Posts Tagged ‘Off the wires’

Boston University senior Corey Trivino, the team’s leading scorer and the top goal scorer this season in Hockey East, was swiftly booted from the Terriers’ No. 9-ranked squad after being arrested over the weekend on charges stemming from an altercation with a BU resident assistant in a campus dorm. Of note, though Trivino has been kicked off the hockey team, he has not been suspended from school (as of yet) and can continue to attend classes until officially being suspended or expelled.

It is not Trivino’s first discipline issue – in 2010 he and Vinny Saponari (now at Northeastern) were suspended from the team after missing a punitive bike ride following a night of drinking before the Hockey East semifinals. He and Saponari also participated in a profanity-laced rap video posted to YouTube which led to Saponari’s removal from the team.

We start from the source with Art Jahnke at BU Today:

The starting center on the BU men’s ice hockey team was arrested Sunday night and charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery after he allegedly entered the room of a female student and attempted to kiss and grope her. …

Trivino, whose family flew in for his arraignment, appeared in court in handcuffs and a powder blue hoodie. He never spoke, standing hunched forward and head down throughout the court proceeding.

Head hockey coach Jack Parker says Trivino has been permanently removed from the team. “He is no longer associated with the BU hockey team,” says Parker.

Side note: interesting how BU Today functions as a quasi-official news source for BU, and despite this obviously being a negative story, it’s prominently placed on the front page in full detail. One would imagine that if some story of this magnitude were to hit Northeastern, any official statement would be very terse.

Moving on to the Daily Free Press, which has published an extensive police account of what happened on Sunday night:

According to the BU Police Department police report, obtained from Brighton District Court, the incident began when the RA heard individuals of a room being extremely loud. The RA went to the room to tell them to quiet down, and Trivino followed her back to her room and pushed her door open, the report states. She said in the report that she told Trivino to go back to his room, but instead he allegedly started kissing and groping the victim.

Supplemental to the DFP, the Boston Hockey Blog has been on top of every development in this story, and talked with coach Jack Parker about Trivino’s apparently chronic trouble with alcohol:

“There is no question in my mind it’s an alcohol problem,” Parker said. “I did [ask him to get treatment], but he didn’t think it was for him.” …

“I could suspend him [at that time] for some games, but that didn’t work,” Parker said. “So I said this is going to be real simple. I’m going to give you a fair warning. One more incident and you’ll be gone. One more alcohol-related incident and you’re out of here. No ifs, ands or buts. That’s what he knew was going to be the outcome.

“The only thing you can do to help a kid with an alcohol problem is get him to stop drinking.”

More stories:

• Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo! Sports reminds us that this is not the first run-in with trouble for Trivino.
• The Hockey Writers and WTBU Sports focus on the hockey ramifications for the Terriers.
• WBZ 1030 talked to BU’s dean of students about the internal discipline process at the university.

WRBB Sports Hockey BU, Off the wires

Taking a spin on our recurring feature “Off The Wires,” every Wednesday we’ll be taking a look at what happened last weekend, what people wrote about it, our take on the news, plus what’s to come the week ahead.

The weekend that was. Yet another good weekend across-the-board for Northeastern sports, headlined by Northeastern hockey notching its first win of the season. But getting increased attention are the women’s hockey and field hockey squads, the only sports so far this fall to sustain winning runs and “take care of business” so to speak. Field hockey defeated BC 2-1 in double overtime on Friday, moving up to No. 17 nationally (NCAA.com), while NU women’s hockey improved to 4-0 and vaulted up to No. 8 in the latest polls (USCHO, USA Today).

Madigan’s first win, UNH’s struggles. Jim Madigan got his first career win, though as you might imagine, he would rather celebrate his starting goaltender’s 9th career shutout, a sparkling 4-0 romp of UNH, and a big rebound from his team’s opening weekend beatdown in Orono the week prior (Boston Globe). Before getting beaten by Boston College 5-1, UNH was already looking desperate for their first goal of the season (Manchester Union Leader), but the loss to BC made everyone scratch their head (Manchester Union Leader). Our view: UNH is bad, but they’ll eventually get it turned around – they’ve started out slow before and nobody should be hitting the panic button yet. When they’re losing games to Lowell or Vermont, then it could be a problem.

Friars surprise. When was the last time you saw BU, BC, UNH, and Maine all lose on the same day? (USCHO) BU’s loss, at the hands of Providence College, wasn’t the biggest shocker of all time (PC has matched up well with BU in recent years), but the fact that the Friars were able to get off to such a good start with a new head coach and win with a packed house and television looking on was impressive. Granted, part of the ‘packed house’ came from a promotion for the basketball team’s “midnight madness” event, but still, Schneider Arena can be very intimidating when fans are in the seats (we’ve been waiting to re-use the nickname “The Coffin” for a while).

