Wednesday, February 12, 2025

The Beanpot comes home; Defkit's Terrier Takeaway; Monday Night Leftovers

 

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A Beanpot Championship—especially when the win is a takedown of an arch-rival and the NCAA’s top-ranked team—more than warrants a second blogpost. 

We start with Defkit’s Terrier Takeaway:

- What a great victory for a team that has struggled with consistency but has shown that when they are on, they can compete with any team in the country. While it was tremendously gratifying to win the Beanpot, to do it by upsetting your #1 ranked rival team makes it so much sweeter.

- I thought the big change from the first period to the second was a team-wide commitment to playing a smart defensive game. Where previously the Eagles' star players seemed to have plenty of room to operate, they now had someone on them lifting their sticks to limit second chances. Tremendous backchecking helped prevent odd-man rushes. There were still shots that Yegorov had to stop, but very few threatening rebound opportunities.

- Part of that improvement was also a commitment to blocking shots. So many replays showed a Terrier getting a leg in front of a potential scoring opportunity.  
- Yegorov once again was tremendous. He is just so poised. In two games against BC, he has twice given up an early goal (neither of them his fault) and shut them down the rest of the way. That speaks volumes about his ability to keep a clear head and rebound from adversity, which should be a huge help down the stretch. 
- All three goal-scorers (other than Gavin's ENG) and the emerging-star netminder are all freshmen - the future is bright! Getting three past Fowler is not easy, so kudos to the skill level of those guys for picking corners and finding the five-hole. 
- It was very cool to have Lane and Macklin not just in the locker room reading the starting line-up, but waving the flag in the student section. Yes, they both have brothers on the team, so it wasn't a surprise they were in attendance. But they showed they have a passion for the program, which is just so great to see. Pandolfo mentioned that Case McCarthy and Dylan Peterson were also at the game.

 
Monday Night Leftovers

With Monday's title game win, BU's  all-time Beanpot record is 96-48 (.666). Along with a 13-10 record against BC in championship games, the Terriers are 31-17 (.646) in all tournament games with the Eagles. BU has claimed the silver trophy in 15 of the last 31 tournaments. 

The Terriers and Eagles have now met 298 times and BU leads the series, 141-136-21 (.508).

Almost déjà vu?
1997 Beanpot: BU 7 Harvard 1, BU 4 BC 2
2025 Beanpot: BU 7 Harvard 1, BU 4 BC 1

● Boston Hockey Blog With Beanpot win over Boston College, BU men’s hockey proved it can go all the way

 

Another look at Cole Eiserman's third-period goal. 

Another look at Cole Hutson's game-winner in the second period.

Prior to Monday, the last defenseman to win the Beanpot MVP was Matt Grzelcyk, who scored the overtime goal to beat Northeastern. 

Mikhail Yegorov joins Kieran Millan (2009) and Rick DiPietro (2000) as freshman goalies who backstopped BU to the Beanpot Championship. 

● Boston Globe BU men’s hockey had a stellar 2024, but ‘we didn’t really raise any trophies.’ That made their Beanpot win even sweeter

“We didn’t really raise any trophies last year, so I think it’d give our group a lot of confidence moving forward,” said Pandolfo. “If you win this tournament, it can really jump-start a lot of confidence going into the stretch and into the playoffs.”

The Terriers got the signature win that eluded them, upsetting No. 1 BC, 4-1, to capture the program’s 32nd Beanpot title. And it wasn’t just this year’s roster that celebrated when the game was over. 

While some NHL players might have taken advantage of the break in the schedule brought on by the 4 Nations Face-Off to head to a warmer climate, Celebrini and Lane Hutson made the rounds at the Garden on Monday night, first appearing in BU’s dressing room to rev up their former teammates by announcing the starting lineup.

Looking ahead

2026 recruit Rian Chudzinski is the leading scorer (17-22-39 in 19 games) for Dexter-Southfield, ranked #1 among New England prep schools. 

 ● USA News Blackhawks prospect Jack Pridham has taken off since taking advantage of rule change

Looking back

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