Boston College goaltender John Muse underwent hip surgery on April 30 to repair a torn labrum, the school confirmed on Wednesday. According to Boston College head coach Jerry York, Muse, who over the last two seasons has played all but seven minutes, 56 seconds for the Eagles, will return to the BC lineup no earlier than November, forcing the veteran bench boss to find another goaltender late in the recruiting season.
“We’re late into market but we’re certainly looking for goaltenders now,” said York when reached by phone on Thursday.
The Eagles carried three goaltenders on their roster last season. In addition to Muse, Boston College listed senior-to-be Alex Kremer and sophomore-to-be Chris Venti as goaltenders. Kremer and Venti both saw action during a 4-2 exhibition win at New Brunswick during the holiday exam break in January and Venti played the final 7:56 of BC’s 6-1 loss against Northeastern in the semifinal of the Beanpot tournament on February 2. He stopped all three shots he faced that night, the only game Muse has been removed from in his career.
The Eagles also have a recruit, Brian Billett, listed for admission beginning in the 2010-11 season. But according to York speeding up his admission to have him present for the start of the 2009 season is not an option.
That will leave the BC coaching staff pounding the pavement trying to find a third goaltender.
“I’d never start the season with just two goaltenders,” said York. “We’re definitely recruiting a goaltender. We’re hoping all is going to go well [with Muse’s recovery] but it’s a variable we can’t control.”
York couldn’t discuss who might be an option to come to Boston College for September, citing NCAA guidelines. But a story in last Sunday’s edition of the American Chronicle indicates that Waterloo (USHL) goaltender Parker Milner is “being courted by Boston College.”
As for Muse, York said the injury came as a bit of a shock. He said that Muse had what could be termed as nagging groin pain at times in the season and the surgery required to repair the labrum is similar to that which Boston Red Sox third baseman Mike Lowell, New York Yankees infielder Alex Rodriquez and New York Islanders goaltender Rick DiPeitro recently underwent.
Former New Hampshire goaltender Kevin Regan, now playing in the Boston Bruins organization, also recently had the same surgery and talked to Muse before he underwent the surgery.
“The doctor’s told us eight weeks on crutches then anywhere between four and six months where he’ll be recuperating,” said York about the timeline. “We’re looking at November [for a possible return] but we’re certainly not going to rush it. ”
Over the first two years of his career at BC, Muse has recorded a 43-25-13 record with a 2.44 goals against average and a .913 save percentage. He led the Eagles to the national championship as a freshman but BC failed to reach the NCAA tournament last season for the first time since 2002.
