Heading into his first season at Boston University after transferring from Providence College, Jay O’Brien admits to having a chip on his shoulder.
He has something to prove in his return to Hockey East after a disappointing, injury-marred freshman year at PC in 2018-19.
He is determined to live up to the promise he showed as a prep school superstar at Thayer Academy and first-round draft pick of the Philadelphia Flyers in 2018.
O’Brien, who turns 21 on Nov. 4, has done some growing up since he enrolled at PC straight out of prep school.
“I really don’t think that year (at PC) defined me as a player or person. I’ve reflected on it a lot and moved past it. I’m obviously thankful for everything that Providence gave me, Nate (Leaman) and the whole coaching staff. I’ll be friends with some of those guys forever,’’ said O’Brien, who played for Penticton of the BCHL last season.
“We made it to the Frozen Four with a pretty damn good team. I learned a lot from some of the older guys there. Looking back on it, obviously I was only 18 and it’s a big jump from high school to college.
“The (upper-body) injuries — that stuff happens. That was the first big adversity that I’ve faced in my hockey career. I’d be lying if I said it didn’t take a toll on me at times. Now, it’s how you respond.’’
As he makes a fresh start at BU, one pivotal factor in his favor is that he is healthy after undergoing surgery in mid-June.
“I had double hernia and a couple of my lower abdominal muscles repaired. That was something I had for a year and a half and I didn’t really know what it was. It started at Providence, actually. I thought it was just tight hips and that type of thing. I was pretty unfamiliar with what hernias were. Now I see guys like (Brad) Marchand, (Steven) Stamkos, all these guys are getting them done,’’ he said.
“In Penticton I just kept having this pain in between my groins and my lower stomach. We thought it was my hips. I was working out at EPS (in Foxboro) and skating for like a month when I got back (from British Columbia) and it was just so painful that I thought, this can’t be right. Trying to rehab it was not working.
“After some tests, the next thing you know the doctor said I had double sports and regular hernias and tears in my lower abs,’’ he said.
After the surgery, O’Brien rehabbed all summer and started skating a month ago. He’s ready to go.
“Injuries are never fun, but this one, I was excited to get it (repaired). Now I’m back to normal and healthier than ever, which is a great feeling. It’s nice to be pain-free,’’ he said.
O’Brien, who scored 66 points in 46 games in Penticton, figures to slot in near the top of the lineup for the Terriers, who have been skating in small groups at Walter Brown Arena.
“I’ve had a couple of meetings with (BU head coach) Albie (O’Connell) and they expect me to come in and be a power-play guy and probably on the top line or top two lines, whatever it may be. We’ve talked about wing or center. I played on the wing quite a bit in Penticton,’’ O’Brien said.
“I’ve battled a lot over the last two years. I’m healthy and my mind is in the right place. I want to get back to playing the way that I know I can play.’’
The waiting game
News on the opening of the Hockey East season, the schedule and plans for television is not likely until at least late next week.
The start date for the season remains under discussion, according to sources. A handful of schools don’t want to play games until their campuses empty out around Thanksgiving. The rest of the schools favor starting by Nov. 20, if not earlier. Stay tuned.
Hat’s off for Fontaine
Here’s a nugget from last week’s NHL draft that made me smile.
Gunnarwolfe Fontaine watched the draft at the home of his friend and Northeastern teammate Sam Colangelo, who was selected five picks into the second round by Anaheim. Brett Peterson, their adviser, was there, too.
Because there was a chance that Colangelo would be selected in the first round, the NHL sent him and other possible first-rounders a hat for every team in the league. That way the players would have a team hat to wear for the obligatory celebration video and photos with family and friends.
With Nashville’s pick approaching in the seventh and final round, Peterson fired off a text across the room to Colangelo, asking him to go and get the Predators hat.
“I felt pretty confident with Nashville, going back to their interaction with Gunnar. They were really excited about him. I had a very strong sense that they were going to take him,’’ said Peterson.
He was correct.
And as soon as the Preds announced that they’d picked Fontaine, Colangelo pulled out the hat and handed it to him. The timing was perfect.
“It was pretty cool. It was a very happy day,’’ Peterson said.
Net gain for U.S.
U.S. world juniors coach Nate Leaman of Providence College, on a Zoom call with media on Sunday, pointed to goaltending as an obvious strength of the U.S. team at the tournament in Alberta.
Boston College sophomore Spencer Knight (Darien, Conn.), a first-round pick of the Florida Panthers, is one very big reason for that.
All reports from the U.S. National Junior Team Evaluation Camp in Michigan, which wrapped up on Tuesday, said that Knight was outstanding, as usual.
“He’s a brick wall,’’ is how Michigan freshman center Matt Beniers (Hingham, Mass.) described Knight.
Said Michigan defenseman Cam York, "He plays big in net. Even (Tuesday), guys were still trying to figure out how to score on him. He's so calm back there. He makes life as a defenseman super easy. There's really no weakness to his game.”
A matchup between Knight and Russia’s Yaroslav Askarov, selected in the first round by Nashville last week, could be one of the highlights of the WJC.
