At this point, you’ve either picked up tickets to Friday’s big game against our hated rivals, Boston College, or you haven’t. If you’re from the latter group of people, there still might be a bit of time to make a mad dash to the Walter Brown ticket office, but you’ll need some luck to get good seats. But no matter where you’ll be sitting on Friday night, it should be a fun and intense game. Anytime BU plays BC, it’s always a unique and treasured experience.
You can’t beat a rivalry, whether it’s Michigan-Ohio State, Celtics-Lakers or Red Sox-Yankees. That is certainly no different in the case of BU-BC, but let’s leave it at that. As much as I love the heated passion that develops between students of both schools because of our sports teams or what have you, it’s growing a little old for me. I could write on and on about the history of the BU-BC match up, but we’ve all heard it before. If you don’t know the details surrounding the enmity between BU and BC, go look somewhere else for the inside dope. And if you fail at that, you could probably check out some other school. Perhaps you could hang out with those co-op fanatics over at Northeastern. After all, what’s more fun than college for five years?
Of course, the game on Friday against the Eagles will be an early test for the Terriers and important in Hockey East as both teams are tied for second in the league. When they face Jerry York’s crew, they’ll have to contend with the likes of the brothers Eaves Ben and Patrick as well as the rest of the team that looks like a solid force to contend with this year. A win would be huge for Parker’s squad, and while Coach Jack won’t have them looking past the Eagles, I’ve got the unique opportunity to do exactly that and look at the next night’s face off against the Black Bears of Maine.
Throughout all of last year, BU could only manage one win against the Black Bears, a win that came in their first meeting of the season and took an overtime session for them to pull it out. After that BU victory, the two teams finished off the rest of their schedules, while they quietly awaited the fateful two-game series at the end of the regular season. The month of March came and in the second-to-last game of the year for the Terriers, they were outplayed by Maine, losing 9-6. The next night, in a game that would decide second place for Hockey East, the two teams tied, 4-4. With that tie, BU and Maine would both finish their seasons with 33 points. BU, however, walked away with second place because of one more Hockey East win.
The two teams would meet again in the semifinals of Hockey East, and the sour trend continued as the Terriers lost, 4-3. It was dÈj’#8225; vu all over again as the Terriers would see their great season come to an end at the sticks of the Black Bears at the NCAA Tournament on March 24, the score once again a disappointing 4-3. When it mattered last year, the Terriers just couldn’t seem to figure out the Maine Black Bears.
A little more than seven months and two weeks have passed since that downer of a Sunday in Worcester, but don’t think for a minute that the Terriers forgot what happened that day. This team has carried something with them ever since it made that hour-long trip on the Mass. Pike back into the city of Boston after the end of that game. Their thoughts centered on that of revenge and redemption, and the next game they would get a chance to send Maine some payback.
Saturday night will be a chance to take it to the Black Bears, and there’s no place like Walter Brown Arena to strike up some good, old-fashioned, home-cooked retribution. Maine ended BU’s season last year, keeping the Terriers out of the Frozen Four, and that’s not something that will part easily from BU players’ minds when they take the ice.
Maine on Saturday has some new and intriguing history and hatred surrounding it. Last season provided almost all of the fuel to this upcoming clash between these two clubs. This was due in part to the close games as well as the intense play best shown by the high penalties from both sides, usually resulting from aggressive play. Controversial calls played a role in these games as well (don’t ask Coach Parker about the too many men on the ice penalty in the Hockey East semifinal). With all these facets to focus on from last year, it is easy to forget the more distant history of important games between these opponents.
BU and Maine first met on the ice in 1924, and that contest saw the Black Bears come out on top by the score of 4-2. The next game was when the two teams met for the first time at Walter Brown Arena on Nov. 20, 1979.
The 55-year hiatus must have done the Terriers some good, giving them enough rest to take care of the Black Bears, 5-3. Since that time and the formation of Hockey East a few years later, this has been one of the more underrated rivalries in the league. In the 18-year history of the Hockey East Tournament, BU and Maine have combined for half of the tournament’s titles. Maine has four titles and the Terriers, of course, have five. Another interesting fact is that Maine has also been a runner-up in the tourney seven times.
In 1991, BU gave Maine the second-place crown by knocking them off, 4-3, in the Hockey East Championship, thanks to an overtime goal scored by Shawn McEachern. Two years later, Maine returned the favor. On the way to their 1993 national title, the Black Bears pasted the Terriers, 5-2. Two years after that (anybody seeing a pattern here?) BU and Maine met in the national championship game. It was April Fool’s Day in 1995, down at the Providence Civic Center, or ‘The Dunk,’ and the two Hockey East powers took to the ice looking for a shot at college hockey glory. BU came away the victor that day, winning, 6-2. That was the last time the Terriers won the national championship.
Since that time, BU and Maine have battled back and forth through the tournaments of Hockey East and beyond. Maine won another national title in 1999 and was there last year before losing to the Minnesota Gophers in overtime. During the regular season, and especially in the last few years, Maine and BU have played some rough-and-tumble battles. A lot of those games are prime examples of college hockey at its finest, with two talented and tradition-filled teams fighting tooth and nail for an advantage on the ice.
Saturday’s game will be an emotional night for the Terriers, as they hold in their hearts last year’s disappointment and the memory of what Maine snatched away from them. While it’s also an important game to give us an indication of where these teams might be standing come late March, that hasn’t always been the case. For in BU’s championship season of 1995, it never beat Maine during the regular season. In the four times that the two teams matched up during that 1994-95 season, BU tied Maine twice and lost twice.
Ok, so bring on BC on Friday, which should be fun, but Saturday’s tilt against those Black Bears holds a little extra meaning and history that should make the game all the more interesting.
