With what looked like a sure win about to crumble in front of it in the Beanpot Tournament opener Monday, the No. 6 Boston University men’s ice hockey team turned to the player it can trust most when times are hard. And junior goalie John Curry did not disappoint.
“Give John Curry a lot of credit for being what we expect him to be,” said BU coach Jack Parker after his team’s 5-3 win over Harvard University. “A guy who can win a game for us when we’re not playing at the top of our game.”
With a season-high 38 saves Monday, Curry continually displayed the dominant form he’s taken over the last 12 contests, basically saving the game in a third period in which Harvard put 25 shots on net.
Not surprisingly, Curry has been a foundation for BU in its national-best nine-game winning streak, but his near-perfect play – something none more apparent than on Monday – partly stems from a subtle change he made more than two months ago.
Following a 2-1 loss to Boston College on Friday Dec. 2, Curry emerged from the locker room the next night with a different outlook – thanks to a new custom-made helmet.
Ditching his scarlet helmet that featured a cross-armed Rhett set against a brick wall, Curry’s new mask featured both a new paint job – a glossy Rhett head set against a metallic scarlet background – and a wider cage that has improved Curry’s line of sight and peripheral vision.
As importantly, the mask – which usually runs around $1,400, according to BU equipment manager Mike DiMella – is a more comfortable fit. The old headgear, a larger ITECH helmet, never quite fit right and had gotten beaten up from more than two years of use. So when Curry approached DiMella in early November about maybe fixing it up, he suggested he get a custom-fitted one instead.
A few days later, Dom Malerba, a BU alum from the Pro’s Choice – a hockey shop in Middleton that had made similar helmets for several pros – came out, created a mold from Curry’s head and sent the helmet off for finishing.
Three weeks later, Curry debuted with the helmet in BU’s 6-2 win over Boston College, and since then he has gone 11-1 with a personal 10-game win streak.
“I have a pretty big head, and the ITECHs I would wear would be large and they would fit me but sometimes it would be uncomfortable,” said Curry, whose hat size is 7 3/4. “But this guy molded it to my head. He put plaster all over my face, and it ended fitting absolutely perfectly.
“I didn’t think it would be that much of a difference but it really has made a difference,” he added. “The cage itself is a lot more open. There’s a lot more line of sight straight down to the ice and to the left and right.”
Special Guests
Though he didn’t know from where they were watching him Monday at the TD Banknorth Garden, senior defenseman Jekabs Redlihs knew there were two pairs of eyes out there he didn’t want to disappoint.
Redlihs’ parents, Janis Redlihs and Maija Smilokina, flew in from Riga, Latvia last Tuesday to watch their son play hockey for the first time since he arrived in the United States five years ago. In fact, their trip was the first they had ever taken to the U.S. – and with BU’s 5-1 win over UMass-Lowell Friday and thrilling Beanpot victory Monday, they surely won’t leave today unsatisfied.
“This is the first time they’re actually here because tickets to get here, they’re pretty expensive,” Jekabs Redlihs said. “[But] I’m a senior, it’s my last year and everything, and there were offseason tickets that we could get them, so we’re like, ‘You know, what the hell, why not?’ So they came.'”
Redlihs’ parents also got a chance to watch their older son, Krisjanis Redlihs, play Saturday when he and his AHL team, the Albany River Rats, played at the Lowell Lock Monsters.
‘Pot Stickers
Parker is now 29-4 in Beanpot openers. Monday was his 50th career Beanpot win (he only has 15 losses) … For the first time in five games, BU chose not to wear its throwback third jersey, instead opting for its traditional scarlet road uniforms … BU’s No. 6 ranking in the latest USCHO.com poll is its highest since garnering the same ranking in the 2003-04 preseason poll. Some of the Terriers’ previous highs are as follows: No. 4 on Oct. 16, 2002 (the last time they were ranked in the top five), No. 2 on March 3, 2000 and No .1 more than eight years ago on Jan. 5, 1998 … Brad Zancanaro’s second period power play strike tied him with Pete MacArthur for the team lead in goals scored (11) and points (24). It also marked his new career-high in points scored in a season.