NU MBB picked 9th in CAA, WBB picked 12th. No surprises with either choice, revealed at CAA Media Day (CAASports.com), though the TV schedule was a bit disappointing – not because NU only had 6 broadcasts scheduled, which we think is a fair amount (WRBB Sports) but because the league had its ESPN exposure reduced dramatically: only 4 games on ESPN/ESPN2 (vs. 9 last year), while the remainder were relegated to ESPNU and ESPN3.com (CAASports.com). After VCU’s run to the final four last year, this is how the conference gets rewarded – with half their ESPN exposure cut?

Big hockey weekend (men, women, field). Starting with field hockey, this weekend brings a CAA game (at Hofstra) and a non-conference  game (vs. BU), both against ranked opponents. If NU can win one or both, it would bolster their case for an at-large invitation to the NCAA tournament should they make it to the end of the regular season without further stumbles. On the ice, women’s hockey hits the road to face two Ivy teams (Princeton, Yale), and both will be good non-conference tests before league play heats up – a 2-0 showing would certainly push NU close to the top 5 in the polls. Of course, on the men’s side, there’s a major 2-game set, first on the road at Merrimack (whose building will be sold out with their homecoming weekend) and then at home vs. No. 2 Boston College (this game is already sold out completely) – NU needs to prove that their win over UNH was no fluke, and 2+ points would do just that.

WRBB Sports Basketball, Hockey Field Hockey, Off the wires, women's hockey

On a landmark day in the history of the Hockey East Association, the league announced its expansion to include an 11th team, the Notre Dame Fighting Irish. Wednesday’s announcement came as college hockey realignment entered its final phase, with the final moves being made in anticipation of the 2013-2014 season.

Here’s our media roundup:

John Connolly of the Boston Herald reports that discussions were taking place as early as March.

Mike Lynch, Boston University assistant vice president and director of athletics, played an integral role in the decision-making process. “I had the distinct pleasure to chair a special group who has been looking into the possibilities of expanding the Hockey East Association for some time with the right partner and we believe firmly that we’ve found that partner,’’ said Lynch. “Over the last few months, we’ve entered into some really substantive discussions about the future of our league and the future of college hockey.”

The Associated Press says that the plan for a national TV deal is for NBC Sports to televise Notre Dame games, and then maybe a couple of Hockey East games along the way.

“The University of Notre Dame’s hockey team will have a more robust national television platform than any hockey program in the country,” athletic director Jack Swarbrick said at a news conference held Wednesday on the ice rink of the school’s new $50 million Compton Family Ice Arena.

Jon Miller, president for programming for NBC and Versus, said the plan is to do a big schedule of Notre Dame games and include Hockey East teams in the telecasts when the opportunity is there.

Details of the TV deal have not been completed.

Dick Baker of the Springfield Republican writes that the challenge of an expanded non-conference schedule is for the smaller teams to get home games.

But there is one obstacle at least some Hockey East teams face, and that’s filling the non-conference slate with games that are affordable, and don’t reduce the RPI ranking. Notre Dame talked about having more home games than road, and it will be easy for them to attract high-ranking opponents. The problem for teams like UMass will be trying to get Western teams like Minnesota to come here. They’re okay with you going there, but don’t feel the need to fly East when they can stop at places like Notre Dame along the way.

Adam Wodon of College Hockey News writes that the leverage was always in Norte Dame’s hands, bringing a national Irish-oriented TV deal to the table, something the NCHC didn’t want.

As Notre Dame continued to mull invitations from the NCHC and Hockey East, it was negotiating its own television deal, which it could then bring to the respective leagues to see which would be OK with it.

That deal leverages a longstanding partnership between Notre Dame and NBC, which has exclusively televised the school’s football games for years. NBC Sports Network president John Miller chimed into the news conference via telephone.

Notre Dame had a preference for the NCHC because of its Western footprint, but the NCHC ultimately decided it didn’t want to accept Notre Dame with its TV deal in tow.

Jim Meenan of the South Bend Tribune reports that the TV deal means that ALL Notre Dame home games will be on national television, and that a conference-wide package would be a secondary concern.

Notre Dame will not only get more opportunities to play in front of alumni out East, but also gains what athletic director Jack Swarbrick called “an unprecedented level of national exposure through our expanded partnership with the NBC Sports Group.”

More details will be forthcoming, but one high-ranking school official said that all of Notre Dame’s home hockey games will be on national television starting in 2013-14.

Jon Miller, president for programming, NBC Sports and VERSUS, believes the combination of Notre Dame and Hockey East hockey will help in its branding of the NBC Sports Network.

