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JERRY YORK His Eagles on a 9-2-2 roll (File/Barry Chin/Globe Staff) |
At various points during this season, Boston University coach Jack Parker has been confounded by his team. The issues have ranged from lack of effort, spotty scoring, inconsistent performance, an inability to play well at home, to less-than-stellar goaltending. The Terriers have won back-to-back games just once this season - back on Nov. 1 and 3.
But when the 56th annual Beanpot Tournament kicks off tonight at TD Banknorth Garden, no one will be expecting anything less than the Terriers' best against Hockey East rival Boston College.
Simply put, BU has owned the Beanpot for years. The Terriers have made the finals 13 consecutive years, and 23 out of 24 times.
This year's edition is led by senior forwards Bryan Ewing (14-16 -30) and Pete MacArthur (10-20 -30), who was the Beanpot MVP in 2006. In goal will be sophomore Brett Bennett (7-7-3, 3.12 GAA).
BU (8-13-4) won its most recent contest, beating Merrimack, 4-1, at Agganis Arena last Friday, but was winless (0-2-1) in its previous three.
BC fell to Providence, 3-2, at home last Friday, but was unbeaten in six prior to that (4-0-2). The Eagles (12-6-7) are on a 9-2-2 roll.
BC coach Jerry York said what has traditionally given the Terriers an edge in the Beanpot has been between the pipes. For example, the Terriers' John Curry was the MVP last year, the fifth time in nine years that BU's netminder has won the award.
"They've had unbelievable goaltending," said York. "Going back to [Michel] Larocque and [Sean] Fields and Curry. We've had some games like here, where we outshot them two to one and Johnny Muse absolutely stole the [point in the 2-2 tie Jan. 19]. I remember nights like Larocque would have 50 saves or Curry would have 50 saves. They've always had good teams, but I think their goaltenders [are the reason]. Those three really jump out at me. That's one of the keys, you've got to have a hot goaltender because it's a quick little tournament."
The Terriers are in the middle of the pack (tied for sixth place) in Hockey East, 8 points out of first, but only 7 from 10th place. BC sits in second, 3 points behind New Hampshire.
York said none of that will matter tonight.
"We've seen [the Terriers] play some really, really good games," said York. "And of course, the rivalry brings out the best in all the teams. They're capable of being as good a team as we've played all year. No question.
"They've got some extremely talented players. Whenever you play your rivals, it's an important game. When you play them in Beanpots, the stage is bigger. Then, of course, when you go to the Hockey East playoffs, the stage gets bigger [still]. It's incremental steps as you go late into our season."
York believes his team can win and is fairly happy with the way the Eagles have rebounded after some early-season adversity, but they're going to have to earn it.
"We're still trying to get better as a club," he said. "We still need improvement in all areas. Having said that, we've had a good run since that difficult [4-3 overtime] loss to Northeastern [at Conte Forum Nov. 23] with three seconds left. But we've really played much better since that.
"Sometimes out of adversity, you get better. That really upset us that night. Now we've got a completely new challenge. It's BU, it's our rival. They've had unbelievable success in this tournament and we haven't been nearly as successful as we'd like to be. Having said that, it's a brand-new year and we're going to go in with I think a pretty good club."
In the early game, Northeastern (12-8-3) will face off against Harvard (7-10-3). The Huskies stumbled out of the gate, then had a red-hot streak Nov. 3 to Jan. 18 when they went 10-1-3.
Coach Greg Cronin said he anticipated there would be bumps in the road and they've come recently, as the Huskies have won just one of the last five (1-3-1).
The Crimson have been on a downward spiral since early December, going 1-8-2 in their last 11. Scoring has been a problem as Harvard has scored just 21 goals in that span. No matter which way it goes tonight, upsets or not, the magic of the Beanpot won't fade away any time soon.
"It's really caught the fancy of our area," said York. "A lot of people on the national scene, they [look at it] like it's a little tournament, four teams from Boston, no big deal, but I think the more they protest it, the more we have something special."
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