BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

[wysi]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Seems to me like some of you old timers don't like how times have changed.

Well, as someone else pointed out, it's not quite clear that they have changed that much. The '90-'91 team (26 years ago!) was the best and most exciting BU team I ever got to see, and they lost a ton of talent early. Of course, that was back in the day when the US Olympic team was made up from college players, so we knew every four years that we would be losing some guys (McEachern, Tkachuk, and Lachance left BU at the end of that season to play for the Olympic squad).

However, having said that it does feel different these days. Nowadays if you recruit a kid who is as promising as Chris Drury (for example) you're probably not thinking he's going to be there for four years. At this rate, it doesn't look like anyone is going to knock John Cullen off his throne anytime soon.

[Sean Pickett]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Well, as someone else pointed out, it's not quite clear that they have changed that much. The '90-'91 team (26 years ago!) was the best and most exciting BU team I ever got to see, and they lost a ton of talent early. Of course, that was back in the day when the US Olympic team was made up from college players, so we knew every four years that we would be losing some guys (McEachern, Tkachuk, and Lachance left BU at the end of that season to play for the Olympic squad).

You got me thinking so I looked to see how many players left BU early after every season since the start of Hockey East. I included all players who played in at least one game (i.e., Erik Udahl is not included in last season's count) and were not on the team the following season if they had eligibility left, except players who missed a season but returned to the team the following season.

Season - Left Early
1984-85 - 2
1985-86 - 0
1986-87 - 7
1987-88 - 0
1988-89 - 8
1989-90 - 1
1990-91 - 6
1991-92 - 3
1992-93 - 1
1993-94 - 2
1994-95 - 0
1995-96 - 4
1996-97 - 3
1997-98 - 2
1998-99 - 5
1999-00 - 2
2000-01 - 1
2001-02 - 0
2002-03 - 1
2003-04 - 4
2004-05 - 3
2005-06 - 0
2006-07 - 0
2007-08 - 1
2008-09 - 2
2009-10 - 4
2010-11 - 2
2011-12 - 5
2012-13 - 5
2013-14 - 3
2014-15 - 6
2015-16 - 5

Sean

[smyler3]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

What was the deal with 88-89?

[srsterrier]

What was the deal with 88-89?

It wasn't any one thing. In some cases, there were some attitude issues (the Lappin brothers). In the case of Matt Pesklewis, it was an injury. Overall, it was addition by subtraction because the team improved dramatically the following season. It was too bad about Pesklewis though; he was a good guy who played hard every shift.

[chickod]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

I think Sean's greater point is that the "leaving early" thing is not anything new...it's been going on for a long time. Which, of course, begs the question: Parker was still able to "absorb" these losses and maintain an elite program. What has change? (not speculating...just throwing it out there)

[Agganis]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Parker was still able to "absorb" these losses and maintain an elite program. What has change? (not speculating...just throwing it out there)

In terms of winning percentage and NCAA tournament qualification the past 3 years (including this one) are the best 3 consecutive years by BU since 1995-96 through 1997-98.

If anything the change is BU is now better at "absorbing" these losses than in the final decade and a half of Parker IMO.

[Tater]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Which, of course, begs the question: Parker was still able to "absorb" these losses and maintain an elite program.

One Frozen Four in Parker's last 15 years constitutes an elite program? Could've fooled me.

[brassbonanza]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

The attrition, especial mid-season, during Parker's 09-10 through 12-13 years was significant and in the case of one team, left them barely able to dress a full roster. The most frustrating part at the time was so many of those that left were not for lack of playing time or roster space. Cisse, Coyle, Myron, Glass, Privitera, Saponari - all left for attitude/off-ice/didn't like his spot issues, and all did so very abruptly. The teams he was left with there were hardly elite.

[smyler3]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

I think Sean's greater point is that the "leaving early" thing is not anything new...it's been going on for a long time. Which, of course, begs the question: Parker was still able to "absorb" these losses and maintain an elite program. What has change? (not speculating...just throwing it out there)

Piling on a bit here, but...WTH is your definition of 'elite'? Never losing? 18 & 19 year olds not making mistakes?

