Looking back--Miracle on Ice.

29 years ago today, Feb. 22, 1980, the U.S. Olympic hockey team, playing in the medal round in Lake Placid, N.Y., fired the shot heard 'round the hockey world, upsetting defending world champion Soviet Union, 4-3, in a riveting game, now immortalized in the movie "Miracle."

Four Terriers--three were members of BU's 1978 NCAA championship team--played key roles in the victory and subsequent gold medal, following a win against Finland two days later. They were: goalie Jim Craig, defenseman Jack O'Callahan, and forwards Dave Silk and team captain Mike Eruzione. Craig literally stood on his head all night, making the saves to keep the U.S. within striking distance of the favored Soviets, while O'Callahan, who missed several preliminary round games with a knee injury, dished out big hits and anchored the defense. Silk assisted on Mark Johnson's goal in the third period that tied the game at three all, just minutes before Eruzione fired a wrist shot from high slot that beat the Soviet goalie (video), triggering an eruption from the already-frenzied crowd. Ten minutes (on the game clock) later, Al Michaels made the memorable call on television, "Do you believe in Miracles? Yes!" (video).

The shocking upset by "20 unknown collegians" earned the team and coach Herb Brooks recognition throughout the hockey world, a visit to the White House to meet President Carter, and Sports Illustrated's designation of "Sportsmen of the Year." The dramatic victory is credited with accelerating the growth of hockey in the U.S., spreading interest from a few traditional regional pockets to the entire U.S. (photo credit Associated Press).

BU-Northeastern game recaps

We have recaps and other coverage of last night’s 1-1 tie between BU and Northeastern:
GoTerriers.com, USCHO, The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, detailed boxscore and Brian Kelley’s in-game blog.

►BU played without senior Chris Higgins, who injured a hand on Friday night and sophomore Joe Pereira who had wisdom tooth problems. Victor Saponari made his first start since. January 16.

►Gilroy became the 8th Terrier to score a shorthanded goal this season, and the third defenseman, joining David Warsofsky and Kevin Shattenkirk.

►Since Thanksgiving, the Terriers are 18-1-4. In their current 12 game unbeaten streak (9-0-3), BU has yield just 20 goals, an average of 1.66 gpg.

USCHO offers a feature on the improbable path that led walk-on Gilroy to All-American status at BU.

Looking back
Dan Spang was loaned by the Flames to the Syracuse Crunch where he’ll be reunited with Brian McGuirk.

29 years ago today, four ex-Terriers led the way in hockey's greatest upset, the 1980 U.S. Olympic team's 4-3 win over the Soviet Union in Lake Placid. We'll have a separate post about the "Miracle on Ice" later today.

Looking ahead

2009 recruit Justin Courtnall scored a goal and added an assist in Victoria's 5-4 win over Cowichan Valley in the Grizzlies' final regular season game. Victoria, which clinched the BCHL regular season points title, earned a bye in the first round of the playoffs. Courtnall, who played in all 60 regular season games, finished with 63 points (22-41).

2010 recruit Sean Escobedo had a pair of assists in Sioux Falls’s shootout win over Green Bay.

Max Nicastro contributed an assist in Chicago’s 3-1 win over Cedar Rapids.

2009 recruit Alex Chiasson two assists in Des Moines 8-2 loss to Sioux City bring his team leading total to 39 points

Deja vu--Terriers and Huskies tie again

The venue was different, but the outcome was the same as BU and Northeastern played to a 1-1 overtime tie before a SRO crowd at ancient Matthews Arena [Note: Prior to the '71-'72 season, that rink, then known as Boston Arena, was also BU's home ice]. The game was scoreless going into the third period when co-captain Matt Gilroy scored shorthanded, assisted by Nick Bonino. Northeast had six power plays in the final period, but they finally broke through at even strength to tie the game with 2:22 remaining. Kieran Millan stopped 31 Husky shots including 10 in the 3rd period and 7 in overtime when BU also was shorthanded.

The pair of ties, combined with BU's 3-0 win against NU in November, gives the Terriers the tie-breaker of the Huskies. If the teams finished with the same number of points, BU will earn the top seed for the Hockey East tournament. Right now, BU still trails NU by a point.

We'll update this post with game coverage and related news as it becomes available.

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Game Day--BU and NU--again

The first- and second-place teams in Hockey East, separated by a single point, are back on the ice for a rematch tonight at Matthews Arena. Start time is 8 p.m. You can listen on WWZN in Boston or online. One of readers reports that you also watch the game online for $4.95. Go this GoNU.com link. Terrier Sports Information Director Brian Kelley will blog live throughout the game here.

Following last night's games and the updated Pairwise rankings, USCHO's bracketologist, Jason Moy, took a stab at how the NCAA quarterfinal pairings would be set, if the season was over. Moy has the Terriers seeded first in the Bridgeport regional, meeting RIT.

Brian Durocher's women's team clinched home ice for the Hockey East playoffs with a 3-0 win over Northeastern this afternoon at Matthews Arena.

With the season winding down, there's no shortage of opinions about the Hobey Baker Award. Inside Hockey's Ryan Hurton is one of many who believe Colin Wilson is the front-runner for college hockey's version of the Heisman.

