Terrier hockey captain Patrick Curry (SHA’20) after one of his two goals in BU’s season opening 7-3 win at Union on October 5. Photos by Jim Pierce, BU Athletics

Ice Hockey

Terrier Men’s Hockey Opens Home Slate with Friday and Saturday games 

New roster blends young talent with experienced players, and even a couple of graduate transfers

During his first season as head coach of BU’s men’s ice hockey team, Albie O’Connell came to realize just how many responsibilities come with leading the program.

In his four seasons on the staff of previous head coach David Quinn (CAS’89), O’Connell (CAS’99) enjoyed spending extra time with his players on and off the ice. Last year, his first at the helm, he found himself missing those extra opportunities to get to know his team on a more personal level.

“It’s managing the people that you have with you and spending more time with the players individually,” O’Connell says. “I think last year I was pulled in a lot of directions, and now I’ll be able to be focused on what I need to do day in and day out, just to make sure the team is getting the most attention.”

The team has plenty to build on and has gotten off to a good start, with a 7-3 season opening win at Union on October 5. 

The Terriers went 16-18-4 last year, a 12-9-3 mark in Hockey East play, but fell to Northeastern 2-1 in overtime in the Hockey East championship game. While some key cogs are back, the roster looks a lot different, as 10 players from last year’s roster are no longer with the team—6 have gone to the NHL. 

Team captain Patrick Curry (SHA’20) sums up O’Connell’s first season as a transitional period, where the coach moved from friendly assistant to being responsible for the team’s on-ice success. “It’s just a learning experience for everybody, including himself,” Curry says. “I think he realizes he has to demand more accountability up and down the lineup.”

O’Connell hopes to spend more time this year one-on-one with players on the ice, like he did during his days as an assistant coach, then associate head coach. He says it’s an area he can improve on. 

“Development is development,” O’Connell says. “If we can get out there and get these guys better, it’s our number one job as coaches.” 

This year’s impressive recruiting class, with six NHL draft picks, including ninth overall selection Trevor Zegras (CAS’23), should step in to replace the departed players admirably. The young players possess a lot of talent, but they tend to need some extra coaching. 

“The key for us as coaches is to keep their confidence up,” O’Connell says. “When guys waver in confidence, obviously their game suffers. We’re going to make mistakes, but we just want to make sure that we keep the guys confident and that they’re continuing to learn throughout the year.”

With 13 goals and 13 assists last year, Curry is the returning scorer. It’s on him to lead the young players. The job of the experienced players is “getting to know one another,” he says, “making sure the freshmen are feeling comfortable with the team and how we go about doing things here at BU, and really trying to ingrain a solid culture for the coming season.”

Classmate Patrick Harper (COM’20) and a strong six-member junior class led by assistant captain Cam Crotty (Questrom’21) have experience, including being a part of the 2018 Hockey East championship team. “With all that experience, we’ve learned a lot over the years,” Harper says. “The biggest message that we’re trying to preach to the guys coming in is just to really take care of our daily process and work towards getting better everyday.”

Graduate student transfers Alex Brink (MET’20), a forward from Brown, and Sam Tucker (MET’20), a goalie from Yale, should help solidify the roster. 

While Tucker is new to BU, he is coming off a Second-Team All-Ivy League season. And Brink collected six goals and eight assists with Brown last year. 

“You’re getting mature players,” O’Connell says. “Alex Brink, he’s 25 years old. He could be like a very older brother to half our team. He should bring us some experience—the way he carries himself, he’s a man. Both of them, him and Tucker, have jelled really well, and they get a kick out of being the older guys.” 

The preseason coaches poll saw the Terriers predicted to finish 5th in the 11-team Hockey East. Every conference game carries great importance.

“This league is pretty unforgiving,” Harper says, “so we’re just preaching to stay in the moment, take care of our process, and if we do those things, we’ll feel pretty comfortable about being successful.”

O’Connell says the defensive corps is the team’s strongest area, with two pairings returning. And as usual for the BU hockey team, the expectations are high. 

“It’s the same goals every year,” O’Connell says. “We want to win the Beanpot, we want to win Hockey East, and we want to win the whole thing. Do we have a team that can do it? Yeah, if it comes together the right way.”