The 2008 NHL draft is a month away; however, who said it is too early to be talking about potential future stars? One of the top ten prospects in the final 2008 NHL Central Scouting rankings is Boston University forward Colin Wilson.

A native of Greenwich, Connecticut, Colin Wilson comes from a hockey background. His father, Carey was a former collegiate player at Dartmouth College where he had a stellar career at the college level. Carey Wilson also played in 13 NHL seasons for the Calgary Flames, New York Rangers and the old Hartford Whalers.

This year, Colin Wilson played his first collegiate season at Boston University. In 37 games, Wilson scored 12 goals, and notched 23 assists totaling 35 points. Thanks to his performance on the ice, Wilson was named Hockey East Rookie of the Year for the 2007-08. Wilson had a few schools in mind, but in the end he decided to play for legendary coach Jack Parker and the Terriers.

“BU was a place I knew I could develop as a hockey player, but, at the same time concentrate on school,” Wilson said about his decision. “Jack Parker, coach [David] Quinn and coach [Mike] Bavis are really strong coaches and I knew they had a good reputation.

“Coach Parker knows his stuff, coach Quinn has helped me settle in and coach Bavis works with the forwards a little more and he has taught me how to get a little bit more gritty. They are all great guys.”

For Wilson, playing for a legend (and coaching staff for that matter) was an honor for this year.

“It’s pretty cool. It makes you want to respect their opinion and just kind of go out there and make sure when you go out there, to make sure you do it because they know what they’re talking about,” Wilson stated about the staff. “You don’t think about it too much aside from that: to just make sure you do what they tell you to do.”

Although the Terriers had an up and down season in 2007-08, the team did shine near the end as they took second place in Hockey East. The year ended in a little bit of disappointment against Vermont in the Hockey East semifinals. Wilson helped the team get to that point after a 4-10-2 start to the year.

In the Terriers’ hot 15-7-2 stretch, Wilson tallied 24 points (8G, 16A) in those 24 games. The Terriers faced a lot of adversity, but were able to get over the hump late in the year.

“I think the first and second half I was playing the exact same way,” said Wilson. “First half I was having a little bit of trouble scoring goals, and kind of making a couple of plays. Then after that, I got adjusted and started to get to the front of the net a little bit more to get rebound goals which is kind of my knack.”

In terms of the adjustment to the college game, Wilson had mixed feelings about whether it was a major issue to move to another level or not.

“It was and it wasn’t difficult,” Wilson noted. “I played for the Under-18 team [the year before] and we had exhibition games against colleges. They go out and they play hard but they might not always have their ‘A’ game.

“This year was a little bit harder but with using my hockey sense [things like that] it was a little easier to adjust.”

With a large senior class, nine to be exact, Wilson learned a lot from the upperclassmen.

“I learned just to keep in line,” stated Wilson. “When you’re a freshman, you’re a freshman and there are comments you got to keep to yourself and you just got to play for the team.”

Wilson is not the only top talent in the class of 2011. Six other members are with him, and three have already been drafted (Nick Bonino, Colby Cohen and Kevin Shattenkirk). This was one of the best recruiting classes for Parker and the future looks bright at Agganis Arena.

For Wilson, it was a period of bonding with his classmates.

“A couple of the freshmen are a little bit older,” Wilson mentioned. “Just learning to bond with the class and they all have great offensive skills and it’s been great playing with them.”

On Saturday November 24, 2007, Terrier hockey history was made. It was their first game in Madison Square Garden in New York City against Cornell and the first college hockey game in quite awhile at “The World’s Most Famous Arena.” For Wilson it was a thrill.

“It was a great time,” Wilson said. “My dad had played for the New York Rangers so he had played there a few times. It was special being out there on the ice and also in front of the fans where it was jam-packed so it was a good experience.”

Look for part two of the interview as we head closer to the 2008 NHL draft.