“Our hope is to get a very robust schedule on our air of both Notre Dame games, and honestly when the opportunity arises, Hockey East games,” he said.

USCHO’s Matt Mackinder writes that no additional plans are in the works currently for a 12th team to join the league:

WRBB Sports Hockey Hockey East, Notre Dame, Off the wires

This week, as NFL teams shuffled their rosters in a post-lockout frenzy, three former Northeastern players signed rookie free agent contracts with NFL clubs, closing yet another chapter in Northeastern’s football history. David Akkiniyi (DE) signed with the  Minnesota Vikings after playing a season at South Carolina, John Griffin (RB) signed with the Cincinnati Bengals after playing his final season at UMass, and Griffin’s teammate last season Greg Niland (OL) was picked up by the Detroit Lions.

From a Northeastern release:

Akinniyi (Carrollton, Texas), a defensive end who signed with Minnesota, was a three-year starter for the Huskies. He played in 34 games, recording 141 tackles, 22 tackles for loss and 12 sacks. While at Northeastern, he was a two-time Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) Academic all-conference choice. Griffin (Westminster, Mass.), a running back who signed with Cincinnati, appeared in 29 games over three seasons at Northeastern, totaling 253 carries for 1,217 yards and seven touchdowns, including a 1,009-yard season in 2009. Niland (East Bridgewater, Mass.) also was a three-year starter for the Huskies and has inked a deal with Arizona. While on Huntington Ave., the offensive lineman was named to the CAA Football Academic All-Conference team and in 2009 he blocked for a team that averaged 130.8 rushing yards per game.

WRBB Sports Football Alumni, Off the wires

With the new western “Super League” now a reality, opinions abound as to whether the new league will be good or bad for college hockey. Obviously this story is injecting excitement, uncertainty, and drama into the off-season, so all the big college hockey media outlets are on top of it:

• Chris Lerch writes that college hockey will be stronger after conference realignment, and that the evolution of Atlantic Hockey might serve as a road map for how schools left on the outside of the new league can approach their futures. [USCHO]
• Candace Horgan, meanwhile, believes that concentrating power in a handful of super leagues is unhealthy for college hockey. [USCHO]
• Todd Milewski writes that with news of this shakeup, cooperation in college hockey has fallen by the wayside. [USCHO]
• Adam Wodon notes that this conference shakeup was unexpected, and throws yet more instability into the realignment process that was going to happen with the Big Ten’s formation. [College Hockey News]
• Mike Machnik writes that, while unexpected, the writing on the wall was there for an everyone-for-themselves attitude about conference realignment. [College Hockey News]
• Dan Myers believes that this move is exactly what schools like Denver, North Dakota, and others were aiming for after the Big Ten’s intention to form a new league. [College Hockey News]
• Ryan Lambert of the Puck Daddy blog writes that this new conference will be disastrous for college hockey as we know it. [Yahoo! Sports]
• The Western College Hockey Blog has been on top of the coverage (or, more accurately, incensed by the absurdity of all) and has further linkage to local stories on the impact to teams and local markets. [WCHB]
• Finally, Wisconsin beat writer Andy Baggot says that the Big Ten should not bear the burden of blame for this realignment mess. [Madison Capitol Journal]
• Other good local reactions, by team/market: Alaska-Fairbanks | Alaska-Anchorage | Bemidji | MSU-Maknato | North Dakota

WRBB Sports Hockey Off the wires

Jamie Oleksiak was selected by the Dallas Stars 14th overall in Friday’s first round of Friday’s NHL Entry Draft and recruits John Gaudreau and Garrett Haar were selected respectively in the fourth round by Calgary and the seventh round by Washington – that much we do know. What is up in the air is whether all three will be in Boston this fall.

Oleksiak has made it clear in comments that he is contemplating his next move, much of it dependent on where Dallas is thinking of placing him – on the NHL roster, or in the minor leagues. “Right now, I haven’t committed to anything and there are some decisions coming up,” Oleksiak said in an interview.

Elsewhere, questions remain over whether John Gaudreau will honor his commitment and join the Huskies as a freshman in the fall. The Fargo Moorhead-Forum, which has covered Gaudreau’s junior team (Dubuque), reported that Gaudreau will de-commit and look at other schools.

College Hockey News is reporting that Gaudreau will meet with Northeastern athletic director Peter Roby to discuss the recruit’s national letter of intent.

Haar, meanwhile, said he will de-commit from Northeastern. His decision, like the one pending for Gaudreau, is motivated by the departure of Huskies head coach Greg Cronin, who left the program to become an assistant with the Toronto Maple Leafs.

