Showing posts with label Jack Parker. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jack Parker. Show all posts

Friday, November 09, 2012

BU Defenseman sophomore Alexx Privitera to sit versus Merimack



BU defenseman Alexx Privitera made mention to the fact during the post game scrum after Saturday night's game that there had been an incident between Privitera and a UND fan by the penalty box area during Friday's game and now Privitera will sit for their game against Merrimack on Friday night.

Apparently, BU Head coach Jack Parker is big on respect and doesn't hesitate to suspend a player for this type of thing. Last Friday, BU defenseman Ben Rosen sat out after the now famous tweet, where he tweeted upon arriving in Grand Forks, "Just landed in North Dakota...nothing out here but 4 points."


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Saturday, November 03, 2012

Terriers bite North Dakota back 4-2

Originally posted at the Hockey Writers – Combine.

Grand Forks, ND – If there was a message to be taken away from tonight’s game – it was the fact that hockey games are 60 minutes long – not 55 minutes.

We had a good third period going, UND Head coach Dave Hakstol said. But it’s not a 15 minutes period, it’s a 20 minute period and that’s what I will keep coming back to.”

At the 54:38 mark of the game the University of North Dakota held a slim 2-1 lead and looked like there were on their way to sweeping the 12th ranked Boston University Terriers. UND had played a tight checking game and were a tough team to play against and were taking the game to the Terriers.
Then the roof fell in on UND.

Freshman forward Rocco Grimaldi turned a puck over in the UND end along the far wall and Terriers junior forward Matt Nieto buried the puck in the back of the UND net at the 14:39 mark of the third period to tie the game at 2-2.

The Terriers freshman Matt Lane scored the first goal of his college career to give the Terriers a 3-2 lead and before the BU fans had a chance to sit down, freshman forward Danny O’Regan would take a Nick Mattson turn over down low and deposit it in the UND net 11 seconds later to ice the game for the Terriers.

The difference in the game was that he Terriers capitalized on their opponent’s mistakes and miscues. UND senior forward Corbin Knight agreed.

“I think it was just kind of us mentally breaking down a little bit,” Knight said.  “I think that we go sloppy there and kind of took our foot off of the gas pedal and they made some nice plays and were able to capitalize, so… I think it was a little bit of both, but I think it’s defiantly it’s something our team needs to take that credit for and we need to improve that.”

Tonight’s game between the University of North Dakota and Boston University had the feel of a tight checking hard fought playoff game and UND senior forward Corbin Knight agreed.

“Yeah I think you know a university like Boston University coming in, it’s a big program and nonconference games are so crucial in the NCAA,” Knight said. “I think after last night I think the blood was pretty high between the two teams there, it definitely think it was a playoff atmosphere out there tonight.”

UND head coach Dave Hakstol thought tonight’s game was a tight checking hockey game as well.
“It was a close tight hockey game,” Hakstol said.   “Once they got the second goal the equalizer it was a five, six minute hockey game and we didn’t get the job done.”

UND sophomore forward Stephane Pattyn who isn’t known for his goal scoring prowess – shot the puck off the end glass behind the Terrier net, the puck the landed behind the BU freshman goalie Matt O’Connor who inadvertently kicked the puck into his own net, to give UND a 1-0 lead 05:47 into the game.

Neither team was able to capitalize on the power play and the Terriers were able to limit to UND one goal in 10 power play opportunities and after the game Terrier head coach Jack Parker seem to be pleased with that fact.

“We did a good job killing penalties,” Parker said. “We did a good job… they went 0-3 and only got two shots and they only went 1-10 on the power plays this weekend and that’s a pretty good team to do that to. We had a couple of chances on our power play.”
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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BU to fly to Grand Forks on Thursday



There is some good news, there was some speculation on whether BU would be able to make it out of Boston because of the Hurricane Sandy. Luckily this will not be the case and BU will be flying out of Boston on Thursday as scheduled. This is good news.

Also, Terriers head coach Jack Parker sat out last weekend's series against UMass because of back injury/pain. Parker will be behind the Terriers bench this weekend.




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Friday, September 07, 2012

Is B.U.’s hockey team an isolated incident or the norm?

This morning the popular discussion on twitter this morning – other than the President Obama’s speech – was the BU Hockey Task Force report that the Boston Globe had gotten their hands on. Let’s just put it this way – there were some interesting, chilling and puzzling revelations to come out of the that report. Some of the stuff that is in this Boston Globe newspaper isn’t very flattering and kind of sheds what I would call a negative light on the Boston University Hockey team.

After watching Penn State have the book thrown at them this summer for what the NCAA referred to as a lack of institutional control – I am beginning to see – albeit on a much smaller scale – what appears to be yet another big time high profile university, lacking some degree of institutional control.

