When Matt O’Connor arrived at Boston University for his freshman season during the fall of 2012, then-coach Jack Parker elected to use a goaltending rotation with O’Connor and fellow rookie Sean Maguire.
Both players were highly regarded and stood out at different times but with Maguire on the sidelines as a medical redshirt this season, O’Connor has emerged as the go-to guy and he couldn’t be more elated. Being No. 1 is what he always wanted.
“There was no animosity [toward Maguire],” said O’Connor, who has played the last two seasons under coach David Quinn, who was named Hockey East Coach of the Year Thursday. “But we were both in each other’s way in terms of helping the team out. It’s really hard when you’re in your sophomore year and you’re still wondering who’s going to play on Friday and Saturday, who is going to get the crease each weekend.
“Now that I have been able to see the other side of it, when you get on a roll and get to play every game, I look back and it feels like a no-brainer. It’s way better for a goalie’s development to play a lot. Even just to have that weight off your shoulders and to not have to worry about ice time, you can worry about playing well and stopping the puck.”
It certainly has been a boon for the Terriers, who take on New Hampshire in the Hockey East tournament semifinals on Friday night at TD Garden. O’Connor goes into the matchup with a record of 20-3-4, a goals-against average of 2.13, and a save percentage of .928, all of which are career highs.
Not only is O’Connor playing his best hockey, which has put the undrafted netminder on the radar of many National Hockey League teams, but junior defenseman Matt Grzelcyk is at the top of the game and has served as a role model for the four freshmen behind the blue line – Brandon Hickey, Brien Diffley, Brandon Fortunato, and John MacLeod.
“I think what is great is they play with a lot of confidence and that’s huge in Hockey East,” said O’Connor, a 23-year-old native of Toronto. “You can’t really teach confidence.”
Grzelcyk’s influence has certainly made O’Connor’s life easier.
“It’s unbelievable,” said O’Connor. “The way he can attack the puck and win puck battles is huge and sometimes goes unnoticed because he is so good at moving the puck and transitioning up the ice and lately, he has been on quite the tear offensively. Just his ability to win battles and strip people of the puck, and win battles down low and allow us to possess the puck, it is huge in how we have been able to progress this season. Grzelcyk has got one gear and it’s all out. That really rubs off on players.”
Having a high-powered top line of Evan Rodrigues, Jack Eichel, and Danny O’Regan not only has helped BU win, but it has also helped O’Connor become a better goaltender because he is practicing against some of the best shooters in college hockey.
“I think it’s great for my development,” said O’Connor. “This year, I’m fortunate enough to get a lot better Monday to Friday with the shooters that I have. It really challenges me and gets me ready for the weekend whereas sometimes maybe last year, I would come into the weekend and the pucks [during games] would be coming off a little faster or they’d be shooting a little bit differently. [This year], it’s really a snowball effect. Everybody makes each other better.”
Director of hockey operations Scott Young, who played 17-plus seasons in the NHL during which he possessed a devastating slap shot from the point, also has aided O’Connor’s game.
“He actually shoots on me a lot,” said O’Connor. “Usually, whenever we’re doing a drill, I get to go down the other end with him and we work on stuff. He jokes about being all stiff and having to catch his wind there but he still has a really quick release. He really makes me better and really knows where to shoot and he allows me to pick his brain about a goal scorer now and then, which is nice.”
Quinn said when he took the job in March of 2013, he had hoped either O’Connor or Maguire would seize the top spot but it was a down year in a number of ways and that filtered down to the goaltending.
“I knew they were both good,” said Quinn. “You’re always hoping that you’ll have a No. 1. Last year, we never had anybody take the job and run with it, it was just one of those years. One guy would play well and the other guy would get hurt, the other guy would play well. We had good goaltending but not great goaltending.”
With Maguire unavailable, Quinn gave the reins to O’Connor and expected he would rise to the occasion.
“I just felt that knowing him and knowing the situation, I felt like this was going to allow him to emerge as the goalie we all knew he could be,” said Quinn. “I think he was excited about the opportunity. I think there was a mental peace with him.”
As many games as the Terriers have won, Quinn said he doesn’t have to worry about his team being full of itself because there is too much at stake.
“You look at our season and there’s a reason we haven’t lost two in a row,” said Quinn. “We have a little bit of a swagger about us but it’s a respectful swagger. I don’t think our players think we’re way better than anybody. They understand if we’re going to have success, we have to work hard and do the things we’ve done all year.”
O’Connor and the rest of the Class of 2016 feel a genuine responsibility as the first class of hockey players to come into the school since the scandal that seriously tarnished the program.
“My class has seen a huge evolution in the program,” said O’Connor. “We came in as kind of like the salvation of the character of BU hockey. We had to really wear that BU jersey with extra class and really represent our school in the way the program deserved and I think we were able to do that and now it’s about winning and bringing some championships back to Agganis.”
The expectations for the team are very high this season and after earning the Beanpot championship for the first time since 2009 and locking up the league regular-season title, the Terriers are gunning for more.
“I think back and I hadn’t really won anything since I was about 12 years old or maybe 8 or 9,” said O’Connor with a laugh. “I’m hoping to really win a lot more [down] the stretch. You could just kind of feel it even at the start of the year when you have a bit of a special team. It has been just a real blast.”
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at nancy.marrapese-burrell@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @Elle1027.