McKeen's Hockey Prospects ranked the top free agents among college players and has Terrier co-captain Matt Gilroy at the top of its list

Matt Gilroy--Capitalizing on Tyler Bozak missing several weeks with a torn meniscus injury, Matt Gilroy is now our top-ranked UFA out of the NCAA. Gilroy is primed to be a star and could dramatically uplift the franchise that is fortunate to land him equally as much as a lottery pick. He's smooth as they come with the puck, as he boasts unrivaled vision and passing skills. His ability to escape dangerous situations and orchestrate beautiful plays coming out of his own end has our scouts believing he could be special. Gilroy fits the prototype of a modern NHL defenseman and will be a mature 25-year old when he enters his rookie NHL season next fall. After receiving contract offers from 23 teams last season, Gilroy is expected to sign on to a lucrative one this year because his age leaves him exempt from the NHL's entry level contract system. While the hype over the John Tavares lottery is deafening, the courtship for Gilroy's services could be just as fascinating and fruitful.

Nothing settled in 2-2 tie

Game one of the much anticipated clash between BU and Northeastern end up a 2-2 overtime tie. But for the Terriers who had grabbed a 2-0 first period lead, it was a less than satisfying game, especially to coach Jack Parker who didn't mince words: "We were unbelievably fortunate to get a point. We really dodged a bullet. That team outplayed us for the last forty minutes. I’ve got to give Northeastern a lot of credit. It’s easy to see why they’re in first place and we’re chasing them."

Commenting on the lost opportunity to move into first place in Hockey East, co-Captain Matt Gilroy, who assisted on the game’s first goal by Brandon Yip, was equally candid: "It’s human nature to get ahead of yourself when you’re up 2-0, but good teams don’t do that, especially down the stretch. We’ve got to get that out of our system.”

Colin Wilson had the other Terrier goal, increasing his Hockey East-leading points total to 41 (14-27).

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO, Inside Hockey, The Boston Herald and The Boston Globe along with a detailed boxscore.

Tonight’s rematch at Matthews Arena is an 8:00 p.m. start. There is no broadcast television due to the termination of CN8 in Boston . The game will air on WWZN Radio and online.

Looking ahead
2009 recruit Justin Courtnall picked up two assists in Victoria’s 4-1 win over Nanaimo.

Looking back
Former Terriers Chris Bourque and David VanderGulik each scored their 14th goal of the season in AHL play. Bourque’s goal came in a 3-2 Hershey loss to Rochester and VDG’s in a 5-4 Quad City win over San Antonio.

Former All-American goalie John Curry ran his unbeaten streak to 11 games in a 3-1 Wilkes Barre/Scranton win over Syracuse , stopping 27 shots. Since his return for a brief NHL stint in Pittsburgh, Curry’s record is 19-3.

Game Day--Terriers & Huskies

Just shy of two weeks after their clash in the Beanpot championship game, BU and Northeastern get together for a home-and-home series that could go a long way to determining the Hockey East regular season champion and top seed in the conference tournament. The first-place Huskies have a one-point lead on the top ranked Terriers.

We have a number of preview articles: The Daily Free Press, USCHO and HockeyEastOnline. Also the GoTerriers.com game day article with links to gamenotes and gametracker, as well as Northeastern game notes. There is no broadcast television, but you can watch online if subscribed to BU All-Access.

►BU is off to its best start through 30 games since the 1997-98 squad had an identical 23-5-2 mark as part of a 25-5-2 regular season.

►The Terriers are 16-1-2 since Nov. 25, marking their best stretch of play with just one loss sincegoing 19-1-2 at the end of the 2005-06 season before falling in the NCAA Regional final.

► Thus far this season, BU has performed well against top competition. The Terriers are 10-1-1 against teams ranked 12th in the nation or higher at the time they faced them.

► Terrier 1998-99 captain Albie O'Connell is a Northeastern assistant coach.

► As part of Hockey East's 25th anniversary, you can participate in a poll to determine the top individual performance by a Terrier.Candidates are Tony Amonte, Shawn McEachern, Chris Drury, Joe Sacco and Rick DiPietro. For details on these five performances, click here.

Kevin Shattenkirk is featured in the print edition of The Hockey News, which quotes the sophomore defenseman as saying, " I'm playing much better this year by far. I've been taking care of my responsibilities in the defensive zone, which has led to quicker breakouts and more effective chances on the rush."

Providence coach Tim Army says "He has a great foundation of skill. He patrols the blueline very well with the puck. His passes are hard and his hits are hard."

A NESN Web site article discusses the Hobey Baker Award chances for five Hockey East skaters, including Matt Gilroy and Colin Wilson.

Wilson has scored 75 points (25-50) in his two seasons at BU, tying him with legendary BU coach Jack Kelley, also a standout defenseman in the late 40s and early 50s. Click here for a list showing scoring totals for previous Terrier standouts in their first two varsity seasons. In some cases, it was their sophomore and junior years because when they played, there was no freshman eligibility.

Updating an earlier post on the bus accident involving the Albany River Rats, we have a link to a video interview with ex-Terrier Ryan Weston, who suffered minor injuries. The WTEN-Albany interviewer is Nicol Lally (BU '01) who is married to former Terrier netminder Jason Tapp, currently playing for the Kalamazoo Wings.

Former Terrier injured in team bus accident

Ex-Terrier Ryan Weston, a 2008 graduate, was one of several Albany River Rats injured when their team bus flipped on the Mass Turnpike early Thursday morning following an AHL game against Lowell. According to his father, Ryan "suffered separated shoulders, cuts, bumps and bruises and was released from the hospital."

