30 years ago this month, the Terrier hockey team completed the first 30-win season in program history, winning the 1978 NCAA Championship at the Providence Civic Center with a 5-3 win against BC. And to complete this little jaunt into numerology, the man in the net for BU that night, Jim Craig, wore number 30. BU's third national title followed four years of semifinal losses and was the first and only time the Terriers and Eagles met in the Final (now, Frozen) Four.
A 30-2 record and a national title hardly tell the entire story of a remarkable season that included a 21 game winning streak that lasted from the opener until February, a 10-0 record in 1-goal games, the Blizzard of ’78 Beanpot, a shocking upset in the ECACs and redemption in the NCAAs. However, Terrier Hockey Fan Blog contributor mh82 comprehensively chronicles “That Championship Season” in a feature article also posted under Terrier Tales in the sidebar to the right.
Brian Durocher, now coach of the Terrier Women’s Hockey team—and recently named Hockey East Coach of the Year—was a co-captain and one-half of a goalie rotation on the 1977-78 team, posting a 14-2 record.
“To win a title and be the last one standing takes talent and a little luck,” he explained. “We may have gotten that small amount of luck and positive confidence in some of those close wins.
”We had stars and we had excellent role players. Goalie Jim Craig, defensemen Dick Lamby and Jack O’Callahan and forwards Dave Silk and Mark Fidler were elite players. The likes of Billy O'Neill, Marc Hetnik, Mickey Mullen, John Bethel, and Bob Boileau were excellent in their roles. We were not as talented as the BU teams [in the years] before this group, but the personalities and team play meshed quite well.”
“One of the things that was special about the ’78 team is that it didn’t matter what we did away from the rink,” said Silk, later a member of 1980’s Miracle on Ice. “When we came to the rink and played in that game, we were family. We were all brothers. We had something special.”
March 25, 1978 Providence, R.I.
Boston College 2-0-1---3
Boston Univ. 3-1-1---5
First Period
BU-Mark Fidler (Dick Lamby, Jack O'Callahan) PP 0:38
BC-Joe Mullen (Joe Augustine) 11:00
BC-Bobby Hehir (un.) 13:26
BU-Dave Silk (O'Callahan) 14:44
BU-Tony Meagher (Lamby) 17:24
Second Period
BU-Meagher (Bob Boileau, Marc Hetnik) 7:05
Third Period
BU-Fidler (Silk, Lamby) 1:01
BC-Steve Barger (Mark Switaj, Bill Kennedy) 3:30
Saves: BC (Paul Skidmore) 31; BU (Jim Craig) 28
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