Q & A: BU Men’s Ice Hockey Head Coach David Quinn

By: Jake Reiser

BOSTON — College hockey season is finally upon us and the Boston University Terriers are looking to have another outstanding season.

After a tough loss in the NCAA National Championship Game, BU comes in with a revamped freshman class and highly skilled upperclassman leadership, ready to take another run.

On September 21st, the Hockey East Association had their annual media day, where players, coaches, and other representatives from each of the 12 Hockey East member schools could speak with the media before the start of the season.

WTBU Sports had the chance to talk with Terriers coach David Quinn at the event.

When asked about being ranked #2 in the preseason HEA poll

“Well, I think they’re setting us up, the coaches [laughter]. I know it’s a great talking point, its something that needs to be done, but, I mean, we were picked 6th last year, I can honestly tell you that you look at that for three seconds and then move on and you don’t pay attention to it because it has zero significance. The one thing it probably does is it makes the assistant coaches feel good about the players they recruited, but it really doesn’t mean anything at the end of the day.”

When asked about the goaltending situation to start the season

“My plan is to play the best goalie. That’s my plan. We pay attention every day in practice, we have depth at the goaltending position, and the guy that’s playing the best will play.”

When asked about Matt Grzelyck returning

“He’s coming along really well, he’s very confident in his rehab, and he’s excited, but we’re certainly going to take precaution. When they do tell me he’s ready, we’ll wait a little longer because I want him to be 100% mentally and physically ready. He’s been skating with the team, actually, he’s ahead of schedule.”

When asked about the defensive depth BU has this year

“It’s certainly comforting to know you have five returning defenseman with him, as well as freshman like Charlie McAvoy and Shane Switzer, they’re good players. We’re very confident with our depth on the blue line.”

When asked about the freshman recruiting class

“It’s tough to tell, they’ll all be given an opportunity, we’re going to be counting on the freshman to contribute this year, just like we always will. It’s a long year, and it’s tough to gauge how they’re all gonna adapt once things get going and the season gets started.”

When asked about this year’s leadership after losing Jack Eichel, Evan Rodrigues and Cason Hohman

“Well we’ve got a great senior class, and I know these guys are anxious to get the season started. I know they have a lot of confidence in each other and have a lot of confidence in the team. It’s a close class, they’re great leaders, they lead by example, players look up to them. It’s nice to have a senior class that’s as good as ours not only on the ice, but off it as well, it really gives you a fighting chance.”

When asked about potential breakout players this season

“You’re hoping AJ [Greer] makes the jump like he did at the end of the year last year, you know Robbie [Baillargeron] had the down year last year because of health reasons, he only got three goals, and we certainly envision him scoring more than three goals. Matt Lane had a great year last year, hopefully he makes another jump, and [Nick] Roberto and [Chase] Phelps, I like what I’ve seen out of Chase Phelps so far, Nikolas Olsson had a good year last year, so hopefully he makes another jump, that’s the key, your returning players have to be better players this year than they were last year, but if that’s the chase, you’ve got a great chance for success.”