Thanks For the Memories: Vinny Saponari

This is the third of a six eight part series saying goodbye to Terriers who are moving on from Boston University. We'll look back at the best moments in the collegiate careers of each Terrier bidding adieu to Commonwealth Avenue.

Now it's time to reflect on the career of the other Saponari brother, the one who actually played, and truly showed a ton of ability and promise as he came into his own as a more important piece of the team.

Vinny Saponari came to BU as a highly touted prospect, coming from the National Talent Development Program.  Playing for the USA-18 team, Vinny had a chance to come play against his future team in the arena that was surely a hefty motivating factor for his decision to come to BU.  In that game, Vinny gave fans a taste of his ability, scoring a goal in that first trip to Agganis.

Saponari Was the 94th Overall Pick For Atlanta in the 2008 Entry Draft

Add his USA resume to the fact that he was a relatively highly touted NHL prospect (Hockey's Future ranked him as the #10 Thrashers' prospect in 2009) and you had a player that Terrier Faithful were pretty excited about.

And for a time, Vinny delivered.  After a strong rookie season, Vinny returned for his sophomore year even better, flourishing as a vital piece of an offense that lost so many pieces to the NHL.  Over the course of the 2009-2010 season, Vinny developed a litany of offensive skills, and really improved his strength while carrying the puck.  However, in a bizarre turn of events, he was abruptly released from the team, leaving a gaping hole where there should have been goals for the next two seasons.

Saponari's freshman year started off with a bang.  In his first seven games in the Scarlet and White, Saponari impressed with 2 goals and 2 assists.  Perhaps more eye-opening was his effort against Michigan in which he was booted from the game for fighting with Wolverine Brian Lebler.  In a statement game for BU over the fourth ranked team in the nation, Vinny made a statement of his own; he would be a force on this team.

Saponari's First Collegiate Goal at the :25 Second Mark

Vinny would spend his freshman year on a very successful line of three first-year players.  Along with Chris Connolly and Corey Trivino, Saponari announced that a new era of Terrier Hockey at arrived, just in time to accept the torch from the prolific offense that would graduate in the spring.

By the time the year was out, Saponari would tally 8 goals and 9 assists, an impressive line for a player on a freshman line often buried by the team's high scoring upper-classmen. 

The biggest goal of Vinny's first year came in the second to last contest of the year in Washington, D.C. against UVM.  With the Terriers down by one late in the second period, the Terriers earned a power play.  Vinny made the most of his coach's confidence in him, scoring a man-advantage tally with less than 90 second to play in the frame.

 Although the Terriers would trail again late in the game, Saponari's goal just before the break was a huge boost to BU.  More importantly, it helped take a little bit of the wind out of the sails of a very good and very confident Vermont team. 

via USCHO

Saponari Scored a Big Goal Against UVM in the Frozen Four

Two nights later, Vinny would be on the ice to witness an even bigger goal.  He got a +1 on the scoresheet that he'll certainly never forget, playing the shift that yielded the first goal of the 2009 Championship Game from Chris Connolly.

There are few things better than hoisting an NCAA Championship Trophy in your very first season, and like the rest of the Terriers that returned for 2009-2010, Vinny basked in the glory of the win for the first half of the next year.

We all know about the awful start that the team got off to, and the bad attitude that they had.  Parker said they weren't hungry enough, and he was probably right.  For guys like Vinny who didn't know anything but the feeling of being a superhero on Commonwealth Avenue, it was probably easy to believe that they were more Supermen than Clark Kents.

They proved to be incredibly human, and really couldn't get much of anything going until the calender turned to 2010.

But in the new year, Vinny absolutely exploded.  From January 2nd through to the end of the season, he became a highlight factory, scoring 9 goals to go along with 11 assists in 22 games.

On January 22at Conte Forum, Saponari announced his skill on a national level, making the play of the game against BC, a play that was so spectacular, it landed him the #1 spot on SportsCenter that night.

Even in the final game of the season, Saponari was an offensive presence, scoring a miraculous goal that gave BU fans flashbacks to D.C.  Playing shorthanded, but with the goalie out of the net to even it up at 5 skaters apiece with four minutes to play in the Hockey East Semis against Maine, the Terriers trailed by two goals.  They had played a slogging, lazy game all night long.  But they woke up at the 16:13 mark of the frame when Saponari netted a goal from Shattenkirk and Bonino.

That would be as close as the Terriers would get.  When Vinny skated off the ice at the T.D. Garden, he almost certainly thought he would have a chance to redeem himself with some more SportsCenter goals down the line.  But it would be the final time that he would have a chance to lace 'em up for the Ice Dogs.

via The New England Hockey Journal

By now, we've discussed at length the dismissal of Saponari from the team that officially closed the book on his Terrier career. 

Maybe some day we will get the full story of how and why this talented young player found his way out of town.  But for now, we are left to wonder how many goals he forfeit by getting himself booted, and how many wins will be out the window as a result. 

Saponari will most likely bounce back and end up playing hockey at the next level in some capacity, as long as he gets his act together and straightens out what is apparently an ugly attitude.  He has the talent, and now he needs to find the maturity to raise his game to the next level.

In a short time, Vinny excited the fans at BU and made a name for himself, carving out a small spot in Terrier lore.  Unfortunately, his legacy won't be what he did on the ice.  Instead it will be his epic tale of partying like only a puckstar can, and his departure from the team two years too soon. 

Thanks for the memories, Vinny.