Q&A With Captain Wade Megan

The regular season opener is just days away so it’s time for our annual Q&A with the Terrier captain. This year it’s Wade Megan, BU’s top returning goal-scorer who found the back of the net 20 times last season, including nine times on the power play.

A Florida Panthers draft choice with 33 career goals as a Terrier, Megan was a standout scorer at South Kent School before heading to BU and was led all New England prep players in scoring in 2008-09.

Off the ice, the history major has been involved in the Kids Cancer Buzz Off that takes place at Gillette Stadium every June. After lining up pledges to the charity for several months, Megan (Photo with Ross Gaudet) closes the deal by having his head shaved.

Q—The year’s Terriers are an especially young squad with nine freshmen, a number of whom are likely to be playing important roles early on. How will you help them make the adjustment to the pace and skill level of D1 hockey?

A— Our freshman are already highly skilled players, I think a good number of them will be able to step in and log a lot of minutes. How quickly they can adapt to the D1 game will be a determining factor in the success of this team. 

Q—Do you anticipate added leadership pressure on assistant captain Ryan Ruikka and you in the wake of the Task Force report?

A— Our entire team is on the same page as the coaching staff and the administration in regards to the Task Force report. We are proud to be student-athletes here at BU and we are looking forward to getting this year’s hockey season started.

Q—Both the media and coaches polls picked BU for third in the conference. What are three keys for this young team to earn home ice for the Hockey East playoffs?

A— We need to:

1. Play a thorough game night in and night out.

            2. Protect our home ice during the regular season.

            3. Work.

Q—What aspects of your own game are you seeking to improve in your final season in Scarlet?

A— I have a lot to work on. It is important that I keep working on all aspects of my game in order to become a more complete player.

Q—You’ve seen time at left wing and also on the off-wing. At which position do you feel most comfortable and most productive?  What do you expect your role to be on power plays?

A— I expect that I will play mainly left wing this year. It is where I feel most comfortable and also most productive. We will see how the power-play shakes out in the coming weeks. I like to be in front of the net. It will be interesting to see what kind of dynamic some of the younger players will bring. We have some guys that will be fun to watch on the power-play this year. 

Q—Penalty minutes have been up for BU in recent seasons. Is that a function of not enough discipline by the players or tighter calls by the officials? Are the rule changes this year that will be challenging?

A— Penalty minutes are nobody’s fault but our own. It is a point of emphasis for us this year and it is important that we drastically reduce our penalty minutes. That is our job as players.

Q—Coach Parker often says, half-jokingly, that the game should be called “goalie” because that position is so critical to outcomes.  Now, for the first time in four years, BU has no experienced college goalie. What have you seen from Sean Maguire and Matt O’Connor that tells you they can handle the job?

A— The first thing that I noticed was the fact that they compete. They are both terrific competitors, which will benefit both of them in a big way. Our goaltending situation is no worry to us. Both are capable and both will need to play well all year.

Q—Last season when a few upperclassmen left the program, some of the younger players took on larger roles than they ordinarily would have. Do you expect that added experience will help them step up and become important contributors this season?

A— Absolutely.  Players who saw a lot of time last year will see even more time this year. Taking that playing experience into this coming season is going to be very beneficial.

Q—Conference games seem to be closer than ever, so that makes one of Jack Parker’s keys to victory—winning the third period—even more important. What can a captain do to reinforce this, especially among younger players?

A— One of the biggest jobs that Ryan and I have this year making sure that we, along with the rest of the guys play 60 minutes of BU hockey every game. We need to play complete games and it’s so important that to understand that there is no room in this league to take periods off. 

Q—The importance of special teams can’t be overstated. Last season one-third of BU’s goals came on power plays and BU converted at better than 25% in conference play. Do you see the ingredients for a strong power play this season?

A—Yes. There are many things that make a power play “click”: willingness to shoot, anticipation, putting in “ugly” goals in front of the net. We have the players that can bring these things to our power play.

 

Q—We always ask this in the captain’s Q&A: which returning player (or players) will surprise BU fans by taking his game to a higher level?

A— We have seen flashes of exciting hockey from Yasin Cisse. He will surprise some people this season.