Justin Time

Nisswa, Minnesota, is about 1,500 miles from Boston.

But after being lured to Beantown by a couple of transplanted New Englanders, Justin Maiser officially became a Bostonian last night.

The freshman winger scored twice, including the game-winner with 1:12 left on the clock, to give the Boston University hockey team a 5-3 triumph over Northeastern University in the Beanpot tournament championship game.

The win marked the 24th time in 50 years that the Icedogs emerged as the best in Boston, their seventh such distinction in the last eight years. But while local boys like Brian Collins, Jack Baker and Rick DiPietro have played the role of hero in recent Beanpot games, don’t think the tournament’s legacy and word of BU’s dominance hasn’t spread across the country.

“Even growing up in Minnesota, I always heard about it and wondered what it was and then I finally saw a game,” Maiser said. “It was just crazy. To hear everything about it from the East Coast about how big it is and then get out here and play in it, it has just been an amazing, amazing experience.

“Then to win it – nothing better.”

BU head coach Jack Parker, who has been a part of 19 Beanpot titles as both a coach and a player, acknowledged the tournament is certainly a recruiting tool, but in courting Maiser he got some help from a pair of long-time Beanpot observers.

Maiser was hooked after seeing video of a Beanpot game. That tape came courtesy of U.S. National Team Development Program teammate and Norfolk native Brian McConnell, who along with Scituate’s Ryan Whitney had already committed to becoming Terriers and were trying to convince Maiser to join them on Babcock Street.

“I just remember telling him, ‘It’s unbelievable — you can’t even imagine. I can’t even really describe it, that’s how amazing it is,'” Whitney said. “When we got out there against BC last week I think he realized how special it was and then tonight actually winning it and raising it, it was an unbelievable feeling.”

Whitney was one of three Icedogs’ freshmen with two points last night, adding a goal and an assist to Maiser’s pair of goals that were both assisted by center David Klema, another Minnesotan.

“I was really surprised at how poised the freshmen were,” Parker said. “I thought they had terrific games, Klema and Maiser specifically. I was really flabbergasted. They played one of their best games all year.”

The contributions of the freshmen weren’t only limited to offensive output, though. McConnell centered BU’s physical second line, and defenseman Bryan Miller made a brilliant diving pokecheck late in the third period to disrupt a Northeastern odd-man rush.

“Miller came back and made an unbelievable play on a 2-on-1,” said sophomore goalie Sean Fields. “All the freshmen stepped up in this big game and they’ve been doing it all year. Seems the bigger the game, the more they step it up.”

And last night, the stage couldn’t have been any bigger as far as college hockey goes in Boston.

“I still think that’s why some of these guys come here from the Midwest,” Parker said. “They want to play in the Beanpot. They know it’s a great tournament.”

BU won the previous six tournaments before Boston College brought the ‘Pot to Chestnut Hill last February. That streak started in 1995, when a highly touted freshman class that included Chris Drury and Chris Kelleher arrived on Causeway Street only to leave four years later as the first-ever class to graduate with four Beanpot championships.

While last night’s heroics could spawn another multi-year winning streak, it could also serve as a launching pad for the reputations of some of BU’s younger players. Maiser’s Most Valuable Player award was the second in three years for a BU freshman, last won in 2000 by DiPietro, who won the Eberly Trophy awarded to the Beanpot’s best goaltender as well, before bolting from college after only a year.

“It’s not unusual for a freshman to step it up and get some recognition,” Parker said. “Having a freshman from Minnesota get the MVP of the Beanpot is very unusual.”

Unusual, for sure, but it was certainly everything McConnell and Whitney were describing when they told Maiser what it would be like to circle the FleetCenter with the Beanpot high above their heads.

“It’s what I’ve been waiting for,” Whitney said. “I knew it would be amazing, and I’ve watched kids do it and it looked awesome. But to actually hold it, and even though I held it at the end and the freshmen get it last, it was still amazing.”