Game day Links – BU and UND

Just landed in North Dakota...nothing out here but 4 points #BUHockey twitter.com/BRosen8/status…
— Ben Rosen (@BRosen8) November 1, 2012

The much anticipated series between the Boston University Terriers and the University of North Dakota is upon us. This “should be” the marquee matchup of the weekend so the college hockey world will have it’s eyes focused on Grand Forks this weekend.

Yesterday, senior forward/defenseman Ben Rosen (Syosset, New York) started the series off with the following tweet above. I fully expect that Ben Rosen will hear it tonight from the student section and the fans and if I can remember I am going to try and bring my camera to the arena tonight and take a few pictures of the signs.

Just for the record, in case anyone is interested, Rosen’s career numbers are (4g-7a—11 pts) in 79 career games.

Here are the regional sites and dates for 2014 NCAA Hockey Tourney. As you can see, the Minnesota Gophers gets to host yet another NCAA Regional right in their back yard.

• East Regional: Webster Bank Arena, Bridgeport, Conn., March 28-29
• Northeast Regional: DCU Center, Worcester, Mass., March 29-30
• Midwest Regional: U.S. Bank Arena, Cincinnati, March 28-29
• West Regional: Xcel Energy Center, St. Paul, March 29-30
• Frozen Four: Wells Fargo Center, Philadelphia, April 10 and 12

Here is what Tyler Buckentine from USCHO had to say about this weekend’s series.

No. 12 Boston University (3-1) at No. 5Chris Dilks from Western College Hockey’s take on the tweet from Ben Rosen North Dakota (2-1-1)

Joe: With all due respect to the two Alaska schools, North Dakota faces a serious step up in competition this weekend against the Terriers. That said, I expect UND, sparked by Rocco Grimaldi and Danny Kristo, to respond with two strong performances, which will still only be enough for a series split against the perennial Hockey East contender.

Tyler: UND still getting its feet under itself in a loss to Alaska and a tie at home to Alaska-Anchorage and now its hosts the most talented team its seen to this point. UND has a lot of talent up front but the Terriers have a hot goalie – freshman Matt O’Connor with a .945 saves percentage and didn’t allow any of the four goals, playing half the game against New Hampshire. This weekend will tell us a lot about where UND is at. The home team will beat BU, it isn’t ready to sweep a team like the Terriers.

Here is what Roman Augustoviz from the Star and Tribune had to say about this weekend’s upcoming series between BU and UND.

Boston University (3-1, 3-1 Hockey East) at North Dakota (2-1-1, 1-0-1): The Terriers swept a home-and-home series with UMass last weekend, winning 5-2 and 3-2. ... Sophomore forward Cason Hogmann has a team-high six points on three goals and three assists. Teammate Wade Megan, who had a team-high 20 goals last season, also had three this fall. ... Freshman goalie Matt O'Connor is 3-0 for BU with a 1.75 gaa and a .954 save percentage. ... Terriers coach Jack Parker has 879 wins in his 40th season. ... North Dakota beat Alaska Anchorage 4-1 and tied the Seawolves 3-3 in overtime last weekend. ... UND is 9-0-2 in its last 11 games at The Ralph. ... UND senior Corban Knight had two goals last weekend and has 99 career points. Prediction: UND sweeps

Chris Dilks from Western College Hockey and this is his take on the tweet from Ben Rosen's tweet in question. 

Boston University at North Dakota

Boston University defenseman Ben Rosen added a little spice to this series when he had the audacity to tweet that the flat, boring place he was in was a flat, boring place. The fact that that caused any controversy proves Rosen's point, in an extremely meta-way.

The BU hockey team had no trouble making it out of Boston after Hurricane Sandy, with Boston's airport re-opening midway through the week. For the Terriers, freshman Matt O'Connor has won the starting goalie job, and has some outstanding numbers on the season. Sophomores Cason Hohmann and Evan Rodrigues are the two biggest scoring threats for the Terriers.

Links of interest around the college hockey world

Canisius forward Matthew Grazen has been suspended for seven games for a hit on Air Force Academy’s George Michalke.

The Terrier Hockey Fan Blog - On Tap: Terriers to battle Sioux

The BU Hockey Blog – The Siouxper Series

UND MEN'S HOCKEY: Boston University comes to Grand Forks for first time since 1996

BU Men's Hockey; No. 12 Terriers Visit No. 5/6 North Dakota for Weekend Series on NESN

The Hockey Writers - Combine; Game notes for UND vs. BU (11/2-11/3)