Post Game Reactions: January 2

BU 7 -- UMass Minutemen 3


What a way to kick off the un-official second half of the year for BU.

Jack Parker is a wily man, and he's known for his ridiculous winters, especially recently.  He's not a stupid man, and he knows when games matter and when they don't.  And by no means am I saying that Jackie has the puzzle that is his 09-10 club figured out completely, but I do think it's possible.

Plenty of times Parker has used October through December as a means to figure his team out, see who works well together, and which lines are most effective.  Then after Christmas, all of a sudden, his team is freakin' unstoppable.

BU certainly looked unstoppable against UMass on Saturday.  Read game recaps from The FreeP, GoTerriers, Boston Globe, Boston Herald, USCHO, a nice feature on the BU Power Play from WTBU Sports, and of course the box score.

You can also go check out the video highlights.

Also, hear the Cohen Brothers speak after the win.



Now, for some thoughts on the game.



The Curious Case of Colby Cohen


It's no secret that Colby Cohen has one of the best shots from the point in all of college hockey.  When he unloads a rocket from the blue line, it always has a shot to find the back of the net.  We all know this. But perhaps due to a predictable power play approach, Colby had struggled mightily at times to retain possession of the puck at the point on the power play.

In this game, Parker changed things up on the man advantage.  Colby thinks this helped, as he said after the game “Before teams were sitting up top on me and Shatty, and now I’m down low.  Shatty gave me that pass tonight, and I think I put it off the post and Bonino buried the rebound. It definitely frees things up.”


No matter what the change was, I like it.  Colby looked like a new man on the ice on Saturday.  I simply cannot say enough about how impressive he was in this first game of 2010.  It's exciting to think that he may be playing to the potential we all know he has, but has been unable to fully reach to this point.

Smile, Colby

I've been tough on Colby, both on this blog and at the games.  It's partially because he's played some games like he was a blind person, but it's also because I know he can do so much better.  And now he may finally be reaching that potential.


BU's first goal came when every Terrier on the ice touched the puck and Colby slammed on off the post that Bonino put home.  Colby then assisted Zach's first goal of the night.  He went on to score one of his patented bombs from the point that nearly ripped a hole in the twine.  Colby finished off his four point night with another one-timer haymaker from the point on the other end of the ice to put BU at 6 on the night.  


2010:  The Year of Colby Cohen




Zach Attack


The other half of the Cohen Brothers also had a huge performance on Saturday.  This comes as no surprise.  Zach Cohen has been "emerging" for so long that it's definitely fair to declare him as one of the two offensive threats for opposing teams to game plan for when they face BU.

Zach scored his 7th and 8th goals of the year against UMass.  His first was a Rambo, one man band type of goal, a wrap around stuff in that he seems to have picked up from Nick Bonino.  His second was thanks to some nice positioning, as he tipped home a long shot from Trivino.


He also assisted on another goal on the night.




The Cohen Brothers


This may sound like beating a dead horse at this point, but there is no overstating the impact these two had on the game.  Colby and Zach combined for 7 points in the game, and played solid hockey all around.  




Touchdown Terriers


An even seven goals was a sight for sore eyes for the Terriers and their fans in the first game in about 3 weeks.  Maybe it was the time off that energized the offense, maybe it was continued beatings from Coach Parker, or maybe it was the realization that they were stinking up the joint for three months.  Either way, they came out flying on Saturday, and the energy level stayed high until the final buzzer.


Seven goals is the team high this season.  They scored six goals twice, against Harvard and Merrimack.  The Ice Dogs average just 3.00 goals per game.


Whether or not this elevated offense will become the norm, that remains to be seen.  But the return of BU football was nice for a day at least.




Chippy Willy


Whatever Will Ortiz said about whoever's mother didn't sit well with the Terriers.  


Near the end of the contest Ortiz of the Minutemen got into it before and after the whistle with numerous Terriers, notably Kevin Shattenkirk and Sean Escobedo.  Even after the game ended, Ortiz continued to yap at the referees.  Ortiz did score his 9th goal of the season at the 9:09 mark of the 3rd.


The two teams meet again on January 29 at Agganis, and based on the venom both sides were spitting, there should be some bad blood spilled when they face off again.




Gryba Score!


The big defenseman scored while fighting off a 6 on 3 late in the game.  Gryba out-muscled All-American James Marcou in the right corner of the Terriers' zone, and fired the puck from his own goal line down into the UMass end.  The puck slid all the way into the Minuteman net for the 7th goal of the day for BU, and the longest goal of Gryba's career, from about 185 feet away.  




Powerful Power Play


Six chances, three goals.  BU spent their Christmas vacation tweaking and perfecting their power play, and it worked in this one.  On six power plays, BU looked utterly dominant, scoring three goals on ten shots.  As Parker said after the game, “Same unit, same five guys.  We change their positions a little bit, and that gives [Vinny] Saponari to get in the crease and set up a good screen.”


A little change, and a lot of goals.  




Baby Steps


With the win, Kieran Millan improved to 4-9-0 on the season.  It wasn't perfect, but it was certainly a better effort from the Terriers' goaltender.  He looked a bit more comfortable between the pipes.  The jury is still out on whether or not he has solved his early season issues.




We're Halfway There


The long break certainly made it feel like the start of the second half, but technically it was just the end of the first.  The win on Saturday was BU's 17th regular season contest, and there are exactly 17 games left on the docket, including Beanpot contests.  As we know, they were 5-9-3 in the first half.  It can only go up from here.




Frozen Fenway


Next up is the outdoor game against Boston College at Fenway Park on Friday Night.  Don't worry, that's all we're going to talk about this week.