Marking the 20th anniversary of BU’s
fourth NCAA title, “The Drought Busters,” authored by mh82, chronicles the long
road to a triple crown of championships—Beanpot, Hockey East and NCAA—by one of
the most talented and deepest in talent squads in Terrier hockey history.
►1994-95 BU Hockey Schedule & Results
►1994-95 BU Hockey Schedule & Results
The 1994-95 Terriers:
Drought Busters
By mh82
The audience starts
cheering
The spotlight's on
you
As the scene grows
before you
The mirror is set
A performance we will
not forget
For this is the show
of our lives
Caravan
The thing is, as the 1993-94 Hockey East
regular season was winding toward its conclusion, Boston University was playing
some of its best hockey of the season. The Terriers were on the precise
schedule that any Jack Parker-coached team was supposed to be on with the
arrival of the first week of March -- performing at peak level and ready to
compete for trophies. Lost in the overall picture of BU's postseason focus,
however, was the reality of a gathering storm in Michigan's Upper Peninsula,
one that would eventually strike the program with overwhelming force.
Since losing to Harvard 4-2 in the first
round of the Beanpot in early February, BU had gone 7-0-1 over an eight-game
stretch, starting with an 8-0 wipeout of Northeastern in the Beanpot
consolation game and finishing with a 6-1 home win over Providence in the
regular season finale, a contest that included a third-period brawl that led to
the ejection of four players from each team.
The Terriers had clinched the top seed in the
Hockey East playoffs by winning 21 of 24
league games, and they looked to be a favorite to capture the school's third
league tournament title while at the same time earning an automatic berth into
the NCAA tournament, where they would return for a fifth straight year.
In a bizarre set of circumstances, BU's
reward for earning the top seed was a quarterfinal round matchup against Maine,
the defending NCAA champions. Coming off a memorable 42-1-2 season -- with the
only loss courtesy of a gutsy BU comeback in Orono when the Terriers scored
five unanswered goals, capped off by Mike Prendergast's game winner in overtime
-- the Black Bears and coach Shawn Walsh ran afoul of the NCAA for the use of
two ineligible players (Jeff Tory and Patrice Tardif) and were forced to
forfeit 14 wins from the season, dropping them from a home ice berth to the
basement of the Hockey East standings with a 3-20-1 record. The league had
attempted to ban Maine from the postseason tournament due to the forfeits, but
the school went to court and was granted an injunction by a judge to play.
Parker and his squad were actually looking forward to the challenge the Black
Bears would present, helping prepare them for a potential spot in the semifinal
round at Boston Garden.
2015 Frozen Four features
● SB Nation: Somerby’s
development a key for BU
● Lowell Sun: Dynamic
defensemen
● Podcast previews: Hockey on Campus and The Pipeline Show
Looking back
Former Terrier captain Kevin Shattenkirk penned an article
for The Players Tribune (Derek Jeter’s Web site) about some of the NHL's Elite Defensemen.
As the Islanders and their fans prepare to
say goodbye to the Nassau Coliseum, they’re recalling iconic moments at that
arena, including Shawn
Bates’ penalty shot in the 2002 Stanley Cup playoffs.
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