The Road to the Repeat: Part 4/4

Glancing into the Net, Examining the Schedule, and How to Navigate the Road to the Repeat





by Chris Aliano

The Goalkeepers

The most important position in the game of hockey, according to head coach Jack Parker, will be manned by the reigning National Rookie of the Year who put up some of the most impressive numbers as a goalie in program history last season. Kieran Millan ('12) will once again find a home between the pipes night in and night out, but don’t expect him to experience the sophomore slump his counterpart John Muse of Boston College suffered last season. Parker still plans to rotate the equally excellent Grant Rollheiser ('12) into the fray as well.

Millan ('12) and Rollheiser ('12) rotated through much of the earlier portion of last season, when the team was trying to find an identity in net after a dismal performance by Brett Bennett in 2007-08. Needless to say, Millan’s 29-2-3 mark blew away expectations, and Rollheiser’s 6-4-1 mark wasn’t bad either. With both goalies’ rights now drafted by NHL franchises, it’s entirely possible that both of them could bounce after this season, especially Rollheiser. Waiting in their wake is junior Adam Kraus, who sat out last season but could see some time in 2009.


The Schedule

The upcoming Terrier men’s hockey campaign is highlighted by a return to Madison Square Garden for Red Hot Hockey and a marquee matchup with archrival Boston College outdoors at Fenway Park. The season kicks off at UMass Amherst next Friday, and the Terriers return home to host CCHA-opponents Notre Dame and Michigan the following week.

Other non-conference games include a trip to Harvard on the Tuesday before Thanksgiving, a home date with Rensselaer in December and the Beanpot Tournament.

Within Hockey East, the Terriers host UMass, Merrimack, New Hampshire and Maine twice. They visit Northeastern, UMass Lowell, Providence, Vermont and Boston College twice. The Fenway game will count as one of BC’s home games. After the Beanpot takes place during the traditional first two Mondays of February, the Terriers close the regular season with a home-and-home against Northeastern in March. Last season, the Terriers won the Hockey East regular-season championship on the last day of the season after Northeastern led throughout the year.

The Outlook

It’s time to face facts: anyone who thinks the Terriers of 2009-10 will even closely resemble last year’s squad is blissfully unaware of a painful truth. Gone are the days of scoring four goals a game at will. Gone are the good looks and outstanding play of Matthew Gilroy, the heroics of Chris Higgins Jason Lawrence and Brandon Yip. Gone are the boats, because they have been burned a long, long time ago.

Now, there are targets on backs. There is a sense of entitlement and fulfillment. And with that, could come complacency. But there is also the desire for more, and the will to be equally great. And that all lies on the broad shoulders of Kevin Shattenkirk ('11), Nick Bonino ('11) and Eric Gryba ('10). It’s shared equally by every other to don a Terrier jersey, and throughout the coaching staff and up and down Commonwealth Avenue.

It is not yet known if this year’s Boston University men’s ice hockey team will be the first in program history to repeat as NCAA champions since the 1971 and 1972 squads. All that is known, however, is the task before them is by no means an easy one. The potential is there: for greatness, and for letdown.

Should they be planning a trip to Detroit, they’ll have to put everything, everything behind them and focus on the road ahead; a road as perilous as ever before and a road with twists and turns, ups and downs. A road that, if navigated correctly, is always worth traveling year in and year out: the road to the repeat.