You asked them, I answered.
Will Cole Eiserman be ready for the World Juniors? – @Karpers_54
Yes, next question.
How do you think the team can improve their defense? – @GaibMacklin
It will take time.
The Terriers are the youngest team in the country. The forwards haven’t been the most committed defensively so far, but in Saturday’s win over Merrimack, head coach Jay Pandolfo said he was pleased with the forwards’ defensive effort. When it comes to the defensive core, I’m impressed with Gavin McCarthy, who is by far BU’s best defensive back. Cole Hutson has been improving his defensive game, and while it’s still not perfect, or even above average, he has been more involved defensively, whether it’s on the backcheck, using his body or with his stick. The same can be said of Sascha Boumedienne, but to a lesser extent.
I’m still looking for more from Carter Amico, Malte Vass and Charlie Tretheway. They have the size to be strong defensively, but in my opinion they still have to impose that on their opponents. For the Terriers to hold on in their own zone, the three freshmen will have to be better. In the meantime, BU just needs to cut down on its mistakes in the defensive zone, which will help.
Do you have any insight into the injury that affected Sacha Boisvert at the start of the season? It seems like he got off to a bit of a slow start because of that. Do you expect his goalscoring numbers to improve once he gets comfortable? – @JoshPointo0h
While we don’t know exactly what Boisvert’s injury was, we can assume that whatever it was, it had an effect on his impact. Pandolfo emphasized that Boisvert would not return until he was fully healthy. In my opinion, it seemed like he came back too early.
But Boisvert had an excellent performance against Merrimack last weekend, which makes me think he is now fully healthy. He showed his playing skills in Saturday’s road win, with four assists, three of which were primary. Although he still hasn’t scored since the season opener, I’m not worried about Boisvert at all. He’s too talented a player not to figure it out. The scoring will come, and in my opinion sooner rather than later. Below is a selection of the three primaries.
At what point might Pandolfo lose faith in Mikhail Yegorov? – @finleyrogan
The short answer is: never. But then again, Yegorov has had a less than impressive start to his first full season as a Terrier, considering the expectations surrounding him.
In his eleven starts, he has an .888 save percentage and has allowed 35 goals – which, as my fellow co-director Sam Robb O’Hagan astutely noted on Terrier Hockey Talk, is the most in the country. There have been several goals that Yegorov has given up that I immediately thought, “He wants that back,” whether it was a misplayed puck behind his own net or a soft shot that slipped through him. But there have also been instances where he has saved the team in front of him.
For much of last year’s second semester, Yegorov was making up for BU’s poor team defense. This year it is back in the same position where it has been left outside to dry. Pandolfo is also not in a position to lose confidence in Yegorov. While Max Lacroix has looked fine in bursts, Yegorov at his current level is the best option the Terriers have between the pipes.
It seems like the team starts slow every year. Is that something we fans can lean on during a tough time like this, or is this team different? – @finleyrogan
Last year was really the first time a Pandolfo-led BU team got off to a slow start – the Terriers were a buzz saw during the Macklin Celebrini year. But yeah, it feels like that’s become a bit of a trend in the first half of the season – or, in this year’s case, a shaky first month-plus.
The biggest factor is youth. BU was young last year and is even younger this year. These 18 and 19 year olds are thrown into the deep end against 22, 23 and 24 year olds. They will undoubtedly make mistakes, which Pandolfo has acknowledged on numerous occasions.
Team turnover from year to year is another factor. With the Terriers losing key pieces every season, the core of the team is constantly changing. During the first few months, players are still learning to play with each other, which obviously leads to some uneven performance. This team is no different: the ceiling is there, the talent is there; it’s just about bringing it all together, which is what this group still needs to do. Given the way Pandolfo and his staff like to build teams, we can assume a slow start might be part of the recipe. But who am I to doubt Pandolfo? He has not yet given me a reason for this.
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