July 20, 2012
The Boston University men's ice hockey team comes in at No. 8 in this year's Terrier Twelve after qualifying for the NCAA tournament and turning in a 23-win season.
For the first time since winning the 2009 national championship, the Terriers earned a spot in the NCAA tournament thanks to a strong regular season that featured several impressive wins and tie for the second in the Hockey East standings.
The Terriers earned key non-conference wins against Denver and Cornell in the early part of the season and also defeated eventual national champion Boston College twice on the road.
BU advanced to TD Garden for the Hockey East semifinals after an epic quarterfinal series victory over New Hampshire. The Wildcats won the first game in double overtime before the Terriers rebounded with two wins, capped by a double-overtime victory of their own in the clincher.
After falling to Maine in the league semifinals, BU earned a tough draw in the NCAAs, as it flew out to Saint Paul to compete in the NCAA West Regional against a Minnesota team that had won the WCHA regular-season championship. The other two teams in the regional - North Dakota and Western Michigan - were the respective tournament champions in the WCHA and the CCHA.
The Golden Gophers, who advanced to the Frozen Four, topped BU in the regional semifinal, as the Terriers ended the year with a record of 23-15-1.
Junior Alex Chiasson, who signed a professional contract with the Dallas Stars after the season, led this year's BU squad in scoring with 46 points on 15 goals and 31 assists. Sophomore Matt Nieto had a breakout season with 42 points (16g, 26a) and senior captain Chris Connolly gave the Terriers three 40-point scorers thanks to 31 assists and nine goals.
Junior Wade Megan potted a team-best 20 goals and sophomores Adam Clendening and Sahir Gill registered 33 and 31 points, respectively. Clendening, a defenseman who was named a Hockey East First Team All-Star, signed with the Chicago Blackhawks after the season. Connolly and sophomore Garrett Noonan were tabbed Hockey East Second Team All-Stars.
Senior netminder Kieran Millan wrapped up his stellar career as the program's all-time leader in wins, saves and games played by a goaltender. He posted a .923 save percentage and a 2.30 goals-against average in his final season and went on to be named the team's most valuable player for the second consecutive year.