Over the next few days, we will compare and contrast Boston University hockey and DU hockey on their offenses, defenses, special teams, and goaltending.
We start today with team offense.
The Terrier offense begins and ends with a young 17-year-old superstar, Macklin Celebrini. The freshman center was selected as both the Hockey East Rookie of the Year and the Hockey East Player of the Year this season. He was named one of the three Hobey Hat Trick finalists (Jackson Blake-UND & Cutter Gauthier-BC) as well. Even younger than DU defenseman Zeev Buium, Celebrini (32g-32a-64p) is the youngest player in college hockey but is second in the NCAA with 1.73 points per game and is one of just three players in the country to have scored 30 or more goals this season. While his points-per-game pace trails only BC’s Will Smith, there’s no question that Celebrini is the straw that stirs BU’s offensive drink. He’s by far BU’s best player, 15 points clear of his next closest teammate, defender Lane Hutson, who is elite in his own right.
The Terriers have tallied 162 goals on the season, going 28-9-2 (18-4-2 HE). That is an impressive 4.2 goals per game and are not exactly a one-man band. Behind Celebrini are four 30+ point-scorers in Lane Hutson (15-34-49), forward Quinn Hutson (18-18-36), forward Ryan Greene (12-24-26), and forward Jeremy Wilmer (6-30-36). Give them too much open ice and space to operate and they will create goals, no matter how good the goaltender is.
Loading ...Denver’s offense, on the other hand, features nine 30+ point scorers, the most in the country. Among Frozen Four teams, Michigan has seven, Boston College has six, and Boston University has five. Forward Jack Devine, a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist, leads the charge for the Pioneers with 27 goals and 29 assists for 56 points. Star defenseman Zeev Buium has found the back of the goal 11 times and dished out a whopping 38 assists. The big question mark is the potential return of forward Massimo Rizzo from injury. Rizzo recorded 10 goals and 34 assists and led the team with 44 points in 28 games before being sidelined in early February. Denver’s first-line center when healthy, Rizzo’s goal-scoring and power-play savvy will come in handy against BU if he can go (head coach David Carle said last week that he’s close but could not commit to his availability one way or the other in St. Paul). The six other players with 30+ points include forward Tristan Broz (15-24-39), defenseman Shai Buium (7-28-35), forward Carter King (15-19-33), red-hot forward Mikko Matikka (20-12-32), forward and senior captain McKade Webster(14-18-32), and forward Aidan Thompson (11-19-30).
Boasting the country’s top scoring depth, it’s no surprise that Denver is leading the country with an NCAA-best 198 goals this season, good for 4.71 goals per game to go 30-9-3 and 15-7-2 in the NCHC.
Said Carle last week during the Frozen Four Zoom media availability, “Our ultimate goal is now upon us, and we know Boston University is going to push us. They are a very similar team to us — have offensive weapons, but they’ve been very good defensively over the last several weeks as well. We’re going to need another strong defensive effort and continue to capitalize on offensive chances.“
If Celebrini can be kept in check, DU wins.
48 hours to go…#GoDU
BU is a lot more than Celebrini. The Terriers are seeded higher than 3# seeded DU for good reasons, and BU has last change as the home #2 seed. The Pios will be the underdog in St. Paul, and Denver will need to have an excellent performance to advance to the final.
I believe DU is certainly capable of winning, but the Pios are going to need to bring it in all three zones to score two or three goals, stay out of the box and Davis likely needs to keep the BU goals at 2 or under to have good shot at this.