While the Terriers keep their focus on this weekend's critical home-and-home series with first-place Northeastern, BU fans have the luxury of diverting themselves with down-the-road matters like where BU will play in the NCAA quarterfinals and whether one of the Terriers will be a Hobey Baker Award finalist or winner.

We'll start with College Hockey News' Adam Wodon who provides a primer on NCAA bracket ABCs. BU is currently the leader in the Pairwise and RPI rankings and according to Wodon,

"The Terriers' lead over the next few teams is so significant, it would take a major tanking to miss out on the No. 1 overall seed. The bigger question for the Terriers is, where will they wind up? Both eastern regionals are fairly close -- Manchester, N.H., and Bridgeport, Conn., though Manchester is significantly closer, relatively speaking." More

USCHO bloger Elliott Olshansky assesses the leading Hobey Baker Award candidates including Matt Gilroy and Colin Wilson. INCH's latest Hobey tracker puts Wilson in the leader's position.

The New Brittain, Conn., Herald talks with Nick Bonino and his Farmington High School coach about the path that led him to public school and prep championships and then to BU and the Beanpot MVP Award.

On INCH's Weekly podcast, the Web site's editors discuss college hockey's top ranked programs, beginning with BU.

Well-traveled Carl Corazzini, a former All-American forward and captain of the 2000-01 Terriers, is on the move again, traded from AHL Springfield to Peoria. Corazzini also has made 19 NHL starts with the Bruins and Blackhawks.

Midweek Linkorama

The Terriers maintained their #1 position in the USCHO/CBS College Sports Poll. Notre Dame and fast-charging Michigan are #2 and #3 respectively.

Hockeyfuture.com rates prospects in the Penguins organization and assistant captain Brian Strait is ranked 6th while former BU All-American goalie John Curry is 9th.

Colin Wilson earned Hockey East Player of the Week honors and Nick Bonino, Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence and Kieran Millan also earned kudos for their efforts. Wilson shared Inside Hockey Player of the Week honors with Michigan State goalie Jeff Lerg.

HockeyBuzz’s Julie Rolenhymer announcer her Hobey Baker finalists and picks Wilson to take home the trophy. While there is no NCAA rookie-of-the-year award, but Rolenhymer calls out Millan as a top newcomer in college.

2009 Recruit Alex Chiasson was featured in Sports Management Worldwide/International Scouting Services 2009 Draft Prospect Performers of the Week.

High-scoring Salmon Arm forward Conor Morrison, whom we noted last month was on BU's recruiting radar, has chosen Harvard over BU, Wisconsin and North Dakota.

If you’d like one more recap of the two-game series in Maine, we have one from The Daily Free Press.

Earlier this week two former Terrier standouts, New York Rangers' captain Chris Drury and Blues' assistant captain Keith Tkachuk went head-to-head on the ice. Neither hit the score sheet in a 2-1 St. Louis win, but managed to come togther on a few big hits. The two also collaborated several years ago to fund the state-of-the-art training and condition facility in Agganis Arena.

Finally, CHN’s Adam Wodon calls to our attention a blog written for The Hockey News by former UAA forward Justin Bourne, son of New York Islander standout out Bob Bourne. The piece candidly examines his career to date and his love-hate relationship with the sport. If Justin doesn’t succeed in pro hockey, he’s got the tools for a career as a writer.

Sister-kisser on Valentine's Day

It was a different script in last night's Valentine's Day rematch with Maine in Orono, which ended in a 2-2 overtime tie. A more competitive Black Bears team took a 2-0 lead, scoring both goals during a 62-second span in the second period. BU responded quickly on John McCarthy's 4th goal of season. Terriers outshot Maine, 11-3 in the final period, and tied the score when Nick Bonino converted the rebound of his own initial shot for his 11th goal. BU held a shot advantage in the overtime, but couldn't notch a game-winner.

Goalie Grant Rollheiser, making his first start since Jan. 13, stopped 19 shots. He also played the final 12:31 of Friday's game.

The three-point weekend, combined with Northeastern's loss last night to UMass, brought #1-ranked BU within a point of the first-place Huskies in the Hockey East standings, going into next weekend's home-and-home with the Huntingdon Hounds. Recaps of all of last night's conference action are here.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, The Boston Globe and the Maine Sunday Telegram, along with a detailed boxscore.

Thanks to blog contributor Candycanes99, we have a highlights video from Friday night's win, as well as a video from Saturday's tie.

Newsday joined the parade of media recounting Matt Gilroy's decision to forego the NHL to play his senior season at BU.

Looking back
Adrian Aucoin's scored his 9th goal (video) as Calgary outlasted Phoenix, 7-5.

David VanderGulik's 13th goal helped Quad City thump San Antonio, 7-3.

John Curry notched his ninth consecutive win--and 20th of the season--in a 3-2 Wilkes Barre/Scranton win over Hamilton.

BU and Maine do it again

Terriers and Black Bears are back on the ice tonight with alterred lineups. Maine had three players DQ'd last night and all will sit out tonight's game. The same applies to Terrier assistant captain Brian Strait, also DQd. Senior Steve Smolinsky, who filled in for Kevin Shattenkirk during the Denver Cup, gets the call tonight. Corey Trivino sits out tonight and Andrew Glass, who played effectively in the Beanpot final, is in the lineup. Grant Rollheiser, who relieved Kieran Millan in the third period last night, will be in goal.

