Early birds get the win: BC prevails in consolation game

By Jim McCabe, Globe Staff, 2/12/2002

50TH ANNUAL BEANPOT Full coverage  FROM THE GLOBE Feb. 13, 2002 Inspired Pandolfo gave BU a lift Women: Harvard claims the title Feb. 12, 2002 Lately, it's BU MVP puts fresh spin on tourney NU loses game, wins admiration Notebook: Early birds get the win  BEANPOT TITLES BU | 24 BC | 12 HARVARD | 10 NU | 4 Year-by-year results and MVP's  BEANPOT MEMORIES 1952 The inaugural "New England Invitational" tournament was played at the Boston Arena (now Matthews Arena) in December as Harvard beat Boston University, 7-4, in the final. Then-Boston-Garden president Walter Brown will later commandeer Tony Nota with the task of sending an appropriate trophy. Nota, a mailroom employee, settles on a silver-plated pot. 1954 The tournament moves to the Boston Garden, which will host the next 42 before its demolition in 1995. Opening-night attendance in 1954: 711. Attendance in 1995: 14,448. 1955 Bill Cleary leads Harvard to its second title and wins the tournament MVP award after tallying four goals in one period – a tournament record that still stands. Cleary eventually will be known as "Mr. Beanpot" – the only man to play, referee, and coach in it. Cleary even had a son who played in the Beanpot. 1978 The blizzard of the century is no match for diehard Beanpot fans as 11,666 of them trek to the Garden for the opening round.Many of the fans were stranded there for four days. 1980 Wayne Turner's overtime goal for Northeastern in the final triggers a frenzied celebration as the Huskies end 27 years of Beanpot frustration and earn their first championship with a 5-4 win over Boston College. 1988 After dispatching BU for the title in 1985 with a spectacular 32-save performance as a freshman, goaltender Bruce Racine caps off his senior season by leading NU to its fourth Beanpot of the ’80s. 1989 After not making it past the first round in seven years, Harvard ran up the offense with a 9-6 victory over BU for its first title since 1981. It was the highest scoring championship game in tournament history. The Crimson's crowning moment also gave coach Cleary his 300th career victory. 2000 BU etched its name on the trophy often in tournament history, winning eight of 10 titles from 1966 to 1973. The Terriers added eight more in the '90s,and made it clear in the first tournament of the new century that their dominance would continue. A 4-1 win over Boston College at the FleetCenter gives BU a record sixth straight championship and brings BU coach Jack Parker his 15th title. 2001 The last six years may have belonged to BU, but this was undeniably BC's year. The Eagles knocked out the Terriers, 5-3, and then continued their tear through the season, adding a Hockey East championship and a national title to their spoils.

orget consolation. How about motivation, Boston College Jerry York told his team.

''If we have the chance to play, we have the chance to improve as a team,'' York said to the Eagles before the start of last night's encounter with Harvard in the consolation game of the 50th Beanpot at the FleetCenter. It's a game no Beanpot player wants to be involved in, but York told his club to use it as a springboard for what it hopes is a strong finish.

Apparently, his Eagles got the message because they jumped on Harvard with two goals in the first period and coasted to a 4-0 victory. Freshman goaltender Matti K altiainen stopped 22 shots for BC's second shutout of the season, the other being junior Tim Kelleher's 1-0 blanking of the Crimson back in November.

No wonder Harvard coach Mark Mazzoleni was glad to be rid of the Eagles, who improved to 15-13-2 overall.

''Give credit to BC,'' said Mazzoleni, whose Crimson fell to 10-10-3. ''One of our Achilles' [heels] all year has been getting off to a slow start and we talked about that, about trying to get off to a fast start.''

Unlike York's talk with his Eagles, the Crimson failed to respond to Mazzoleni's words, for Tony Voce put BC in front with a goal 9:53 into the game. The sophomore broke in alone on Harvard goaltender Will Crothers, beating him cleanly for his 22d goal of the season. Less than six minutes later, the heart and soul of BC's team, sophomore Ben Eaves, made it 2-0 and Harvard's biggest fear was realized.

''It was a difficult task from that point on,'' said Mazzoleni.

Indeed it was, particularly with Kaltiainen anchoring the defensive effort. Nothing spectacular, but ''he handled the puck well and had the angles covered,'' said York.

Eaves's goal was a thing of beauty as he skated down left wing, a two-on-one with Ryan Murphy. ''He charged the net and took the defenseman out,'' said Eaves of Murphy's key move. Free to roam, Eaves went to the net, faked going to his backhand, then slid a forehander past Crothers.

It was Eaves's 10th of the campaign, but his presence was felt in other ways. ''We all know what a dynamic player [he is] and the impact he has,'' said Mazzoleni, whose team fell into a deeper hole when Anthony D'Arpino - assisted by Jeff Giuliano and Ales Dolinar - made it 3-0 just 43 seconds into the middle period.

Junior defenseman Bill Cass closed out the scoring with his second goal of the season, at 18:38 of the third period.

