Men's hockey goaltender Brett Bennett released

May 6 -- Sophomore goaltender Brett Bennett has been released from his scholarship and will not return to the Boston University men's hockey team next season, a school official confirmed Monday night.

Six weeks removed from a season in which he served as the Terriers' primary backstop, Bennett departs a program that will welcome two freshmen netminders for the 2008-09 campaign.

"Our staff has decided that we move in a different direction in regards to our goaltending," said BU coach Jack Parker in a press release issued Tuesday afternoon. "We wish Brett the best in his future endeavors."

The move leaves freshman Adam Kraus as the lone goalie on BU's active roster.

Bennett, a touted recruit out of the United States National Development Program, landed the starting job in early January following an ankle injury that shelved senior Karson Gillespie. But despite steady improvement -- undoubtedly aided by the man-to-man defensive coverage installed by Parker shortly after Christmas -- Bennett struggled in his role as the successor to former All-American John Curry.

A fifth-round draft choice of the Phoenix Coyotes in the 2006 National Hockey League Entry Draft, Bennett posted a 2.63 goals-against average and a Hockey East-worst .888 save percentage in 31 appearances (29 starts) this season. The Williamsville, N.Y., native's best stretch of the year coincided with BU's second-half surge, during which Bennett registered shutouts against the University of Maine (Feb. 16), University of Massachusetts-Amherst (Feb. 29) and Providence College (March 6).

"I thought there were times when Bennett looked like he was gonna get to a point where he was coming along," Parker said in an interview last month. "He looked better, a little more relaxed and a little more confident.

"But at the same time, I still don't think we got great goaltending in the second semester. We were not happy with the goaltending all year. It was a little bit better, and we got by with what we got. Benny got better as the season progressed, but there was a lot of pressure on him when Gillespie went out. A whole bunch of things added up to the fact that it got better, but still wasn't good enough."