Tonight's BU gamenotes are here. An e-mail to the blog suggest that All-Access subscribers may be able to watch tonight's game online by going to http://www.cstv.com/media/livegame.html . If it works, there won't be any audio, but you can listen to the audio Webcast on WWZN. It just won't be synchronzied.

The detailed boxscore from last night is now available here.

Wilson scores early and often in 7-2 win

Terriers extended their winning streak to a nation’s best nine by thumping Maine, 7-2, to open a two-game series. Sophomore Colin Wilson led the way with his first career hattrick, scoring in the opening seconds of first and second periods and 1:30 into the final period. Linemate Jason Lawrence added a pair for a team-best 16, while fellow seniors Chris Higgins and Matt Gilroy contributed three assists each. Kieran Millan picked up his 19th win, giving way to fellow freshman Grant Rollheiser midway through the final period.

The win enabled BU to remain two points behind Northeastern in the Hockey East race, while they edged away from Vermont, New Hampshire and BC.

We have recaps from Hockey East Online, the Portland Press Herald and the Maine Hockey Journal, and a boxscore from College Hockey News.

►The Terriers won 31 of 52 faceoffs, but were outshot 24-21. They connected on three of eight of power plays and remain the national leader with a 25% man-advantage mark.

►Wilson’s three goals (he scored on his only three shots) and an assist gives him 40 points, tops in Hockey East and tied for second nationally.

►With his 12th power play goal of the season, Lawrence is tied with Air Force’s Jacques Lamoureux for tops in the nation.

► Both Gilroy and Kevin Shattenkirk, who scored BU’s seventh goal, reached the 20-point mark, the eight and ninth Terriers to do so this season. Luke Popko’s assist on Shattenkirk’s goal give him 10 points, the 13th Terrier to reach double figures.

►BU now has scored 114 goals this season--exactly double the 57 they’ve given up in 29 games.

►Maine’s frustration turned the game ugly in the final period. Three Black Bears received game disqualifications and BU assistant captain Brian Strait received one, too. Eric Gryba received a 10-minute misconduct and had a 20 total penalty minutes.

Looking ahead
In USHL action, 2010 recruit Sean Escobedo assisted on a game-tying goal with seconds left in regulation and then scored the winning goal in a shootout, giving Sioux Falls a 3-2 win over Fargo.

2009 recruit Alex Chaisson assisted on all three Des Moines goals, but the Bucs were blown away by Waterloo, 10-3.

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Game Day—A pair with the Bears in Orono

The Terriers traveled to Orono yesterday for a weekend pair against the Black Bear. Despite seventh place Maine’s current 7-10-2 record in Hockey East, BU is well aware that the Bears are a dangerous team that shut out New Hampshire, 1-0, in Manchester, last week.

The Daily Free Press reports that freshman Corey Trivino returns to the lineup tonight, after missing two games and most of a third with a shoulder injury. Freshman Kevin Gilroy will replace Joe Pereira on the fourth line while Kieran Millan makes his ninth consecutive start in goal.

Game notes from GoBU.com includes links to gametracker and the audio Webcast. Maine’s game notes are here. Blogger Nathan Fournier will have a live blog going throughout the games this weekend. The only video Webcasts will be pay-per-view on WABI.

From USCHO, we have its weekly Hockey East Column while INCH’s Jeff Howe looks at the three HE Beanpot teams and where they stand in the conference race. College Hockey News, as always, provides a comparison of the teams and the recent history of the series. BU won the most recently meeting, 4-1 last month at Agganis Arena.

Senior wing Jason Lawrrence, who had the game-winner for BU in both Beanpot games, talks about the tournament with his hometown newspaper. Lawrence is second in the nation in power play goals (11) and tied for second in game-winners (5).

Beanpot MVP Nick Bonino (photo) picked up two more honors, New England Hockey Journal Player of the Week and BU student athlete of the Week.

Looking back
Ex-Terrier All-American and current Ranger Chris Drury is the subject of an NHL.com feature in a series on captains. The former Hobey Baker Award winner includes 1995-96 BU captain Jacques Joubert among those team captains he’s learned from.

John Curry, a Hobey Baker finalist at BU, earned AHL Player of the Week honors last week for his three wins in the Baby Pens’ net. Boomer Ewing, promoted from Wheeling, has made two starts for Wilkes Barre/Scranton, but has yet to hit the scoresheet.

Midweek Linkorama

►Freshman goalie Kieran Millan was interviewed yesterday on The Pipeline Show (Radio 1260 in his native Edmonton) about the Beanpot Championship game, his thoughts on possibly being drafted in June and why he chose BU for his college career.

►RogersSportsNet in Canada simulcast NESN’s broadcast of the Beanpot Final and now there is an agreement between Hockey East and Rogers to air NESN’s Friday night games and also the Hockey East Tournament semis and final. Coach Jack Parker referenced the Rogers-NESN deal in his comments during yesterday’s Coaches' Conference Call, noting the broadcast will help Hockey East coaches compete for Canadian prospects with Major Junior.

►Hockeybuzz.com reported that Monday morning prior to the Beanpot championship game, many of the Terriers, along with Coach Jack Parker, went to Agganis Arena to watch the San Jose Sharks, captained by ex-Terrier All-American Mike Grier, practice for last night’s game with the Bruins. Grier scored his 10th goal of the season in the Sharks' 5-2 win.

