He celebrates with mates

By Joe Concannon, Globe Staff, 02/10/1999

The fourth senior on Boston University's hockey team glided across the FleetCenter ice Monday night. Travis Roy joined the celebration following an emotional 4-2 victory over Northeastern in the championship game of the 47th Beanpot. Goaltender Michel Larocque held the Beanpot in front of him, and Roy kissed it, with tears in his eyes.

This scene spoke volumes about the Beanpot and its magical hold on the Boston sporting community and underscored as well as anything else why the Terriers defied the odds by beating Boston College in overtime in the opening round and then knocked off the Huskies despite having only two shots in the third period.

Roy was the unsung hero, the inspiration. He entered BU with Larocque, defenseman Dan Ronan, and team captain Albie O'Connell. The rest is painful history. He went into the boards during his first shift as a freshman, left the ice on a stretcher, and has been in a wheelchair since. In this moment when his classmates completed an improbable journey, he joined in the fun.

The Terriers were coming off an 0-5-1 run through January and weren't expected to win this record fifth straight Beanpot, their eighth of the decade. But there were intangibles, including Roy, whose presence at the first game symbolized a triumph of the human spirit to his teammates. He sent them on their way with a poignant message.

"I was glad for the seniors that were playing that Travis felt a part of the team and felt a part of it,'' said O'Connell yesterday. "He gave a speech before the third period and before the BC game. It was inspirational. He asked the guys before we played BC to put a piece of red tape around the top of their stick as a little remembrance of him, and I don't think guys have stopped doing it since.''

Statistics are a cold way to tell a story, but they are impressive nevertheless. The Terriers have beaten the Huskies seven straight times and the Eagles 11 consecutive times in this tournament, and they have 21 titles since 1966. After an 0-4 start to this season and an 0-6-1 stretch beginning with a 3-0 loss to Princeton Dec. 28, the end of an era seemed to be in the cards.

O'Connell, whose family lives in Watertown, grew up dreaming about the Beanpot and came to BU because of the tradition, following the same path as Mike Grier and Chris Kelleher out of St. Sebastian's.

His first Beanpot experience was an 11-4 victory over the Huskies in his freshman year. The latest one is a triumph to savor.

"We went into a lull,'' he said, "but now it was Beanpot time. There's been a lot of ups and downs as a team. It's hard because as a senior, everything's put on your shoulder.

"I was hurt over Christmas and I ended up getting my knee scoped. That was a tough time. I was worried about getting back to playing, if I'd be back. It's been a very weird season so far. The Beanpot gave us some satisfaction, some instant confidence with those wins.

"No one gave us a chance at the beginning of the tournament. We proved them wrong with a great win over BC and then Michel standing on his head in the win over Northeastern. I felt confident going into the third period with the way Michel was playing. We were playing hard, but not as well as we could have played.''

The Terriers (11-14-2, 6-9-2 Hockey East) are a long way from having home ice in the playoffs. They play New Hampshire in Brown Arena Friday night, at Providence Saturday, then two at Maine, a home-and-home with the Huskies (9-15-3, 4-11-2), and a fourth game against the Eagles (18-9-2, 12-5) March 5.

"We have a lot of the fun games ahead of us,'' said O'Connell.

O'Connell has won four Beanpots and is 11-1 on FleetCenter ice. He became part of the lore of the Beanpot on this special Monday night in the depths of a Boston winter when Travis Roy crossed the ice in his wheelchair and kissed the trophy.

"It's a great feeling right now,'' said O'Connell. "I'm sure I'll look back on it when I get a little bit older. I'll cherish the moments I have. I'll cherish four straight Beanpots, especially this past one. It's a great feeling.''