{"id":31183,"date":"2010-03-19T21:51:46","date_gmt":"2010-03-20T02:51:46","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/19\/bcs-muse-number-one-again\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:56","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:56","slug":"bcs-muse-number-one-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2010\/03\/19\/bcs-muse-number-one-again\/","title":{"rendered":"BC’s Muse: Number One Again"},"content":{"rendered":"

Two years ago, John Muse lived a charmed life. He started, and played every minute of, Boston College’s 44 games. He earned all-tournament honors in the Hockey East tournament and then again at the Frozen Four, leading his team to a national championship.<\/p>\n

Last year, he once again started every game, but neither he nor the Eagles enjoyed the same success. They finished sixth during the regular season. A loss in the league semifinals ended their season. Muse’s goals-against average rose from 2.20 to 2.72; his save percentage fell from .921 to .904.<\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n
John Muse is back as Boston College’s No. 1 goaltender (photo: Melissa Wade).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

He hadn’t suddenly become a sieve, but it wasn’t the old jersey No. 1 in the BC nets. Nagging groin pain, later identified as a torn labrum in his hip, was at least part of the problem. <\/p>\n

In the offseason, Muse underwent hip surgery. Optimists assumed it would return the old No. 1 to the BC nets; pessimists watched Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell hobble around after hip labrum surgery and shuddered. The Eagles were doomed.<\/p>\n

BC tried to scour up a potential replacement, difficult to obtain so long after the conventional recruiting period, and came up with Parker Milner.<\/p>\n

Original projections for Muse’s return were possibly in November. Possibly.<\/i> Instead, he was back between the pipes for BC’s opening game on Oct. 18.<\/p>\n

But not all the way back.<\/p>\n

“I hadn’t skated for about five months because of the surgery,” Muse says. “My hip wasn’t bothering me. I had a few aches and pains here and there because I hadn’t played in so long, but for the most part I felt good physically. It was just difficult getting my timing back, getting back into the swing of things.”<\/p>\n

Game by game he got stronger. By January, he seemed to have hit his stride.<\/p>\n

“Once we came back from Christmas break, I felt like I was playing where I wanted to be,” he says. “But obviously I can always get better. That’s what I work on in practice, trying to get better every time I’m on the ice.”<\/p>\n

Muse, however, wasn’t the only one getting better. Milner, the insurance policy and heir apparent, wasn’t playing second fiddle to anyone. He earned the February Hockey East goaltender of the month award, going 4-0-0 with a 0.93 GAA and a .963 save percentage.<\/p>\n

A 0.93 GAA and a .963 save percentage.<\/i><\/p>\n

\"John<\/p>\n
John Muse stops Chris McCarthy (photo: Melissa Wade).<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The same freshman who had allowed Muse to come back at the appropriate speed from the hip surgery was making a convincing case for the No. 1 job. Muse, the guy who had started every game for two years was potentially … the backup<\/i>.<\/p>\n

“Any goalie will tell you it’s difficult not playing every night,” Muse says. “You want to be in there playing and helping your team out. Parker is a great goalie. He pushes me and I push him. We get along great.”<\/p>\n

But when the playoffs started, it wasn’t the old No. 1 in the BC crease. It was the new No. 35, Milner.<\/p>\n

Muse says now, “He was playing well. You don’t change things when a goalie is playing well.” But the demotion had to sting.<\/p>\n

BC coach Jerry York says, “He must have thought, ‘Hey when my chance comes I better play pretty well because I’ve got great competition here.'”<\/p>\n

That chance came after the first playoff game against Massachusetts, a sub-par performance by Milner in a 6-5 win. Muse barged through the open door, allowing only two goals in closing out UMass, and returned to the BC crease for the Eagles’ semifinal game against Vermont. <\/p>\n

Jersey No. 1 was again No. 1 on the BC depth chart.<\/p>\n

The result? Muse stopped all 30 shots he faced, including a key second-period breakaway. <\/p>\n

Jersey No. 1 was once again the old No. 1. <\/p>\n

“I don’t know if it’s so much me as the entire team,” Muse says. “You saw tonight how well we play defensively. Not only our defense but our forwards, too, getting back-pressure when we turn over the puck, which isn’t too often, and breaking the puck out. <\/p>\n

“All those things limit their chances. When they don’t get too many chances, it makes my job easier.”<\/p>\n

An easier job.<\/p>\n

After a year and a half that have been anything but easy for Muse, easy is nice and so is a job.<\/p>\n

Now he just wants that easy job for five more games.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Boston College goaltender John Muse is back exactly where he wants to be: between the pipes for the Eagles. Dave Hendrickson reports.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10,"featured_media":140328,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"coauthors":[],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nBC's Muse: Number One Again - College Hockey | USCHO.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Boston College goaltender John Muse is back exactly where he wants to be: between the pipes for the Eagles. 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