►It has been a recognition-filled few days for Nick Bonino. For the week ending this past Sunday, the sophomore center was named Hockey East Player of the Week. Bonino followed up by earning Beanpot MVP honors on Monday.

►For the second time this season, College Hockey News chose the Terriers as its Team of the Week. The first time followed wins against North Dakota and Michigan State in the Icebreaker Tournament in October. Speaking of CHN, their stat pages for individual players are worth checking out. From the team stat page, click on any name and you’ll see the details of each point earned this season.

►USCHO photographer Melissa Wade reports that Hockey East referee Scott Hansen, who was hit by a puck in the first period on Monday, required stitches and was released from the Mass Eye & Ear Hospital on Tuesday morning.

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More Beanpot win coverage

Jason Lawrence drives home the game-winning goal in the second period. Lawrence also scored the game-winner against Harvard in the opening round (Credit: Will Nunnally, The Boston Herald)

GoTerriers.com: photo gallery
NESN: Updated & expanded video
The Daily Free Press: recap; Special Teams
USCHO: Scott Weighart feature on Jason Lawrence
The Boston Herald: recap Beanpot notebook, photo gallery
The Boston Globe: recap, John Powers column- "Not the Ultimate Goal"; Warsofsky feature
ESPN.com: recap
New England Hockey Journal: recap
Blast Magazine: photo gallery
The Daily News Tribune: Brian Strait feature
The Patriot Ledger: David Warsofsky feature

►Last night's 5-2 win raises goalie Kieran Millan's record to 18-1-1, giving him the Terrier record for best winning percentage to begin a collegiate career. The previous record-holder was Brian Durocher, co-captain of BU's 1978 national champions and currently coach of the BU Women's team. Durocher went 17-1-1 in his first 19 games as a freshman in 1974-75.

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29 and Counting

Boston University claimed its 29th Beanpot Monday night with a 5-2 win over Northeastern University. Powered by 4 special teams goals, including 3 short-handed goals, the top-ranked Terriers never trailed in the contest and kept their out-of-conference record perfect at 9-0-0. Kieran Millan earned his 18th win in 20 starts, and leads the country in win percentage (.925). Colby Cohen opened the scoring in the first with a power play tally. However, as the period came to a end, the third-ranked Huskies tied up with game with a power play goal of their own.

Starting the second period shorthanded proved to be an advantage for the Terriers, though, as Brandon Yip was able to get free on a breakaway. NU goalie Brad Thiessen stoned his attempt, but the rebound caromed off the glass and onto Beanpot MVP Nick Bonino's stick, and he flipped the puck behind Thiessen. NU would again respond, but a superb Chris Higgins pass to a waiting Jason Lawrence put the Terriers quickly back on top. The third period was hard fought by both sides, and a stupid slashing penalty in the neutral zone looked like it could allow the Huskies to tie it up. Instead, two more short-handed goals within 30 seconds of each other put the Terriers up 5-2. David Warsofsky broke out on a rush with defense partner Eric Gryba, and smartly elected to shoot. Another breakdown on NU's power play allowed Kevin Shattenkirk to escape along with Colin Wilson, and this time the pass was made and Wilson did not miss.

Recaps are available from GoTerriers.com, USCHO, Boston Globe, Boston Herald (and feature on Jason Lawrence), and the New York Times. Also a detailed boxscore. Inside College Hockey's Jeff Howe again kept a live blog. NESN's Video Highlights. Below are two audio files, one interviewing Jack Parker and the other Nick Bonino and Colin Wilson, courtesy of HockeyEastOnline.com:


More information to follow.

Game day-- Beanpot Championship game

BU meets cross-town rival Northeastern tonight in the championship game of the 57th Beanpot Tournament. The Terriers will be gunning for their 29th title and to fend off a challenge to their number one ranking by the Huskies.

We have plenty of pre-game coverage for you. GoTerriers.com provides links to game notes, gametracker and the WWZN broadcast. The game, scheduled for an 8 p.m. ET start, will be broadcast by NESN with a simulcast in Canada by Rogers SportsNet.

Preview articles from The Boston Globe, The Boston Herald, The Daily Free Press and ESPN. From College Hockey News, a tale-of-the-tape comparision and a recent head-to-head scores.

Former Terrier Captain and a winner in three Beanpot titles games Carl Corazzini, now playing for the Springfield Falcons, looks back his Beanpot experiences.

► Thirty-nine years ago tonight (1970), the Terriers staged a dramatic third-period comeback, rallying from a 4-2 deficit to beat BC, 5-4 and win its fifth Beanpot title. Wayne Gowing, BU’s top defensive forward, scored three final-period goal, while Mike Hyndman, a forward-turned-defenseman, was named tournament MVP. Tim Regan was in goal for BU. Gowing later became the longtime head coach of Wilfrid Laurier University and today is hockey convenor of the Ontario University Athletics conference.

Opinion: The Battle on the Ice and in the Stands

by Candycanes99, BU '09

This isn’t the way it usually goes. Boston University and Boston College weren’t slated to play each other in the first round of the Beanpot, so naturally they’d meet in the championship game. Not this time, though. The Huskies of Northeastern University, for so long the epitome of underdogs, showed up on the first Monday of February amid much media hype and crushed BC with opportunistic scoring and stellar goaltending from Brad Thiessen. And when BU and NU meet in the championship game, the classic rivalry will be missing, but a new one is ready to be ignited.

