Granted, an offensive overhaul is not in the least the most pressing priority for Boston University at this time. Nor does it figure to be any time in the immediate future.
Even so, this spring, the Terriers will inevitably lose a valuable center in Melissa Anderson to graduation, so the recently rumored addition of transferring New Hampshire forward Jenn Wakefield –who has spent all of this season at various levels in Team Canada’s program- would make for an irresistible booster for the ever-progressing, aspiring national powerhouse.
It is rather ironic that word of Wakefield’s supposedly impending resignation from Brian McCloskey’s capstone class in favor of Brian Durocher’s ice course should break out late this week. After all, she is in the midst of linking up with the likes of BU sophomore forward Jenelle Kohanchuk and the rest of the Canadian U22ers in the Germany-hosted MLP Cup.
Pending formal confirmation from Durocher –which, lo and behold, he will not offer just yet- Kohanchuk and Wakefield figure to converge on the Hub next autumn each with two remaining years of eligibility and similar developmental backstories that would grant the Terrier strike force an enticing array of options.
In their first two respective collegiate seasons, Kohanchuk and Wakefield have been either No. 1 or No. 2 on their program’s scoring charts. Both have piled on the points at both ends of the special teams’ spectrum. And they have both been flexible enough to alternate assignments between the wing and the center. (To spike the intrigue, Kohanchuk tends to assume the left wing while Wakefield takes to the right side).
Right now, Anderson is the only perennial pivot and the only senior in the upper echelon of the BU depth chart. While she has consistently gone about her two-way business, Durocher has given all of his prominent young guns substantial slivers of training at the face-off dot and everything that comes with it.
That practice has gone for Kohanchuk as well as juniors Lauren Cherewyk and Jillian Kirchner and rookie Jill Cardella, who is an easy second to Kohanchuk (12) for the team lead in goals scored (9). Once Anderson is gone, at least one of them –quite likely Kohanchuk based on cumulative experience- would be well advised to step up assume the center position full-time.
But throw Wakefield into the equation and suddenly you have someone who has recorded 44 games as a center with the Wildcats and, in 64 career games overall, charged up a 59-36-95 scoring transcript, complete with 20 goals and 34 points on the power play as well as five shorthanded strikes and a dozen game-winners.
Similarly, Kohanchuk, who played 19 of 28 games at center as a rookie and 11 early this year, has blossomed into a power play leader, stamping 9-5-14 totals in her first 48 games and already surpassing her productivity from last season. And not unlike Wakefield, who twice led UNH in the way of shots on net, Kohanchuk is a peerlessly relentless puckslinger already with 96 registered stabs to her credit this year.
No one can ever pack too much quality ammo, can they?
Do note that Wakefield comes from the most privileged offensive brigade on the east coast, hence the bigger and bolder numbers. But with their respective maturation and Wakefield’s introduction to a slightly smaller pond –literally and figuratively, what with the transition from Lake Whittemore to Walter Brown Arena- the new tandem could ultimately act as the nuclei for two formidable forwards lines as well as two power play units.
But if that somehow proves unsatisfactory, the two can work together in other ways. They might partner on the same special teams’ strike force while attending to different lines at even strength. Or they could make way for a surprisingly more reliable center and hop on to that line as deadly left and right wingers.
Of course, all of this is still technically hypothetical until Wakefield’s transaction is openly declared by good authority. But we all know how these higher-profile transfers tend to pan out, anyway. And regardless of what happens, the Terriers will still have a little sprucing up to do on the defensive front.
Then again, Wakefield has also done her share of penalty killing and retained particularly high plus/minus ratings while in New Hampshire. And she has already logged about half a season’s worth of a working vacation from college rinks, first as one of only five centralized Olympic prospects still eligible for the U22 program, and now as a returnee to the younger level. There is no sure way to project just how much sharper her game and her incentive will be from an oh-so-close tryout with the big girls once she resumes intercollegiate play.
But based on her college rep alone, it ought to stir encouraging thoughts within the minds of Terrier buffs. Wakefield’s insertion may not be the all-encompassing cure for BU anymore than her deletion has been an unbearable bane for UNH, but it would be a tremendous aid in maintaining and building on the pluses that the Terriers’ already have.
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