Hot and Cold

The Colby Cohen Story

I want to like Colby Cohen.  I really do. And there are plenty of reasons to like the kid.  He's enthusiastic and driven.  Whenever I've seen him doing interviews or talking to people outside of hockey, he's been very nice.  When I met him personally in DC after his game winning goal he seemed excited and humble, and was very generous with his time to take pictures and talk to fans.  In short, he seems like a good guy.

Add to that the fact that Cohen has a ridiculous shot from the point.  There are few collegiate defenseman who can even be put in the same class with that shot, and when Cohen is able to control the puck and uncork one of his rockets, as he was on Saturday for the game winning goal, it spells trouble for the opposition.

Unfortunately, an exceptional shot isn't the only part of Cohen's game that is on display every time he takes the ice. 


Cohen's puck handling at the point can be described as inconsistent at best.  Seriously, at absolute best.  My friends and I actually amused ourselves in the seats last year by counting the number of times Cohen allowed pucks to slip past him and skip past the blue line into the neutral zone, forcing the Terriers to reset on the power play. 

The world is a crazy place, but there are five things I am absolutely certain of.  The sun will rise, the sun will set, you will have to pay taxes, you will someday die, and Colby Cohen will mis-handle the puck at the point in at least one big moment of every game that he plays.  I would be willing to bet you that it would be much more than one.

Cohen is also making a habit of mailing in his passes, and often putting them on the stick of opposing players.  On Saturday night, his poor passing created an odd man rush going the other way.  Cohen clearly understood his mistake, as he smashed his stick on the glass on his way back to the bench.

Then there are the penalties.  His numbers are slightly skewed because of the ten minute whistle he took for a scrum after the whistle in Merrimack on Friday, but Cohen is currently second on the Terriers in penalty minutes with 28 through 9 games.  When things go bad for Cohen and the Terriers, his play often gets a bit chippy, and he takes unneccessary penalties.

Without fail, he makes me yell, scream and pull my hair out.  Sometimes, I cry a little bit.

But somehow, some way, Colby Cohen makes you eat your words every single time.

Immediately after my fit of rage regarding his almost costly turnover ended, I said aloud, "Now watch the guy turn around and score a goddamn goal." 

And wouldn't you know, just moments later, BU got a power play opportunity, Bonino and Shattenkirk cycled the puck to Cohen on the left point.  He didn't waste time trying to settle the puck, and he didn't give himself a minute to think about the situation.  He ripped a perfectly placed one-timer past Joe Cannata for the eventual game winner.

And think about this; Colby Cohen has scored the game winning goal for BU in three of their last four victories.  He put home the winning goal on Saturday, scored in overtime for the win on the road in Lowell, and way back in April put BU on top of the hockey world with his fluttering shot against Miami.  In BU's other win, Cohen scored the Terriers' second goal against Michigan, which put them up 2-0 at the time. 

In short,  in the last ten games, BU has only won when Colby Cohen has scored a goal.

And that's what makes Cohen so frustrating.  He is a very talented player.  And it's not a case of un-tapped potential either.  Cohen has shown flashes of brilliant offensive firepower in his time at BU, and early this year was playing a very tough, physical defense without taking bad penalties.  But all of sudden, inexplicably, Cohen slides into his old ways and puts distance between his high points.

I am rooting for Colby Cohen, and it's not only because BU can seemingly only win when he finds the net. 

I am rooting for Colby Cohen because I genuinely want him to succeed.  Consistently.

That, and I'm tired of screaming.