The effort gave BC two straight triumphs for the first time since a four-game winning streak ended Jan. 7. Those good times were followed by six consecutive losses as the injuries mounted and a lack of confidence settled in. But Eaves has returned, as have freshman Dave Spina and sophomore defenseman J.D. Forrest, and the Eagles have won three of their last four.

''When we're healthy and at full strength, we have an excellent hockey team,'' said York.

York told them that at the start of the game, 5 p.m., there'd hardly be anyone in the stands, perhaps just a lone guy sweeping the stands. ''But I told the kids I want that guy with the broom to look down and say, `Hey, look how hard the Eagles are playing.'''

Satisfied with a victory he hopes will thrust the Eagles into a late-season stretch of success, York smiled.

''I saw him with the broom,'' he said, laughing. ''He was way up there.''

Injured list

Boston University was playing in the championship game without two-thirds of its standout sophomore line. Gregg J ohnson (5-10-15) is out with bruised ribs, suffered in the Beanpot opener against Boston College, while Frantisek Skladany(9-10-19) sprained his right ankle in Friday's win over UMass. In the reshuffle, their linemate, Ken Magowan, was moved alongside freshmen David Klema and Justin Maiser, who scored the key goal in BU's 5-3 win. The Terriers are also without the services of senior defenseman Pat Aufiero, whose standout season was rudely interrupted Feb. 1 when he lacerated a tendon in his left ankle. Aufiero is expected to be out another 3-4 weeks ... Of course, there are sore spots with the other Beanpot participants. BC junior forward A.J. Walker(knee) is sidelined and will miss at least another two weeks. Harvard was without only sophomore defenseman Dave McCulloch(ankle sprain), though he's expected back for Friday's game at Clarkson. As for Northeastern, junior defenseman Brian Sullivan(left shoulder surgery) is out for the season and senior forward Willie Levesque(broken finger) should return to the lineup within two weeks.

Final foray

Six of the 12 finalists for the Walter Brown Award - given annually to the top American-born player in New England collegiate hockey - were involved in this year's classic. They are Eaves and Voce for BC; Jim Fahey and Mike Ryan for NU; Mike Pandolfo for BU; and Peter Capouch for Harvard ... Mazzoleni is now 1-5 in the Beanpot, though it should be noted that only one Crimson coach - the legendary Cooney Weiland - ever has had a winning record in this event. Yes, even Billy Cleary, he of the four Beanpot titles, was 17-21 overall ... York improved to 9-7 in the Beanpot, but he's lost three first-round games to the hated Terriers ... When he was a star at BC, York played in three Beanpots, winning during his sophomore year (1965) with a 5-4 decision over BU ... Voce is one of just six players in the country to have at least 21 goals.

Turning Crimson

Harvard is now 0-4 this season against its fellow Beanpot participants ... BC and Harvard now have met 32 times in the Beanpot, with BC enjoying a 19-13 edge. The victory was BC's fifth straight over the Crimson in consolation affairs ... When Northeastern beat Harvard, 5-2, in Round 1, it was just the fourth time in Beanpot history that the Huskies took an opening game by at least three goals. The other times were 7-3 over Harvard in 1984, 4-0 against BC in 1988, and 4-1 over the Crimson in 1996 ... The Eagle freshmen and sophomores have accounted for 70.7 percent of the team's offense this season ... BC led, 3-0, after two periods, which was a good omen. The team remains undefeated (13-0-1) when taking a lead into the final period. Of course, the flip side isn't so good, because the Eagles are 2-11-1 when trailing through two periods ... BU sports information director Ed Carpenter worked his magic at another Beanpot, but leaves this morning to assist with media relation duties with the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.

Old friends

This turned into reunion weekend for Dennis Gibson, the former Bruins goaltending prospect from Stittsville, Ontario, and father of Northeastern freshman goalie Keni Gibson. The elder Gibson played junior hockey with the Bruins-sponsored Oshawa Generals, and one of his teammates was Bobby Orr. When he reached the pro ranks with Boston's farm team in Oklahoma City, Gibson's road roommate was current Bruins assistant coach Wayne Cashman. Last Saturday, father and son were Cashman's guests at the Bruins-Florida game at the FleetCenter, and last night, Dennis was invited to Orr's box for the Beanpot final. ''I've had a great time in Boston,'' said Gibson. ''Talking to Wayne and his wife the other day, it seemed like only yesterday when we first met, and that was back in the '60s. Bobby had been out of town, but we connected over the weekend and he asked me to drop up to his suite tonight.'' Gibson played one game in the old Boston Garden with the Generals against Boston's other junior club, the Niagara Falls Flyers, but had to leave in the first period after losing two teeth in a goal-mouth scramble. ''I'm glad I had the best clam chowder I ever tasted before that game,'' recalled Gibson. ''And I made sure I had it again this weekend. It's been a wonderful reunion and it brings back a lot of memories.'' ... You can get Beanpot game results back to 1979 and a list of MVPs on www.boston.com/sports/packages/beanpot.

Marvin Pave of the Globe Staff contributed to this report.

This story ran on page D7 of the Boston Globe on 2/12/2002.
© Copyright 2002 Globe Newspaper Company.