Muse able to block out pressure - and shots
WORCESTER - Boston College goaltender John Muse got his first taste of the big time in the Beanpot Feb. 4 against Boston University. The freshman helped knock off the Terriers and the Eagles went on to defeat Harvard for the crown.
His second taste was the Hockey East tournament. He survived three overtimes as BC beat New Hampshire in the semifinals and shut out Vermont in the final.
Tonight, the pressure will ratchet up when the Eagles take on Minnesota in the NCAA Northeast Regionals at DCU Center.
"I'm really excited to play," said Muse, who played every minute for BC this year and is 21-11-8 with a 2.26 goals-against average. "Being able to play in the Beanpot gave me a lot of experience in playing on a big stage. The Beanpot is pretty big in Boston and there were a lot of people there watching and watching on TV. I think that helped a lot with experience in the Hockey East tournament."
Muse could feel a distinct difference in the atmosphere from the Beanpot to last weekend's league tournament even though both were played at TD Banknorth Garden.
"At the Beanpot, there were a lot more fans," he said. "It was a lot louder but there were still a lot of people watching the Hockey East tournament."
When BC was having its downs during its up-and-down season, Muse said no one on the team got discouraged.
"All year we've been harping on being optimistic," Muse said. "From the get-go, it's been kind of a tough season. We know every team has ups and downs and we knew we were going to get through the downs. I think we're playing the best we have all year."
Senior captain Mike Brennan said Muse has been one of the keys to the team's success.
"He's mature in the net," said Brennan. "He's still a freshman, he's still wide-eyed, but he doesn't show it. He's never intimidated by a game, he's always up for a challenge. He reminds me of a goalie who's been through this. Even though this is his first time around, he acts in a way and carries himself in a way which is a confidence. Then the guys around you are confident.
"That's what the goalies before him did. They all carried this confidence, which he carries as a freshman and it's something you can't teach. That's something he has and that's huge going into a tournament like this."
Wheeling and dealing
The leading scorer for Minnesota is junior forward Blake Wheeler, who has 34 points. Golden Gophers coach Don Lucia said his team realizes how tough an opponent it has in the Eagles, particularly Nathan Gerbe, who has 57 points. "I watched [Gerbe] at the beginning of the year," said Lucia. "He's a dynamic player. He's a difference-maker, a game-breaker. I wish he was on our team. BC's got a few players like that. If we're going to have a chance to win, we can't allow him to get two or three points on the night or it's going to be awfully difficult." . . . Despite the disappointment of losing in the NCAA championship game the last two years, BC coach Jerry York said the team has had to deal with the disappointment the best way it can. He said he read an article about coping, a concept known as "showering off." "After a game, you just self-analyze what happened in the game, but then you take a hot shower and just let it go and start your next day," said York. "We try to make sure that once there is a game played, we do a self-analysis, how the game goes, but then just park it and go onto the next game. We've tried to instill that in our assistant coaches and the players. Some [require] longer showers. Like the last couple of years."
