#1 BU Faces Off Against #10 UVM in The Frozen Four

1.)  BU has the most talented team in the country by a significant margin in both star players and overall depth. As a result Jack Parker must roll all four lines as he has been doing all season long. Teams cannot play their bottom two lines for a lot of minutes against the Terriers because they are greatly over matched so to run a team down, BU must roll their fourth line throughout the entire game. This will be very important against UVM who will try and strike first and set the pace of the game early on, BU must weather the storm by continually rolling four lines to keep the team fresh for the full 60 minutes. The fourth line needs not only to get minutes but produce as they have two excellent defensive forwards in Steve Smolinsky and Luke Popko and a high end goal scoreer in Zach Cohen (11 goals). The third line, known as the freshman line, will be as important as the first two lines in establishing the pace of the game, setting the tempo and taking advantage of UVM's mistakes in the offensive zone.

2.) BU has to attack UVM's defense and generate their offense off the forecheck. UVM will be watching tape on BU all week and like most teams, in an attempt to neutralize their speed, will play a lot of neutral zone traps meaning that BU will have a hard time generating offense coming through the neutral zone. They must attack the defense with conviction as all Jack Parker teams have done before them, and once they get possession cycle down low to wear out UVM's defense. This is the weakness of the catamounts. Not only are they weak on defensive firepower but their forwards are small and subpar in their defensive end. This is all the more reason why BU has to forecheck hard, take the body along the boards and pound them in their own end. This will lead to UVM mistakes which BU must capitalize on.

3.)  BU gets a lot of press for having the best net special teams in the country as well as an abundance of top flight talent. However, the most underated talent of the Terriers this season is their strong sticks and tough play along the boards. This is a very important characteristic among winning teams in hockey at all levels. However, last game against UNH, the Terriers were not positioning themselves on the defensive side of the puck in scrums along the boards, thus leading to a few odd man rushes by UNH. BU has to do a better job against UVM by playing on the defensive side of the puck along the boards and taking the body, to cut down odd man rushes. The catamounts generate their offense off of the transition game, which means the Terriers have to dominate the neutral zone to cut their legs out from under them and there is no better way to play good neutral zone hockey then to think defense first. If UVM is able to cause a BU turnover in the neutral zone, then BU forwards need to but the breaks on (stops and starts) and back check.

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