[chickod]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Piling on a bit here, but...WTH is your definition of 'elite'? Never losing? 18 & 19 year olds not making mistakes?

Got what I was looking for...some early-week "stimulation" for the thread. But seriously, not "never losing" (that's ridiculous). Yes, the one "Frozen Four" since '95 I know is a bone of contention...but there were several near misses and the program was always considered one of the best in the country. There are only four schools with more national championships:

Michigan - 9

North Dakota - 8

Denver- 7

Wisconsin - 6

My only point was this. Yes, there were approximately similar numbers of players "leaving early." But there seemed to be more consistency with the rest of the roster - more stability and not as much turnover. Maybe I'm wrong (and I'm sure Sean will have the data) and my memory is not quite correct. But who's job is it to mitigate this?

Look at Penn State this year. They were #1 for a good part of the season. Lately, they have dropped off the map. So is it "overconfidence?" "Lack of motivation?" Not continuing to work hard? Teams suddenly realizing that they have to take them seriously? There are so many intangibles, and all I'm asking is if GQ has done a reasonable job of managing these, given the expectations. I'm really not trying to be "critical" as much as just searching for opinions. I think most of us can agree the team has seemed to have "underachieved." But if you don't agree with that assessment, feel free to comment!

EDIT: I should have said "One 'Frozen Four' in PARKER'S last 15 years" instead of 'one Frozen Four since '95'

[chickod]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

And admittedly, a lot of this is just "impatience" with the fact that it's a long season and they can't play "well" every night. In reality, only time will tell and the important games are yet to be played. Let's see what happens this weekend and how they respond. It's hard to envision not getting to at least the HE semis, which would probably lock up a #2 NCAA seed. They seemed to play two good periods Saturday night, so hopefully things are trending in the right direction. Another point to consider is that "elite" players tend to play better (are more into the game) when the bright lights are on - so let's see if that is the case here. And, to that point, I wonder how much the Beanpot has lost its lustre, especially with a larger percentage of the roster from outside Massachusetts? In other words, I'm not sure that the "performance" in the Beanpot final is necessarily an indicator of how this team will play in other "big games." But we're about to find out...

[buoldtimer]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

It wasn't any one thing. In some cases, there were some attitude issues (the Lappin brothers). In the case of Matt Pesklewis, it was an injury. Overall, it was addition by subtraction because the team improved dramatically the following season. It was too bad about Pesklewis though; he was a good guy who played hard every shift.

Matt Pesklewis references are rare, indeed.

[ericredaxe]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Let's not lose sight of the fact that we are 4-2-1 in our last 7 games with the two losses being to top 10 teams.

[chickod]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Let's not lose sight of the fact that we are 4-2-1 in our last 7 games with the two losses being to top 10 teams.

Absolutely true. I'm just commenting on the apparent "lack of focus" for large chunks of games (see Merrimack games, Lowell game, Harvard game, most of 1st UNH game). Not saying that this can be avoided...perhaps in today's game where every game seems to have more importance because of the PWR, we are losing sight of the fact that the most important games are yet to come and maybe that focus will "improve" as we move towards the end of the season.

[Tater]

Re: BU 2017 Season Thread II: Terriers rising

Let's not lose sight of the fact that we are 4-2-1 in our last 7 games with the two losses being to top 10 teams.

True, and we shouldn't lose sight of that. However, playing that game, BU is 4-4-1 in the last 9 including 2 bad losses to Merrimack. In the 2 losses to top ten teams you mention, BU was not even competitive. We can all see with our own eyes that BU has not been playing up to their potential as of late.

The second half of Saturday's game does leave us some optimism and I hope the offensive improvement can be sustained. On the other hand, going from a solid defensive team to giving up 14 goals in the last 3 games is a bit alarming. Not much time to put it all together and this weekend might be a good barometer of where this team is going.