This all comes as Northeastern has yet to hire a permanent head coach. Sebastien Laplante was named interim head coach after Cronin announced his resignation, but there has been no indication as of yet that a new hire is imminent. The Boston Globe’s Kevin Paul Dumont says that people in the college hockey world hope that Boston College’s Mike Cavanaugh gets a shot at the gig.

All of this comes at an urgent time for Northeastern. Uncertainty is the word of the moment, referring to not only the vacancy on the bench, but with whether recruits will return, and the longer that uncertainty continues, the easier it becomes for recruits and current players (such as Oleksiak) to look elsewhere to play this fall.

Word on the street is that a bevy of candidates are interested in the Huskies’ job, but the debate must not only be about who to hire in that applicant pool. The question to ask is whether or not to hire a coach with more experience (who may clean house with assistant coaches), or give a chance to a familiar face and an NU alum (Laplante), who already handles the majority of Northeastern’s recruiting.

We’ll find some answers over the course of the next week or two. The sooner, the better.

Alex Faust Hockey NHL Draft, Off the wires

This Friday, the NHL Draft will take place in Las Vegas, and Northeastern is expected to cash in with star defenseman Jamie Oleksiak likely being taken in the first round, followed by a slew of incoming recruits whose names may be called in the later rounds. Here, we look at previews for the event.

>>> Starting with the campus newspaper, Oleksiak said the combine was a great experience, and that he put in a lot of work during the offseason to impress there. [Huntington News]

>>> The Globe talks about Oleksiak’s size and how he’s been forced to adapt to his game to many different leagues and playing styles, and about why he chose Northeastern. [Boston Globe]

>>> In the Herald, John Connolly asks about the comparison to Zdeno Chara. [Boston Herald]

>>> Jim Connelly looks at Oleksiak’s size as a key to his success in the college game and, potentially, a gateway to the professional ranks. He also lists other NU players who could be drafted this weekend, including Adam Reid, Garrett Haar,  [USCHO]

>>> Oleksiak told ESPN Dallas that he will be returning to Northeastern, but that could hurt where he’s picked. [ESPN Dallas]

>>> ESPN Dallas also has a draft profile up for Jamie. [ESPN Dallas]

>>> Kurt Luedeke reports that Oleksiak’s game has improved dramatically in the last few years [New England Hockey Journal]

>>> The College Hockey Blog profiles Oleksiak’s playing style and how he would fit as an NHL player. [TCHB]

>>> Back in Sioux Falls, where Oleksiak spent some time playing junior hockey, they are excited for their first-ever first-round pick. [Keloland.com]

>>> Elsewhere, John Gaudreau could be taken this weekend at the draft before he arrives at Northeastern in the fall. [Cherry Hill Courier Post]

>>> Finally, on a non-draft related note, TSN poses an itneresting dilemma: with dual citizenship, Jamie Oleksiak must choose whether he wants to represent Canada or the USA in itnernational play. [TSN]

WRBB Sports Hockey NHL Draft, Off the wires

>>> WRBB’s Patrick McHugh (writing for NESN) points out that Cronin was only two years removed from winning Hockey East coach of the year. [NESN]

>>> Chris Botta interviewed Cronin last week about Jamie Oleksiak’s draft possibilities, but listen at the 9:00 mark when Cronin talks about whether he’s going to stay at Northeastern for the foreseeable future. [SNY / Islanders Point Blank]

>>> Emily Wright notes that the Huskies have seen a spike in drafted talent under Cronin’s tenure. [Boston Globe]

>>> Cronin and Scott Gordon are filling needed roles in the Maple Leafs’ organization. [Toronto Sun]

>>> Greg Wyshynski wonders whether these hires could be a tryout in case the struggling Leafs are looking to fire head coach Ron Wilson. [Yahoo! Sports]

WRBB Sports Hockey Greg Cronin, Off the wires

With the Vancouver Canucks claiming game 1 in the Stanley Cup finals last night, we saw this interesting news item from Northeastern University:

Andrew Petter, president of Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, British Columbia, took off the gloves today, issuing a challenge to Northeastern University’s president, Joseph E. Aoun.

Should the Canucks win the Stanley Cup, Aoun will don a Canucks Orca jersey on Northeastern’s Boston campus, post a photo on the University’s website, and ship freshly-caught Atlantic lobster to Vancouver. If the Bruins win, Petter will don a Bruins jersey, post that photo online, and send fresh Canadian salmon to Aoun.

Sounds good to us. It’s all in good fun.

• News@Northeastern: President Aoun faces off in Stanley Cup challnenge
• Boston Globe: Northeastern places Stanley Cup bet with Vancouver school
• Vancouver Sun: SFU drops gloves with university in Boston over Canucks

WRBB Sports Hockey Off the wires