What’s different this is that this sex scandal – if you want to call it that – was perpetrated by the hockey players instead of the coach and the victims were college co-eds instead of innocent minor children, under the age of 18. Neither of these types of incidents are excusable and or acceptable

On the keg party that took place at Agganis Arena – it appears that the head coach Jack Parker was aware of the arena party incident after initially denying that he knew about the incidents. Again, these kind of incidents don’t shed a very positive light on the Boston University hockey program. I could see how this appears to outsiders that Coach Parker has losing control of his hockey team and he has turned a blind eye to this behavior.

I also just don’t buy that argument that it’s happening everywhere and the other programs just haven’t been caught yet. There is no reason we have to excuse or pooh-pooh this bad behavior – or try to deflect the blame. It’s one thing to have student athletes partying – I get that – they’re in college and I would be willing to bet that 70 to 85 percent of college athletes probably have a drink at least once in a while.

It’s another thing to have an out of control raging party right on the campus in the locker room – I don't have a problem with a house party if you're of age, again, I get it, college kids drink alcohol both legally and illegally – a keg party at hockey arena with players and their dates having sex in a penalty box – that's unacceptable. I am not sure how anyone can excuse that either. That's right out of the penthouse form or a late night movie on Cinemax. I am going to say that some lines have been crossed in that instance.

What appears to be difference in this instance is  – instead of covering this up scandal and sweeping this under the rug – Boston University instead decided to address the issues that emerged. The difference in this case was that BU was more proactive and the University wants to right the ship before this gets anymore out of control, hence, having the NCAA getting involved and throwing the book at BU like they did against PSU.
Mary Carmichael, Boston Globe --- When Boston University released its report Wednesday on hockey players’ “culture of sexual entitlement,” it kept most of the investigation details — including accounts of sexual debauchery and wide-ranging allegations of academic trouble — confined to confidential subcommittee reports.

In the documents, which were obtained by the Globe on Thursday, were tales of a late-night 2009 NCAA championship party at Agganis Arena where dozens of guests drank from kegs in the locker room showers and took to the ice naked to shoot pucks.

“It was insane,” one former student who attended told the BU task force. “People were having sex in the penalty box.”

Campus police did not find out about the party, nor did BU administrators — until this year, when the task force started asking questions. During interviews with the task force, hockey coach Jack Parker also professed ignorance, at first saying he had never heard about the bash, but later acknowledging he knew of “a few guys drinking in the locker room.”
I am also wondering if BU and other colleges and University sports programs around the country have become an insular place where the athletes and coaching staffed become convinced of its own righteousness?

Boston University’s president Dr. Robert A. Brown has posted on his schools web page the hockey task force report and it’s available to people to peruse and study. This paragraph caught my eye and I wonder if this same thing is happening at other colleges and universities around the USA?
Of primary concern was the question of whether inherent aspects of the program’s culture and climate could have helped to foster the actions that led to the criminal charges. For those unfamiliar with Boston University athletic programs, the men’s hockey team, which has won a total of five national championships, has garnered substantial national recognition and is often among the top university ice hockey programs in the nation. Its visibility both on and off campus exceeds that of any other BU athletic program.
While I am concerned about the criminal behavior such as sexual assault that was addressed in this report – I am also concerned about athletes being given preferential treatment academically. I am also disappointed, that a University with the academic record of Boston University, would lower expectations and academic standards for BU hockey players and have another set of standards for regular students. If I was a student at BU that wasn't a hockey player, I would be disappointed with this revelation.
Academic performance data show that with some exceptions, the academic performance of the men’s ice hockey team falls below that of the undergraduate student body as a whole. Information provided by faculty regarding their classroom experiences with team members was highly variable. Some had very positive interactions with players and some had much less positive experiences. Historically, the players’ NCAA graduation rates have been high. The data and information, taken together, are interpreted to indicate that while there are not clear systemic problems, the academic performance of the men’s ice hockey team members should continue to be monitored to ensure that they meet university standards. The admissions data we examined indicates that a number of team members matriculated despite test scores and grade point averages that are considerably lower than the mean for students admitted to Boston University. [BU Hockey Task Force Report]
Again, kudos for Boston University addressing the problem before it got too far out of hand and ended up in the NCAA’s crosshairs, that speaks volumes for Boston University as opposed to one school I can think of out in Missoula, Montana who is now is in the middle of a major scandal on their campus because  school authorities and local law enforcement officials have been accused of doing too little to respond to claims of sexual assaults.

The NCAA, Department of Justice and Federal Law Enforcement agencies are now investigating this scandal. Nothing good can come out of this situation when you have this many agencies looking into scandal.

Lastly, I don’t think the BU Hockey situation is a norm for college hockey programs – that’s not to say that there isn’t issue that arises from time to time.
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