Jekabs Redlihs ended up on his back, Ryan Whitney had a smattering of blood on his white jersey that seemed to match the rest of the scarlet trim, Brian McConnell reached back for a left hook that would have made Ali proud and Sean Fields stood back and watched.
And in the process, the Boston University hockey team may have ended up with something more important than any of that.
These ‘Dogs found some life.
It took 119 minutes and 59 seconds of hockey against the University of Maine – and a Hockey East record 46 penalties for 268 minutes – but the melee that provided a fiery ending to an entertaining weekend of hockey gave Terrier fans that little spark they were looking for.
And it might have done the same for the players.
“I think it was good that it ended that way,” McConnell said after Tuesday’s practice. “Stuff like that can bring your team together, and you don’t want to see a guy on your team get run after the whistle, especially the last couple seconds of the game. When guys are sticking up for each other it’s definitely a good sign.”
Of the nearly four and a half hours of penalty time handed out in Saturday night’s 1-0 BU win, only 22 total penalty minutes came in the first 59:59 of the contest. All in all, 11 players (six Black Bears and five Terriers) received a roughing minor, 10-minute misconduct and a game misconduct each. Whitney and Maine’s Dustin Penner each had the pleasure of hoarding an additional roughing minor. None of the 11 players received game disqualifications, meaning no consequences will carry over to the next game.
“I think we kinda showed that we’ve got some grit,” said freshman defenseman Kevin Schaeffer. “Not backing down, just jumping in there and taking guys, being tough and sticking up for our teammates.”
TRAIN(ER) BACK ON TRACK
While the sight of sophomore David Van der Gulik going headfirst into the boards Friday night was not a pleasant one, the sight of athletic trainer Larry Venis shuffling onto the ice was.
Venis, who had not seen the BU bench since being hit in the head with an errant puck during a Nov. 14 game at Merrimack College, seemed fine moments after the incident, but was rushed to the hospital hours later where he was found to have heavy bleeding in and around his brain. Venis was in good spirits after Tuesday’s practice and said he is happy to be back where he belongs.
“It’s great to be back. It was pretty exciting getting back for the first game – it was a long time off,” said the 14-year veteran of the BU training staff. “[The recovery went] as well as I could have hoped. It was a little scary feeling – a freak accident – but it’s nice to feel wanted again.”
TURNING THE CORNER?
While Saturday’s 1-0 win may turn out to be a defining moment for the Terriers, it must be kept in perspective.
It was only a 1-0 win, and the Icedogs still sport a sorry-looking record of 7-9-6, not to mention just four conference wins in 14 league games. BU coach Jack Parker has not let the Terriers climb too high just yet.
“Coach has been telling us not to get too complacent and think that we’re gonna to go on some huge winning streak, because we’ve had games where we’ve played well this year and we’ve come back and played terribly the next game,” McConnell said. “We wanna just try to get the same effort against [the University of Massachusetts at] Lowell.”
“We’ve got a little more jump in our practices, and a little more intensity, a little more excitement coming to the rink for practice,” Schaeffer added. “We’ve always known what we can do and obviously we showed it on the scoresheet.”
NIBBLES AND BITS
The Terriers next take the ice Friday night at Lowell’s Tsongas Arena against a team that took three of four points from the ‘Dogs in a home-and-home series in late November. Lowell coach Blaise MacDonald has given his former employer fits in recent years and has guided his team to fifth place in the current Hockey East standings, five points ahead of sixth-place BU. The River Hawks sit just one point behind the University of Massachusetts at Amherst and two back of the University of New Hampshire.
“The Lowell games are always tough physical games,” McConnell said Tuesday. “We gotta put some more wins together, and hopefully we can go on a streak like we did the last two Februarys. That’s what we’re looking for, is to win against Lowell then think about the Beanpot.”
The hoopla for the most prestigious in-season college hockey tournament in the nation kicks off this afternoon when the annual Beanpot Media Day hits the Fleet (or is that Bank of America) Center … One of the highlights from Section 8 over the weekend came Friday when Terrier fans tried to “decline” a BU power play after Maine scored two shorthanded goals on one penalty … Former Merrimack goaltender and BU menace Joe Exter made his professional debut Jan. 10 when he manned the net for the Wheeling Nailers of the East Coast Hockey League in a 5-2 loss to the Cincinnati Cyclones. Just 10 months after lying prone on the Conte Forum ice with blood coming out of his ears after a collision with Boston College forward Patrick Eaves, Exter is now two steps shy of the NHL and a possible spot on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ roster (and possibly sharing a locker room with BU’s Ryan Whitney).