Thursday, March 22, 2007

Looking back: “A few good men….”


On March 22, 1997, ten years ago today, Chris Drury's goal at 12:20 of overtime gave Boston University a 4-3 win over Denver in the NCAA East Regional Final in Worcester, punching the Terriers' ticket to the Frozen Four in Milwaukee.

The second-seeded Terriers (Clarkson had been the #1 seed) had taken a 3-2 lead with 3:19 left in regulation on Shawn Bates' (in photo)shorthanded breakaway goal. However, the Pioneers forced overtime with an extra-attacker goal by Eric Anderson, beating Michel Laroque with 53 seconds left.

In overtime, with both teams two men down, Chris Kelleher took a pass from Jon Coleman and wristed a shot on goal from the left point. Drury was locked up with a Denver defender in front of the net, gained control of the rebound and, while falling down, slid the puck past tournament MVP Jim Mullin.The moment is replayed in the taped intro to BU hockey radio broadcasts, punctuated by Bernie Corbett's call, "A few good men are going to Milwaukee."

The “few good men” line was reference to a BU roster that began the season short on depth and was further depleted by injuries. Tommi Degerman joined the team after first semester to bolster the team and became a key contributor. Drury's goal was his 37th of the season. Albie O'Connell had a pair of goals for BU, which upset defending champion Michigan in the Frozen Four semis before losing to North Dakota in the final.

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