The fans of Northeastern, who call themselves the “Dog House” (in contrast to BU’s own Dog Pound), have maintained for years that BU is their biggest rival. The feeling hasn’t been mutual though, as NU has not been a threat to BU and BC’s co-dominance of Boston’s collegiate hockey since the 1980s. Now with head coach Greg Cronin finally bringing success back into the equation on Huntington Avenue, the Huskies are a team to fear, and an old rivalry is just waiting to explode. For each team's players, local bragging rights are on the line. If they don’t love to hate each other yet, they probably will after the first 20 minutes. Yes, this is going to be almost as much a grudge match on the ice as it will be in the balconies.

A week ago, the Dog Pound and the Dog House found themselves uncomfortably close to one another. The fans from Northeastern took pride in their perpetual annoyance of the BU contingent during the first semifinal whilst Harvard had the upper hand, while the Dog Pound had no such luxury as they saw their numbers fall in sync with BC goaltender John Muse’s save percentage and the game became less entertaining for third party observers. No doubt there will be no such trouble in this Monday’s matchup, as the fans will show up in greater numbers than ever.

This will not be a game that is over quickly. In the Beanpot tournament, the final rarely is. Heck, even the consolation games are usually worth watching. Both fan bases and teams will be bringing their best, so this will not be one to miss. Whether you’re going to be in attendance or are stuck watching a tiny TV 10 feet off the ground in a bar with drunk customers complaining to the bartenders to turn off the hockey, get there early, claim your seat, and be prepared to be glued there. It should be fun right from the words, “Let’s play hockey!”

Linkorama

Once again for those who can’t be in Boston tomorrow, there are Beanpot Watch parties throughout the country. Click here for a link to those locations and reservation details, along with an invitation from Coach Jack Parker. A pre-game party is scheduled from 6- 8 p.m. tomorrow at The Greatest Bar across the street from TD BankNorth Garden. Reservation details are here. For New Jersey based fans looking for a place to watch the game, Miami Mike’s in the Whippany Ramada Inn will provide multiple screens for Terrier fans.

Wherever former Terrier goalie John Curry watches Monday’s Beanpot final, he’ll likely have a familiar face with him, as Bryan Ewing was called up to Wilkes Barre/Scranton from Wheeling. Ewing, who was second in ECHL scoring with 60 points (29-31) in 44 games, reports to the Baby Pens in time for today’s game against Norfolk.

Last Friday was the 21st anniversary of one of the most memorable Beanpot games ever. BU routed BC, 12-5 in a preliminary round game the night that the Blizzard of ’78 hit Boston, stranding the hundreds of fans who stayed until the game’s end, as described on our THIS DATE IN TERRIER HOCKEY page. Terrier play-by-play broadcaster Bernie Corbett relates a post-game anecdote in his book, The Beanpot: 50 Years of Thrills, Spills and Chills:

By the time we had made it to Kenmore Square, going up
Commonwealth Ave., it was obvious, to us at least, that we wouldn’t be having classes the next morning. Our captain, Jack O’Callahan, as we’re just crawling on Comm. Ave, went
up to Jack and said, “Hey Coach, it’s gonna be an awful long
walk from Walter Brown Arena down to the Dugout Café,
where we’d like to retire for a few ‘coffees and cokes.’Would
you mind if we just pulled the bus over and just got out
here?"

Well, obviously Coach Parker wasn’t going to pull the bus
over at the Dugout Café and let us out. So, in his infinite
wisdom, he decided to tell the driver to pull another fifty
yards up the road to the BU Chapel. He said to the guys,
“Okay, fellas, anyone who wants to go to Mass is welcome to go to Mass.”

Looking ahead
2009 recruit Justin Courtnall scored a goal and an assist last night in Victoria’s 6-3 win over Burnaby, raising his point total to 58 in 54 games for the first place BCHL team.

Power plays save the day

Number 1-ranked BU used two third-period power play goals to break a 3-3 tie and defeat UMass Lowell, 5-3 at Agganis Arena. The Terriers had raced to a 3-0 lead in the first on goals by David Warsofsky, Joe Pereira and John McCarthy—all in a two-minute span. Lowell got one back late in the first, closed the gap to one midway through the second and tied the score late in the second on shot that deflected off a Terrier’s skate.

The game-winner came off of Vinny Saponari’s stick in a goalmouth scramble half-way through the final period. Jason Lawrence converted a Colin Wilson pass for the final score and BU weathered a last-minute surge when Lowell had a power play and pulled its goalie.

We have recaps from GoTerriers.com, USCHO, The Boston Globe and The Boston Herald. Also a detailed boxscore. Video highlights. Audio of the post-game press conference can be found below.

With the victory, BU improved its conference record to 13-5-1 and remained 2 points behind Northeastern, who edged Merrimack, 4-3, in the Hockey East standings. BU and NU meet Monday night in the Beanpot championship game--a non-conference game.

► Coach Jack Parker was honored prior to the start of the game for his 800th career win, which came in last Friday’s victory at Merrimack. He’s one of three Division 1 coaches to reach that milestone and the only one to do so at a single school.

►Eric Gryba (photo), who played a strong game at both ends, assisted on two of the first period goals—his first multiple-point game at BU—and just missed an empty-netter in the final seconds.

