River Hawks inducted the 1979, 1981 and 1982 Division II
national championship teams into the athletic Hall of Fame
during the second intermission of the series finale.
"It was a tremendous atmosphere,"
Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald said. "It's a real feather
in the cap for our athletic director who went through an
awful lot of work to make this happen. Having the three
national champions back was great. That's what we're trying
to do. We're trying to have some responsibility for the
legacy that those teams left and created here at the Division
II level."
MacDonald didn't rule out the possibility
of returning to Tully for similar events in the future.
"I think it gives us something to look
at for sure," MacDonald said. "There are a lot
of logistic problems and a lot of work that goes into that
weekend. We really like our Tsongas Arena, but it will make
us take a close look at that."
The River Hawks' current home, the Tsongas
Arena, opened on Jan. 28, 1998, when current Maine coach
Tim Whitehead was Lowell's bench boss. Maine swept the series.
Great Weekend Getaway
BU
at Maine (Fri.-Sat.)
The Terriers are 3-0-1 against the Black Bears since
the beginning of last season, and the two squads tied
2-2 in Boston Nov. 4. BU has struggled to score this
season, but put together 15 goals in a four-game stretch
(3-0-1) before skating to a scoreless tie with Northeastern
Saturday night. Maine is in the midst of a four-game
winning streak and eight-game unbeaten streak (7-0-1)
since dropping three in a row to close out November.
While You’re There: We've
recommended it before but have since found something
new to try at the Bear Brew Pub in Orono. First, the
blueberry beer is worth the four-hour trip from Boston
alone. Second, get a buffalo chicken pizza, and order
the hottest flavor available. If you can get through
it, we salute you … seriously.
Stick
Salute
Going back
to Tully Forum – or the Chelmsford Forum if
that's what they feel like calling it now (even though
it's in Billerica) – to watch Lowell play Maine
last weekend was a great experience. Tully was the
first place this writer ever witnessed a college hockey
game.
Bench
Minor
Things got
a bit chippy between Lowell and Maine Saturday afternoon.
As the buzzer sounded to end the second period, Bret
Tyler cross-checked Jason Tejchma in the throat, and
Tejchma responded by striking Tyler in the head with
his stick. Typically, these are two of the nicest
guys in the league, too. All of this went unnoticed
by the officiating crew. We understand that this is
hockey, guys, but let's try not to kill anyone while
you're out there.
FRIES AT THE BOTTOM OF THE BAG
• Providence coach Tim Army on the correlation
of music and his team's poor start: "I'm a Beatles
fan, so I have two songs in mind," Army began. "One
is 'Help.' And I'm hopeful that 'Here Comes the Sun' is
our song for the second half of the year."
Providence is 4-15-1 overall and 3-9-1 in Hockey East, just
a point ahead of Lowell and Merrimack who sit tied in last
place.
Little darling, it's been a long, cold, lonely winter…
• The last non-Beanpot, non-conference
game takes place Saturday night at Manchester's Verizon
Wireless Arena between New Hampshire and intrastate rival
Dartmouth. The Big Green rallied for five straight goals
to beat UNH 9-8 two years ago, and UNH answered Dartmouth's
last-minute goal with one of its own to win last year's
contest, 5-4. Never a dull moment.
• Northeastern rallied from a 2-0 hole
to beat Boston College 3-2 in overtime Friday night. BC
entered the third period with a 2-1 lead, marking the first
time in 65 tries the Eagles lost a game in which they entered
the final frame with a lead.
• Boston University is 7-1-4 when scoring
at least two goals this season, but the Terriers are 1-3-2
when they don't.
• Maine returns home this weekend for
the first time since Dec. 1 (excluding its exhibition contest
with New Brunswick on Dec. 6), a span of 42 days. The Black
Bears went 5-0-1 in their time away from Alfond.
• Former Lowell goalie Dwayne Roloson,
who now minds the net for the Edmonton Oilers, was named
Goalie of the Year by Goalie World magazine.
• Northeastern split its season series
with Boston College for the first time since the 1997-98
season.
• Providence senior Tony Zancanaro has
played in 130 consecutive games.
A variety of sources were utilized in
the compilation of this report. Jeff Howe can be reached
at jeff@insidecollegehockey.com.
