2022–23 Boston University Terriers men's ice hockey season

After four disappointing seasons under Albie O'Connell, former Terrier Jay Pandolfo was brought in to be the program's 12th head coach. His arrival was buoyed by the addition of several drafted players while returning most of the principle players from the previous year's team. Critically, BU entered the season with US Olympian Drew Commesso in goal and were expecting to rely on the star goalie for the bulk of the minutes. The changes for the Terriers were expected to help the team and BU was ranked in both preseason polls.

Boston University kicked off their season with an easy victory over a lesser opponent but, when they travelled to take on Michigan, the Terriers got punched in the mouth. Losing to the Wolverines, the then-#6 team in the nation, was not a black mark. Losing by 7 goals was. The embarrassing defeat was spurred on by two major penalties taken just a minute apart that allowed Michigan to score three goals and completely take over the game. The Terriers could have easily fallen in the rematch, as they handed Michigan another 5 power play opportunities, however, the BU special teams came up big and propelled them to a 3–2 win. The team continued to avoid catastrophe by earning splits in each of their next two weekends, both against ranked teams, and ended the first month of the season slightly above .500.

November saw the team begin to find its consistency on the offensive side and start to pile up wins. The Terriers put together a run of 6–1 after the start of the month that included four victories over ranked teams. Key in the success at the time was the emergence of Lane Hutson as an offensive threat. The freshman defenseman was a bit undersized at just 5' 9", which likely caused him to slip into the second round of the NHL draft, but his talent and instincts were able to lift BU into being one of the top scoring teams in the nation. Hutson led BU in scoring during the season and, while being led by a defensemen typically indicates a weak offense, this was an extraordinary case. Hutson not only led the Terriers in points, he also led the entire conference in scoring. He finished the year as an All-American and managed to surpass the conference record for points by a freshman defenseman of 47 set by Brian Leetch in 1987.[1]

After the winter break, BU opened the second half of their season with a highly anticipated match against Harvard. Despite both teams possessing high-powered offenses, the match turned into a defensive battle. BU opened the scoring just 2 minutes into the game but was unable to get another goal. Commesso turned away everything that was sent in his direction until less than five minutes were left and the Crimson were finally able to tie the score. The two cross-town rivals fought on in overtime and, with under a minute to play, team captain Domenick Fensore scored the game-winner.[2]

BU continued to fly high and, after finishing as the runner-up for the Desert Hockey Classic, the Terriers won seven in a row, including a solid victory over old ECAC rival Cornell. As the team entered the Beanpot, they had risen up to 3rd in all the rankings and were guaranteed a spot in the NCAA tournament, barring a complete collapse. The Terriers then began to tempt fate by having their offense dry up and finish dead-last for the series. Their problems were compounded by being swept in the following week by a sinking Merrimack club and suddenly the Terriers were in free-fall. The Terriers halted their slide by finishing the season on a 4-game winning streak. While the games weren't against particularly difficult opponents, they did include Commesso's first two shutouts of the season.

The Terriers ended the season atop the conference standings and received a bye into the quarterfinal round. With their strong finish, BU was guaranteed to make the NCAA tournament no matter what happened in the Hockey East playoffs but that didn't stop the team from acting like their season was in the balance. BU played host to cellar-dweller Vermont and completely overwhelmed the Catamounts. The Terriers outshot their opponents 50–22 in the match and, though Commesso allowed three goals, two came after BU had opened the match with a 4-goal first period.

In the semifinal against Providence, the Terriers were much less active and resoundingly outplayed by the Friars. Luckily, Providence had trouble scoring and BU only had to overcome a 0–1 deficit in the final few minutes to regulation. Once overtime began, the Terriers went on the attack, nearly doubling their shot total in just 10 minutes. Quinn Hutson's game-winner was his 14th of the season and sent them to the title game for the first time in 5 years.

With just Merrimack left in their way, the Terriers got off to a good start and forced the Warriors into taking a penalty just 5 minutes into the game. Unfortunately, Merrimack was able to score while short-handed and took the early lead. BU was gifted an extended 5-on-3 and Lane Hutson used the opportunity to tie the score. The two teams traded goals over the ensuing 39 minutes and were unable to come to a resolution in regulation. Both teams found it difficult to get shots on goal in overtime, however, Lane Hutson made his count and notched the game-winner near the 2-minute mark. The win propelled BU into the NCAA tournament with a head of steam and allowed to rise up to #5 in the rankings.[3]

While The Terriers still could only garner a #2 seed, they received the best possible position by being played in the East region, close to their campus, and were set opposite to the lowest-ranked 3 seed. Western Michigan had stumbled into the tournament but still possessed a dangerous offense. BU, however, was up to the challenge and managed to quiet the Broncos' forwards. The Hutson brothers combined to score the first two goals while Matt Brown added his team-leading 16th to build a 3–0 lead. The Terriers were unable to completely silence the nation's top goal scorer, Jason Polin, but his marker was the only one that got past Commesso and Boston University skated away with a rather pedestrian victory.[4]

For the regional final, BU got a bit of a gift by facing the #4 seed, Cornell. The familiar foes fought a defensive duel with both teams combining for just 35 shots on goal. Luckily, BU managed to earn the first marker and put pressure on the Big Red offense. With Cornell ill-suited to an attacking style, the Terriers were able to hold onto their lead for most of the second half and double their advantage about midway through the third. Cornell pulled their goalie for an extra attacker and tried to overcome the disadvantage at the end of the game. Despite getting just 3 shots in the final period, Cornell managed to sneak one into the goal but, with just 28 seconds remaining, they were unable to find another and BU advanced to their first Frozen Four in eight years.[5]

In the Terriers' pursuit of the national title, the team would have to first get past the #1 overall seed, Minnesota. Despite being outshot in the first, BU managed to get the game's first goal. However, the Terriers got into penalty trouble and ended up giving the Gophers three power plays in the first. Minnesota scored on their second a third attempts and took a lead into the second. BU got their own man-advantage marker in the middle frame but, again, handed Minnesota three more power play opportunities, the last coming at the horn. The defense did well to stop most of those attempts but Minnesota nabbed their third power play goal early in the third. After extending their lead a few minutes later, BU desperately tried to tie the game in the final 16 minutes. Unfortunately, the team was unable to score and they were eventually forced to pull Commesso for an extra attacker. All that did was allow the Gophers to pot two empty-net goals and turn a tight game into a easy victory and BU ended its season with a dull thud.[6]

† incoming freshman [16]