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Here's a screen cap of the schedule for next season.
One of the intriguing home games is the November 3rd matchup against the U20 Team out of Sweden. This seems a bit odd to me, but I'll definitely take it.
Also a bit of a tough stretch to start out the season against Wisconsin and potentially against Notre Dame, only to come home to get UMass. All in all though, no big surprises here. Just nice to get a little taste of hockey again, even in the brutal heat of Boston summer.
Whether or not JVR really ever burned the Terriers, I have a weird complex about rooting for any of these guys who played in Hockey East against BU. Like Brooks Orpik? Even when he put on the USA sweater for the Olympics it was tough.
In any case, since no Terriers get to contend for the cup, except for the outside chance that 3 goalies get hurt and Johnny Curry gets some PT, I don't want to see JVR go any further than he has.
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.
This is the second 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.
As the Saponari brothers depart the Boston University hockey program for reasons not entirely known, we are forced to add two more to our growing list of departed players from the 2009-2010 team. In this edition, we'll say goodbye to Victor Saponari.
It's Not Easy to Find a Picture of Victor in Uniform
The high point for Victor came early on in his Terrier career, when he netted a goal in an exhibition game against a team of high schoolers. Ok, that sounded a lot meaner than I thought it would, but let's be honest, it's a fact.
Victor played in just 14 games as a Terrier, scoring a grand total of zero official goals, and recording two assists. But hey, he got his brother to come to BU, and that was pretty moderately helpful.
Victor was also featured on an on-campus Sports TV show called Terrier Nation.
Over the past day plus we've talked at length about the bomb that Jackie Parker dropped on Terrier Nation when he dismissed a pair of Saponaris and suspended a Trivino. For obvious reasons, the main point of discussion has been the booting of Vinny Sap. Vinny was a rising star not just at BU, but was beginning to make a name for himself across the nation for his flashy goals. His outright dismissal from the team will clearly have a bigger long-term impact than either Victor's dismissal or Corey's suspension.
An interesting point we have barely touched on here is Victor getting kicked off the team. As far as we know, the only incident that the elder Saponari brother was involved in was drinking with several of his mates on St. Patty's day. Trivino did that, and made an awful rap about being a puckstar, and he'll still be playing in November.
So why is Victor gone? Did he and Vinny do something really dumb beyond what we already know about? Or maybe he really just "displayed conduct unbecoming of a Boston University hockey player" like Parker said. Or maybe there's another element that everybody is thinking, but nobody really wants to say.
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