Category: BU Terriers (Page 2 of 15)

Tales from Intermission

6 March, 2010 / Kat

Your typical Chuck-a-Puck. But if a Chuck-a-Puck takes place and no one chucks a puck... (Photo: Flickr user Travis S.)

After weeks of missing live hockey because of my upcoming wedding, I am finally in the midst of a multi-game weekend. Thank goodness, because this multi-game weekend allowed me to see two of the oddest intermission events I’ve witnessed in years of attending hockey games.

Friday night, the Boston University men’s ice hockey team hosted Northeastern University in their last regular season home game. BU beat Northeastern 4-2, which would go miles towards improving their status for the Hockey East playoffs. It was a double mites team game, with both intermissions host to a youth hockey team scrimmage. The teams usually have around five minutes to show their stuff, with the announcer and music timing their scrimmage, before the waiting Zambonis rev their engines and warn them off.

During the second intermission, I was chatting with a friend and not paying attention to the mites. Around me, I vaguely heard the announcement thanking the mites for their time and congratulating them on a scrimmage well done. Briefly after, my fiance nudged me.

“They won’t leave the ice.”

The Steve Tasker of the BU Hockey Team

9 February, 2010 / Kat

Luke Popko in the 2009 Hockey East Championship Game (InsideHockey.com)

While livetweeting the Beanpot for BU Today last week, I remarked how much I enjoyed watching BU senior forward Luke Popko on the penalty kill. He may be diminutive, but he is one of the most effective penalty killers I have ever seen. He is especially effective when BU is two men down. He also doesn’t shy away from blocking a shot, and stays out there and gets peppered, often barely limping off the ice after taking several shots to his body. He truly plays like a second goalie, just without the extra padding.

During the Beanpot championship game this Monday (which BU lost 4-3), I was watching Popko on the penalty kill for the seemingly millionth time in the past four years when it finally hit me. Popko is a short, extremely effective, and fearless special teamer.

He is, by analogy, the Steve Tasker of the Boston University Terriers.

Fun in Fan Shirts: Ode to a Tall Defensemen

4 February, 2010 / Kat

The commissioner of my fantasy hockey league, season ticket neighbor, fellow Upstate New Yorker, and all around good guy, Jason, has been designing and organizing the printing of Boston University hockey related fan shirts for the past few years. And while he wouldn’t take my suggestion for last year’s t-shirt (which in hindsight I understand – only people who listen to traffic reports on a regular basis would understand a “Lynnfield-Saugus Line” t-shirt), I jumped on the opportunity to purchase this year’s shirt.

The back of the Gryba Senior Shirt.

This year’s shirt honors BU senior defenseman Eric Gryba – lover of flannel, avid hunter and fisherman, and the tallest defenseman since Tom Morrow (the subject of Jason’s 2006 shirt). Gryba is a fan favorite everytime he checks an opposing player or even thinks about getting in a position to score. The BU student section responds to Gryba much like fourteen year old suburban teenagers react to Nick Jonas – there’s screaming, cheering, and the occassional sobbing.

Gryba is a stand-up defenseman who is very comfortable with his role on defense – he’s not often trying to be fancy with the puck, and he very conscientious of his duties at the blue line. He holds the program’s record for penalty minutes, set during January 2nd’s game, but he’s not necessarily a dirty player. His penalties come from his tendency to play at the boards during defensive situations – he isn’t always laying guys out, elbowing, or aiming for player’s heads. It will be interesting to see what he does after college.

Gryba may not be my favorite BU player ever, but he’s definitely a personality I have enjoyed watching progress through his collegiate hockey career. Thus, I took $15 out of my wedding fund and ordered one of these shirts from Jason.

If you too want to commemorate the personality that is Gryba by purchasing a t-shirt, find “The Hockey Shirt at Boston University” group on Facebook and chat with Jason. The shirt is only $15, which is a deal when it comes to any fan shirts. Orders are due Tuesday, February 9th.

It’s Beanpot Monday!

1 February, 2010 / Kat

Ahhhh, Beanpot Monday. The most wonderful time of the year.

Per usual, I’m all over the Beanpot like wanna-be rock stars up on MySpace. Catch my extensive overview of Beanpot Players to Watch on Beantown Athletic Supporters. Tonight, I’ll be live tweeting for BU Today along with several of my co-workers and students, and you’ll also be able to catch my reports direct from Twitter.

Later this week, I’ll be profiling the Charity Beanpot Challenge, a game featuring Beanpot alumni and supporting the Travis Roy and Mark Bavis Foundations.

Happy Beanpot Monday!

Beanpot Oops!

31 January, 2010 / Kat

Late Sunday night, I was feverishly writing and researching my Beanpot preview for Beantown Athletic Supporters. I visited the official Beanpot tournament home page for a game summary from last year. Saturday night, when I looked at the site, they still had last year’s captains listed on the home page.

But tonight, they had finally changed them to this year’s captains. Or at least, who we had thought this year’s captains would be:

My screen capture of the official Beanpot website at 11:05pm, Sunday evening.

Did Brian Strait suddenly return from Wilkes-Barre Scranton to BU? Wow, he must have forgave all of those awful things Coach Parker said about him in that USCHO piece from the summer.