Jenelle Kohanchuk returns from injury, leads BU to Championship Game

Redshirt senior forward Jenelle Kohanchuk was standing at the right circle about four minutes into then-No. 3 Boston University women’s hockey’s game against Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on Oct. 12, until she saw a scrum ensue in front of the net. Kohanchuk charged the crease, found the puck amidst the mass of bodies and put it into the net for the first goal of her 2012–13 comeback campaign.

Almost a year prior to that goal, in an Oct. 22, 2011, game against St. Lawrence University, Kohanchuk sustained a season-ending concussion, forcing her to watch the Terriers’ (28–6–3, 18–2–1 Hockey East) run to the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals from the sidelines.

“It was just nothing that I would ever want to go through again,” Kohanchuk said. “And then seeing our team lose in the quarterfinals was pretty heartbreaking, just because I couldn’t be a part of it and I just wanted to be out there to help the team.

“I wanted to come back just as strong to go further to the national championship.”

Kohanchuk’s absence was immediately felt throughout the team as well.

“Without a doubt we missed her,” said BU coach Brian Durocher. “After she went down, we definitely lost some of the depth and the volume of what I had with her … around … It was awful tough on our team to lose her during the season.”

Fortunately for the Terriers, if a player appears in less than 30 percent of her team’s regular season games, then suffers a season-ending injury, a medical redshirt may be granted. If Kohanchuk played in just four more games of the 2011–12 season, she would not have been eligible to return for a redshirt senior year.

But eligibility was not the only potential question mark in Kohanchuk’s return to the Terriers. The Winnipeg, Manitoba, native went through a trying recovery period in order to get back in healthy playing condition.

“I went through a few struggles,” Kohanchuk said. “[There were] three times that I attempted to do a bike workout for 20 minutes during the recovery process, and for each of the three bikes that I attempted to do I had setbacks where I would just get more intense headaches.

“It definitely was very, very hard to get back into playing shape … [After] every single workout I’ve never been so tired and exhausted in my life.”

When Kohanchuk finally did hit the ice donning scarlet and white for her final go-around in collegiate hockey, BU could not have asked for more. Her goal in the second game of the season against RPI (10–22–4) was the first of many more to come, as the prolific scorer went on to net a career-high 25 goals and 46 points, while tying a career-high 21 assists.

Kohanchuk said the support of all those around her was the key to her successful redshirt senior season.

“My success fully came through my strength trainer, my coaches and my teammates, because they all pushed me and they all helped me through the time when I dealt with the injury, but even furthermore when I came back,” Kohanchuk said.

Durocher, on the other hand, gave credit to the scorer’s sheer talent, namely her speed, which allowed her to be a game-changing player.

“She’s the type of kid that any time in her career could be anywhere from 40 to 50 points or more,” Durocher said.

“She was a kid who was a threat every game. She was out there killing penalties, she was somebody who got the puck from the top of the circle and just changed the complexion of the game with her speed.”

Kohanchuk’s best statistical game of the season came Nov. 16, when she put up two goals and three assists for a career-best five points in a contest to lead BU to its 7–1 rout of Providence College.

Two days later, she struck again, scoring a crucial goal in a victory over then-No. 5 Harvard University.

Nov. 19, Kohanchuk earned Hockey East Player of the Week honors for her offensive outburst. But despite the forward’s fantastic regular season play, her most impressive performance came in her last games as a Terrier — the Hockey East and NCAA playoffs.

Playing in six consecutive elimination games — four of which were against ranked opponents — brought out the best in the redshirt senior, as she scored in all but one of the contests, totaling seven goals and one assist during the stretch.

“You just can’t take anything for granted,” Kohanchuk said. “You just can’t look back and you just need to look forward on things and you want to have no regrets.

“In the last six games that we had, it was do or die and I just wanted our team and myself just to play with our heart and everything that we can to go to the national championship game.”

Durocher said Kohanchuk’s experience and approach to the game rubbed off on the rest of the team during its playoff run.

“She was a kid who led because she’s one of those people who could gravitate to anybody on the team,” Durocher said. “People respected her for her work ethic. She at the same time was one of those players who always played loose. She wasn’t uptight.

“And that’s kind of Jenelle’s personality. She’s a kid who … keeps people loose.”

In the Hockey East Finals against then-No. 10 Northeastern University, Kohanchuk put up two goals, the first of which regained the Terriers’ two-goal lead in the final period and stood as the game-winning score in BU’s 5–2 conference championship clincher.

In the NCAA Tournament quarterfinals, Kohanchuk scored a crucial goal in what she already knew would be her last game at Walter Brown Arena. Tied at one against then-No. 6 Clarkson University, Kohanchuk’s score at 17:09 of the second period gave BU a lead it would not relinquish, as it headed to Minneapolis for the Frozen Four off a 5–3 victory.

“To be able to win against Clarkson to go to the Frozen Four and play a great game meant the world to me,” Kohanchuk said.

“My family was there watching … and having those memories of everything I had in Walter Brown, I just wanted to make the last one the best one that I could have.”

The forward brought her on-fire offensive play to the Midwest as well. With BU seeded at No. 2 going into the national semis vs. a dangerous Mercyhurst University team, Kohanchuk netted one and assisted on another en route to a decisive 4-1 victory and berth into the NCAA National Championship bout.

Unfortunately for Kohanchuk, her long-awaited final season with the Terriers did not end with her hoisting a national championship trophy above her head. The Terriers fell to the undefeated No. 1 University of Minnesota 6–3. The forward got her final collegiate-career goal in the contest.

But Kohanchuk said she is still proud of what the team accomplished.

“We had a lot of ups for the most part, rarely any downs,” Kohanchuk said.

“Minnesota was a phenomenal team and they played their best game and just — we fell a little short. But even though it’s upsetting, I’m still proud that we made it that far.”

With Kohanchuk’s Terrier career coming to an end, her dominance in helping BU reach the National Championship game after missing a season due to a concussion is one of many memories she will take with her.

“Just seeing that success and all of the championships was one of those best memorable moments that I’ve had. Just being with the team in general, both on and off the ice, are things that I’m going to be carrying with me further.”