Four NCAA Alumni Named to Hockey Hall of Fame

Four of this year's eight inductees to the Hockey Hall of Fame in Toronto, as announced yesterday, have NCAA ties.

• Jennifer Botterill (Harvard) - Tallied 340 points in four seasons with the Crimson and was a four-time First Team All-America Selection. Also earned gold medals in five World Championships and three Olympic Games with Team Canada.

• Brianna Decker (Wisconsin) - Notched 244 points in four campaigns with Badgers, earning All-America accolades twice while also helping Wisconsin to 2011 NCAA title. Six-time gold medalist at World Championships, while also collecting one gold and two silver Olympic medals with Team USA.

• Duncan Keith (Michigan State) - Played parts of two season with Spartans, then went on to win three Stanley Cups with the Chicago Blackhawks. Earned two Norris Trophies as NHL's best defenseman and the 2015 Conn Smythe Trophy as Stanley Cup Playoff MVP. Played in four NHL All-Star Games, and also won two Olympic gold medals and a World Championship silver medal with Team Canada.

• Jack Parker (Boston University) - Legendary head coach and former BU forward spent 40 years at helm of his alma mater, winning 897 games overall and three NCAA championships with the Terriers. Also guided BU to four ECAC tournament titles and two ECAC regular-season crowns, before winning eight Hockey East regular-season championships and six Hockey East tournament titles, along with 21 Beanpot Tournament trophies. Three-time Spencer Penrose Award winner as the NCAA Coach of the Year.

The HHOF induction ceremony will be held in November.

Another BU Terrier Arrested

Twice in a decade, or ever, for something like this to transpire would be a lot for any college hockey program to deal with. But twice in the same season, and less than a dozen weeks apart?

Something is definitely wrong down that end of Commonwealth Avenue.

Just over two months after Corey Trivino was arrested for sexual assault and subsequently dismissed from the Boston University men's hockey team, the BU program was dealt another serious blow when Max Nicastro was arrested on Sunday and charged with sexual assault, according to College Hockey News.

Nicastro, 21, a junior defenseman from Thousand Oaks, Calif., and a 2008 draft choice of the Detroit Red Wings, was held on $25,000 cash bail and was due to be arraigned on Tuesday. He has been suspended indefinitely from playing with the Terriers, for whom he had tallied three goals and nine points along with 32 penalty minutes in 27 games so far this season. In 102 career collegiate outings, the former blueliner from Chicago (USHL) has collected 11-22—33 points and 115 PIM.

What's going on at BU is past the point of shocking or ridiculous. It's no longer a hockey issue, either, for head coach Jack Parker to take care of on his own. No, it's time for the university administration to step in. They won't kill the program—and they shouldn't—but things have to change with the entire culture of men's hockey at BU.

Two alleged sexual assaults from the same team in matter of months is frightening, and not just for the victims, although they should rightly be thought of first. Such heinous acts also paint other BU players, most of whom are probably law-abiding citizens, with a broad and unfair brush of guilt, just because they happen to suit up on the same squad as the alleged perpetrators. A number of college/pro athletes in general may carry enormous egos, but a sense of entitlement is a far cry from felony.

Even if the charges against Nicastro are ultimately unfounded, as was discovered with the Duke men's lacrosse team a few years ago after those players were publicly vilified before being exonerated of rape charges, the damage to BU Hockey has already been done—again. It's going to take a while for it to recover from another black eye, and hopefully there isn't a third such ugly incident just waiting in the wings.

Not now. Not ever again.

ADDENDUM: Nicastro was arraigned on two counts of rape on Feb. 21, with an automatic plea of not guilty, according to USCHO.com.

Trivino Booted from BU After Arrest

Boston University senior forward Corey Trivino has been removed from the Terrier hockey team in connection with an incident that occurred on Sunday night that resulted in his subsequent arrest.

"He is no longer associated with the BU hockey team,” said Terrier head coach Jack Parker on the university web site.

Trivino, who hails from Toronto, was charged with three counts of indecent assault and battery, two counts of breaking and entering in the nighttime, and one count of assault with attempt to rape after entering a female student's room without permission and kissing and groping her without her consent. Alcohol is believed to have been involved.

Trivino, who was leading Hockey East with 13 goals through his first 15 games this season, has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him, although he was forced to surrender his passport.

I've written here before about college hockey players getting in trouble with the law. We'll see what happens with Trivino, who's had problems with alcohol in the past, according to the Daily Free Press, and whether he's exonerated or not. Assuming he's not incarcerated, expect him to sign with the New York Islanders, who drafted him in 2008.

Trivino, who played on BU's 2009 NCAA title team, ends his college career with 31-42—73 scoring totals in 112 contests. He scored two goals in a 5-1 win over Maine in his final appearance on Dec. 10.

BC Bounces Back to Split with BU

Boston University visited Boston College at a sold-out Kelley Rink for a Hockey East Conference matchup on Friday night. And for the second time in three weeks, the visiting Terriers defeated the host Eagles, this time by a 5-3 count. BU had earlier shut out BC, 5-0, on Nov. 19, their first whitewash of the Eagles since 1983.

Kieran Millan made 42 stops for the No. 13 Terriers (8-4-1 overall, 6-3-1 Hockey East), who were outshot by a 45-15 margin before 7,884 fans. Yasin Ciss and Casey Hohmann scored their first-ever collegiate goals in helping BU build a 4-1 lead midway through the third period, before No. 3 BC scored two of the game's final three goals. The Terriers led 2-0 after one period, and 3-1 after two stanzas.

"The only reason why that game wasn't ... a lot closer is that [Millan] played unbelievable," said BU coach Jack Parker at uscho.com. "He was fabulous tonight."

BC, which had lost three of its previous four games, rebounded the following night up the MBTA Green Line at Agannis Arena, and scored four times in the second period en route to a 6-1 win. The Eagles got goals from six different skaters, including the game-winner from senior captain Tommy Cross, and 40 saves from freshman netminder Brian Billett in besting the Terriers for the first time this season. The Maine native, who was making just his second career start, made 22 stops in the second period alone.

"It was unimaginable," said Billett at The Heights about getting the start . "Going into the game I was just as relaxed as usual and I knew I had a great team in front of me. I felt comfortable that we were going to get a win out of it."

The two schools could possibly meet again in the Beanpot Tournament on Feb. 13 at TD North Garden. BC is currently ranked third in the nation by USCHO.com, while BU checks in at No. 11.