►Goalie Kieran Millan, who stopped 20 Riverhawk shots, improved his record to 17-1-1.That equals the mark set in 1974-75 by Brian Durocher—now coach of the BU women’s team—for fewest losses in the first 19 decisions of a career.

►Lawrence’s power play goal was his 11th man-advantage marker, tying him for most in the nation with Air Force forward Jacques Lamoureaux.

►Warsofsky's goal was the first of his career to go with 14 assists, making him one of the top-scoring freshmen defensemen.

►With a goal and an assist, McCarthy earned the game's number one star. He now has 17 points, one more than his first three seasons combined.

► Add one more to feature stories on co-captain Matt Gilroy that have appeared recently as interest in the Hobey Baker Award hopeful and much sought-after free agent (for the NHL) increases. Elliott Olshansky of the New York Daily news penned this profile.

►Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald, former associate head coach at BU, is being assisted this season by former Terrier All-American and Hall of Famer and NHL standout Shawn McEachern.

Looking ahead
2009 recruit Alex Chiasson had a four-point (1 g, 3a) night for Des Moines as the slumping Bucs broke out the offense to double up Waterloo, 8-4. Chaisson, who played in Wednesday's USHL All-Star game, now leads the Bucs in scoring with a 14-19-33 line in 34 games.

Game Day—UMass-Lowell

The Terriers take on UMass Lowell tonight at Agganis Arena, the third and final regular season meeting. BU won the two previous games by 6-4 and 3-2 margins. For the River Hawks, their leading scorer, defenseman Maury Edwards has been a Terrier nemesis, with six goals and four assists in eight games against the Scarlet & White.

The "tween the beans" game is an annual concern for Terrier fans, worried that anticipation of the Beanpot championship game will result in a lack of focus for the business at hand--earning two critical league points. In fact, of the last 20 "between" games, BU has won 18, falling only to Providence in 2004 and Lowell in 2001. Since 1986, there were three years with no "between" game on the schedule.

Game notes from GoTerriers.com, along with links to gametracker and online Webcasts (WWZN and BU All-Access) are now available. Also Hockey East weekly preview columns from USCHO and Inside College Hockey and a preview article from The Daily Free Press.

► Coach Jack Parker’s 800th victory (the Jan. 30 win against Merrimack) will be recognized tonight during an on ice pre-game ceremony.

A BU online publication, BU Today, provides a slide-and-audio feature in which co-captains Matt Gilroy and John McCarthy reveal how they prepare for game day.

As part of the Hockey East 25th anniversary celebration, BU fans can vote for the top Terrier forward to play in Hockey East. The choices are: Tony Amonte (1989-91), Carl Corazzini (1997-01), John Cullen (1983-87), Clark Donatelli (1984-87), Chris Drury (1994-98), Bryan Ewing (2004-08), Mike Grier (1993-96), Jacques Jobert (1992-95), Mike Kelfer (1985-89), Pete MacArthur (2004-08), Shawn McEachern (1988-91), Chris O'Sullivan (1992-96), Jay Pandolfo (1992-96), Mike Pomichter (1991-94), David Sacco (1988-93).

The Jailbird Classic (Blago On Ice)

Give the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL credit for marketing timeliness and creativity. With the travails of Illinois’ now-ex-Governor all over the news, the Wranglers staged Governor Rod Blagojevich Prison Uniform Night, this past Saturday. For the special promotional event, the Wranglers wore old-time prison uniform jerseys with horizontal black and white stripes (video) while their opponents, the Bakersfield Condors, wore orange jumpsuit-style jerseys. And the refs’ jerseys mimicked prison guard attire. Prison bars adorned the penalty box and the goal judges wore old-style judicial wigs.

Where a prison number would be, the Wranglers' jerseys had an “ILLGOV” patch with the player’s uniform number. The Condors' jerseys had a similar patch that read “DOC” [Dept. of Corrections] with the player’s uniform number.

Two former Terrier blueliners participated in the tongue-in-check fun. Dan Spang (video- 2nd interview) plays for Las Vegas, while Tom Morrow is on the Condors. Spang assisted on the first two Wrangler goals in a 5-1 win.

The Montreal Canadians also wore horizontal stripes, but of the barber-pole variety, on Sunday against the Bruins, showing off retro uniforms from the 1912-13 season.

HOCKEY ON CAMPUS radio tonight

Hockey On Campus, co-hosted by Bernie Corbett and Paul McNamara, airs this evening from 7 to 9 pm (Eastern Time) broadcasting on ESPN affiliate 890-AM ESPN Boston. The show will also stream live online at www.890ESPN.com.

Scheduled in the first hour tonight are:
Beanpot Tournament Director STEVE NAZRO
From ECAC Division 1 Women’s League, Harvard Forward SARAH VAILLANCOURT
From the Eastern Junior Hockey League, Publicity Director MIKE KLEIN

And from 8 – 9 pm, guests will be:
From Hockey East, BU Coach JACK PARKER
From ECAC Division 1 Men’s League, Yale Coach KEITH ALLAIN
From the Atlantic Hockey Association, Holy Cross Men’s Coach PAUL PEARL

Phone calls are welcomed at 617-242-3776 (617-242-E-S-P-N)

More Beanpot coverage

►USCHO Olshansky Hobey Watch , Melissa Wade photo gallery
►Daily Free Press recap
►Boston Globe recap and feature column
►Boston Herald recap, photo gallery, goalie feature
►NESN video: recap, Zach Cohen interview, game preview

Kudos for Kieran
Freshman goalie Kieran Millan was named Hockey East’s January co-Goaltender of the Month, sharing the honor with Northeastern’s Brad Thiessen, whom he’ll face off against in the Beanpot Championship game next Monday. Millan’s numbers for the month: 7-0-0 record, 1.00 GAA and .957 save percentage. Millan won the same award by himself in December.

