I was on Face book last night after watching the NCAA title game and people were instant messaging me and telling me they were unhappy with the results of the game. Personally, I have to say that I am not all that unhappy with the results; I think the best team in division one hockey won last night (21-1-3 since Jan. 15) and last played in a game that will go down in history as being one of the most exciting NCAA division one finals ever. This was one of the most exciting finals that I have ever witnessed. The Miami Redhawks had the game in the proverbial bag when they were up 3-1 with about 3:24 to go and lost the game.
If BSU wasn’t going to be the winner in the NCAA tourney I would rather see BU win the tourney than Miami or Vermont. I am not into the whole underdog thing, it’s just me. In my opinion, Boston University was the best team in hockey all season long and played the game of hockey the way it should be. The Terriers were fast up front and could score in bunches and were fun to watch. In the era of the neutral zone trap, college hockey has become less watchable than the NHL and this year’s version of Boston University is a breath of fresh air because they attack and counter attack. It just seemed that no lead was possible when playing BU as they found another gear, shifted and won the game when they needed to. Colin Wilson is and awesome player and is probably going to make an immediate impact with the Nashville preditors.
Defensively I thought the BU Terrier were really impressive and I could see why NHL teams are drooling at the prospects of getting free agent Matt Gilroy, he would be a nice addition to any team’s defensive corps. On the blue line the players that stuck out the most for me were Matt Gilroy, Kevin Shattenkirk, Colby Cohen.
This season Boston University was at the top or near the top nationally in a lot of categories: 1st in scoring offense, 3rd in scoring defense, 1st in scoring margin, 12th in penalty minutes, 2nd in power play, 12th penalty kill. So there victory is no fluke.
I would agree with the fact that the best hockey team from this past season, beginning to end, won the NCAA title. BU had so much talent this past season it is mind-boggling. They are loaded. It will be interesting to see how many of those players come back next season. What I mean is, they have achieved so much this past season: Ice Breaker champs, Denver Cup Champs, Beanpot Champs, Hockey East Champs, Hockey East Tournament Champs, and now NCAA Champs. If I was a player, I would not see any reason to return to college hockey after all that.
ReplyDeleteI would be willing to bet that the BU Terriers will be very different next season and college hockey is going to be very wide open.
ReplyDeleteThe Terriers have 6 seniors and they will be minus Colin Wilson who could have been in the NHL but came back this season to be on the WJC team with JVR from UNH. Bonino had a good season and you have to think he is a flight risk as well.