Familiar styles at play
BC, Minnesota are two of a kind
WORCESTER - If you look at Minnesota and Boston College, the similarities far outweigh the differences. The programs are practically mirror images, particularly this season. Both have maroon and gold as school colors, both have long, storied traditions, and both have had roller coaster campaigns in 2007-08 heading into tonight's NCAA Northeast Regional semifinal at DCU Center.
In addition, both will be relying on freshmen goaltenders: John Muse for the Eagles and Alex Kangas for the Gophers.
Seventh-ranked BC (21-11-8) and 10th-ranked Minnesota (19-16-9) played at the IceBreaker Tournament in St. Paul opening weekend in October and at the Dodge Holiday Classic in Minneapolis in late December, but not against each other.
"I was talking to [Minnesota coach] Don Lucia this summer," said BC coach Jerry York. "We thought, 'Hey, we've got a chance to play each other twice.' In the back of our minds, we were thinking with these types of programs, we always have a chance in March [to meet], so it would be three times. But the way fate had it, we couldn't take part in the [Icebreaker championship] because we lost to Michigan and then they couldn't complete the deal because RIT upset them [in the first round of the Dodge], but now we're on a collision course here.
"We share the same colors but we also share an awful lot - we're two of the old original 12 colleges that really started hockey. When I think of Minnesota, I always think of John Mariucci, Herb Brooks, the Brotens. Certainly BC can counter with Snooks Kelley and Len Ceglarski. Historically, we've mirrored each other as traditional powers in the collegiate sport. Our games have been fairly similar. We're both quick and skilled, with a good sense of toughness in our lineups."
The last two seasons, the Eagles made it to the NCAA championship game only to fall short. York said there is a different feel this season.
"You know, they're all exciting," he said. "It's a little bit of a unique group. All teams that advance have to be on some type of run. This started later than usual, at Northeastern, the last game of the regular season. Last year, we had something similar, but not that late. So this is a group that was one game away from traveling in the first round of the [Hockey East quarterfinals].
"So it is a different group in that respect and kind of a special group. They persevered through two winless streaks of five [and six] games. One real early in the season [0-3-3 from Nov. 2-Nov. 23] and one late in the season [0-4-1 from Feb. 22-March 7]. Even during those streaks when we were winless, the team was very, very tight. It wasn't splintered at all. That's hard to do. When you win, everybody's happy. Through the runs, good and bad, they stayed very coachable."
Minnesota had similar stumbles. The Gophers were 0-3-1 from Nov. 17-30 and 0-3-3 from Jan. 25-Feb. 9. Both ended the year strong, with BC winning its last five and the Gophers winning four of five. BC would love to make it to a third straight title game but York said no one is assuming anything.
"We've always wanted to win the national title," he said. "Probably coming this close for two years in a row, the other teams want to win it, too, but to come this close and almost grab it, it makes you appreciate how difficult it is to get there and how difficult it is to actually win the thing. With that in mind, we're going after it and we've given ourselves a chance to do it again this year."
York believes his team can win because, for the most part, the Eagles are healthy.
"We're dinged up a bit, every team is but we're as healthy as we've been all year," said York. "Yes, I do like our chances with the caveat being that we're playing a team very similar to us. Who is going to create that one extra play that is going to be the difference in the game? Is it going to be a big save? Or a blocked shot? Or a timely goal? Someone is going to have to do something to advance their team for Sunday afternoon's game."
York wouldn't make any predictions but said he wouldn't be surprised if the contest exceeds 60 minutes. BC had eight ties this season and Minnesota had nine. Four of the Gophers' six postseason games have gone into OT, including two that went double OT. The Eagles went to three overtimes against UNH before prevailing in the Hockey East semifinals.
"You never know if we could go to OT again," said York.
Nancy Marrapese-Burrell can be reached at marrapese@globe.com.
