Breaking News in Terriers Hockey: A New Face and a Look at Goaltending

by L. Tyler Murray

According to a source connected with the team, Matt Whitney ('12), a current sophomore goaltender at Boston University, has earned a spot on the Terrier hockey practice squad. Whitney, a transfer student from Bentley University in Waltham, MA, had been working out with the team for the past few weeks. In spite of an ailing shoulder that is still recovering from recent surgery, the Worcester, MA native performed well enough to impress head coach Jack Parker and associate head coach Mike Bavis.

Hot on the heels of this new acquisition and with the 2009-2010 season only a month away, what better time to examine the BU goalie situation than the present?

Technically speaking, the move makes Whitney BU’s fourth-string goalie, behind 2009 National Rookie of the Year Kieran Millan ('12), sophomore Grant Rollheiser ('12), and junior Adam Kraus ('11).

When the upcoming campaign gets underway in Amherst on October 16 against UMass, I would be very surprised to see anybody other than Millan ('12) between the pipes. To put his success in perspective, the sophomore broke more records and won more awards (20) than the Boston College Eagles had wins (19) in the 2008-2009 campaign. On the other hand, Rollheiser ('12) has certainly shown enough talent to attract NHL scouts - he was drafted in the sixth round, 158th overall by the Maple Leafs in 2008, before he even donned the Terrier scarlet and white – but it hasn’t yet translated to the collegiate stage (at least not as well as Millan’s).

The Millan-Rollheiser controversy of last season now seems like a distant memory, but here’s how it went down:
-After winning their first three games of the season, the Terriers’ first loss on their way to national championship glory came with Rollheiser in net on October 19 against then-No. 6 New Hampshire. Well, I suppose that’s a bit nit-picky; they had to lose eventually, right?
-For the following six games, Parker alternated starting goalies, playing Millan and Rollheiser every other game. The result: Millan posted a 3-0-0 record, including a shutout over Hockey East powerhouse Northeastern, while Rollheiser went 1-2-0 with a devastating 5-1 loss against UMass.

-From that point on, Millan earned the majority of starts as the Terriers amassed an eight-game unbeaten streak that stretched through the beginning of January. Unfortunately, the streak came to an embarrassing end when BU suffered a 4-2 loss to Providence at Agganis Arena. Rollheiser was in net. After that forgettable performance, the job was all but Millan’s.

Of course, statistics like wins and losses can be very misleading, especially when dealing with one of the most dominant teams in the history of college hockey. Thus, we must compare the numbers that truly define the success of goaltender:
In 2008-2009, Millan posted a .921 save percentage to go along with a 1.94 goals against average, while Rollheiser saved .897 of the shots he faced and allowed 2.13 goals per game

Again, Millan comes out on top, making the decision very easy for Parker.
At the same time, the starting position might end up being awarded to whichever goalie decides to stay in Boston. Indeed, NHL teams own the rights to both Millan (who was drafted in the fifth round by the Avalanche this past summer) and Rollheiser, which means that either of the netminders could be pulled into NHL camp at any given moment.

With this in mind, Kraus ('11) could play an important role this season. The Irvington, Texas native has only appeared in two games in his Terrier career, a 5-4 win over Northeastern in the Beanpot consolation game in 2007 and a 4-3 loss on the road against UMass Lowell. In those games, he posted a .857 save percentage and allowed 4.04 goals per game. While it’s unfair to judge Kraus from only two starts, the main concern is that he hasn’t appeared in a game since his freshman year. Thus, in the rather unlikely event that Millan and Rollheiser depart for the NHL at the same time, the Terriers would be faced with a serious dearth of goaltending talent.

That’s where Whitney comes in. With two NHL-bound goalies on the roster, he has a serious chance of seeing some playing time this year and having a major impact on the campaign. Sure, a reserve walk-on skater might not evoke much excitement in the average hockey fan, but as 2009 Hobey Baker winner Matt Gilroy will tell you, at Boston University, even a walk-on can become a legend.
Be sure to check back at wtbusports.org for continuing coverage of Terrier Hockey as we approach the 2009-2010 season.