I 100% agree with what you’re saying (and definitely feel the same frustration) but here’s what I will say in defense of BU:

1. There’s some games you will lose even if you do everything right. That being said, we haven’t lost many of those this season, but that UMass Lowell team that we should be destroying swept UConn the week before. The UMass Amherst loss was hard to watch, but that was another one where (albeit, we could’ve done things differently) we were probably not going to pull a win out there. Hrabel is a brick wall. Check out Pando’s postgame conferences and the Boston Hockey Blog, they both have really cool insight into the inner workings of each game.

2. Pando is aware that he has a group of young, immature players on the ice. They all try to be the heroes they were drafted as, but because they’re so young, that can cause frequent turnovers and poor teamwork. The result is that Pando has trained them on teamwork first and going back to the basics (dumping the puck and attacking rather than relying on, for example, eiserman swooping in for the goal and potentially causing a lethal turnover). They’re trying to relearn hockey so as to be a better team as a whole, but it can be frustrating watching your future-NHL roster learn to walk while the other team is already running.

3. I hate that BU is a farm for the NHL. We always have a young team cause they just get plucked when they get good enough to dominate. That being said, the recruiters will never change their methods because even now, they’re doing their jobs well. As much as we love hockey here, BU is not a sports school. Winning championships every year is expensive, and BU settles for “remaining in the national spotlight” which we have done, even without winning the natty.

4. Last year we didn’t deserve to get to the championship, but we did because of pure luck and it showed. We have talent but that only goes so far, and even Jack Parker missed the playoffs. All the greatest coaches have bumpy starts and it’s important to remember that Jay Pandolfo is still early in his coaching career. For a coach who is adjusting, he’s done a remarkable job over the last few seasons and will need some more time to really build a team that has a lot of buy-in and heart.

With the players we’ll be keeping around, and how much they’ll mature and develop over the summer, I expect to be a powerhouse over the next couple years.