By the skin of their teeth

BU advanced to the Beanpot final, beating Harvard 4-3 tonight, but it would be more accurate to say that the Terriers “survived" to the championship game. In a season where many Hockey East games have featured last second goals, Harvard had an offensive faceoff with 8 seconds left--following an icing call--and a chance to tie. The Crimson put the puck in the net—about 1.5 seconds after time had expired.

A short recap: BU fell behind 2-0 on a Michael Biega wrist shot from the right-side dot that Kieran Millan wishes he had back, and on a 5-on-3 power play— early in the second period— that became a 5-on-2 when Colby Cohen was knocked down. BU, which had great first period chances—Nick Bonino (photo) hit the crossbar and Chris Connolly missed an open left side—, tied the game on a pair of Bonino goals: a snipe from the left circle, following tough corner work by Brandon Yip and John McCarthy, and a neat goalmouth move following Matt Gilroy’s charge to the net and a quick, short pass.

Terrier’s took the lead in the third period on Zach Cohen’s sharp angle goal that was matched by Harvard’s second power play goal. With just under two minutes remaining, Jason Lawrence rocketed a slapper past Matt Hoyle for his 10th power play goal of the year, which proved to be the game-winner, but not before Harvard’s “non-goal” that left BU players and fans with frayed nerves.

BU will meet Northeastern in the Beanpot final next Monday. The Huskies chewed up BC, 6-1, in the opening round's nightcap.

From USCHO, Scott Weighart’s recap and Lee Urton's BU-Harvard notebook.

From INCH reporter Jeff Howe’s live blog:

Jack Parker said when the final seconds were ticking down, he lost sight of the play in the far corner and began watching the action live on the video boards above center ice, something he said he very rarely does. Because of that, though, Parker knew Alex Biega’s goal would be disallowed because Parker looked at the adjacent game clock on the video boards. He said he was “very confident” BU locked up the win, which means he’s likely the only person in the building who knew with 100 percent certainty the officials would overturn it in the review.

Parker had the line of the night during the postgame press conference. He was very serious when he said, “For this decade, we had our Beanpot consolation game,” said Parker, whose Terriers had advanced to the Beanpot final 13 consecutive years before losing in the first round to BC last year. “We didn’t want another one.”

More game coverage:
►From Hockey East Online, we have a game recap, audio comments from Parker and comments from Bonino and Lawrence.
►From the GoTerriers.com Web site, a recap and a detailed boxscore.
►New York Times recap
►International Herald Tribune recap

►Jason Lawrence's game-winner made ESPN SportsCenter's Top Ten.

►The win was BU's 20th of the season, one more than last year's team won and equal to the 2006-07 team's total.

►Earlier in the day, BU moved up a notch to the become the top-ranked team in both the USCHO and USA Today polls. And sixteen players, including Terrier seniors Matt Gilroy and Chris Higgins were named semi-finalists for the fifty-seventh Walter Brown Award, presented annually to the best American-born college hockey player in New England.

►Former Terrier All-American and Hobey Baker Award Winner Chris Drury and Northeastern defenseman Dan McGillis were inducted into the Beanpot Hall of Fame.

Check back for more Beanpot coverage.

Game day—57th Annual Beanpot Tournament--updated

The Terriers renew their rivalry with Harvard in a Beanpot first round game tonight beginning at 5:00 p.m. BU, which has won 28 of the previous 56 Beanpot titles and 11 of the past 14, is seeking to return to the championship game after winning the consolation game in 2008. The Terriers have played in the championship game 30 times during the 35 years of Jack Parker’s tenure, prior this year.

Both the BU-Harvard and BC-Northeastern games will be aired tonight on NESN. The GoTerriers.com site has links to BU game notes, game tracker and the radio Webcast, as they become available.

USCHO’s pre-Beanpot coverage includes the recap of the 2005 Beanpot championship game, the longest in tournament history, which BU in overtime on a Chris Bourque goal. Two years later, BU needed extra time to edge BC in the title game, 2-1, on a Brian McGuirk goal (video).

The Daily Free Press discusses the Terriers' determination to return to the championship game and not play the "early game" next Monday. The Boston Herald reviews the Terriers’ success this season, but points out why Coach Jack Parker is wary of the struggling Crimson. The Boston Globe offers two pregame articles: Beanpot thoughts from local area players from all four schools, including BU co-captain John McCarthy and freshman Ross Gaudet, and the collective determination of BU's senior class to win a third Beanpot title.

Looking forward
2009 recruit Max Nicastro scored his ninth goal of the season (9-16-25) in Chicago’s 5-3 loss to Waterloo on Saturday in USHL action. It was the right-shot defenseman’s fourth power play goal.

2009 recruit Justin Courtnall continues to put up points for Victoria, adding two assists in the Grizzlies' 5-4 win over Langley. With five goals and four assists in his past six games, Courtnall now has a 20-35-55 scoring line in 51 games.

In ISL prep play, 2011 recruit Charlie Coyle’s goal and two assists led Thayer Academy past St. Sebastian’s.