Frozen Fenway--one day away

In the ninety-plus year history of the BU-BC hockey rivalry, the teams have faced off in a variety of campus sites and for tournament games at Boston Garden—old and new—the Worcester Centrum and the Providence Civic Center. Tomorrow night, The Battle of Comm Ave. (click on films for trailer) has a new address—4 Yawkey Way. As the long-awaited game at Frozen Fenway approaches, we have a boatload of articles and videos to share.

ESPN’s pre-game coverage begins with a feature that has BU Coach Jack Parker and BC’s Jerry York, rivals for some 42 seasons, recalling their early days playing pond hockey in towns surrounding Boston (we’ll have to excuse one glaring factual error). ESPN also looks at the Terriers’ disappointing first semester results, talks with top freshman scorer Alex Chiasson and offers video from yesterday’s practice session and press conference at Fenway Park.

The Boston Hockey Blog covers the Terriers’ week of preparation and reveals that sophomore Kieran Millan will get the start in goal for BU.

Tim Rosenthal of Inside Hockey previews the 248th game in the rivalry which BU leads, 123-107-17. More press conference coverage. So does MLB.com whose story features a classic photo of Parker and York at Fenway Park following Wednesday’s practices.

NHL.com’s Bob Snow offers two feature pieces. The first offers takes on the upcoming game from Terriers and Eagles past and present, local fans and even a few participants in last week’s NHL Winter Classic. The second looks at the intensity of the BU-BC rivalry and includes a side “ranking the 3 biggest BU-BC games.” Snow’s picks are: 3) The 1986 Beanpot Final (BU 4-1); 2) The 2006 NCAA Regional Final (BC 5-0) and the 1978 NCAA Championship game (BU 5-3).

USCHO’s Brian Sullivan reports on the BU-BC alumni game, a private charity event held this past Monday at Frozen Fenway. Fifty-four participants raised nearly $16,000 for The Travis Roy Foundation and the Educational and Health Fund for Christopher J. Cleary.

NESN which will broadcast the game (NHL Network will carry the NESN feed as well), ranked the top 10 BU and BC alumni to “make it big in the NHL.” Tom Caron talked with Parker and York and some of the players following Wednesday’s practice BU captain Kevin Shattenkirk and BC captain Matt Price were guests tonight on NESN’s Bruins Faceoff Live. NESN hopes to have former BU captain Matt Gilroy in studio to talk about the game tomorrow evening.

Last night, Gilroy scored his first point for the Rangers since his return from Hartford, as New York beat Dallas last night, 5-3. Rangers also got a goal from Chris Drury who beat Marty Turco for his sixth marker of the season. It was Drury and BU who upset Turco and top-ranked Michigan 13 years ago in the NCAA semifinals in Milwaukee. Tonight, Drury found himself facing off against another one-time college rival--appropriately enough, former BC captain Marty Reasoner